After Brooklyn got up to talk to Cara and Robbie, Nick moved from his chair and rummaged through his backpack. He wanted to smoke but doubted that it would be a pleasant experience with a freshly split lip, so instead he grabbed a nearly empty bottle of Jameson's and took a swig of the whiskey. Finn had given it to Brooklyn a few days back, claiming that it was his favorite brand of Irish whiskey and that they needed to start drinking "quality" liquor.

Drinking the alcohol wasn't the most pleasant experience either, because as soon as the liquid hit the open cut, it began to burn. The physical pain was enough to distract him from the emotional distress that Nick had started feeling after replaying what had just went down, though, so he took a few more gulps of it. However, it wasn't long before the thoughts came flushing back into his mind.

What a fucking inconsiderate prick. Who does that kid think he is?! I could have left him for dead out there. I should have. Maybe it was wrong to say that I should have killed him, but I know I should have at least left him out there on the streets to make his own way or get killed by someone else in the process. I let him be a cockblock for years when it was just me and Brooklyn and this is how he repays me? By messing my fucking lip up and embarrassing me in front of everyone? I'm going to fucking kill that kid the next time I see him.

The bottle soon emptied and after searching through the rest of their bags, Nick realized that they were out of alcohol. He knew he'd get a buzz off of the whiskey that he just drank but that wasn't going to be enough to get him through the night, especially if Brooklyn was going to be gone at work. After stuffing the empty bottle into the same bag as his blood stained napkins, he grabbed them and his backpack and headed towards the door.

"I'm going to pick some shit up," he said, glancing back at Brooklyn before leaving. The air was brisker than it had been earlier, but was still considerably warm compared to how cool it had been a month or two back at this time. He dumped his trash in the first garbage bag he passed and walked aimlessly for a few blocks, unsure if he wanted to just grab some booze at a convenience store or go to a bar and drink there.

As soon as Brooklyn mentioned Hailey being on the roof Holly left their presence. Cara said something about how they were hanging out and turned to Robbie questioning his looks. He stepped back and looked down at himself "What?"

A sly grin came across Robbie’s face, not really knowing how to answer that. Rubbing a hand threw his hair he thought about what he could say. He had no recollection of what occurred last night and no guesses either but somehow ended up in an alleyway with new clothes and money when normally the opposite would happen. Tonguing his split lip he said “I woke up in an alleyway. Must have blacked out at some point last night, cuz I don't remember anything.” Gesturing to the cheap pair of black sunglasses on his face "Had to pick up some sunglasses. My eyes were super sensitive and don't get me started on how loud everything was."

Snapping his fingers he made his way to his area as Holly returned from the roof with Hailey. “That’s actually what I was gonna ask..before...ya’know.” He mumbled nodding towards Nick and the exit hoping they understood that it meant Killens. “I don’t know what I did last night,”he stripped off the shirt, neatly folding it and placing it in his duffel bag “I hate not knowing.” he added putting on a brown t-shirt.

Robbie crossed his arms and leaned up against a support that was next to his mattress "It was really just a regular morning." he joked.

Cara explained that she had spent the day with Holly, which made sense when Brooklyn remember Hailey running in alone earlier. "And you survived?" Brooklyn joked, although her face remained serious as she poked fun at the idea of anyone being able to last that long alone with Holly. It was known by nearly everyone in the warehouse that she couldn't, but then again, Cara was a lot different than she was. Only a few seconds after speaking, the twins came down from the roof and Holly appeared to be surprisingly lifeless as she made her way to her bed without making an annoying and unnecessary comment or question.

She glanced back at Nick, who was shuffling through his bag, and nodded to Cara when she silently questioned whether he was okay. Obviously he was upset and angry but Brooklyn knew that he would get over it without anyone's help. Even Brooklyn didn't have much advice to give him, and she knew that no one who knew him any less than her could solve this either.

When Cara and Robbie started talking about what Robbie had spent the night doing, Brooklyn turned back to watch Nick. He chugged the remainders of a bottle of whiskey that Finn had gifted them before getting up, giving a lame excuse about having to "pick some shit up", and leaving. She didn't know where he was going but only hoped that Killens had actually left and wasn't sitting in the alleyway or any of the surrounding blocks. The last thing that she wanted was for the two of them to run into each other in public, where the cops would be the ones breaking them up.

"Speaking of the devil," Brooklyn said loudly, her eyes following Hailey as she walked across the warehouse. "Cara was just telling me how you dumped your sister on her for the day. I found it strange though, since Nick never mentioned him needing you to any far runs and we all know you don't have any friends outside of the warehouse. Well, outside of Holly, actually." She stepped towards Hailey, a taunting smile plastered on her face. "Did you just decide to take a mental health day for yourself? Because we all know how hard it must be for poor Hailey to have to play mommy to her brainless sister every single day," she mocked, her eyes flickering towards Holly who was probably already half asleep on a mattress. "Let me guess... you got your nails done. Wait, don't even tell me! You started working the corners again, didn't you?" she exclaimed, the bitter smile remaining on her face as she poked and prodded at Hailey's dignity, trying to find what would hurt her the most.

It was uncalled for and Brooklyn knew it was wrong, especially with Cara, who was currently a prostitute, standing right there for her last comment. Maybe she was trying to regain her position after Roman lashed out at her, but it was typical for Brooklyn to bully Hailey regularly anyway. She would never call it bullying though because lately, Hailey always seemed to have a snide remark to send right back at her.

Night had nearly when he looked out the window last. The sun had disappeared, leaving only the city's shadows and the cool spring air. A basket of a sad excuse for fries sat in front of him and he munched them mindlessly as he slowly downed his third glass of whiskey. It was an odd combination, but he had the taste for something salty, although these fries were almost as bad as they came. He didn't recall them being this bad, but maybe because when he was here he usually wasn't alone or sober. As the latter began to change, he saw that his food wasn't tasting as bad as it did bland. A twinge of anxiety hit him stomach like a jab once he looked out the window again; he swallowed a fry, taking the lump in his throat along with it. When he was a little kid, he was terrified of the dark. He remember being five years old and sleeping between his parents with the bathroom light on. Then once they thought he was asleep would turn it off, and he'd wake up crying. Roman chuckled inwardly and shook his head. Now he only feared night because of what it meant he had to do.

After some serious consideration, he went to the back where there were two payphones. At first he questioned their functionality but a dial tone greeted him when he picked the phone off the hook. His palms began to sweat and he gripped the phone once more as it rang on the other. A threatening, voice accented with a thick Puerto Rican accent picked up. The conversation was short.

"Hey, Ramel. About tonight..."

On the other side, there was no telling what was going on. There were about a dozen other voices and Ramel shouted in an odd English-Spanish mix, so loudly that even when Roman pulled the phone from his ear he could still hear the man clearly. With divided attention, Ramel called, sounding farther away this time, "Who's on the fucking phone? Tell him he better be there tonight. You know how much money I bet? What the hell does he want?"

A different voice, much younger and about as frightened sounding as Roman felt, repeated a version of what Ramel had said. Roman quietly mumbled a never mind, having second thoughts about his second thoughts, and hung up. The thing about getting bigger on the street was that bigger people bet bigger money on you. It becomes like a turf war until there's just one person that everyone wants to take down. Killens was lucky enough that anyone was still betting on him after his recent play of events. Ramel had made a pretty big bid after getting into a fight with another guy who'd mocked Killens's lack of fight recently. One thing led to another and Roman knew only one thing: if he didn't win, Ramel would lose the money and would come looking for him. "You don't want to end up like my other guy," Ramel had told him once.

Killens reached his spot at the bar and exhaled in exasperation. He stuffed his face with a handful of fries and downed it with the last of his whiskey. When Finn passed, still annoyed with his presence, Roman called him over, asking for another drink. From the look in his eyes it was clear Finn was questioning this. It seemed that even Finn knew him well enough to see that something was off about Killens, and this promptly annoyed him.

"Get me another fucking drink please."

"You should get back and apologize to Nick. Getting drunk won't solve the problem." Finn said. Four, almost five drinks later, and Roman still wasn't in the mood to talk about Nick. It wasn't his fault if he was so sensitive to Brook. He had other things to worry about anyways. Like how the hell he was even going to survive tonight. Roman groaned some as Finn refilled his glass. The buzz was much stronger now, but after what happened on the phone, the nerves were outweighing the alcohol in his veins. "The hell's gotten into you anyway?"

"Hell if I know," Killens said as he took a thick swallow, the burn sending a refreshing flame down his throat.

Cara laughed as Robbie explained his morning. Although it was an amusing story, it was also sad that this was pretty typical for Robbie. He would get blackout drunk or so high on a drug that he would end up on the opposite side of town and no sense of being and wake up the next morning with no recollection of what had happened. Cara worried that one day, he wouldn't wake up. It would be so easy for him to overdose on the drugs or alcohol, or end up being robbed and murdered or accidentally die in some other preventable way.

"Were you just drinking, or was it... more?" she asked, her laugh subsiding as she studied his face. Alcohol was something that she could handle. Everyone besides Holly drank in the warehouse but the drugs scared Cara. Robbie didn't indulge in marijuana or anything that seemed harmless. Cara knew that he was hooked on hard drugs and no matter how many times she lectured him on how his life was worth so much more than the drugs, she was aware that nothing she could say would be enough to break his addiction.

She sat down on the floor next to his mattress and leaned over, grabbing the sunglasses from his head. After examining them for a second, she put them on but took them off a moment later and tossed them to Robbie. "Those are so not Chanel," she said with a giggle, turning to Brooklyn. She opened up her mouth to ask Brooklyn if she still had the pair of designer glasses that she had seen on her a few weeks before, but stopped when she saw that Brooklyn was glaring at Hailey, who had just come down the stairs.

Cara knew what was coming. Brooklyn's personal attacks on Hailey had gotten out of hand lately and this one didn't fall short of being uncalled for either. Her insults ranged from Hailey having no friends, to Holly's absentmindedness and to Hailey's prior involvement in prostitution. Although it was a gig that Cara currently indulged in, she wasn't offended by what Brooklyn said. She had heard that Brooklyn herself had done the same when she first came to the streets and Cara honestly felt little to no shame about what she did.

She nervously glanced towards Hailey, part of her hoping that she would be the bigger person but the other part wanting her to stick up for herself like she seemed to do more frequently lately. Cara normally would have interfered and told them not to cause a scene in front of Holly, but when she looked next to Hailey, she found that Holly was already almost passed out. Instead of getting involved, she sighed and glanced over at Robbie and quietly said, "Brooklyn is more catty than the girls that I went to high school with, and you of all people know how catty those types of girls can be."

As Nick walked, his rage only seemed to grow. Every time he replayed the fight in his mind, he managed to exaggerate everything that Killens had said and done into being worse than it really was. His fists were clenched enough that his knuckles were a ghostly white, but Nick didn't even realize that he was doing it. He was too far deep in his mind, in his anger and in his pride to realize how he was overreacting just as badly as Killens had initially overreacted.

He wasn't paying attention to where he was going but the sight of a small convenience store on the corner of the opposite side of the street reminded him that he needed alcohol. Nick made his way inside and found that it was nothing more than an average, dingy shop. It was empty, besides from a middle-aged Hispanic man who sat behind the counter, his eyes focused on a television that portrayed a static-y soccer game. Nick made a beeline for the back wall which was lined with refrigerators containing an array of sodas and juices, as well as one filled with tall boys and other alcoholic beverages. There were a few six-packs stacked besides the machines and although they weren't cold, Nick grabbed one and put it down on the counter when he reached the front of the store.

"Ten dollars," the man said, looking away from the television for only a second to see what Nick had before returning his attention to the game.

Nick shuffled through his pockets and after realizing that they were empty, he threw his backpack onto the counter in a huff and searched through his messy bag. He managed to find six dollars and change but when he tossed that onto the counter and the man counted it out, he shook his head and said, "No good", before pulling the six pack behind the counter.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Nick muttered. He was tempted to shove the cigarette rack off of the counter top but managed to restrain himself before leaving the store. He couldn't be angry at some guy trying to make a living who had done nothing wrong to him. Roman was the one person who deserved his anger and Nick wasn't going to waste any of it on anyone else. With no alcohol to bring back to the warehouse and no money, Nick headed to the only place where he knew the alcohol came free: Finnigan's.

By now the fries were cold and on the verge of soggy. He didn't know how long he had been sitting here, but he imagined it was for a while given that Finn kept asking him when he was going to leave. Too nervous to think about that, Roman simply ignored him and listened to the conversations people had near by. It took his mind off of his own thoughts even if it was just briefly. He lingered on the drink in his hand a while longer than the previous ones when a persistent feel of nausea appeared in his stomach. His mouth watered a salty substance and he swayed, feeling the room move. Not being in his right mind for some time now, he hadn't considered the fact that he'd mixed drugs and alcohol. It wasn't long before he entered the subpar bathroom in the back and purged.

The floor was cold, providing a relieving sensation to his body. Momentarily he felt better and even cleansed to a certain degree, but then the smell of bile and the taste of it in the back of his mouth cause him to purge again. This time it wasn't much but a slimy, near translucent paste. The paste was basically void of any nutrition considering his lack of consistent eating recently. It wasn't that he was starving himself so much as he didn't have an appetite for anything anymore. The smell, even the sight sometimes, just caused him to get queasy. Then again he wasn't sure if it was his nerves either. When he was a kid, he had a strange reaction to intense situations where he would get so anxious that he would get sick to his stomach, quite literally. He wasn't sure how his grandparents even tolerated him for the four years he stayed with him, but God were they a patient kind of people.

As he sat against the wall, he pulled out his wallet from his packet and counted what was inside. Three hundred--about. The room was still shifting about him and he was sure he'd double counted or dubbed a twenty a five and vice versa. Regardless, he didn't have enough if he lost tonight, and he wasn't going to have enough. This was basically his last chance to prove himself before people started finding someone else to pay attention to. It wasn't that he wanted to be accepted by that group; they were all psychos to begin with. But he'd sooner be loved by them than be on their hit list. Roman dropped his head back against the wall as he tossed his wallet on the floor.

When he returned to the bar, it was empty and had gotten darker outside even though he'd only be gone for about fifteen minutes. With his fries becoming more indigestible by the minute and the minute getting closer to that inevitably hour, he anxiety began to rise. He took another whiskey after much objection to Finn and then finally paid him just to have some peace of mind, although that didn't keep Finn quiet. As he slowly drank his whiskey to the sound of Finn's rambling, he missed the part where Finn acknowledge Nick coming in. It wasn't until he looked up at the sound of the door opening that he saw the last person he wanted to see.

From what Hailey had went through with herself earlier that day made her almost automatically tune out what Holly was talking about. It wasn't that she didn't care about what Holly had to say, but, even though she wouldn't admit it, she was just as tired as Holly was... maybe due to the fact that she'd stayed up all night last night trying to decide whether she was going to go to the doctor or not. Obviously she went... And obviously it confirmed her worst fears. Hailey couldn't stop thinking about Braden, actually. She wanted to tell him about it so bad, but, on the otherhand, she was scared out of her mind of having to tell him. Part of her even thought he would leave the warehouse once he found out. But, she didn't know. It's not like Hailey ever imagined having a family of her own with some kind of family dog and white picket fence. Hailey just knew it wasn't in the cards for her. It never would be.

As Hailey transcended down the steps, all was quite downstairs... except for Cara talking to Robbie. There was no sign of either Nick or Roman, which left Robbie as the only actual male in the warehouse at the moment, since Braden was on the roof. Hailey had almost made it to her mattress, where she could see Holly already laid out on the mattress beside hers. But, before Hailey had a chance to reach the mattress, she heard Brooklyn's snide remark.

"I'd at least prefer bitch... since the devil's sitting right there." Hailey retorted, gesturing toward the mattress. She hoped Holly was already sleeping, since she tried not to use foul language around her, "And, the last time I checked, what I do on a daily basis is none of your fucking business." Hailey flipped her hair behind her shoulders, her body tensing as Brooklyn walked toward her,

I swear to god if she's takes another fucking step... Hailey thought to herself, and even tilted her head to the side as Brooklyn stood right in front of her,

"I hope to whatever fucking higher power there is that you don't have a sister or a brother somewhere far off... Because they have one hell of a pain in the ass as a sister. No wonder you ended up by yourself. Have you ever taken a look in the mirror? I honestly can't believe Nick puts up with you. With the way you treat him, anyway." Hailey gritted her teeth, knowing that she was just asking for trouble. When she first came into the warehouse, she treated Brooklyn with respect, and even feared her. But, now, that was gone, and Hailey wasn't a bit scared of Brooklyn,

"I dare you to insult Holly again. I fucking dare you." Hailey moved closer to Brooklyn, her voice raised on what she said last. Brooklyn could insult her all she wanted to, but once she brought Holly into this, it wasn't just about Hailey anymore. It was about her family. Hailey glared at Brooklyn, just waiting for a reaction.

After he heard the door shut, Braden grabbed the weed and lighter he had brought onto the roof. He rolled a neat joint in a matter of seconds and didn't hesitate to start smoking it. He was happy with how the day had gone. He slept late, something that was an unusual treat because even being a heavy sleeper, Holly or one of the others usually managed to wake him. His daylight pickpocketing scheme began as being nerve-wracking but once he got more confident in it, he ended up walking off with a few hundred dollars. He avoided whatever drama was going on between Nick and Roman, got to talk to Hailey, even if only for a few minutes, and after a nice joint, he would probably grab some food. It was a carefree and easy day and after getting word from a friend of a mugging hotspot the night before, Braden planned on spending the remainder of his night there. The money he had stolen earlier normally would have been enough to carry him over, but he wanted Hailey's birthday to be something special and with it being only two days away, he was still scrambling to save money.

The joint was thin, but the weed was strong, so Braden managed to finish it off in only a few minutes. By now night had nearly set in and although the surrounding building and street lights kept the roof bright enough, he felt no reason to stay up there. He remembered Hailey making a comment to Holly about her looking tired before they went downstairs, so he decided that if Hailey had managed to get her to go to bed, maybe Hailey would want to eat too.

Although Nick and Roman were no longer in the warehouse, there was still animosity, but this time between Brooklyn and Hailey. Braden had only walked downstairs in time to hear Hailey dare Brooklyn to insult Holly again, but just by the look on Brooklyn's face, he could tell that she was making an effort to stir the pot. While Braden wasn't usually one to pry apart a cat fight, especially before shirts started being ripped off, he didn't think that letting the two go at it would be a good idea either. Their little fights were slowly building up into bigger ones and Braden didn't want this to be the one to be blowout.

"Ladies, ladies..." Braden said, stepping between the two. "Shouldn't we all just be happy that Holly's asleep so we can spend the rest of our night in peace and quiet?" he said. While he was speaking to both of them, he turned to meet Hailey's gaze. "I'm about to go get some food if either of you are hungry..." he offered, knowing that Brooklyn would have no reason or desire to come with him and hoping that it was discrete enough that if Hailey agreed to come, it wouldn't seem out of the ordinary to the others. It was probably the weed that made him want to get involved in order to keep the peace because at least to everyone else, Braden had no reason to want to look out for Brooklyn or Hailey. However, it also gave him an opportunity to invite Hailey to hangout.

Normally, the mention of her sister, even if it was in such an indirect and unknowing way, would have fired Brooklyn up. No one had the right to talk about her job as a sister but this was different. Hailey wasn't talking about her little sister because none of them knew about her- not even Nick, and even if she did, Brooklyn knew that she would never understand what their relationship was like. Besides that, Brooklyn recognized that she was targeting Hailey's sister so she couldn't necessarily blame her for having a snippy reaction.

"Being a 'pain in the ass sister' definitely couldn't fuck anyone up as much as you fucked up her," Brooklyn retorted, motioning to Holly who was now definitely asleep. Even though she was the one instigating the fight, she was glad that Holly wasn't awake for what they were saying. She wanted to hurt Hailey, that was a given, but she didn't need to damage Holly any more than she already was.

Although seeing Hailey tense up what somewhat amusing to her, Brooklyn was relieved when Braden stepped in. She wasn't one to get into girl fights and even though she thought that she could take her on easily, she also knew that Hailey had a reason to fight. Unlike Brooklyn, who was really only provoking her for the fun of it, Hailey was fighting back to defend herself and her sister and as she knew with Nick, people took insults to their pride seriously.

"You're lucky that I have to go to work," Brooklyn said, her menacing smile disappearing for the first time since the conversation began. She eyed Hailey for another moment and then glanced at Braden who was now speaking about getting food. If the pungent aroma of marijuana hadn't already tipped her off, his craving for food would have been a giveaway that he was high. Even with him being high and probably more approachable than his normal self, Brooklyn still had no desire to hang out with him and she really did have to go to work anyway.

After pulling on a zip-up sweatshirt and stuffing her bag with a few things, Brooklyn headed towards the door. She offered Cara a small smile but refused to acknowledge Hailey, Braden or Robbie again. The boys had done nothing wrong but just as Roman had basically emotionally claimed earlier, she also didn't need or owe them anything.

Once Holly's head met her pillow, her need for sleep became irresistible. She normally disliked sleeping but on nights like these where her mind wasn't racing with the thoughts of a million other activities she could be doing, she wanted nothing more than to embrace sleeping. Although Hailey hadn't made it all the way back to their mattresses before being intercepted by Brooklyn's taunts, Holly barely noticed. Her lack of energy and focus turned her sister and Brooklyn's voices into incomprehensible sounds.

It was probably a good thing that she was too tired to even hear what they were saying because it always upset her when Brooklyn and Hailey fought. She didn't understand why they disliked each other so much. Hailey was her favorite person in the world and never did anything wrong in her eyes, but she didn't think Brooklyn was a bad person either. She was definitely mean sometimes but really, as soon as the volatile situation ended, Holly would return to the believing that Brooklyn was nice and was only acting bitterly because she was tired or upset about something else. The yelling and shouting seemed unnecessary and after the argument was over, Holly usually bombarded Hailey with questions on why they had been fighting. She would ask about the suggestive comments that Brooklyn would make and why her sister would reply with equally angry remarks.

Before succumbing to her tiredness, Holly managed to pry one of her sneakers off with the other foot and pull a blanket over herself. By the time that Braden had come down the stairs, she was fast asleep. Unlike most nights where she would sleep restlessly and wake up multiple times throughout the night, tonight was one of the few where should would probably end up sleeping for twelve or more hours without stirring. It was her body's best attempt to compensate for the lack of sleep that she would get for the next two to three weeks that would come before another night like this would occur.

“I don’t remember what I was doing last night, I think it was just heavy drinking.” I hope. Robbie said as he smiled at Cara’s words about Hailey and Brooklyn getting into another scuffle and looked over at the scene.

He knew Cara came from the same type of world that he did, he also knew that he left home a whole lot sooner than she did due to what seemed like his endless list of problems. Robbie knew mostly about why she's out here but he hated sharing his past, he hated even thinking about his past. Everything that he remembered was mostly miserable, he never talked to his parents, his sister was always gone either hanging out with her friends or at some school event and his brother, they are the definition of estranged. Let alone all of the secrets that he kept plus the memories he's suppressed. He'd be the first one to say these past few years were the best experiences he had but that's only to hide that he's been through far too much at the same time. Before meeting up with this group he had managed to overdose two times and winded up in the hospital but he figured no one here really needed to know about his problems.

Pushing away the thoughts he looked over at Hailey and Brooklyn “I don’t know, I think she’d fit right in.” He almost didn’t finish his sentence before Hailey spouted right back at her “Well shit, I think she’d fit in too.” Luckily enough Braden came downstairs from the roof and like a magician somehow settled it. Sure there was the fact that Brooklyn was heading to work like she said, that sounded more of an excuse to Robbie than an actual reason but he wasn’t about to say that. Confrontation was not his strong suit, he is much more of a “Get outta Dodge” type of person. That aside Braden was the perfect distraction for them to settle down.

Robbie slid down and sat on the edge of his mattress. His headache was starting to come back and he was growing awfully jealous of Holly’s ignorant bliss as she slept. “I think I’m gonna stay in for the rest of the night.”

Robbie's comments about Brooklyn and Hailey fitting into the crowd of bitchy girls that they grew up with made her smile. Their attitudes mirrored those of the snobby and defensive girls that Cara knew but that was probably the only thing that they shared with the Upper East Side girls that Cara knew. Even Brooklyn, who spent a good amount of her income on expensive clothes and accessories still would have been out of place in Cara's social group. It wasn't the materialistic things, just... her way of being. However, she did assume that Brooklyn was probably a totally different person before she came to the streets and for all Cara knew, she came from an equally wealthy family. Probably unlikely, but Cara didn't know enough to reject the possibility.

When Braden came down and miraculously broke up the verbal and probably close to physical fight, Cara was relieved. It resulted in Brooklyn retreating to her area and packing a bag before heading out to go to work, leaving her, Robbie and Hailey with an invitation to go get food with him. Robbie was the first to deny his offer, claiming that he was going to stay in for the rest of the night. Cara was pretty tired herself after caring for Holly all day and although it was never a very hard task, she wasn't in the mood to search out a man willing to pay for a night's work. If Robbie was staying in too, it would give her an opportunity to hang out with him, even if only for a little while before he started drinking or fell asleep.

"Holly and I ate earlier so I think I'm going to hang here too," she said with a smile as she looked over at Braden, before turning her glance to Hailey. "I'm not going to be going anywhere either, so I'll be here if Holly wakes up... which doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon," she said with a small laugh after noticing Holly's state of deep sleep. On a normal night, the shouts of her sister and Brooklyn definitely would have woken her up and captured her attention, so Cara doubted that anything else would disturb her either.

After making an indirect offer to watch Holly if Hailey did decide to go eat with Braden, she turned back to Robbie and gave him a light punch to his chest. "You better not fall asleep any time soon. I need someone to keep me company," she said playfully. When he wasn't drunk or high, Cara found Robbie to be good company and even when he was under the influence, she enjoyed being around him as long as she was drunk too.

Happy hour was Finnigan's prime time, so now that that was over, Nick knew there would only be a few stragglers left hanging around. As he approached, he spotted two brawny but balding men standing outside the door smoking cigars. The smoky vanilla aroma was familiar to Nick, whose grandfather smoked a Dominican vanilla cigar on a nightly basis for as long as he could remember. It was a calming reminder of his past and even though Nick didn't know the two men, he offered them a small smile, silently thanking them for the reminder of home. As he entered Finnigan's, the rage escaped his mind for a moment.

He walked into the bar feeling a bit better than before. Finn was tending to customers on the opposite side of the bar so Nick headed for one of the open seats closest to the door. As much as he wanted to rant to him about what had just happened, he was also ready to get drunk enough where he couldn't think straight, even about that. Especially since Brooklyn was going to be working all night, Nick had no reason to remain in a sober mindset.

Finn was clearly involved in one of his endless talks with another customer because Nick was sitting at the bar for a good five to ten minutes before he even got a nod of acknowledgement from him. Even then though, he raised a finger signaling that he would be another minute, which translated to another ten in his book. Being in no real rush, Nick walked back outside and smoked a quick cigarette. When he returned to the bar, Finn had finally detached from those customers, but that was probably only because they had finished their drinks and left.

"Nick!" Finn greeted him with a toothy smile. Nick returned it but it disappeared in half a second when he spotted that in the few minutes he had been outside, Roman had appeared at the nearly empty bar. Since there was only one public entrance to it, Roman must have been in the bathroom earlier but in Nick's mindset, he assumed that Roman had seen him come in and was hiding out back there, and only returned to the public area because he thought Nick had left for good. The sight of Roman made his blood boil again and as much as he wanted to take him on for real now and not hold back, he wasn't going to do that to Finn. Unlike Roman, Nick had respect for people who treated him well and Finn was one of them. He wasn't going to turn his place of business into a boxing ring, especially when he was sure that if he did fight Roman, Finn would get flack for having an underage kid leave his bar in a body bag.

Instead of hurling himself at Roman, he laughed. A simple laugh that probably seemed a bit maniacal in the situation, but between his growing rage and buzz, it seemed appropriate. He tried to assure himself that Roman was a joke. His whole life had been and would be. He was jealous of Nick for having a beautiful girlfriend and a job where he didn't get his ass kicked for a living, and now he was trying to use Finn's as his safe haven just as Nick had in the past. After a few seconds, he shook his head and left.

Brooklyn left the warehouse to go to work and Cara and Robbie denied his offer to get food, which worked in his benefit because he didn't want them to come anyway. He preferred Robbie to Nick or Roman, mainly because Robbie always did his own thing and was pretty chill. He didn't have a girl like Brooklyn looking over his shoulder all of the time or a hostile attitude like Roman. Cara was hot, there was no way around that, but he didn't think there was a chance in the world that she would hookup with him unless he was willing to pay her like her regular clients. Besides, she always seemed interested in Robbie and even more of a reason was the girl left standing in front of him: Hailey. She was the only one yet to respond and with Cara staying in the warehouse, leaving someone to look after Holly in case she unexpectedly woke up, Braden assumed that she was going to come.

As he headed back to his bed to get some money, he spotted the wallets that he had stolen earlier in the day. He had intended on giving them to Robbie to see if his guy at the pawn shop would offer him anything for them but in the midst of Roman and Nick's fight, he didn't get the chance to ask. A few of them were worn out and torn but one of them had a Tory Burch logo and another the Coach symbol, and even though Braden had no idea which designers were represented by the logos, they looked fancy enough to be worth something.

He looked back to Hailey and nodded his head towards the door, telling her that he meet her outside before tossing the wallets to Robbie, who sat on his mattress with Cara. "You think you can ask your guy if those are worth anything? I'll split whatever he gives you fifty-fifty," Braden said plainly. Soon after, he made his way outside.

The air was just as refreshing as it had been minutes before when he was on the roof and his high made him feel even better. When Hailey appeared, he looked over at her with a grin. "I'm starving. Where do you want to eat? I'll let you pick since I don't want to be blamed for taking you to a place that'll leave you with another bout of food poisoning." Braden slept late most days but even on the days that he missed Hailey's morning sickness, he would still end up hearing about it from one of the others. She insisted that she was just coming down with something or ate something bad, and Braden had no reason to think any differently.

Alex had been growing tired of the shelter she was staying in. It was one of the few shelters that catered to women who weren't pregnant or mothers, but even so, they still had a bunch of rules that made her feel trapped. Every woman staying there had chores they had to do on a daily basis and were required to either be attending school full time or working in order to meet the program's requirements. "It's not about forcing you to do anything. Here at The Huntington House, we want to help you ladies build habits that you can take into the world with you. We want you to become independent and self-sufficient," her case manager claimed in her typical, scripted voice when Alex had first complained about how their rules seemed to be geared towards ignorant children rather than struggling adults. Most of the other woman were okay with the rules, probably because many of them had experienced "real" homelessness- the type where they would have no where to sleep other than park benches or bridge underpasses, so anything was worth a warm bed. Although the shelter accepted women between the ages of seventeen and fifty-five, Alex was one of the few woman under thirty living there and in her opinion, was the only one without some type of extreme mental illness too.

Another one of the shelter's rules stated that the woman had to be in the building by eleven at night throughout the week, and then by midnight on the weekends. The only exceptions were holidays and even then, they had to make arrangements prior to that day so the staff knew they would be coming back later than allowed. It was a rule that probably had good reason behind it, and it reminded Alex of how her foster mother used to say, "nothing good ever happens after dark!", but it also meant that she couldn't work the overnight shift at McDonald's, which paid an extra dollar per hour compared to the day shift. A few extra dollars per day probably wouldn't be a big deal to most people, but she was already only making around sixty dollars for every grueling eight-hour shift, so any extra money would be a blessing.

The shelter rules felt crippling, especially to Alex, who had spent most of her life doing whatever she wanted whenever she pleased. Her measly minimum wage job would never cover the rent, and nonetheless the down payment, on even a tiny apartment in a bad area of the city, so she had been stuck in the shelter for a few months. Today though, she had finally decided to visit the apartment where her brothers had been living when they were murdered. It was a shabby place in one of the housing projects and although Alex imagined that her brothers had lived as kings when she was younger, as she grew up, she assumed that their drug lifestyle wasn't as lavish as it seemed. The state of the building was no surprise and the demeanor of the people who occupied it wasn't either. There were a bunch of kids playing on the brown lawn outside of the building and scattered about were parents, mostly Hispanic-looking mothers, watching the children and more so, talking between themselves.

Whether it was her pale skin and unnatural light hair, or just her curious expression and wandering eyes as she slowly moved around them, something made her seem out of place and one of the women shouted, "what the hell are you looking for?" as she walked past. It caught Alex off guard, as she had been more focused on the sheer excitement of knowing that she was in the same area that her brothers had spent their last days in, than she was of her surroundings. Although the woman seemed annoyed with her, she didn't look threatening and with a bunch of kids around, Alex didn't think there would be any harm in approaching. Besides, she was eager to learn more about the area. She held up an old, crumbled piece of paper that had her brothers' address scribbled on it. Their mother had written it years back and kept it stuck onto the refrigerator with a smiley face magnet, even after they passed away. It was one of the few things she had taken with her after leaving home. "My brothers used to... live here. Oscar and Miguel Rodriguez. They were in apartment 3A."

After hearing the apartment number, the woman instantly looked over at the female who was sitting next to her, exchanged a skeptical glance and then returned her eyes to Alex. It seemed like even though years had passed, whatever had happened was enough to be memorable to these woman. She looked her up and down before making a decision and standing up. "Wait here," was all she said as she headed into the apartment building. Alex stood, semi awkwardly, in the same spot for a few minutes as she waited for the woman to return, and when she finally did, she wasn't alone. She appeared with a lanky man who had the whole "hardcore drug user" look going, and only wore a pair of cargo shorts. He had multiple tattoos scattered across his chest and forearms but Alex was fairly used to people who looked like him so rather than obnoxiously study his appearance, she met his gaze.

"You Oscar's sister? I fucking paid all my debt off to Cuarto a month after that shit went down," he said defensively.

Alex wasn't sure what he was talking about at first, but then it clicked. "Oh no, no. I'm not here for money or anything. I just wanted to see if anyone here knew anything about my brothers. Our parents... foster parents... don't talk about them much and I wanted to know what really... happened," she said, feeling somewhat uncomfortable at speaking about something so personal to someone she had known for a mere thirty seconds, but on the other hand, she felt like she had nothing to lose.

The man seemed relieved when she expressed her lack of care regarding whatever debt he had owed her brothers before they were killed. "I didn't know 'em good, just on a business level and shit. Come back around noon tomorrow. Nick Cuarto should be coming by to drop me something and you can talk to him. He was living with your brothers when it happened."

Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. There was someone who knew her brothers well enough that he had been living with them at the time, who was still alive and she could talk to. She had come to the complex just for her own peace of mind, but this was more than she could have expected. Before she could thank the man, he was already on his way back into the building. The two woman had resumed their conversation so with a genuine smile, Alex turned around and back towards the street that would bring her to the subway entrance.

Brooklyn's walk to work was just less eventful than her shift. There was a group of young men who spent hours there for a bachelor party and after noticing the wads of cash they had, Brooklyn focused on them for the night. They were drunk, obnoxious and smelled like a combination of sweat and beer, but the payoff was worth it. Brooklyn ended up with over seven hundred dollars and although she considered blowing it on drinks with the girls she was working with after they got off work, she opted out of it. She knew that Nick would be at the warehouse and after he and Roman's earlier fight, she wanted to make sure he was actually okay, and that nothing had happened since she had left.

It was nearly three-thirty when she left through the back entrance of the club, where all of the employees usually came in and out of. They had a separate entrance as a safety precaution. Brooklyn had experienced her fair share of times when some weird customer would wait out in front of the building or across the street, thinking that just because she gave him attention inside, that she would do the same outside. It always baffled her how men really believed that the compliments she gave them inside were sincere and real. She would tell Frankenstein he looked like he worked out a lot if he'd slip her a twenty too, but none of them seemed to understand that.

The back entrance emptied out onto a quiet side street but it put her on her way to the gym, so it worked out. Over the past few weeks, there had been instances of some of the other girls being robbed on the street but Brooklyn had never dealt with something like that and she really wasn't scare of the possibility either. She had spent the last ten years living with potentially violent criminals and doubted that some little punk would scare her off either. Besides, the owner of the club had insisted that the girls were lying about being robbed in an attempt for him to give them pity money as a refund.

She made her usual stop at the gym to shower, which like usual, was empty at this time of night. The hot water was comforting and she spent a good twenty minutes in the water before dressing, blow drying her hair and returning to the warehouse.

Manhattan was lonely this time of night. New York City was like the East Coast version of Vegas, or even Los Angeles. The lights never went out, giving the illusion that there was always something going on, but now there wasn't. Nothing safe at least. He limped down the sidewalk quickly, pressing against the buildings so the shadows would cover him. A man coming the opposite direction began to approach him. A straggler in all rags and a long, tangled mess of a beard. His breath smelled of something toxic as he passed Roman, stopping slowly as he neared him. Killens looked down at the man's outstretched hands, wanting something from him. Roman shook his head as he let out a relieved breath. The man scowled and stumbled into whatever darkness he could find before flopping down on the concrete.

He spit a metallic-tasting wad of spit from his mouth as he coughed. His side stiffened in pain from the act and he felt his hand dampen with streaks of blood. It was nothing life threatening, just a thick graze of the knife. After skipping the fight, which was essentially a forfeit, in other words an automatic lose, the bidder still had to pay. Ramel's guys had somehow found him not long after he was supposed to fight. It was a pretty stupid decision in his opinion; of course he was going to fight back. And when he did, barely managing to escape it, he was left with a couple of battle scars, but that wasn't his biggest concern. He was afraid he had killed a guy in the midst of the chaos. His hand still smelled like the beer from the bottle Roman had struck him with.

As he walked down the sidewalk, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be following him. He leaned against the wall, catching his breath as the pain increased. Across the street he noticed a movement and he jumped from the sight. As his eyes focused, he saw it was just a girl leaving the gym. She wall tall and slim, familiar with her dark hair and structure face. Upon further inspection, he knew why she seemed so familiar: it was Brooklyn. An idea crossed his mind. She worked tonight, he recalled. She made a good amount of what he seemed to be lacking: money. Sure, he said some stuff earlier that he shouldn't have, but he was so out of it that it didn't even seem to cross his mind. He watched as she went down the street until he forced himself upright and went after her. He followed her for a little while, unable to keep up for some time before he pushed forward to catch up with her. He reached out for her arm light, grabbing it briefly.

"Brook," he said vaguely. When she turned around, he looked at her. He probably looked crazy, for good reason. He'd done some things he didn't usually do, and it was still coursing through his veins. His hair was a matted mess from sweat and blood. His breathing was raspy and uneven, he was hunched over, making him look smaller, but underneath it all it was still visibly Roman. "It's me. I need your help."

Showering after a night's work was always such a cleansing feeling for her, and not just in the literal sense of washing away dirt. It wasn't like she did anything intimate with the men who paid her, but touching them and having them touch her, even just briefly, still grossed her out sometimes. She had no idea who they were and where they were coming from, and especially if she was returning home to her own boyfriend, she didn't want to come back smelling like some stranger's musty cologne.

The warehouse wasn't more than a ten or fifteen minute walk from the gym and it was a walk she took every day, even if she wasn't working, so she was pretty familiar with the area. She was only a block or two away when she heard someone approaching from behind her and before she could glance back, she felt someone touch her arm. Instinctively, she shoved back at the person and let out a surprised squeal, but she soon realized that it was Killens. A disheveled version of him, but still the same boy who had berated her earlier that day. She looked him up and down, alarmed at how bad he looked. She was used to him returning to the warehouse with bruises from fighting but this was different.

"What the fuck did you get into? You look like roadkill," she said, raising an eyebrow as she took a step away from him. The light of the streetlamps was enough for Brooklyn to make out his matted hair and damaged face. His shirt was slashed, he was hunched over and his breathing sounded irregular. Although he had clearly gotten himself into some type of trouble, she couldn't help but to smile slightly. It wasn't that she was happy to see him hurt because even after what he had said earlier, she would never wish harm upon Roman, but it was more of a curious smile, one that stemmed from confusion.

However, the next thought that crossed her mind made the smile disappear. If Roman didn't receive the wounds in one of his paid fights, who else would have done it? Brooklyn knew very little about his work life but she obviously knew that when she left, he and Nick weren't on good terms. Could Nick have managed to track him down and done something to him? She doubted it. Nick loved Roman like a brother, but he did seem upset and Brooklyn knew that if he did really want to "blow his pathetic ass up" as he had claimed to want to do earlier, that he could.

Even though it was a thought in her mind, she still doubted that it could be true. Nick's pride wasn't that big. The last thing she wanted to do was relive that fight so rather than following up with a question asking about Nick's involvement, she just waited for Roman to answer.

"Thanks," he said drily to her likening him to a dead animal. She looked as though she were going to laugh at him from the infamous smirk on her face. He knew it pretty well, but it was always ambiguous so there was no telling what she was really thinking. He watched her closely, waiting for her to slap him or make a snide comment before turning away and leaving him. When she didn't, he cautiously took a step closer to her, noticing that she had moved away from him just seconds earlier. "I didn't mean to scare you," he finally said. "I, um," he began. How did he go about this?

Killens swayed some as he got his thoughts together. He didn't want to explain too much and even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to as his mind was scattered about his brain. She also might tell Nick, and there was no telling what he would do. He was already mad at him; he could very well send Ramel's guys back to him. Killens figured the people he'd known his entire time since being on the streets were far less a threat than his actual enemies. As he spoke, his voice shook despite himself.

"I pissed these guys off. This guy, Rame--His name doesn't matter. Look, I owe him a lot of money," he said evenly. He looked at her again after his indirect approach before finally finishing. "I need to borrow money. I'll pay you back as soon as I can, but I just need a couple grand, you know? That's all. And I'll pay you back really shortly. Promise. Please."

Typically he would have more pride than he did right now, but right now he wasn't himself. He was scared out of his mind and it was evident. He didn't now where he was going tonight, and as he looked around continuously, he was convinced that he wouldn't see day. His mind was already jumping ahead to the next "what if" scenario. He looked around to see how fast he could make it across the street if one of them appeared. Which way was fastest. He couldn't remain still as he thought. These nerves came partially from the fact that he was sure he was being followed, but mostly from the guilt that he had probably killed someone tonight. But it was fair though. They came to him first; they would have killed him if left to it.

Roman looked at her again, realizing after the fact that this maybe wasn't a good idea. What was he thinking? Of course she would go back and tell Nick. And Nick would find him and finish him off. After their run in earlier at the bar, this late at night he was sure nothing would hold Nick back this time around. Even still, this didn't stop Roman from hoping. He grabbed Brook's hand out of desperation, his eyes pleading. He swallowed a thickness in his throat and squeezed her hand tightly, his hand shaking just as his whole body was.

"Please," he whispered. "And don't tell Nick. Whatever you do, just don't say anything to him. We can keep this between us and I'll get it back to you as soon as I can just..." At that moment, his nerves got the best of him. He felt like she was judging him, like she knew he wasn't telling the truth. Killens reasoned that if he just admitted it, it wouldn't be as bad. So as his eyes shook side to side, looking at her anxiously, he made a decision. Whether or not it was a bad one, he wasn't sure. His voice stooped to a grave whisper. "I think I killed somebody."

When Roman said that he needed to borrow money from her, Brooklyn considered it for a moment. She did have a good amount of money back at the warehouse and always set some aside for emergencies. However, that "emergency" stash was really only for her and Nick and giving it to Roman to fix his debt with some sketchy guy didn't seem to constitute its usage. She didn't want to get tangled up in his mess and from the way he was acting lately, she doubted that he would even end up paying her back. To make matters even worse, she had no idea if Roman and Nick had dealt with their issues and Nick would probably feel betrayed if she helped Roman after what he did to Nick.

"Roman... I really don't-" she began to deny his request when he took her hand into his. She looked at him cautiously but didn't pull away, even as his grip tightened around her fingers. The entire situation was freaking Brooklyn out and she was starting to prefer the distant Killens that she had dealt with for the past few days over this one. He seemed so desperate and jumpy, and the thought that maybe he was just being dramatic and purposely trying to freak her out seemed unlikely when he stepped even closer and confessed that he thought he killed someone.

That was definitely an unexpected turn and Brooklyn couldn't hide the shock from her expression. His beat-up appearance fit the story, although it looked like whoever he supposedly killed had put up a good fight. However, she still found it hard to believe that her Roman could do something like that. Even if he was a total ass lately, he wasn't the type of guy who would just kill people, accident or not. "Look Roman, I don't know if this is some joke or something, but you're really starting to freak me out. I don't want to get involved in whatever shit you've gotten yourself into." She pulled her hand away from him and stepped back again.

If ten years on the street had taught her anything, it was that you don't piss people off if you can't hold your own. Everyone out here really only had their pride and if you messed with someone's reputation, they were bound to seek retribution on you. Even if she didn't know this Rame- guy that Roman had began to name, she didn't want any association with the situation. Her name was already associated with a murder and she didn't need to be linked to another one.

"I don't know what to say, Roman. Ask Nick. Both of you need to put your stupid, childish problems behind you and make up. If Nick thinks it's a good idea then yeah, I guess I can give you money. I just don't feel comfortable doing that behind his back... sorry," she said, taking a few steps backwards. She really did feel bad for not being able to help him but she also didn't think it was fair of him to ask her for such a request specifically behind Nick's back.

His hand dropped as she pulled away, refusing him. To put it short, he was at a loss. This felt like a mistake, and he looked away accordingly. He started to say something, but he found he was at a loss for words. His voice uttered meaningless sounds as he stammered. Eventually he pulled away. The fear was growing hold of him. He was sure she would go back and tell now. He wasn't thinking clearly to be able to weigh in on the situation appropriately, so to him it felt as though he were really being left out in the open. Once she pulled away from him, his hand tingled at the emptiness. He nodded absently as he stepped back without facing her. He began to say "Okay" but nothing came out except more voiceless sounds. He went around her and walked down the street, holding himself.

He wasn't entirely sure where he was going. Of course he hadn't realize it, but he'd always relied on Nick for a place to stay, and while with him, that need was always met. The only other time he was forced to find a place to stay was when he was thirteen and was alone the first six or so months. He'd lost so much weight during that time not only from lack of food but from stress. With New York City being the vast place it was, one would assume he had more options, but in reality it just seemed to be worst. He knew to avoid Central at this time of night, but he was only familiar with the part of New York he frequented. He was never a sight seer, finding the city crowd displeasing. While he enjoyed being anonymous, he never liked being around a lot of people. The city was too intimate for a guy like him, but right now he was craving some kind of company. At this time of night, though, the company was bound to be dangerous.

After walking multiple blocks, he sat down on the sidewalk and stretched his legs out. There was no where else really. He bargained that the coming of morning would wake him soon enough for him to go to a bathroom and do damage control. If there was anyone looking for him, maybe they would do like they did to the rest of the homeless population and simply walk past, choosing to deny their existence. He wasn't sure when he fell asleep. His thoughts were a streamline of anxiety and fear. He knew he had three hundred on him. It was enough for a train ride out of the city. He could go back home, presuming his grandparents were still alive, presuming they hadn't moved. He'd show up on their doorstep and his grandmother would answer the door with a mix of fright and disbelief on her face. Wondering what the silence was about, his grandfather would appear and then upon seeing Roman, would stare as well. They would break into tears, pulling him inside as he apologized. It would all be okay.

But maybe that was where the dream began. When his hopes of the past started to consume him, leading him to believe that in the end everything would work out. Which was why it was just a construct of his imagination, because it was not real, and it never would be.

Braden and Hailey seemed to be getting ready to go out so Cara moved away from Robbie and back to her own area for a minute. She slipped out of her shorts and into a pair of sweatpants, leaving the tank top she already had on. As she stuffed her shorts back into her bag, she realized that her phone screen was bright. She kept it on silent mode and hadn't brought it out with Holly since there was really no need for it out there. She had dropped all contact with most of her school friends since they had their college lives now and expected that she was in Florida with her grandparents, so the only people who ever contacted her were her usual men who wanted a date.

Upon unlocking the phone though, she discovered that she had eight missed calls spanning from this morning until only two minutes ago. What was even more surprising was the number that had been calling her. Even though she had deleted his contact months ago, she still recognized the number as being her father's. Cara stared in shock at the phone for a good minute before seeing that he had also sent her one text message. All it read was "Call me.", but Cara had a feeling that something was wrong. Her father had basically disowned her when she left home. He had tried to contact her a few times when she was still staying with friends but his attempts at reconciliation slowed down and it had been at least six months since she had heard from him. He either realized that he was being a dick when he chose his wife over her and she probably left him, or someone died. Those were the only plausible options for him to contact her out of the blue like that.

As much as she wanted to continue to ignore him, she was curious about what was going on. It couldn't hurt to call him back, she reassured herself. If he's his normal self again, I'll just hang up and never talk to him again. Plain and simple.

She slid her sandals back onto her feet, tossed her bag on her shoulder and quickly jumped up. As she hurried past Robbie, who she had just asked to hangout with for the night, she turned to him. "I have to talk to someone. I'll be back in like, ten minutes tops. Just stay with Holly until I get back?" she asked, noticing that Hailey and Braden had already left.

After clearing the alley, Cara nervously tapped her father's cell phone number into her phone. It rang three times, each seeming longer than the last. What am I supposed to say to him? This was a mistake. I hope he doesn't answer. Oh God.

"Caraline!" Even months after not hearing it, she recognized her father's voice in a second. He sounded relieved and almost excited.

"Hi," she managed after a moment of silence.

"Listen, you need to come home. I'm sure you've been having fun with your friends but this isn't what your mother wan-"

"Dad, why are you calling me?"

"Your grandmother wants to see you, Caraline. She's been living with us for a few weeks and... things aren't looking good. I don't want to talk about this over the phone. Are you in the area?"

Her grandmother was one of the few people on her mother's side who she knew and connected with. What did he mean that "things aren't looking good"? There wasn't a fiber in her body that wanted to see her father again but her grandmother was worth it.

"I... I guess I'll be there in thirty minutes," she said slowly. It was an offer she began to regret as soon as she hung up. The walk back to the warehouse made her tense up even more and she didn't remember her commitment to Hailey to stay with Holly until she had already grabbed a few more of her things and was headed back out of the warehouse again.

Holly was still fast asleep and Robbie had said he would stay in the warehouse all night, but she couldn't see him as the type to comfort Holly if she did wake up. Hailey was just going to get food with Braden but there was no telling how long that would take, especially since she probably knew that Holly would be passed out all night. It was one of her free nights and Cara doubted that she would be in a rush to get back to the dead warehouse.

She dropped her bag next to Holly's mattress and looked over at Robbie. "I have to go talk to a friend but I don't feel right leaving Holly here since I told Hailey I would watch her. I should be back in an hour or two but if Hailey comes back just tell her I took Holly somewhere... I don't know, a hotel or something. A friend's house. Something believable where she's not going to freak out on me for kidnapping her sister for the night," she said, somewhat frantically.

"Holly... Holly... wake up, sweetie," she said. What started off as gentle nudges became more of abrupt shakes when the girl barely stirred. When her eyes finally opened, Cara smiled in relief and grabbed her bag again. "Holly, we're going on a fun trip for the night. There's a big bed for you there and you can go back to sleep as soon as you get there," she said, managing to put on and lace Holly's sneaker on her one bare foot. She rummaged through some of her and Hailey's boxes and found a sweatshirt that she tossed to her. "Just put this on," she said eagerly, hoping to hurry Holly along.

Cara's voice and light touch didn't wake Holly up but the rougher shoves managed to pull her out of her deep sleep. She groaned and rolled onto her stomach like a teenager who didn't want to wake up for school yet, but Cara continued to nudge her. As she slowly woke up, she made out Cara speaking about how they needed to go out for the night. If it was Hailey who had been waking her up mid-sleep, she probably would have started crying and complaining, even though she woke her sister up on a daily basis. She was rarely ever to sleep so soundly so it was a big deal when she was able to. Although she wanted to, she couldn't do that to Cara, and managed to sit up as she put her shoe on for her.

"Okay..." she said, rubbing her eyes as she pulled on the sweatshirt Cara had thrown to her. "Why is it still night?" she asked mid-yawn as she began to realize that it was still dark out. She rarely ever woke up on someone else's account during the night because it was usually her waking Hailey up in the early hours of the morning. Cara said something about going on a "fun trip" which normally would have sparked her interest more than it did now, but she still went along with it, especially when Cara mentioned there would be a bed for her wherever they were going.

After a moment of adjusting to her surroundings, Holly got to her feet. Besides Cara, Robbie appeared to be the only one inside of the warehouse. Hailey was the only one missing who she really took notice to but Cara was leading her out the door so quickly that she didn't have much time to question where her sister was.

She trailed behind Cara who was already out the door but finally caught up to her when they stepped into the alley. "Where are we going?" she asked. She was used to spending time with Cara but it was rarely late at night unless they were just spending time in the warehouse. Despite her overwhelming exhaustion, she was starting to become more interested in the adventure that Cara was taking her on.

As Holly adjusted to being awake, Cara decided to write Hailey a quick note. Although Robbie didn't appear to be too drugged out or drunk at the moment, she knew better than to rely on him to pass a message on to Hailey. It wasn't like any of them had notebooks or paper lying around, or at least Cara didn't assume anyone would, so she grabbed a napkin and her pencil eyeliner.



She placed the note on Hailey's pillow, hoping she would find it if Robbie didn't end up telling her when she got back. Holly was standing up now and wasn't objecting to coming, so Cara headed to the door and waited the until she came over. She was glad that Holly wasn't making a fuss even after being woken up when she was clearly tired, and Cara took her hand comfortingly as they walked. She wasn't sure how to answer Holly's answer.

She wanted to be honest and explain to her that she had to speak to her father at her house, but she never spoke much to anyone about her family life. Most of them knew that she was from New York and lived comfortably but the extent of how comfortable she lived probably wasn't known, at least not to Holly. She didn't want her to make a big deal about where she came from. As silly as it sounded, Cara always felt like she had to justify, at least to herself, why she deserved to live in the warehouse just as much as the others. Just because she came from money and probably could have begged her way back into her home at any point over the last year, it wasn't that simple. She didn't think the others, who all lived troublesome lives, would understand.

"Um, I need to go to my... dad's house. It's not a big deal and I wouldn't have woken you up, but Hailey's out with Braden and I didn't want to leave you there alone. You can go to bed straight when we get there though, okay?" she said. They soon approached a subway entrance and Cara held onto Holly's hand as they headed underground. It was pretty empty, which creeped Cara out. She was never a fan of the subway systems and now with only a few sketchy people lurking around, it seemed even worse. She bought two tickets and a few minutes as the subway rumbled towards them, Cara pulled Holly onto it.