Fast updated and extra long: A thank you for your reviews!

Probably my longest update till now...I hope you find the time to read and review!

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Sam and Ben were in the car and listening to the music that was coming out of the radio. There was a sadness inside that car today that no one could describe. Sam was thinking about Phoebe and what she had gone through in her short life without a real grown-up figure that had helped her to cope with all the stuff no kid should even have to cope with. Sam's tears were falling down her cheek and Ben took his hands on her leg and showed her that he was there for her. She squeezed it and looked at him with a sweet smile.

"I don't understand why there is so much misery in this world Ben. When I met Phoebe the first time I just thought of her as a brat. A brat that wanted to ruin my life by making up a story that I slept with a teacher. She seemed so…so independent and I admired her strength. I mean she looked like a small girl but when she opened her mouth, she did not sound like one and she could sure as hell defend herself. Somehow I liked that.

But now I know that she never had anyone in her life that could do it for her. Don't misunderstand me. I know she had you but I cannot believe how I would feel when my own father would blame me for my sister's death." Ben just listened to her while she kept on talking.

"A child should be able to see the world as an adventurous playground and believe in wonders that can happen if you just believe in it. You know like, clap your hands and then it will come true. I know I did not have that either but what happened to Phoebe…it…it seems like the world is against her. How did she even manage to fight on her own? Or skip classes?"

It was not really a question but Ben answered it, "She always had Rebecca and Rebecca had her. They were each other's hope and although they grew up with…with my uncle, they believed in magic and stuff like little kids do. And while Phoebe wanted to understand the whole world and spied on everyone, Rebecca read her fairy tales or invented ones.", Sam tried to picture the little Phoebe how she spied on everyone.

"Phoebe was not only sad in her past Sam. Her father may have been…well, violent but most of the time the two of them were outside with their little gang of children and played in the wood or bathed in the sea or just climbed up every tree and started little fights with another kid gang. I know that both of them had to grow up very fast but together they managed it.", Ben thought of Rebecca and Phoebe when they had been three and five. They had loved each other from the moment they had seen each other for the first time when Victoria Davis had given Phoebe away.

"But…I told Phoebe once that it is not easy letting someone in but that she should not push away the people she loves and who love her because it would make everything worse. Now it feels like a lie Ben…I understand why she pushed me away or Brooke and Julian. I mean she lost Rebecca, she lost you, she lost everything. How could I tell her that she should let other people into her heart? I remember her crying that she wants Becca and not me. It's…", Sam had to stop the car because she was crying heavily and could not focus on the street any more.

Ben took her hands into hers, "Sam. If you ask Phoebe whether she preferred not knowing Rebecca she would never say yes. Phoebe lost the person that knew everything about her and that was like her special half but she would never want to miss the time she got on earth with her."

"I know and I do believe that but Ben, she is eleven. She should not know what it is like to loose a sister, she should not know how someone looks when he's dead, she should not know how it feels when someone hits the shit out of her and she should not know how it feels if your own fucking father sells you.", she was getting really mad and needed to take a deep breath while the tears streamed down.

"Of course she should not. But it happened and we will never be able to change any of that. Trust me, I've wished to change everything in the last three years. But…", he had to take a deep breath as well and looked out of the window for a second.

"the only thing we can do is cope with the present and try to make our future better."

Sam had never heard him talking like that. His words were so meaningful and she could tell that he had thought about everything for a long time and that not only Phoebe had loved Rebecca very much.

He took a cigarette and opened the window; he just had to calm down a little and knew that the cigarette would help him.

"You know. I lost a lot of things in my life too and I was really, really mad because there was nothing I could do and it was like my whole life was already written down on a paper and I could just watch it all happen. I lost my lovely cousin Rebecca and then I lost my pumpkin. I cannot get the image of my dead cousin out of my head nor how Phoebe changed after Rebecca's death. It was not the Phoebe I remembered and it made me hate myself that I could not help her.", Ben stopped for a moment but then continued.

"And how did I deal with it? With drugs and violence. I got expelled from school, I hung up on the streets all day long and just let my life happen, you know. I did not believe that I could change anything by myself. I forgot all the pain by just taking a shot but one day I realized that I am not helping anyone with it. Neither me and especially not my pumpkin."

Sam listened carefully and saw a side that she had never seen of him; he had never told her so much about him and she realized that there was more than meets the eyes.

"I realized that I just have to fight on my own. That I have to do anything possible to be happy and make other's happy but I could not because my little pumpkin was somewhere out there alone. I knew that she was a survivor but she was that young and I knew that it was my fault as well that Rebecca died because none of this would have happened if someone had taken the girls to a better place. I still hear Rebecca telling me that a princess would come and make them live in a castle.", Ben looked at Sam and smiled.

"I am not proud how I handled all of it and I will never be but I keep telling myself that I can change now, so that I can maybe say in the future that I am proud of the man I am now. I've read this quote "Who fights can lose, who doesn't fight has already lost." by Bertolt Brecht and I don't wanna be the one who has already lost Sam.", he thought of the version he had become after Rebecca's death and was not proud at all.

"What I want to say is that Phoebe finally found the family that loves her and it's…", he wiped a tear.

"It's the best thing to see her smile again. And I've seen you and Brooke and Julian or the Scotts with her and it's like seeing both of the girls together again. Sam, it's not better to be alone. Phoebe may be able to survive on her own but it would be just surviving and not living. And I don't want that to happen to you nor to my little Phoebe. And I know it is hard, everything that happened is fucking horrible and sometimes I think someone could just write a drama story about Phoebe but I also know that if we help each other we will manage to survive and live."

Sam nodded and could not say anything because she was amazed by his words and honesty.

"I mean when I see Phoebe now I sometimes think that she is the one that coped the best with everything. And I sometimes wonder where that strength comes from because she is this little and…well, she lost so much. But then I know that she got this strength because of Rebecca. You know she handled it so good on the street or in the orphanage that I sometimes could not understand her. But now I realize that all her learning for school and helping other people, skipping school or having fights with teachers was a way to block out her feelings. I mean I am happy that she dealt this way because look how far it got her. She will graduate with fourteen while her big cousin will never graduate."

"You could go back to school Ben. You are not dumb and…", Ben squeezed her hand softly and nodded.

"Maybe I do that one day. Sometimes everything happens so fast and one day I probably wake up and have gray hair and don't know what I did with my time."

Ben could not stop talking. It was like letting it all out after those years and Sam knew that he would not tell all those feelings to everyone. He showed her that she was something special for her.

"You know Sam. There is one thing I know about Phoebe for sure. She knows how to block out her feelings and pretend that nothing happened. I mean our whole family is the best role model for such a behavior. She managed to hide Rebecca from you all for so long although I know that she probably still cries every night. But although she cries and has her tantrums, I see that she found hope again because she let so many people into her heart. And if she let's somebody into her heart, she will never let that person out again and would do anything to make the person happy. I know Phoebe is suffering but do you know what I also see when I see her with you or Brooke or Julian?"

Sam shook her head and listened carefully.

"I see my pumpkin being a kid again. I see her smiling with you like she smiled with Becca and I see her acting like a brat because of clothes that she is not allowed to wear. Clothes Sam. Just clothes.", Ben laughed a little and took another cigarette into his hand.

"You don't know how happy it makes me to see that she is in a family that knows how to handle her outbursts without hitting the shit out of her. But it makes me even happier to see that she does not pack her stuff any more to run away. It shows me that she finally found her home and…and another sister. And the best thing is that she starts believing that she is lovable and stops finding love in a boyfriend because my pumpkin is not allowed to have a boyfriend until she is twenty."

Sam had to laugh at his last comment while the tears were still coming out of her eyes.

"Jesus. Could we try talking about something that does not make me seem like a cry-baby?"

Sam knew that he was not a crybaby and took his hand into hers and held it tight to her heart. She did not need to let him into her heart because he already had a special place in there. She took her hands around his wet face and kissed him softly on the lips. They stayed like this for a while until Sam took a deep breath and started driving again.

"Tree Hill is really a nice place to live.", Ben said after a while of calmness and smiled at Sam with sad eyes.

"Yes, it is."

"And safe.", he whispered.

Sam nodded and showed him everything. They did not talk about Rebecca for a while but just enjoyed each other's presence. Finally they stopped at the river court and threw some balls, "Wow. You are pretty good."

"Well, I wanted to go pro when I was younger.", Ben smiled at her and made a point again.

"You still can do it.", Sam took the ball and missed the basket again.

"Nah. I am not that good.", he laughed and sat down on the bench besides her, "What do you want to do after school?"

"I don't really know. I would like to become a therapist or a writer."

"Cool. I did not read anything of you but from what you are saying I know that you would be an amazing writer and therapist.", Sam blushed and took his hand in hers.

"Thank you. But you definitely too. I mean your words were soo…"

"Oh stop Sam. I will not become a writer. I am a man and I won't write love stories or anything like that.", he threw the ball while she burst out into laughing, "What?"

"There are other things than love stories and you could be a poet and write down all your amazing thoughts and…", she admired while he ran to her and took his hand over her mouth from behind and hugged her tight.

"No. I will definitely never be a poet. Only girls or softies should do that.", she looked up at him and rolled her eyes. Finally they started kissing and when their tongues met she suddenly had to smile a little.

"What is it?", he asked embarrassed and thought that he had done something wrong. He could not believe how he felt with Sam. Yes, Phoebe was true, he had had some girls in his bed in the past, but none of them had really mattered. Of course he had always treated them nicely but he had never felt those feelings he was feeling now. It was scary but also wonderful.

"Nothing. It's just…Phoebe called it Spain kissing instead of French kissing."

"Oh. That's my fault. I told her that it's called like this."

"You are mean.", Sam went closer and they kissed again. She was now sitting on his lap and just held him tight.

"I am sad that I have to leave tomorrow again.", Ben whispered while holding Sam close.

"Yeah. I wish you could stay forever!", Ben nodded sadly and looked into her beautiful eyes. Neither of them liked the idea of a long-distanced relationship.

"What do you want to be?", Sam asked curiously.

"I don't really know right now Sam. I think I don't have that many opportunities. I did not graduate and I am not really rich. I could always join my father's business but…"

"I would hate if you do it.", Sam admitted and he nodded behind her.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Well I think there are always more opportunities than you think."

"Oh really?", he smiled down at her.

"Yeah.", she raised an eyebrow and smiled back and started running when he chased her. When he caught her they fell down into the grass and just stayed there.

"You know. I grew up in that place you got to know and it's totally different than Tree Hill. I don't think I could live here."

"Why?"

"Well, I don't know the rules here."

"But Phoebe managed.", Sam looked down at him and was fascinated by the boy.

"Yeah, maybe you are right. But Phoebe did not have any other choice.", Ben said and then showed Sam his arm and muscles again.

"I got this tattoo when I was nine.", he showed his stomach "and this when I was eleven." And then his back "and this when I was fourteen.", Sam looked astonished at the tattoos and touched them. Somehow those tattoos only made him sexier, "I am a man to fear.", he laughed and took his arms around Sam and held her as tight as possible.

"I don't fear you.", Sam smiled and was happy to lie in his arms.

"But many do.", he smiled down at her and kissed her neck softly.

"Stop. That tickles.", she laughed and went through his hair, "You may be strong from the outside but in there you are a softie.", Sam pointed at his heart.

"Oh well thank you. That's what a man wants to hear.", he laughed at fell down in the grass again.

"Do you miss your biological mother?"

"No. Not really. Sometimes I am a bit sad that she does not want me but I am happy with Brooke, Julian and Phoebe and I don't want to live with her either."

"Your mother must be very stupid to give you away.", he squeezed her hand and Sam nodded and looked into the sky. He took out another cigarette and started smoking. Although Sam had decided to stop smoking she took one as well, "Rebecca will be dead for three years soon."

Sam could see the tears in his eyes and did not know whether she should ask or not. Ben could not look at Sam but continued smoking and looked up into the sky. It was hard talking about Rebecca but somehow he had to do it again. He had managed not to talk about her for years but he felt like it was time to let someone in. That person was Sam.

"They were inseparable you know. Oh, I can tell you, they could get on your nerves. Always defending each other.", Sam nodded and was glad that he talked on his own.

"I don't really know where to start Sam. It's a long story.", Sam squeezed his hand.

"Take your time.", she suddenly saw a side of him she loved even more.

He smiled at her "Yeah. You should become a therapist." She slapped him playfully and blushed, "Well like I said, Bill Ferguson, Phoebe's dad, was an important man in our neighborhood. You know in our neighborhood there are like different families and gangs and my uncle was a pretty big leader. Rebecca was more the shy girl and not talking too much except of to her family. A real sweetheart and could not kill a fly. Both of them lived with Bill. My uncle was a pretty tough man, but he loved his daughters...at least sometimes. I don't know the whole truth. The truth lies with Phoebe but she never talked about it.", Sam felt something she had never felt before for anyone. It was a feeling she could not describe and on the one hand it was scary but on the other hand it was warm and good.

"I was thirteen back then and like every Wednesday some men played poker at my uncle's house. I was watching TV in the other room and wished to be older, to be allowed to play with them. Rebecca and Phoebe were upstairs in their room and sleeping, well that's what I thought. In reality she was obviously spying on the men from upstairs and listening to their conversation. She always pretended to be a detective and said that she would find out every secret. It got her into a lot of trouble. Rebecca was ten back then and Phoebe eight.", he made a short pause.

"Although they were only two years apart it looked more, because Phoebe was not really fast in growing and Rebecca was.", Sam listened carefully to his story but feared what would come next.

"They were really inseparable. Phoebe was always defending Rebecca and speaking for her. Although she was the younger one, she had more courage than Rebecca and she would never let anybody hurt Rebecca without fighting back. She seemed almost fearless. Well, as usual they had some prostitutes coming over and fooled a little around with them. Bill did not have a wife, nevertheless there were always women in short clothes at home with him.", Ben hesitated a moment but then continued.

"Phoebe told me what happened that night. She was spying on them as usual and saw how they were doing drugs again. She hated it when her father was high because he always acted weird after that."

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"Becca. Can you watch that no one is coming upstairs?", little Phoebe woke up her big sister and hoped that she would agree.

"Phoebe no. Just let it be.", Rebecca hated that her little sister always liked to play detective because it always got her into a lot of trouble.

"Pleeeease.", Phoebe looked down at Becca with puppy eyes but Rebecca shook her head and pulled her under the blanket. They slept in one bed almost every night and talked about everything. They shared every secret and always knew what the other one was thinking.

"No. You end up getting hurt again. You know how dad gets when he catches you."

"He never caught me.", Phoebe said proudly, "Not when I was lying under his bed while he was with those…women, nor when I steal his guns. I am the best detective ever. Pleeease."

"What do you want to do anyways?", Rebecca did not want to know all the secrets her father had. She pretended that everything was fine and was a girl that could lie in the grass for hours and just look up into the sky and invent fairy tales.

"I found that stuff daddy always sells. It's so much that he won't find out if one little bag is missing. We hide it in our closet and then we sell it too. I saw how much money they gave him for just a tiny bit and when we have enough money I'll buy you the horse you always wanted.", Phoebe would do anything for Rebecca. She was the person she loved the most.

"No. Let's just sleep. We could not even hide a horse in our room silly one", Becca cuddled closer to Phoebe and held her tight.

"But.."

"Oh be quiet.", Becca whispered and Phoebe rolled her eyes and soon fell asleep. The next day the two girls woke up and went down into the kitchen and found two women standing there.

"Who are you?", Phoebe asked annoyed. She hated it when all those different women were in her house.

Bill cam downstairs in a boxer short and just slapped Phoebe in the face. Not that hard but not that softly either. Phoebe did not even flinch; she was used to such a treatment and just rolled her eyes. "You don't say hello to my women like that pumpkin.", he kissed both of them, "I have this new book for you Becca.", he gave her another book of fairy tales, "And this for you pumpkin.", he gave his younger daughter a book of Sherlock Holmes. Both of them smiled up at him. "I want you out of the house today until the evening. Do you understand me?"

Rebecca immediately nodded while Phoebe looked curiously up at him, "Why?"

"None of your business.", one of the women said and Phoebe looked furiously at her.

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"I wanna know what they are doing.", Phoebe and Rebeccca were lying in the grass and reading their books. Rebecca was really enjoying it while Phoebe could only think of a plan to see what his dad was doing. She jumped up and looked down at Rebecca, "I am back in an hour, okay?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes and looked up from her book, "You end up being bruised from head to toe Phoebe. Please just stay."

"I come back. I promise.", Phoebe ran back home. Rebecca feared that Phoebe would come back in bruises. There were times their dad did not hit them for a long time but when his mood changed or something happened, he knew how to use his belly and usually Phoebe was the one feeling it. Rebecca hated it and it made her feel so helpless.

Phoebe looked through the window and saw different men sitting in the living room and smoking and talking about stuff she could not hear. She tried to picture every detail and saw that her dad got money for something again. She assumed that it was the white powder again. She wanted to get a closer look and jumped down into some beer bottles. She cursed because she knew that that sound probably drew attention. Immediately she ran into the little garden house and hid.

She saw her dad looking around but was relieved when he went inside again so that she could go out again but unfortunately the door did not open any more.

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"Becca. I am here.", Phoebe knocked at the window when she saw her sister looking for her. She knew that Becca must be really scared because unlike her, Becca hated spying on other people.

"Fuck.", Phoebe screamed, when her dad opened the door and spotted Becca and looked madly down at her. He immediately pulled her inside and Phoebe could only hear her screaming. The tears fell down her face and she tried to open that damn door but it did not work.

Finally it worked and she ran into the house without caring whether she would get hurt or not. She needed to help her sister. She saw how her dad slapped her hard and went in between.

"I told you two to stay out of my business.", he caught Becca's shirt and pulled her to the cellar. Phoebe was shocked because he had never punished Becca with the cellar and usually she was the one that got hit. Becca looked up at their dad with fear in her eyes while the blood came out of her little nose.

"Dad no. I am sorry. I am sorry. It's my fault", Phoebe screamed; she hated it when he threw her into the cellar and did not want Rebecca to go through the same. "Please let her go.", but when Bill was furious, he would never let go of someone. He slapped Phoebe hard in the face, so that she fell backward to the ground and pulled Rebecca into the cellar and closed the door. Phoebe cried and knocked loud on the door, "Daddy please stop. Please.", the men besides her did not even care one second what was happening to the girls in front of their eyes.

She cried even more when she heard him use his belly and her sister started to scream loud "Let her go dad. Please. Let her go."

After ten minutes he came up and pointed at her, "If you go down to her, I will use this on you too."

Phoebe and Becca had a special relationship. They would always defend each other no matter what and if one of them were in trouble, the other would try everything to help her out of it. Phoebe looked furiously up at his dad and wished that he would not exist. It was one thing to hurt her but he almost never used his force against her shy sister. It broke her heart that he had done it a minute ago.

"Fine. Then use it now.", she screamed at him and turned around.

"Can I go down now?", she asked a little later in pain but managed not to cry. He nodded and just walked over to a woman Phoebe did not know. Phoebe looked furiously at her father and turned around, "One day you are going to pay for everything dad and I hate you."

"Oh just shut up pumpkin and stop being so fucking dramatic.", he closed the door behind her and locked it.

She had troubles going down the stairs because he had hit her pretty bad and she could not see much because the lights were turned off. But she spotted Rebecca on the floor motionless and calm. She did not make a sound; nevertheless the tears were streaming down her face.

"I am sorry Becca. I did not want him to hurt you.", Phoebe whispered and went through Rebecca's hair, "I am so sorry Becca."

"It is not your fault silly one", Rebecca whispered and although Phoebe knew that she really meant it, she also knew that it was her fault that her sister was laying in the cellar in bruises. She did not think of her own bruises for one second.

Some hours later Bill let them out and they walked up slowly and in pain into their room and lay down in one bed and did not say anything. There was nothing left to say. But soon Rebecca invented a story and made both of them forget their environment that was supposed to be their caring home. Some days later the two of them were gone.

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Sam tried not to cry but still a tear fell down her cheek. It was healing to tell everything to Sam again but it was a hard task.

"We don't know how long Phoebe was with Rebecca when she died or how she exactly died. She obviously was allergic to bees. Phoebe never told us anything. Bill could not look Phoebe into the eyes any more and got so violent with Phoebe. He had always hit her very often but never that hard.

One day I was at home with them and he…he looked so mad at Phoebe that I had to shiver. He jumped forward with tears in his eyes and took her at her shirt and pulled her into the air and screamed over and over again that she's the devil in person and that he wished her dead.

I pleaded him to let go of her but he did not even listen to me. He threw her to the floor with such a force that I thought he killed her because she lay there motionless for some time.

He…he did not even care Sam. I tried to wake her up and…and when she opened her eyes, he attacked her again and Phoebe did not even try to fight back or yell. He hit her small body and I was too weak to help her. So I ran home to my mom and dad.

When we came back…he…he was choking her. He was choking his own daughter Sam. My dad made him stop and my mom carried Phoebe to us. She was in the hospital for a week."

Sam cried with him and listened to every word.

"From that day on Phoebe lived with us. But it was not the Phoebe I knew. She stopped talking and did not let anyone hug her and then sometimes she hit everything she could and destroyed everything around the house out of fury. She never played detective again.

One night Bill came to us totally drunk and screamed at Phoebe that she should go to hell and that she did not deserve to live and that she would destroy everybody's life and that he should have given her away like her mother and sister had done."

Ben took a deep breath and continued with his arms around Sam.

"Bill slurred and wanted to get in but my father did not let him. "You don't touch her.", my dad screamed at Bill and Bill was past fury "I wish it was you not Becca.", he screamed over and over again.

"It is all your fault. You killed your sister. You killed her.", my uncle pointed at Phoebe when she was standing in front of him. She was eight Sam. Only eight. And when Bill wanted to get her to come with him my dad pushed him outside.

I tried everything to make Phoebe smile again but nothing worked. She stayed mute the whole time. She could sit at one place for days and just looked into nothing for hours. Neither my mom nor my dad knew what to do with her. And then…then one day we heard of my uncle's deal. We could not believe it but soon some men were knocking on our door to come and get her. Of course we did not give her to anyone. My uncle was past fury and my mom went to her brother and yelled the shit out of him.

Bill pleaded her to forgive him and that it was a mistake to sell her and that he wants her safe."

Sam could not understand this Bill. She could not imagine how it would feel to have a father that sold you and that hit you merciless.

"And that's what my mother did. She needed to find a safe place for Phoebe and fast. She knew that Phoebe was not safe in such an environment. And the only way was the orphanage and making them believe that Phoebe was dead.

And it had to happen immediately, so my mom gave her away at night. They drove miles and then my mom came back without Phoebe. They believed her death for a while but Phoebe always tried to come back until the day my dad screamed at her that she was not welcome any more. It broke his heart to lie to her like this, you know, but he needed to do it. He needed her safe.

But this made Phoebe stay away from us for a whole year and then she found Brooke and Julian one day. We always stayed in contact and my dad told her that it was not her fault at all and that he had been lying to her but those men had found out that Phoebe was not dead."

Sam did not know what to say. She had never heard of such a story and could not believe how many times Phoebe had been hurt in her past, "Don't…", she had trouble talking because the tears went down, "Don't they come after her here…in Tree Hill?"

Ben shook his head and smoked again, "No. Like I said, there are some rules. You keep your shit in your neighborhood and it was years ago but still coming back is a risk and Phoebe always knew how to get herself into trouble. You cannot imagine how often she came home with a broken bone or bruises."

Sam nodded and looked down at him.

"Well the next thing was that Brooke and Julian took her in and it was the first time I've seen Phoebe smiling again. Well and then you two came back.", he took Sam's hand and finally managed to look at her.

"That's horrible Ben."

Ben nodded. "I know. Maybe you can understand now why I think of Phoebe as the bravest person I've ever met?"

Sam nodded and sobbed.

"She never told anybody what happened when they ran away and she basically had to fight for herself through her whole life. You know my uncle loved his daughters but he had his problems, especially with Phoebe, even when Rebecca was living."

Sam asked confused "But why?"

"Oh, because Phoebe did not like the way he was treating women and how he threatened other people. When she was five and Bill taught his daughters to shoot, she just asked him why she should learn it.", Ben laughed at the image.

"I was eleven back then and did not really question anything but when Bill told her to shoot bad men she looked shocked up at him and finally pointed the gun at her own father. Of course you can think how he reacted. It was a shame that his own daughter pointed a gun at him. Nobody would dare that. He locked her into the cellar for three days."

Sam's tears came down like a waterfall. She knew that Phoebe's past was horrible but she had never imagined this.

"You know Phoebe was always defending others. Especially Rebecca or other kids and she got herself into a lot of troubles with her gene of fairness. Although Bill had his troubles with Phoebe he always wanted them to learn and wanted more for them than this neighborhood could give.

When he realized that his girls were interested in books he bought them like thousands."

Ben suddenly took his hand into his pocket and gave a picture to Sam.

"This is Rebecca." Sam looked at the picture. It showed Rebecca hugging Phoebe from behind tightly. She looked like Phoebe, only bigger and both of them were smiling wildly.

"This…this…is so sad. I am so sorry Ben.", Sam cried into his arms while he looked up into the sky thinking of Rebecca.

"Yeah. Me too. I just wish I had fought, you know. Letting Phoebe and Rebecca on their own was not right."

"But you were a kid.", Sam was still holding his hands.

"Well, Phoebe was even younger."

They stayed like this for a while: Ben holding Sam in his arms and smoking and looking up into the sky. Sam turned around and kissed him softly on his lips. They held each other tight for hours. Both of them needed it.

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Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it *Helen Keller

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