Chapter Three

Kyle didn't move or say anything else. He had offered an introduction, now the little girl could decide to talk or run screaming, as often happened when meeting a Braxton. Kyle didn't even know if the girl spoke English. She looked foreign; perhaps Mediterranean or Middle Eastern. Then the girl opened her mouth slightly, contemplating whether or not to talk to the strange man.

"Gabrielle" she whispered so quietly the Kyle had to strain his ears to hear her.

Kyle smiled. Now he just had to find out why she kept hanging around the house.

"That's a nice name," he said, creeping forward ever so slightly, "where do you live, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle looked at Kyle with wide eyes, her head turning slightly before she shrugged.

"No parents?" asked Kyle, hoping the answer would be good.

"They died" said Gabrielle quietly, a flash of pain shooting through her.

Kyle blinked and swallowed. He couldn't imagine having his parents, or even his foster parents, not being around. This little girl only looked about six, there was no way she could look after herself.

"Is that why you keep coming here?" asked Kyle pointing back to the house. Gabrielle nodded.

"You have food" she said simply, her stomach rumbling loudly. She gasped and clutched her stomach. Kyle immediately knew he had to do.

"Come on, I'll get you some food" said Kyle, standing up and dusting his knees off.

Gabrielle crept out from her hiding place and stood up. She moved forward and started to climb the fence. Kyle quickly rushed forward and leaned over the fence, picking up the little girl and lifting her into the garden. When Kyle put her down she stepped back and wrapped her arms around herself protectively.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise" said Kyle slowly, holding his hands up as a sign of peace, "come on, follow me"

Kyle started walking slowly back into the house, his head turned slightly so he could see that Gabrielle was following him. Her eyes were flitting nervously round the place as they stepped through the back door.

Gabrielle felt her heart beating wildly in her chest. She didn't know if she could trust Kyle. He seemed nice enough. She could stay for a little bit but then she would have to leave. Gabrielle didn't want anyone to get mad. Suddenly Kyle had stopped and Gabrielle bumped into the back of him with a little 'oof'.

"Jesus, Kyle" shrieked Tamara, her hand flying to her mouth.

Gabrielle tensed up, her eyes going wild as she felt the panic start to rise within her. Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of the panic. She looked up at Kyle who was staring down at her with concern.

"Sorry, um, Kyle, explain" said Tamara a little calmer than before.

"She was hiding out the back, she has nowhere to go. Tamara, she's got no parents" said Kyle quietly.

He didn't even know what he planned to do about the kid. Kyle was not exactly at an age for parenting. All he knew was that he had to look after the little girl right now and make sure she had somewhere safe to stay.

"What's all the noise about?" said Casey coming over from the flat, a carton of orange juice in his hand, "woah"

"Casey..." Kyle didn't know how to explain, his gaze imploring his brother just to help the girl.

Casey looked from Kyle to the girl. She definitely needed help and if Kyle was going to be the first to give it, then he would help too.

"Brax isn't going to like this" said Casey, putting down the juice, "don't even get me started on what Heath will say"

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to Gabrielle, smiling at her reassuringly. His smile grew when he caught sight of a small smile on her lips. He held his hand out to her. Gabrielle looked at it for a while before slowly unfolding her arms and slipping her tiny, grubby hand into his.

"So what's your name kiddo?" said Casey bending down a little.

"Gabrielle" was the shy response. Casey seemed like a nice guy.

"That's a pretty name" said Casey smiling kindly, "how old are you?"

"Seven"

"And you've got nowhere to go?" asked Casey. He wanted to hear the girl say it, then he would believe what Kyle had said.

Gabrielle shook her head, her grip on Kyle growing a little tighter.

"Well Kyle will make sure you're looked after for a little bit, ok?" said Casey smiling and standing up.

He gave Kyle a funny look and shook his head. They would have to call the cops. There was no way any Braxton could look after a little kid, even one as cute as Gabrielle. Casey beckoned Tamara over and hurried her to the far corner of the living room.

"Casey, you can't just let Kyle keep her here" said Tamara in a hushed tone so as not to let on to Gabrielle that they were talking about her.

"I know" sighed Casey, "I guess we'll have to call the cops"

"Too right. The authorities need to sort this out, not Kyle" said Tamara pulling her phone from her pocket.

Casey looked over at Kyle who had chopped up some fruit and was playing some sort of game with Gabrielle as the girl ate. She was laughing at Kyle's antics and happily munching on the fruit, her little feet, covered only in dirty socks, were swinging in the air as she sat on the very edge of her chair, watching Kyle intently.

"Just give her a little time before we call the cops" said Casey, turning back to Tamara with a pleading look. Tamara chewed on her lip, torn between what they should do.

"Fine, just make sure you do call" said Tamara, walking briskly towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Casey.

"Out" was Tamara's reply before she shut the door and walked off.

Casey turned back to the room. Kyle was looking back at him, a questioning look in his eyes. Casey shrugged, Tamara would come back when she wanted to. He walked over to the table and sat down opposite Gabrielle. She looked up at him a little nervously but when Casey smiled, Gabrielle seemed to relax and smiled back.

"Is Kyle being nice?" asked Casey, nudging Kyle's elbow off the edge of the table which made Gabrielle laugh.

"Of course I'm being nice, right, Gabrielle?" asked Kyle pouting like an idiot.

Gabrielle nodded wildly, her hair flying up and down, a large grin on her face.

"Kyle's the nicest person I've ever met" said Gabrielle, ducking her head as a little blush grew on her cheeks.

Kyle and Casey looked at each other before Casey grinned at his brother and turned back to Gabrielle.

"Well then, you clearly need to know me because I'm way nicer than my brother" said Casey ignoring Kyle's protests.

The boys continued making jokes for a while, noticing how Gabrielle got more and more confident around them as time passed. Kyle and Casey had both noticed that Gabrielle smelt dirty, which wasn't surprising considering she had been living on the streets for a while. The boys discussed how they could clean Gabrielle up a little bit and decided the best thing would be for Gabrielle to have a shower and put her in some clean clothes then either Kyle or Casey could wash her hair over the sink.

Almost an hour later, Casey and Kyle had managed to get the little girl clean and tidy. They got rid of her clothes and put one of Kyle's t-shirts on her which was more like a dress on Gabrielle. Kyle and Casey knew at some point they would have to call the cops, but at least they had looked after Gabrielle as much as they could.

"Do you want to do it?" said Casey holding the phone out. Kyle looked from the phone to Gabrielle who was curled up asleep on the sofa. He knew he had to phone the authorities but he felt guilty about handing Gabrielle over but she couldn't stay with them.

"Yabbie Creek Police, Watson speaking" came the voice through the phone.

"Yeah, hi, it's Kyle Braxton, we've found a homeless kid and guessed we should call you" said Kyle turning his back on the little girl.

"Ok Kyle, thankyou for calling, someone will be round right away to pick up the kid" said Watson putting the phone down. Kyle sighed.

"Well?" asked Casey.

"They're coming to get her" said Kyle, guilt flashing through him.

He knew exactly what it felt like to have no one and then be ripped away from someone you had just started to trust. He needed to talk to Brax. If there was a way they could keep Gabrielle with them, then he would know how.

Note: I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. Wait, scrap that, I'm extremely unhappy with the way this has turned out but I couldn't get it written any other way. I hope you liked it still.

Thankyou for the answers on the Darcy question, I'm still thinking of an age for her for this story but your ideas really helped!

Thanks again to all readers, reviewers and followers!

~Brani