New York, NY

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Finn shook his head and he poured Brooklyn another glass but he smiled gently at her. He knew she was homeless and had offered many times to let Nick and her crash on his couch and even help out in the bar until they were able to get on their feet. Even though a stable roof over her head was enticing, Brooklyn agreed with Nick that they didn't need Finn watching out for them. He was a nice guy and all but Brooklyn hated the idea of owing anyone anything. Plus, she didn't need to work at the bar to earn money. If she took on an extra job, she would be bringing in more cash but even Brooklyn know that she would just spend it on booze, drugs or designer clothes that were unnecessary for her lifestyle.

"That boy's a good one, Brooklyn, you know that. You kids have been out here for ten years or so, correct?" He asked, continuing when Brooklyn nodded in confirmation. "So he's used to it and it's hard to give up what you're used to. You think I'd still be paying rent for this shit hole if I felt like I had other options? My parents came over here from Ireland with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They didn't know anyone but me and my younger brother so after the three of 'em passed away, I realized that I've got no one in terms of real family. But I've got this place," he said, extending his hands, "and that's why I stay here. It may not be the best way of life but it's all I know now." He paused to pour himself a Guinness before continuing. "So what I'm saying is that Nick's got to feel the same way too. The streets are his home, Brooklyn, and we aren't all as good as you at pretending we don't get attached to anyone or anything," he finished, downing the rest of his drink and giving her a wink before walking away to attend to the other customer.

For once, Brooklyn didn't try to defend her honor or explain that it wasn't the way Finn had portrayed it to be. She was tired of fighting and she knew that what he said was true. She slowly drank her third glass, not wanting to order another and get drunk this early, but also not wanting to return to the warehouse yet.

(SORRY)

(I don't know what I'm doing)

(I did it again I am so sorry)

(Please don't hate me)

Holly was relieved when Hailey directed her to her flip flops. For a second, she thought that she had left them at the showers they had used last time and she knew that Hailey would be upset with her for losing yet another item. Especially after Hailey had just accused her of spending money on things they didn't need, Holly didn't want to have to prove her right by having to buy another pair of sandals. She grabbed the shoes and stuffed them into her bag, turning around just as Nick walked away.

Hailey had placed the bag of drugs next to her mattress and Holly, always intrigued to see what kind of drugs they were delivering, grabbed it from beside her sister and opened it up. She tossed the dress to the side, deciding to examine that later. "These smell like Braden," Holly noted aloud as she pulled out one of the bags of weed and held it up, studying the green substance inside of it. The scent reminded her of home, too. Even though her mother and boyfriend were hooked on much harder drugs, they still used weed for recreational purposes. Holly could remember coming home from school to an apartment that smelled so strongly of the marijuana and although she couldn't stand it most of the time, she preferred it to the smell of cigarette smoke. She had only reached fifth grade, so up to that point they really only taught kids about how bad smoking cigarettes were. Illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and the likes weren't ever brought up and since her mother was a user, Hailey was the only one who really warned her against ever using drugs. It wasn't like Holly had a big need to use anyway considering that she was happy most of the time.

Holly dropped the weed back into the larger bag and picked up the dress. She knew that Nick had included it as a cover up to hide the weed but was confused about how he had obtained it. Just as she got ready to go ask him herself, Roman walked in and tossed a pack of cookies to her as he passed by. Holly had again forgotten about the cookie incident with Brooklyn until now, but for a moment she was pleased with the gift from Roman.

"Hailey Jo, look what Roman bought me," she said, giving her sister an unnecessary shove to catch her attention. "He didn't bring you any cause your sick, I bet," she said after opening the pack and eating one. She glanced over at Roman who was talking to Nick and decided to join in on their conversation.

"Nick, Roman got me cookies. He even knew to get me one so isn't it a little weird that Brooklyn forgot even though I told her like a second before she ordered the food? Do you think that's where she is now? At Panera getting it for me since she forgot the first time?" Holly asked, taking a seat on Killens mattress without a thought. "And why did you have a dress with a tag on it, Nick? Is it a birthday present for Brooklyn? Me and Hailey's birthday is in the spring time too. Maybe it's the same day as ours and Brooklyn is really our triplet, because you know that me and Hailey are twins since we have the same birthday, right?" she asked, her sentences fusing into one as she barely took a second to breathe in between them.

(I guess this is what karma feels like.)

Braden was glad that Hailey accepted the gym passes. It made him feel better knowing that he had cleared himself from being the bad guy, at least for a little while, and it would help her keep Holly happy as well. He watched as Nick approached Hailey but he turned his attention away once he realized that they were talking about a drug run. It wasn't like Braden didn't know what they were talking about but he didn't want it to see like he was listening in on their conversation and make Nick paranoid or anything. Besides, he was still a bit high and didn't really care about what they were talking about.

He turned his focus to Holly who had found the shoes that Holly directed her to and was now going through the bag of drugs that Nick had brought over. She would pick up one bag, examine in and then toss it back in. He was confused when she grabbed the dress and instead of putting it back in the bag, walked over to Nick and Roman with it and a pack of cookies that Roman had purchased for her.

Braden's area was nearly on the opposite side of the warehouse than Roman's was, so normally he wouldn't be able to hear a conversation going on over there. However, it was Holly who was talking and like usual, her voice was loud enough to be heard from anywhere in the warehouse. The weed might have been to blame, but it took an extra effort for Braden to actually understand what she was saying because of how quickly she was talking. He made out her questioning where Brooklyn was and that her and Hailey's birthdays were coming up.

"When's your birthday?" Braden asked curiously as he approached Hailey. She had agreed to come shower but Braden wasn't sure how long it would take for her to corral Holly back from Nick and Roman. He wasn't really in a rush anyway.

Hailey was making sure that she had everything in order to leave, and didn't really pay attention to the fact that Holly had picked up the bag of drugs that Nick had dropped off for them, at least not until Holly pulled out one of the bags of weed and commented that it, 'smelled like Braden.' Hailey wasted no time in replying to what Holly said, even though it was meant more for Hailey's odd sense of humor more than Holly's appeasement,

"Kind of does, doesn't it Holls?" Hailey asked, glaring a Braden for a moment then grabbing the old, stain covered gym bag that she and Holly always took with her when they went to shower. That was when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Holly picked the dress up out of the bag and was examining it. Hailey knew it was Brooklyn's, which meant that she shouldn't really care that Holly was messing with it, but, Hailey wanted to do everything possible to keep Brooklyn from going into another bitch fit. So, Hailey looked at Holly, and as soon as she started to approach Holly, Holly took off toward Roman and Nick, Roman having dropped something onto Holly's mattress earlier, that something being cookies. Hailey had replied with a "That's nice." And a "Yeah I bet." To both of Holly's comments on the cookies. Hailey sighed as Holly practically ran across the warehouse to jump into the conversation the Nick and Roman were having,

"Holly... I don't think you sho-" But she was cut off by the fact that her sister managed to speak a hundred miles an hour and was already too deep into the other conversation with Nick and Roman to even pay attention to what was being said out the small triangle the three were standing in. Hailey mouthed a 'Sorry,' to Nick and Roman, and then a separate, 'Thanks, I'll pay you back,' to Roman.

As Hailey turned backed to her gym bag, she shook her head slightly. Maybe Nick was right... maybe not about the weed, but, maybe pills would help Holly, but it was going to take a hell of a lot of convincing to get Hailey to even openly consider it. Hailey shook her thoughts and piled her shower essentials, set of clothes, and shower shoes into the bag. Hailey was heading over to Holly's mattress to grab Holly's stuff and also clean up the mess of things Holly left laying around when Braden came over to her.

"My birthday?" Hailey asked, kind of curious yet astonished by the fact that he asked a question such as that. "Well, it's May 29th..." Hailey didn't really think that Braden actually cared when her birthday was, rather that he was just trying to make small talk. Hailey ran a hand through her hair, resuming her task of piling Holly's things into the bag.

It was a bit of relief that Killens had spoken with Brooklyn and cleared the air somewhat before she left. "I'll go find her in a little, then," he replied with a laugh after Killens joked about her running back to him. Nick knew Brooklyn well enough to know that she wasn't going to admit to being wrong easily and it would probably speed up the process if he approached her first to talk about it. At this point, Nick wasn't even looking for some extravagant apology. He hated the tension that came along with the drama, especially since it didn't just affect Brooklyn and him, but everyone else who lived there.

Nick was silent for a minute after Killens replied to his request. He thought about what Roman said and knew that he was right. Even though Holly was seventeen, it did feel like he'd be tricking a little kid into taking drugs and although it probably wouldn't be that hard to do, it just wasn't morally right. Roman was good for this kind of stuff, Nick thought. He always seemed to be level-headed and even though Nick was the one who usually bore the brunt of Brooklyn's anger in response to Holly's actions, he knew that it would be better to try to change Brooklyn than to do it to Holly.

"Yeah, I guess I'll just wait it out and see," he finally replied. "Brooklyn doesn't even hate Holly," he said, pausing as his eyes roamed the warehouse. "She goes from being defensive to offensive in a second when someone says one wrong thing, though, and I guess Holly says enough that one wrong thing is bound to come out at some point." Nick remembered Brooklyn being upset when the twins had first moved in. She didn't think that it was right to allow them to stay without reporting them to child protective services or some agency that could actually help them. Brooklyn refused to do it though, not wanting to get involved with the law, and Nick had had his fair share of foster families and wasn't going to force the twins to do anything that they didn't want to do. Besides, even back then Hailey seemed to have a good head on her shoulders.

Nick wanted to get up and tell Hailey to forget what he had said but before he could move, Holly had arrived and was talking a mile a minute. Hailey mouthed an apology to him but Nick just grinned, hoping to signal that she didn't need to apologize. Roman was right- it would be strange if they didn't constantly have her around talking about something as trivial as a cookie.

"I don't think she's at Panera. She probably knew that Roman was going to buy you cookies so she thought she didn't have to," he explained as he eyed the dress that Holly started talking about. "Brooklyn's birthday was in February," he continued, "so I don't know when she got that. You've got to give it back to Hailey though." He considered explaining to Holly that even if Brooklyn did have the same birthday as her, that it wouldn't make them triplets, but it seemed useless.

It was a weight of his shoulders to have Nick rethink things through. Roman didn't consider himself good with advice, although sometimes it felt like he gave it quite often, not that he had a problem with it. He took another draw and patted Nick on the back. The next moment, he heard her before he saw her, talking faster than he thought fathomable, which it wasn't. He could hardly pick out a word of what Holly was saying, hearing his name, then Brooklyn's, Panera, and something about a birthday. He'd lived in America long enough to be considered one, even though he never got his citizenship when he was a kid, at least that that he could remember. Still though, sometimes just hearing how differently they could speak regionally, was more than overwhelming for his ears. So with Holly speaking thirty words a second, Roman stared blankly at her, only hearing her accent until she had stopped long enough for Nick to respond. It was by that point that he backtracked and replayed what he heard much slower, thinking he understood.

Roman looked over at Hailey, rather instinctively because the two were a pair. She looked apologetic, even mouthing that she would pay him back. He raised his brow at that, initially confused, and then remembering once he saw the cookie in Holly's hand. He waved Hailey off dismissively. "Don't be ridiculous," the gesture said as he shook his head. Holly sat next to him as Nick responded to her. How he even understood her was beyond Roman's comprehension.

"Nick's right," Roman said. "Brooklyn and I can read each other's minds, so I kind of knew when I was out that I should get you a cookie," he said jokingly. "No, but really. I just remember hearing you say something about it." He broke a piece of the cookie off for himself and sat it in his lap until he finished smoking.

"Your birthday is coming up pretty soon. We should celebrate," he said. "Maybe I'll get you more cookies. Or something." He bit into the small chunk of cookie he had. He realized after he said it that it might not have been the greatest idea to plan the idea of a big celebration in the mind of a person who had the personality of a child. He figured his safest bet would be to change the subject quickly, preferably to something more interesting. "Wanna see something cool?" he said as he pulled out his lighter from his back pocket. "I used to do this to make my grandparents freak out. But I'm only going to show you if you swear to not copy me." He pulled his thumb back along the dial so a flame appeared, positioned in front of him. Quite simply, but also rather quickly, he passed his finger through the flame. He showed Holly his unscatched finger and did it again before putting the lighter away, unless she requested one or two more goes. After a while it would start to hurt, and it was much easier with a candle flame. "I had an older cousin back in England who showed me how to do it. I think she was a witch though, so it doesn't surprise me."

Roman looked between Nick and Holly before saying to Nick, "So Holly can talk as a cheetah can run, I can control the elements and read minds. What can you do?"

Up until it hadn't been the best day, especially with the big blow out, but things moved so fast not only in the warehouse, but on the streets too. He figured it was because Holly managed to lighten the mood, but she hadn't become overwhelming yet. He glanced over at Hailey who was talking to Braden. He watched them a moment, mainly because he couldn't imagine how much the small amount of time without Holly meant to Hailey. She could probably finish getting ready to wherever they were going to go. He respected her for that, though. Roman could manage Holly in small increments, but he had no idea how he could care for her, let alone anyone. It was hard enough caring for himself.

As Brooklyn sipped her last drink, she decided that she shouldn't have called Hailey out on her prostitution in front of Holly. She wasn't remorseful for actually saying it because it was true so she didn't think that it was too much of an insult to Hailey. Plus, Hailey had pretty much blamed her for the whole fight when she yelled that stupid 'Great job' after Nick had left the warehouse. Brooklyn had ignored it at the time, simply because her head was spinning with too many emotions and thoughts, but she did hear it and wasn't going to forget it. Her grudge was probably even more petty than Hailey's comment but being blamed for the fight bothered her. The whole thing really stemmed from Braden but it was Hailey's own sister, Holly, who had set her off. It would have happened sooner than later anyway since she was so fed up with her life but it might not have happened in front of everyone if Holly hadn't insulted her. Brooklyn knew that Holly had no filter though, so she decided that the real perpetrator was Hailey. She should have kept her sister with her at the warehouse or taught her some manners. She also knew that that was easier said than done but with her buzz going from the alcohol, she was positive that it was Hailey who had started the whole fight. Brooklyn felt like Hailey was failing to teach Holly how to be a normal human being and at this rate, there was no way that she would have a real life.

Finn was still tending to the man who sat opposite her at the bar, so Brooklyn finished the rest of her drink and left a few bills on the bar top to cover the tab. He'd probably turn around in a few minutes and wonder where she went but Brooklyn didn't feel like sticking around to say goodbye and talk some more. She darted out the door and headed down the street, really unsure of where she was going until she spotted a Barnes & Noble in the distance. Brooklyn was never much of a reader. She would skim magazines when she waited with her mother at her sister's doctors appointments and hospital stays but she wasn't interested in novels or anything. It didn't matter though, because she wasn't here for herself. She was going to teach Holly all of the things that her school and Hailey had failed to teach her. It seemed like a good plan: they would teach Holly how to actually read and write and do simple math and then she'd be better prepared for life. She could go back to school and actually have a chance at life. Even under the influence, Brooklyn realized that it wasn't foolproof but what was the alternative? Allow her to continue to be so uneducated and out of control until her tongue gets her teeth knocked out?

Maybe Brooklyn was doing this to make herself feel better. If she could save Holly from what she predicated to be a painful life, then it would almost be like saving her sister, or at least reprising her big sister role. Part of her knew that Holly wasn't just a child who had refused to learn and ended up like this, and part of her knew that Hailey had done her best with what she had, but she also felt like she had to do something.

She wasn't sure what learning level Holly was at, especially after being out of school for two years, so she gathered an array of workbooks and easy reading books and headed back downstairs to pay for them. It didn't matter how much it cost, especially since Brooklyn would be working again tonight, so she paid little attention to the number on the register as she handed the cashier money. Once she had paid and was back on the streets though, Brooklyn realized that there was no way that she had the skills or patience to teach Holly on her own, and she instantly knew who she'd enlist to help her. Killens. Not only was he smart, but he was on better terms with Hailey than she was and could probably influence Hailey into letting him tutor Holly, or at least trick her into thinking that he was taking Holly out to get food when he was really headed to the library with her.

Braden playfully flipped Hailey off after she agreed with Holly about him smelling like weed. "If you could get your kid back over here, maybe we could go shower so I can fix that problem," he said, although he still wasn't in much of a hurry to leave. Braden knew that he would have to go to the laundromat today as well. He had only one clean t-shirt that he was planning on changing I to after the shower. The rest had been worn three or four times already and because he had been smoking frequently lately, they definitely were starting to smell.

"May 29th?" Braden echoed, trying to remember what day today was. He knew that it was May, some time in the second or third week, but it was never really necessary to keep track of the days. "So, when's that? Next week?" he asked, watching her pack her gym bag with her and Holly's thing. It was probably better that Holly had went over to Nick and Roman since this gave Hailey an opportunity to get their things together without Holly trying to convince Hailey to allow her to bring a bunch of random things.

"How are we going to celebrate?" he continued with a small smile as he took a step towards her, making sure his back was to the others. Braden had known Holly last year but he couldn't remember celebrating her birthday at all. It was possible that he had been wasted or maybe he just spent the whole day out trying to make some money. He used to spend a lot of his days in midtown pick pocketing tourists during the day which would leave him gone for nearly the entire day, and then he'd either crash at night or use the darkness as extra time to steal from small convenience stores. Now he stuck to robbing people at night. They were usually drunk and since it was dark, it was easier to disappear before the cops were even notified.

While Braden was thinking along the lines of going to see a movie and then having sex (or just the latter) which seemed like the perfect date, he was willing to do something else as long as it wasn't too expensive. The only thing he worried about was whether Hailey would want to spend all day with Holly since it would be her birthday as well.

Holly was barely paying attention to Nick as he spoke about Brooklyn's birthday being in February and how she needed to give it back to Hailey. She had finished nearly all of the cookies that Roman had purchased, allowing him to take a piece of the last one before eating the rest of it. Her eyes scanned the room, searching for something new, but they fell upon her sister who was still talking to Braden. Holly remembered the earlier conversation where Brooklyn had told her that Braden might make a good boyfriend for her since he was close to her age. Since he was standing with his back to her, she couldn't make out what he and Hailey were talking about but Holly decided that he was too scrawny for her tastes. She wanted a boy that was tall and muscular or maybe one who was French and foreign. That would be nice. She decided that she would have to ask Roman to find her a boyfriend from where he used to live because she was sure that his accent was French.

"You should buy me a dog for my birthday," Holly stated cheerfully, her eyes lighting up at the thought. She had always wanted a little dog but her mother refused, stating that she wasn't going to waste more money on another mouth to feed. They weren't even allowed to have pets in their apartment but it didn't stop her mother's boyfriend from bringing home a pit bull one day. It was kept chained up by the front door and although Holly was warned not to touch it, she couldn't resist. It ended up biting her ankle to a point where she probably should have gotten stitches but they didn't take her and she ended up with a nasty scar instead. They got rid of the dog but even that hadn't stopped Holly from wanting a dog that she could play with and take care of -- well, play with and have Hailey take care of.

Holly was confused when Roman compared her talking to the speed of a cheetah. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair as her eyes glanced towards Hailey and then back to Nick and Roman. "Do you guys think Braden's cute?" she asked quietly, once again reflecting on Brooklyn's earlier comments. Holly didn't take notice to the fact that it was probably a weird question to ask two tough-guy boys who weren't even good friends with him, but that was probably no surprise. She never really adhered to social norms.

Hailey ignored Braden as he flipped her off about her agreeing with Holly, and she took it at face value, passing it off as a playful gesture. Hailey shrugged as Braden echoed what she had just said,

"Yep, May 29th, you know, the day before the 30th?" Hailey responded to him sarcastically. Hailey wasn't exactly trying to be a bitch, especially since Braden was being inquisitive enough to actual wonder when her birthday was. She and Holly never really had what people call a 'celebration' for their birthday. With their mom being a druggie and all, it's not like she really cared about the day she gave birth to them, but, Hailey and Holly managed to celebrate in their own way... such as singing happy birthday to themselves, reflecting on their year as whatever age they were coming out of... and, when they got into their teens, and Holly became a little harder to manage, Hailey would use some of the money she had stashed away to buy Holly a cupcake and candles for their birthday. It wasn't much, but, it kept Holly occupied for quite some time.

As far as Hailey could remember, she and Holly had never celebrated their birthday out here with the others. Last year, she hadn't even realized she'd turned 17 until a week after it happened. Hailey was in the midst of thinking about how this year may be different when she remembered that they needed to go shower. Holly was still talking to Nick and Roman, so Hailey raised her voice just a little bit so Holly could hear her,

"Holly, come on! We need to go shower." Hailey reminded her sister while slinging her gym bag over her shoulder. She looked at Braden, wanting to get in a couple words before Holly came back over,

"We don't have to technically 'celebrate' my birthday," Hailey said in a hushed voice, "Just spending time with you or something on my birthday would be enough for me." Hailey smiled at him and bit her lip, "Maybe we can talk at the gym... Holly spends forever in the shower, so, if we can be quick, we can talk about some things?" Hailey looked at Braden for a brief moment before smiling again and looking back in Holly's direction, patiently tapping her foot against the ground.

Nick wasn't surprised when Holly countered Roman's offer to buy her cookies for her birthday with the request of a dog. It was realistic in Holly standards, considering that he'd heard her ask for far stranger things. However, Nick knew that a dog was not an option. It would end up being one more thing that Hailey had to care for and even though Nick was going to try to work on Brooklyn's attitude, he knew that a dog barking and rolling around on everything would be a request that she wouldn't even consider. He gave Roman a quick thumbs up, sarcastically congratulating him on his brilliant comment and allowing him to deal with shutting that idea down before Holly brought it up to anyone else.

He watched as Roman did the whole finger through the flame trick which had Holly mesmerized for only a second before Nick spotted her eyes scanning the rest of the warehouse. It was probably best that her attention span was short enough to not focus too much on it because Nick wouldn't have been surprised if she wanted to try it out herself.

Nick laughed when Roman commented on their powers and it was more amusing when Holly commented, clearly not understanding what they were talking about. "No superpowers here," he commented, shaking his head, just as Holly leaned in and asked him a surprisingly awkward question. He wanted to laugh again but knew that Holly was being serious and didn't want to offend her, so he glanced over at Killens, again giving him an opportunity to weigh in on the question. Even if it was another girl asking the question, it still would have been a strange one to answer, but Holly asking it made it even weirder. Like Roman had said, she was still like a kid in their eyes and the idea of her wanting to date or be involved with a boy was unusual. She talked all of the time about "the perfect guy" that she was destined to meet but it all seemed like fantasies, stuff that she had seen in a movie or something. She was nearly eighteen though and a pretty girl, so maybe someone who hadn't known her for all of this time could see her as something more than a younger sister. That was definitely not going to be Braden though.

Killens turned to Holly after she asked his and Nick's opinion on Braden's attractiveness. Although Nick was clearly taken aback and uncomfortable with the question, as Roman was too, he couldn't help but laugh at least a little bit. Seeing the look on his friend's face, he contemplated putting Nick on the spot by saying something like, "Oh, Nick was just talking about how cute Braden was the other day," but decided against it. He looked over at Braden, who was talking to Hailey about something. He never really saw them talking to each other very often, but he didn't question it. He chuckled again before answering Holly.

"Uh, I can honestly say I've never thought about it, Holly. Personally I think Nick is way cuter. I mean, look at him." He grabbed Nick by the jaw and wiggled his face. "He's like a little puppy. What do you think about Braden, Hol?"

Before the conversation could progress any further, Hailey called Holly so they could go and take showers.

"That's you," Roman said. Holly hadn't even talked to them for more than four minutes before things became incredibly awkward. Although he found her funny a lot of the times, it was nice to have some resting period. He had no idea what would have happened if she had stayed longer, provided she sat with them for longer than four minutes. "Maybe take Nick with you. He looks like a puppy and smells like one too," he said as he theatrically sniffed Nick's shoulder.

Roman and Nick were joking around, not giving her a serious enough answer to satisfy her question and before Holly could get a real answer out of the boys, Hailey called her over and said that it was time to shower. She beamed at the thought of being able to go out again and look at all of the different people and buildings and activities taking place and quickly jumped up. Hailey and Braden were waiting for her and Holly knew that Hailey would have gathered the rest of her things for her, so she headed towards the door. Although New York City's air wasn't remotely clean compared to that of less populated areas, it felt a lot lighter than that of the air in the warehouse which always seemed to be tainted with smoke, weed or just a damp, musty scent from water that was beginning to leak through the roof in a few areas.

Once Holly reached the street, she turned back and waited for Hailey and Braden who had fallen back a bit, probably just because Holly had basically ran out of the building. When the two caught up to her, she grabbed onto Hailey's arm, squeezing it with excitement as they walked. Holly was always a touchy-feely type of person. It went along with her lack of social boundaries in some ways. When she was excited, it was impossible for her not to grab whoever was closest to her and share the news and when she was angry, she would physically push away anyone who tried to come near her. Even when she was just bored, she would find a bit of entertainment in braiding Hailey's hair regardless of asking if it was okay. She liked the physical contact, especially when she was initiating it.

"Guess what?" she said, although she didn't wait for Hailey to guess. "Roman said he's going to get me a dog for my birthday. Not a big dog like the one we had at home for a little while. A little dog, maybe like the one in the movie with the girl... and she had a dog that was little and black," Holly said, attempting to search through her memory for the name of the movie. It was The Wizard of Oz, a movie that Holly had watched at least one hundred times throughout her childhood. Their television only had a VHS player and as DVD's started to take over, the available selection of VHS tapes at the library began to downsize. The Wizard of Oz was one of the few left that could keep Holly in her seat for the full two hours. Even though she had seen it so many times, being able to recall the names of things was something that suffered at the hands of her learning disabilities.

"Do you like dogs, Braden?" Holly asked, switching her attention to the boy as she released her tight grip on her sister's arm.

Braden was glad to see that Hailey seemed to be feeling better. She was back to being feisty and entertaining, and Braden hoped that her earlier sickness was just related to something she had ate. If she was really sick, she'd probably be out of it for a few days which meant Hailey would be more out of control and, even worse, he wouldn't be able to hang out with her at night when everyone else went to sleep.

Hailey called Holly over but before she came over, Hailey mentioned that they didn't have to do anything big for her birthday and that they could talk more about it at the gym. Braden knew that he couldn't taken her to DANIEL or a place like that where he'd be shelling out hundreds of dollars for a meal for two, but there were a bunch of reasonably priced restaurants around that he could probably manage. If not, he figured that Hailey would be okay with getting pizza or something cheaper like that and after they could go to a movie, maybe one of the free ones that the local parks always showed on the lawns during the spring and summer. He hoped that one of the others would offer to take Holly for the night but he wasn't sure how that would work. No one knew that he was involved with Hailey so he didn't know how she was going to manage to sneak off for the night without raising suspicion. Worse comes to worst, they could probably deal with bringing Holly out with them for a little while and then dropping her back off at the warehouse after they had eaten.

Part of Braden thought that it might be easier to just tell one of them, maybe Robbie, about what was going on between him and Hailey, but it could just lead to more problems. Especially if something happened and they stopped seeing each other, Braden didn't want to have to explain it to anyone.

"Sounds good," Braden said, watching Holly hurry out the door. When they reached the street and caught up with her, she latched onto Hailey and started talking about how Roman was going to get her a dog.

He raised an eyebrow, knowing quite well that there was no way that Holly could take care of a dog, even if the rest of them didn't mind having a dog around. It would end up becoming Hailey's problem and Braden knew that that was the last thing that she needed.

"Uh, I had a dog named Ollie back at home. It'd be hard to keep one out here though. They need a lot of attention and you've got to feed them and give them water, brush them, walk them and get shots for them and all of that shit," Braden responded. Dealing with Holly basically was like dealing with a puppy. She always had to be occupied with something, she couldn't contain her excitement, she loved playing with new things and could be bribed into doing things with candy. "You guys used to have one?" he asked, turning his gaze towards Hailey.

Nick laughed, shoving Roman off of him as soon as Holly left with Hailey and Braden. "That's a weird group," he noted, nodding his head towards the door where the three had disappeared out of. Braden did his own thing a lot of the time but when he did interact with everyone else, he was usually being offensive in some way. Holly had just asked the strange question on whether they thought he was "cute" so maybe she had asked Hailey to invite him to hang out with them or something.

"What're your plans for tonight?" he asked as he got up and walked back to his area and grabbed the lawn chair from next to his bed. He carried it back, placing down a few feet away from Killens bed. "The Yankees are playing The Cubs tonight," he continued. "As long as Hailey brings me back my money in time, I'm thinking about heading down to one of the bars to watch it." Nick knew that it wasn't something that Brooklyn would want to do, but for all he knew, she could be upset until tomorrow. It would probably be better to make a reservation at some nice restaurant so Brooklyn. Then, Brooklyn would feel like Nick recognized that she didn't appreciate the low-class lifestyle that she acted like he was forcing her to stay in, and maybe they could move on from the incident.

However, it felt like it had been a while since he had hung out with Roman. Between him having a girlfriend and Roman taking on an unpredictable fighting schedule, and then living with 6 other people, it was hard to just do things alone. It wasn't a huge deal, really, but sometimes Nick reminisced on how much easier life seemed to be before their group started to grow, and even sometimes, before he had met Brooklyn. He had a real life back then, working at a restaurant and living in a shelter. It wasn't ideal but he could have been one of those success stories where he fully utilized all of the resources provided to him and established a nice life for himself. The drug money was too tempting, but even when he moved in with the Miguel and started dealing, things were still a lot easier than this. Everything seemed more peaceful back then, but Nick knew that things always seemed better than they really were. Not only did he feel like it was about time that they just chilled out for a little like they used to, but he also figured that if he made plans with Roman, it'd be one less night that he'd be out there fighting. Nick recognized that it was a job and the money kept Roman alive, but he just had a feeling that it was going to kill him in the end, and it didn't seem worth it.

Roman concealed his pain after Nick playfully shoved. He laughed a little shakily and rubbed his arm as he looked over to see the twins and Braden leaving together. He nodded in agreement that yeah, it was kind of strange. "But I mean, our living conditions are strange, so," he said with a shrug. As Nick got comfortable in a lawn chair, pulling it up just a few feet from his mattress, Killens decided he would get comfortable. He took his shoes off and leaned back with his arms crossed behind his head.

Roman pondered the answer to Nick's question about his plans for the night. He looked at him with somewhat of a scowl. He had a fight tonight. Two actually, since money was starting to get a bit tighter than it usually was. Sometimes he felt like Nick asked him even though he knew the chances were high that he had a fight. More recently Roman had been fighting quite frequently, which probably explained why he had be so sore. Not even sore. It honestly felt like his muscles were burning. Before he could respond, Nick went on to explain how the Yankees were playing. He didn't directly say it, but he could tell it was an invitation. Roman bit his lip some and looked up to the ceiling and thought some. He knew Nick probably didn't want to hear what he was going to say, and maybe he should have been able to take one night off, but something kept him from doing so. It was as thought fighting wasn't a job anymore. It was a duty. Something he just had to do. He swallowed a dry lump.

"I guess it depends what time, y'know? I have a fight tonight. Two. So I'm kind of swamped." He leaned up some. "And I can't miss it. There are some important people betting on me, you know? I need this." His voice shook despite himself. He supposed he hadn't realized how nervous he was for the night. He didn't tell Robbie how he needed the pills a bit immediately. Maybe they wouldn't even work. Killens was on a streak, one of his best ones in fact. He couldn't let it crumble down just because of a bad shoulder. But then again it was Nick who had saved his ass to begin with. Before he could even protect himself. He flopped back down and began to smile.

"You damn Americans and your Yankees. I'll go," he said. "But only for a little bit. And don't get me drunk either," he said. Roman leaned over and put his hand under his mattress as he pulled out his book. He was never uncomfortable having it out around Nick since he had known him so long. "I remember watching the games when we were younger. Pretty much because that was your thing. You know you used to scare the shit out of me. But that was before I grew." He turned so he was on his side and flipped through some pages. "It's crazy how things change," he said distractedly. "Or how we change, y'know? Or, like, the chances we take. I left on a whim decision and was just scared as shit to go back. It sucks to think about sometimes, like where would I be if I left," Roman said. He was mostly talking aloud to himself. Nick knew a bit of his past, but Roman had always been vague about his family, especially his parents. The very details of why he left were also a hazy area. "But I guess I wouldn't have solid friends like you and Brook. So something good did come out of some of this, y'know?" He looked at him.

Killens was mostly a quiet person, especially around larger groups as he didn't feel the need to say much. But around Nick, he often just went on a tranquil tangent, talking more around him casually than he would ever do around the others. He figured Nick tuned him out since Roman hardly ever really talked about much; what was their to say when you lead the same story for almost ten years? Maybe it was just knowing that there was actually someone there in front of him to toss his ideas out into the open to.

"I remember when it was just the two of us. Weird how we've kind of made a makeshift dysfunctional family, yeah? I figured I would be dead by now," he said as he turned a page. He chuckled to himself. "My hypothesis was that you would kill me, but I guess I lucked out. Do you ever feel bad about killing those guys?"

With the bag of books in hand, Brooklyn left the store and headed down the street. She walked as slowly as possible without getting in anyone's way, being in no hurry to get back to the warehouse. There, she would have to deal with Nick acting like he was the one who deserved an apology and his sidekick Roman agreeing with him. Brooklyn appreciated Roman and knew that he probably felt stuck between the two of them so she didn't mind him usually taking Nick's side, but there was nothing that he could say that would get Brooklyn to admit to being wrong.

As she walked, she passed by a Duane Reade drugstore. Brooklyn hated them, for no real reason beside that they seemed to be everywhere in the city, but she decided to go in anyway. She still had a little bit over one hundred dollars tucked in her bra and she knew that she would be working tonight and the rest of the weekend, so that money would hold her over for her two days off later in the week.

She scanned the aisles, first going to the makeup section where she picked up liquid eyeliner and a bottle of black nail polish. She skipped the vitamin and medication aisles but the children's aisle caught her eye. It was mostly filled with overpriced toys that were likely to break a few minutes after a child used them, but the end had a small school supply section. School would be letting out in the city in less than a month, so they didn't have too much to offer, but Brooklyn grabbed a box of pencils and markers, and a few packs of assorted stickers. For a moment, she considered purchasing some of the colorful pencils that were covered in polka dots, stripes or stars, but decided against it, knowing that it would take Holly an hour to decide which one she wanted to use. Lastly, she grabbed a package of erasers, knowing that they would be needing them, and headed towards the checkout line.

Despite not being in a rush, she tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the one cashier to ring up the two people in front of her before dropping her own items onto the counter.

"Would you like to donate a dollar to The Make A Wish Foundation?" the middle-aged employee asked, pointing to a descriptive flier taped to the counter that read about how their pharmacy supported the organization. Brooklyn knew all too well about what the charity was. Her sister had been granted a trip to Disney through them but two days after getting there, she started having seizures due to the medication she was on and they had to fly back home immediately. From then on, her sister's health only declined.

"No," Brooklyn said curtly as she paid for her goods and walked out in a huff. She quickly banished the thoughts from her mind, something she had gotten pretty good at over the years, and headed back towards the warehouse.

Robbie let out another shaky breath, he could only keep his composure for so long and his body cravings were starting to take a noticeable affect on him. Placing his hands into his pockets he felt the slight vibrations threw his clothes and clenched them into a fist stopping them just enough to ignore the feelings, it was subtle enough to go unnoticed by Nick who just as soon left.

Remembering he had accepted a cigarette a little earlier he quickly popped it into his mouth and grabbed his zippo lighter from his back pocket a lit it, smelling that all too familiar smell of lighter fluid that he has grown attached to. Robbie had stolen the lighter from an uncle back when he was seventeen, the man was a heavy smoker but only tended to use matches and so Robbie figured he wouldn’t miss it. It cost him near two hundred dollars because it was custom made, polished silver with a four leaf clover in the middle along with a gold trim and engraved initials, one of the few times he was happy he was named after the man. It was the most expensive thing he owned now and the only thing that can be tied home.

After a few drags he crushed it under his shoe and headed inside. His hands had slowed its shaking and his tension subsided for the time and headed inside. Nick and Killens were chatting making a less than likely chance of him giving him the pills. He made his way over to his corner making sure to look over at Killens trying to subtly get his attention. It wasn’t very effective so he winded up simply coughing slightly being the best he could without bringing up too much attention. Robbie plopped down on his mattress, throwing his shoes off near his other pair and leaning back against the wall. He didn't have anywhere to be for most of the day and relaxing for the most of it was the only thing he really felt like doing for now.