TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL ABUSE AND PHYSICAL ABUSE

You won't miss anything if you skip this chapter, I promise. I saw some questions regarding what Edward and Alice had been through, and I wanted to fill in the gaps a bit, especially in regards to James and Victoria.

This is loosely based on my boyfriend's experiences, so the depiction of the abuse and of the foster system in the early 2000s is certainly accurate.

They had moved in with James and Victoria when they were nine years old, after spending the two years after their parents death in separate group homes, and they were celebrating their first birthday together in years.

Edward leaned over his twin and kissed her on the forehead. His coppery hair was getting long as it hadn't been cut in months, so it tickled Alice's nose. She sneezed, then giggled, and Edward couldn't help but smile at the sound. It had been so long since he had heard her laugh, and it truly made everything worth it. Edward sighed, and pulled out what he had been holding behind his back. Alice shot up in bed and bounced, grabbing at her present, but Edward laughed and held the newspaper wrapped package over his head to where she could not reach.

In the excitement, she let out a little shriek, then they both froze, listening intently for footsteps. Edward pressed his pointer finger to his lips, indicating they should both be quiet.

They paused for several moments, waiting to hear either the heavy pounding of James' boots or the Victoria's soft steps. But the silence persisted, and Alice delicately slid her finger through the newspaper wrapping, careful to avoid any loud tearing, revealing a notebook with thick, blank pages perfect for drawing.

It took all she had for Alice to contain the squeal of delight she was holding in. She ran her hand over the rough cover of the book, picturing all the drawings she would fill it with. Still holding onto the book, she threw her arms around her twin brother and kissed his flushed cheek softly.

"I didn't get you anything," She whispered softly, now feeling bad for neglecting their shared birthday. When they were younger, when their parents were still alive, they always had birthday parties and celebrations with gifts and cake, but Alice had always been centerstage, even then. Their mother had always had that Alice had a loud personality and enjoyed being in the spotlight, while Edward was content with staying in the corner, a quiet observer in his own life.

He shrugged off her apology, not expecting a gift from his sister, and not upset by the lack of one.

Alice hugged him again, tightly, so much so that he had trouble breathing for a second. They pulled back, and as Edward looked at his twin in the soft lighting of the small lamp in the corner of their room, he saw how truly alike they looked. They had their mother's green eyes, their father's unruly hair, though different colours, their mother's high cheekbones and long lashes. She was his other half- the only person on the planet who had always been consistent and present.

Two years prior, their father had passed away after a short fight with a terrible illness. He had been a banker, and a prominent member of the community who had always provided for his wife and children. With his death, his wife Elizabeth was left with some money, but most of their worth had gone to fighting his illness. The money was gone quickly while they tried to maintain their lifestyle, and their mother, who was kind and wonderful but with few marketable skills, was forced to work multiple jobs to support her two young children. One could argue that she worked herself to death, and, with no living family, her seven year old twins were left to the system.

And so they ended up with James and Victoria, celebrating their tenth birthday quietly and in secret. Alice placed her new notebook under her pillow, careful to keep it obscured and out of the way. If Victoria saw her with anything so nice, she'd likely accuse them of stealing money from them to pay for it, and nothing good could come of that.

Edward settled onto his mattress on the floor, though it was more of a mat than a mattress for all the comfort and support it provided. He was positioned carefully, directly parallel to Alice's bed, right in the path between her and the door. He reached over to unplug the lamp, obscuring the room in absolute darkness, and searched for Alice's hand dangling off her bed. Her hand was cold and small, and he squeezed it tightly. His heart was thumping now, and he shut his eyes to prevent the tears from forming.

Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes ticked into hours. Edward had barely drifted off, and Alice was dead asleep, when he heard it. The stomping of James' boots in the hallway.

Edward could hear everything in the completely silent room. He could almost see James in the kitchen, clomping around in his big work boots as he popped open another beer and chugged it down. He could hear James slip off his boots and drop them on the floor haphazardly, shuffling around in his sweaty socks before he walked down the hallway. Edward's heart felt like it was in his throat now, thrashing in his ears, and the tears poured down his cheeks.

The door creaked open, illuminating James' silhouette in soft, ominous blue light cast by the refrigerator. The door closed behind him, leaving the room in absolute darkness again. James shuffled about, trying to find his bearings as he walked across the room. Edward braced himself, trying to contain his shuddering sob. James made his way towards Alice, but didn't- couldn't- see Edward on the ground in front of her, and he tripped over Edward, landing on top of the boy as he couldn't maintain his balance in a drunken stupor.

It was always like that. Any time James came home drunk, which was most nights a week, he would come into the room for Alice, and end up writhing on top of Edward.

Victoria usually stayed out of the way, only occasionally stepping in to participate in, not stop, the abuse.

James liked when Edward tried to fight back. He liked when he resisted and tried to hit him with the soft blows of a pre-pubescent child. When Edward began to lay still and let James do whatever he wanted, James grew angry.

And when James grew angry, he would hurt Alice.

So Edward thrashed against him every night, muffling his screams as his vision blurred with burning tears. Alice would huddle in her tiny bed, covering her eyes as she was forced to sit idly by as her brother was tortured.

They were freshmen in high school by the time someone realized what had been happening, when Edward came to school with cigarette burns on his arm and a teacher reported it.

Edward and Alice stayed at school that afternoon, not allowed to return home as the police went to arrest their foster parents. They sat on the steps of the school with a CPS agent and two police officers, crying and recounting what had been happening.

Edward was terrified. James had promised that he would kill them if they ever told, and Edward intuitively knew that he meant it.

The sun was going down before one of the police officers received a call on his radio. James and Victoria were gone, and they had left no trace. Police were combing through the neighborhood, but no one had found them, and James hadn't been into work that day.

They were moved to separate group homes several miles away from one another, leaving them in different school districts and only one day a week to see each other.

Edward rarely slept or ate, distressed and traumatized. When he did sleep, his dreams were nightmares of blood and pain, and he knew his roommate couldn't stand him, though the boy hardly said two words to him.

He was turning to skin-and-bones after only two months in the group home. The house parent took pity on him, seeing a boy more troubled than most foster kids, which was difficult to be in such an awful and dangerous system.

It took a while, but Edward's house parent was able to reach out to a foster home in Port Angeles and, after a lot of convincing and promising that Edward was no trouble, and with Alice's own house parent assuring them that Alice was a polite and nice little girl, the foster parents accepted them.

The foster home was crowded but clean, and they got enough food and were able to go to school together. One of the biological kids of their foster parents had a keyboard, and he showed Edward how to play nursery songs to keep the little kids entertained.

It was the content little house where Edward and Alice celebrated their fifteenth birthday.

A June birthday meant no school, but being foster kids, they also didn't get presents. Their foster mom did bake them a cake, strawberry with chocolate frosting, and both Alice and Edward were able to blow out one candle.

All the kids gathered around the table, chattering and stuffing their faces with cake. Alice managed to get chocolate frosting on her nose, and when Edward pointed it out, she dipped her finger in her cake and smudged frosting on Edward's.

"There," she said with a smile, "Now we match."

Edward led Alice into the living room and pulled out the old keyboard, plugging it in. The little kids ran to the living and sat in front of Edward, always excited when he pulled out the keyboard and played them music. They didn't have a TV, and Edward's playing was often the only entertainment at night.

He started off with Yankee Doodle, all the kids singing along, and then to Hot Cross Buns, and Mary Had a Little Lamb. Looking at Alice, he transitioned to a new piece, one he had written for her as a birthday present.

It was a light and happy tune, not totally layered or completely finished because he so rarely had the chance to practice, and he couldn't read music so he couldn't write it down.

His foster siblings wanted something to sing along to, so he went straight from Alice's song to another nursery song, all the while staring at Alice. She had tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, completely touched that her brother would create something so beautiful, especially for her.

She walked behind him and hugged him tightly before giving him a kiss on the cheek and leaving Edward with the children.

He was just finishing up Twinkle Twinkle, two of the kids asleep and the other yawning, when a gut-wrenching scream came from outside.

Edward shot up and ran outside, the keyboard falling onto one of the kids in his haste. He threw open the door and saw him there.

James.

Alice was on her back, two garbage bags next to her as she had just been taking out the trash. James was standing over her, trying to grab her arm as she struggled.

Edward felt a rush of adrenaline and pure terror. He didn't know how James had found them, how long he had been watching them. Without thought, he ran as fast as he could to them.

Everything happened in just a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity to Edward. His heart was racing, pounding in his ears so hard that he thought it might give out.

Edward tackled James, successfully pulling his grip from Alice, and pushed him to the ground. Edward landed on top of him and started punching, fists flying as he pounded and pounded.

It was the smell that made him hesitate.

Most nights, James came in the dark, so Edward couldn't see him. But he could always smell him. James smelled like beer, and urine, and hate, and it clouded Edward's mind in the moment.

His fist faltered. James's face was bloodied, but he was grinning widely. They were still for a moment, Edward on top of James with his fist clenched and cocked, then James opened his mouth and licked the blood on his lips that had gushed down from a broken nose.

With Edward stunned and stopped, James was able to sit up and roll Edward over, snapping him out of his stupor. With a quick blow, he broke Edward's nose, pushed up off of him, and ran down the street, fading into the dark.

"Edward? Edward oh my god are you okay? Edward?" Alice crawled over to Edward and shook him by the shoulders. His eyes were open but glassy, and his nose was skewed to his right and bloodied. He reached up to wipe the blood from Alice's forehead- a gash from where James knocked her over the head before trying to drag her off.

The police came but it was too little too late. James had disappeared, and the police had no idea how he had found Edward and Alice.

Edward and Alice were separated again. Their foster parents said it was too much trouble, they couldn't risk the safety of the other kids, and no other foster parent in the area would take them in after that.

That very night of their fifteenth birthday, Edward and Alice threw the few things they owned into a trash bag, and were taken off to a temporary foster parent.

She was a nice enough woman, but because of the events of the night, she had to lock them in their rooms. They had to knock on the wall to wake her up if they needed to use the bathroom in the night, and there were bars on the windows.

They were only there for a few nights before being separated into secure group homes, they kind kids were sent to after being released from juvenile detention., School was in summer break, and visiting day was only once a month, so Edward and Alice rarely saw each other. They were only allowed to call one another once a week, and time was otherwise spent doing chores around the house to maintain visiting and phone privileges.

They had been in these group homes for three months when it happened again. They had started school two weeks before, and were relishing in seeing each other again, in being able to spend so much time together. Both Edward and Alice cried the whole first week when they saw each other in the morning before homeroom.

It was phone day, so Edward waited in the dining room, pretending to do his homework. He was the only one in the house who regularly received a call since one of the other boys broke up with his very devoted girlfriend- a fact that made the other boys in the house very angry and made Edward the target of harassment and bullying every time the house parent's back was turned.

The phone rang, and Edward jumped up and waited by the kitchen door to be called in. His house parent answered the phone and confirmed it was for Edward, checked the list to make sure Edward had his phone privileges, and passed it off to him.

"Edward?" Alice's voice was thick with tears. "Edward, please."

His heart stopped. He knew it. He knew something would happen. Edward had devoted so much of his life to protecting Alice, to making sure nothing bad happened to her, and now that he wasn't there something happened.

"Alice, what's g-g-going o-on?"

"I saw her, Edward. I saw her."

Edward knew who she was talking about. Victoria. He knew something would happen.

"Where?" He demanded, already formulating a plan to make sure Alice was safe.

"I had free time today, I just walked to the library and back! That's all! It's two blocks away, so I didn't think it would be a problem, but she was right there, in the library. At first, I thought it was just a random lady with red hair, that I was overthinking, but she stood in line behind me when I checked a book out, and I turned around and she was there, smiling at me. I dropped the book and ran as fast as I could home." Alice was sobbing into the phone, and Edward felt a piece of himself breaking.

"I'll b-b-be r-right th-there. I l-love you," Edward promised before hanging up the phone.

He wasn't allowed out. He knew that. Alice knew that. But a line had been drawn and someone he knew to be dangerous was actively threatening the only person in the world he loved, so he had to do something.

He walked up to his room casually. His roommate wasn't there- group therapy was scheduled for half the house, and the other half had free time. That meant that his house parent was occupied too.

He moved quickly, stuffing his clothes into an old garbage bag, then blankets and his toothbrush and toothpaste into another.

He looked around outside. It was cloudy but not raining yet, but no one was in the front yard and it didn't look like anyone was walking around the neighborhood. Quietly, he opened the window, stopping and listening for someone coming when the window shrieked. It was never opened because opening windows wasn't allowed, but he was just grateful that bars weren't on the window.

The bags landed on the frail little bushes in the front of the house, miraculously without a rip.

Edward walked downstairs quietly. Only half the boys were in group together, the five other boys were bound to be around somewhere. But they were the well-behaved group, the ones with outside privileges and actual free time. Edward knew three of them weren't home at all- two secretly off with girlfriends, the other god only knew where.

One was in front of the TV, taking advantage of being unsupervised by watching MTV.

Edward looked around but didn't see anyone. He slipped into the kitchen and started stuffing his pockets with everything he could find- granola bars, bagels, fruit snacks.

The boy on the couch looked up at Edward as he walked out the front door, but didn't say a word, his eyes returning to watch the debauchery on television. Edward sighed and quietly closed the door behind him.

They would notice he was gone in less than an hour. He knew he had to get out of there. He zipped his coat up to his neck, hoisted his bags over his shoulder, and walked away without a second glance.

He slept mostly in the park down the street from Alice's group home, but had to run and find a quiet alley when the police would sweep through the park. But he was always able to keep a watchful eye over Alice. He walked with her when she went outside or to the library, he kept an eye on her when she was at school, and he vowed to never let anything bad ever happen to her again.

Alice slipped him food when she could, but he mostly relied on food from the dumpster behind the grocery store, and an incredibly magnanimous restaurant owner who would give him the night's leftovers. It only got bad when winter came.

He had been on the street for three months when the first snow fell. He supposed he was lucky that true cold came late that year, just before Christmas. A few blankets did little to guard him from freezing. Alice brought him as many sweaters and socks as she could, and she remained increasingly worried that her brother, in his desperate bid to protect her, was going to die trying.

But he maintained his routine. When he slept, which was infrequent, it was during the day while Alice would be safe inside the group home or in school. At night, he stared at Alice's window, vigilant and determined.

He was picked up on Valentine's Day.

He didn't know what day it was. Days blended together as the months passed- five since he had run away to live on the streets. To protect Alice.

He was on a bench in the park, his head resting on the garbage bag with his clothes, his blankets piled on top of him. He never slept deeply anymore, but when Alice was in school, he tried to rest before going to school to take the bus back with her.

He didn't know it was Valentine's Day, though. That meant more people than normal in the park- people with young kids not in school, elderly couples, couples who had taken the day off to spend together. And someone called the police.

They took him to the police station first. He knew it was pointless to resist, and he couldn't outrun them as he had done once before, so he handed his bag and blankets to one police officer as the other escorted him to the back of the cop car.

But 3 o'clock came as the police officer was arranging for a social worker to pick Edward up and find him a new placement, and Edward was consumed with getting back to Alice.

What if something happens today? What if they know that I'm gone, and they've been waiting? Alice needs to know I'm not there, please, someone help her, let me help her.

He was screaming, sobbing, thrashing against the person holding him down. He needed to leave, to get back to Alice. He would die if anything happened to her.

He was inconsolable and not understandable.

They took him to the hospital.

He was immediately sedated and admitted for dehydration, malnourishment, and exhaustion. The next three days were the first time Edward had truly, deeply slept since his parents died.

When he woke up, he had an IV on one arm and a nasal cannula pushing in oxygen. A social worker he had never seen before was sitting next to him, and a police officer was standing at the foot of his bed.

"Where's Alice?" he mumbled, voice gravelly and dry.

"She's okay, Edward," the social worker said softly, reaching over to touch his hand. He would've pulled away if he could, but his bones felt like liquid.

"There was an… incident, though." The police officer said, pulling out a notepad from his coat pocket. With every bit of energy he could muster, he sat up, trying to pull the needle from his arm. He needed to get out of there, he needed to be with Alice.

The social worker pushed him back in bed, which wasn't difficult because he couldn't exactly fight back.

"She really is okay, Edward. She's in the waiting room right now and you can see her in a moment, but this officer needs to ask you a few questions first." Edward settled back and tried to blink the days of sleep out of his eyes, lids still heavy and fighting back.

The officer asked about James and Victoria, then about when James attacked Alice, both of which he was just confirming details in the official record. They had spoken to the police after they were removed from James and Victoria's care, and again after James showed up again.

Then the officer asked about the events that led to Edward running away. Victoria showing up, terrifying Alice, the powerlessness Edward felt as the system continuously failed to protect them. He said he understood why Edward did what he did, that he wasn't in any trouble.

Edward felt a little relief. Running away was common in the foster system, but if the kid was caught, there was always some type of punishment- a stricter home, a lockdown group home, even juvie. And it made it harder to find a placement because no foster parent wanted a runaway.

"Yesterday, James attempted to kidnap Alice. He broke into the group home in the middle of the night. He didn't touch her. The woman who runs the group home had a gun and chased him out of the house. She said he got in a car with a redheaded woman, Victoria, driving, and she got a look at the plates. We haven't been able to find them, but we're looking."

Edward didn't move, didn't speak. But he knew it. He knew it would happen. He knew they were watching them, he could feel it in his bones, and they came for her.

"Why don't you let his sister come in now?" the social worker asked softly. He stuck his head out the door, and in just a moment, she was there.

She looked as exhausted as Edward felt, but other than that she didn't look physically hurt, her dark hair was sticking up in every direction, there were dark circles under the large green eyes that matched Edward's- the only distinctive feature that marked them as twins.

"Edward," Alice sighed, looking at her brother in a hospital bed- think, weak, with a needle in his arm.

She climbed into bed with him, wrapping an arm around his torso and resting her head on his shoulder. He hugged her as tightly as he could and rubbed his hand on her back.

"Are y-you o-okay?" He was studying her skin, searching for bruising or any signs that James had touched her.

"I'm okay. He didn't get near me," Alice reassured.

"I am so sorry for everything you two have been through," the social worker started, pushing her chair back so they could both see her while lying in the small hospital bed.

Alice was angry. Her brother almost died because the system had failed them so many times, and all she could do was say sorry. But Edward, he was just happy to have Alice in his arms again, safe and unharmed, and he didn't want to think about what came next.

"We've had to get a little creative, but this is an extreme circumstance," the social worker pulled out a manila folder from her briefcase, likely their case file, "James and Victoria somehow keep finding you, and they obviously don't plan to stop. We need to make sure you two are in a safe environment, and I don't want to separate you. So we've found a police officer, police chief, actually, to take you in. This is a permanent placement, and he lives over in Forks, so you'll be over an hour away."

Alice heard as Edward's heart picked up, and Edward knew exactly what Alice was thinking because it was the same thing he was thinking- could this be it?

After almost a decade of separation, unease, abuse, and violence, could this- a permanent placement, the best thing for a foster kid after adoption- be the end of the terror?