Hey guys. I'll let you get to the chapter but first I'd just like to say a few words.

As some of you may know. 2015 ended up a really rough year to me. Things just kept on going on and on and during some whiles I barely knew up from down or left from right. During short whiles I thought I was pretty sure that things weren't going to get better- but I was wrong, and they did.

But for me to take all the credit would be wrong. Because I wasn't alone. And one of the things that would help me go on and helped for it to get better that was a light even in the very darkest of times was fanfiction. And so also you people on here. So if you were there during 2015. Even if it was just a short review, a favorite mark or a follow, even if you just read it you were all a part in what made it all get better.

So to you- yeah, you who are reading this. Thank you. I could never have gotten through things without you.

I am so, so sorry for not updating for so long. But honestly, even though it got better and everything wasn't bad. Life has just been crazy around here and I've had a mad writer's block. Anyways, here I am with a new chapter. So, without any further ado…

Lizanne Fields

The worst thing about having a brother named Romeo. Was that no one would ever believe you!

And no one ever believed in Lizanne Fields. Not in any way

For the moment twelve year old Lizanne sat on the bed in her room, on top of the Cinderella covers, Indian style and the sketchpad opened over her legs. By her on the covers laid a carton pack of the simple wooden crayons you can get from school, and by it laid the crayons spread over the sheets. And so far, Lizanne was very unaware of what happened in the very same house as she was in right now.

On the paper sheet a girl was appearing, a girl not very unlike Lizanne herself with the light colored skin and the blonde hair. But it wasn't the body, skin or hair color- not even the face that was important. It was only sketched- unlike the clothes the girl was wearing in pale pink, blue and green.

Lizanne loved clothes, she wished she could have had more. But her mother was an alone parent, working as a cleaner and even though Lizanne's older brother worked in a fast-food-restaurant there was just never enough money to support more than what was needed. Which would usually end up with jeans and a baggy shirt from some other second hand shop- again!

Lizanne sighed while she looked down on her men's jeans and grey hoodie. Both of which were way too big for her, and the jeans had once belonged to her brother. Actually, Lizanne was pretty sure that the hoodie had belonged to a friend of his, and the ugly, ragged sneakers came from the Red Cross second hand store. So, in other words- there wasn't a single thing that Lizanne had or was wearing that hadn't belonged to someone else before she had it.

Lizanne sighed and looked down into her sketch bed continuing to draw, and she barely even reacted when she heard the front door of the house open and close, then moving and footsteps as someone came down the hallway to her room.

"Hey Liz." Lizanne didn't look up until she heard his voice and looked to him casually leaning against the door frame. With the hands shoved into his pockets and that half smile and brown hair falling into his eyes- both of which would wrap any girl around his little finger, including their mother.

"Don't call me Liz- Ro!" He gave a short chuckle and stood up, pulled his hands out of his pocket and pushed his fringe aside when he came to sit down on the bed and looked down into Lizanne's sketchpad.

"I will stop calling you Liz when you stop calling me Ro." Romeo smiled down towards the sketching. "This one's good. You're getting better." Lizanne hid a smile while looking down on the girl in a jeans jacket, cargo green slim pants and pale pink tank top- she would have done anything to be able to dress like that. Even just for a day, and for a second she had dreamed away. "I know." Romeo patted her shoulder and smiled forcedly. "I wish I could give it all to you too… But I'm doing my best and so is mum. And you know that's a lot better than any clothes or makeup…" Romeo peered towards his little sister with a slight smile. "Speaking of mum. Where is she? She can't still be asleep can she?"

Lizanne shrugged, but Romeo had already turned his back against her and was on his way out of the room. And during the next few seconds Lizanne couldn't help but wonder about what her brother had just asked. It was for certain true that Marie Fields would often work nights and sleep during the days, but she would always be awake when Lizanne came home from school. But today Lizanne hadn't seen or even heard anything from her mum, and now when she thought about it that would be quite worrying.

"LIZ. LIZ. CALL 999 NOW!"

Lizanne could barely understand the words. Even though they were perfectly clearly spoken as Romeo had shouted at the top of his lungs. So Lizanne didn't call 999. But barely getting anything else than that this would be bad- very bad she threw her things to the side and sprinted to the bathroom from which Romeo's shout had come.

Maybe Lizanne was too young and still naïve to really know everything behind the sight she meet in the bathroom. Too old to understand that her mother had thrown up, gotten vomit all in the sink, on the floor and therefore in her hair when she'd fallen- but not quite old enough to understand what had come to it. Old enough to understand the pill box that laid by her mother's hand with small, white pills spread over the floor- but too little to know what they were for- too little to know why her mother, or any other person would want or try to end their own life.

She might not have been able to understand what had led to all of it. But she did understand the sirens of the ambulance, her mother's limp frame. She did understand the sound in the paramedics' voices and the words 'it might be too little too late. But we're doing our best'. And she did understand her brother lifting her up, and then carried her to his car before she, without a seatbelt was more or less thrown back and forth in the back seat as Romeo hit the gas to keep the ambulance within sight.

Lizanne didn't know how much later it was. But she could barely breathe where she had been sat in the hard plastic chair in the hospital hallway. Marie had been taken into a room from which nurses and doctors were running in and out with God knows what sort of stuff. And Lizanne wanted nothing more than to know what on earth was going on. Meanwhile, Romeo wanted nothing more than to have forgotten all about it- it had gotten too hard and where he stood just around the corner where Lizanne couldn't see him. His body was shaking beyond control and he couldn't even think clearly.

"Excuse me." Romeo was pulled back to reality and opened his eyes when he heard a nurse's voice call out for him. "Are you alright?" He forced a nod, but it would have taken a both deaf and blind person to believe him because you could barely see the nod with his already shaking head. Romeo had never experienced anything like this panic and he sunk down onto the floor not even noticing what was happening around him.

"Excuse me." The young nurse had kneeled beside him, and Romeo did- but barely look up. "Are you here with her?" She nodded to the room Marie had been taken into and Romeo gave another barely noticeable nod. "Are you her son?" Another nod. "My name is Colette. Come with me." At first it wasn't possible, but with one of Colette's hands under his arm and the other on his back they slowly and unsteadily moved into an examine room where Romeo sunk down on a bed. And soon he was beyond all self-control, while the intern Colette couldn't have known what to do or what was happening to save a life.

Romeo had crouched over and in that move fallen down all along from the bed and now laid curled up on the floor with his head in his hands. To the nurse Colette the trembling blonde seemed so tiny and fragile it could have shattered her heart into pieces. No less could the only words whimpered from his lips do.

"It's all my fault."

"No it's not."

Colette could even hear herself how incredibly lame that sounded. But what else could she have said? She had wanted to take away the pain from the still trembling young man, and she had said everything she could. So at last, after God knows how long of hesitating she walked over and kneeled down far enough to reach out her hand and lay it on his back.

Romeo flinched, but didn't try to get away from the young nurse's touch. And while she started rubbing his back and shushed gently slowly his body went into some other kind of trembling. Instead of uncontrollably of all the feelings roaring up inside of him to exhaustion of the trembling of the muscles and the mind.

"It's all my fault."

As Romeo was left on his side on the floor finally not trembling he was still turned away from Colette and the rest of the hospital room. But as the same words as before fell over his lips it wasn't in the same whimpering tone as before. But it couldn't have broken Colette's heart more, and the helplessness was thick in his voice.

"No it's not. You did your best."

The room fell silent. There were still sounds coming from outside the room of doctors and nurses and God knows everyone running back and forth in the hallway, a man somewhere far away shouting for help and an alarm going off. But still in that one room it seemed so silent if anyone would have dropped a feather Colette and Romeo could have heard it as it hit the floor.

Romeo finally got himself together in the very slightest and pushed himself up into sitting position. Colette still hadn't left his side and neither did she as she moved and then sat next to him with their backs against the hard, cold metal frame of the bed.

"I never told anyone…" Romeo's voice had lost it helplessness but now sounded dry and callous. "…I can't do it now. I've got to go check on Lizanne and you have to get back to work." He tried to stand up but Colette pulled him down again and didn't let the words wait for anything

"Don't worry. They can do without me and there's somebody there to care for your sister… I noticed you two together when you came in. I know you wouldn't want to tell us or anybody else. But for someone to be able to help your mother or even your little sister they need to know what's going on. I noticed everything about you in the last few minutes and there would take a person both blind and deaf not to have noticed how much you have tried to protect your sister. But it's okay. And you're not supposed to be carrying that responsibility by yourself … so if you can't tell anyone for yourself… do it for your sister and give us a chance to help you all."

Romeo sighed and glanced to Colette. Still hesitating he put his head in his hands and before sitting up he had rubbed his forehead several times just to save some time. He did know that sooner or later he would have to tell. And that would have to be sooner to help his family. So without letting himself hesitate any longer, Romeo took a deep breath in and started telling.

"I tried to keep it from my sister with everything that I had…"

With the first sentence Romeo made a short pause in between almost every word. Although, after that one bit everything came almost all at once. He had noticed his mum getting more and more ill. He had never asked her about it but still tried with everything that he had to make her better. Although it just kept on getting worse and worse on a faster and faster pace until today.

"…And I shouted at her to call for an ambulance but she came and she saw and…" When Romeo came to the last part of what had happened earlier today. "…And I couldn't keep it from her any longer." He sighed and leaned his head backwards before he finally pulled himself up from the floor and headed for the door while Colette was left there on the floor not knowing what else to do. "I have to go see where my sister is."

Without any further ado Romeo walked out the room without turning back, and therefore wouldn't have known that Colette had taken another way into the room in which Marie was fighting for her life to tell the doctor what Romeo had told her. She honestly didn't want to, wanted to think that Romeo could have trusted her. But with the job she had she knew she had to and Romeo was still unaware of how it would all end until he sat down in a plastic chair in the hallway next to his very much beloved little sister.

"Hey Liz."

"Hey Ro." Lizanne greeted back. "Do you know where mum is? I think she's in there but they won't let me see…" Lizanne pointed to the door. "…I saw them…" She interrupted herself in the middle of a sentence when the door opened and a doctor and a nurse came out and came straight over to the siblings. "Is my mum in there? Will she be okay? Why won't you let me see?"

"Your mother…" The doctor started to interrupt Lizanne's babbling. "…is going to be alright." Romeo pulled for his breath and Lizanne let a small smile form on her lips- maybe because she hadn't fully understood how bad it had really been. "However, she is very ill. Mentally ill, and without going into detail. She will have to stay in this hospital. Although in another part of it to get back to mental health. She's unconscious and it will be a good while before it would be possible for you to come in and see her. Mr. Fields." The doctor turned to Romeo. "Will you come with me?"

"Yes, of course." Romeo stood up and followed the doctor into a room to the side. His heart dunking hard in his chest- what was this? Had something gotten worse? Would his mother ever walk out of this hospital again? And as he waited for the doctor to start he could barely breathe. "What were you thinking about?"

"I'm going to talk to you right out and clear. You are old enough to hear and understand. I guess…" The doctor said. "…That you won't be able to support your little sister enough for being her legal guardian. After all we might not know how long your mother will be stuck in this place. Even though we don't like it. And maybe you should consider your options. Do you have a father or any other relatives that could care for your sister? Or do you want us to help you find a professional… we'll leave you to it."

The doctor left the room and Romeo slumped down into one of the chairs in the room. He had never had thoughts spinning in his head in that way before. But no matter how much he tried to think of one crazy solution to all of this he knew that there was no dad and no relatives. That he wouldn't be able to just take Lizanne and run away, and if he lived with Lizanne only. They would soon be so broke they would end up on the street. So at last after almost two hours of trying to think of a solution, Romeo stood up with a deep, heartbroken sigh and walked up to the reception where the doctor stood.

"I think that Liz would be better off with some professional. But you should probably do it fast. Or I might change my mind and do something very foolish and stupid. Getting the both of us into even more trouble."

The doctor raised an eyebrow, but Romeo was grateful that he didn't ask anything. He just patted the younger's shoulder and without another word left to make some whatever phone calls. And as he came back and told Romeo Fields that it would only be about half an hour until someone came to get Lizanne, Romeo forced himself to keep himself together and after much doubt and hesitation. Went to sit down next to Lizanne in the hallway barely five minutes before Lizanne had to leave.

"Liz…" Romeo had meant to start off with more. But couldn't find the right words, he only sighed and it was with his voice shaking he forced himself to start over. "Liz…" But also this time his words failed him and before he found the words to continue Lizanne looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Ro…"

"Liz…" When Lizanne called him by that silly nickname his mind seemed to clear up a little bit. "You know… Mum's going to live here at the hospital for a while. And you can't live on your own…"

"But I won't. I'll be with you."

"No, Liz. The thing is… You can't live with m…"

In the middle of a word Romeo stopped. Seeing Colette coming down the hallway with a man. It could have been anyone, but the man- big grown and seeming angry made shivers go through his whole body and right away he just knew that it wasn't just any man. That it was the man who had come to take Romeo's sister away from him. And when Colette and the man stopped, he didn't let wait for making his voice heard.

"Hi. I'm Dennis. I'm a care worker at Burneywood. Social workers are supposed to come and get you but there wasn't one to do it so here I am. You are coming with me. And from today on you'll be living with me and too many other kids. Got it?" Dennis expression seemed cold and hard as stone and made shivers go through her spine. "Come on kid. We haven't got all day."

"Please…" Frightened to death Lizanne looked up to her brother. "…I don't want to go. We need to go home- just you and I and mum. Yeah, just us. Don't make me go with him, please. Please Romeo. Please."

"You know Liz." Romeo sat down next to her. "Mum's been very ill. Not the kind where you get a cough or a stuffed nose but she was really ill. In her brain. But like when you have a cold she can get better but for that she needs to stay at the hospital okay? And while she does that you and I can't be together anymore. But I will come back I promise. And no matter what happens I will always love you… okay?"

"Can't we stay with mum?" Romeo couldn't respond to the given up and weak tone in his sister's voice and tried to fight back the tears as he had to shake his head. "But then we need to stay together. I want us to stay together. You're the only one who's ever believed in me, you and mum are the only ones who ever loved me- and I'm not sure mum did anyway… Don't you love me now?"

"I do. I love you more than ever and I know mum does too so don't you ever doubt that. But I'm sorry Liz." Lizanne could feel warm, salt tears welling up in her eyes as Romeo stood up from the chair and then kneeled to reach her height and took her cold hands in his warm. "I wish it could have been different but… I can't care for you. And you have no idea how badly I want to do it but… I'll make sure we can still see each other, and I'll send you a check with money. Every month and…"

"Alright, alright." Dennis grabbed Lizanne by the arm so hard it hurt. "Enough with the sob story. I wasn't supposed to come and get you in the first place- that is not my job and I've got one to get back to. Now you come with me." Dennis pulled Lizanne with him, there was nothing neither Lizanne nor Romeo could do about it to this point and at the very last glance of her brother's face before the doors closed behind herself and Dennis Lizanne could have screamed.

But she didn't scream, she didn't say a word. Not right then or for two more days until she sat on her new bed in her new room with all of her clothes and things gotten, unpacked and spread on the floor. It wasn't much for the world, but with her sketchpad right next to her, a scissor. And God knows everything Romeo had collected from their old place and brought here there sure was more than Lizanne would have ever thought she had. She lifted up a silly floral patterned shirt that had been way too small for ages anyway and cut one of the sleeves off. By now nothing could have stopped her.

Lizanne reached for a simple, white tank top and then cut the other sleeve off. On the back of the patterned shirt she cut a heart shaped hole and when she looked herself in the bathroom mirror five minutes later it didn't look to bad with the tank top under it. Damn it! Why wouldn't she have done this years ago?

But as Lizanne stood still and looked herself right into the eyes in the mirror, she knew exactly why. But she also knew- like so many others before her that this was the time to change from what had been. This was the time to show that she was Lizanne Fields. And this was the time for her to believe in herself, for the change that nobody else would expect.

This was the time for her to get people to care!

But how she would do that she wasn't exactly sure of yet.

Random fact

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that it's probably so that Romeo in Lizanne's contact list is some boyfriend or anything like that. But I kind of liked spinning from the idea that Lizanne would have had an older brother- he must have been older since he was going to pick their mum up from the hospital then. And voila!

Next up- Tyler Lewis