Welcome to the Family

Jimmy was excited that Rebecca had been able to adjust well to living with him. She had stopped grumbling whenever she needed assistance, but Jimmy could still see her discomfort at relying on people. He now had to figure out how to tell her about her family. He was still reluctant on telling her because she was really starting to warm up more to everyone. Brian was still a touchy subject with her, but he could honestly see that she tried. Matt and Zacky both pressed Jimmy into telling her and even said that they would if he didn't by the time she decided on the next house to live in. He had one more week, but he didn't want to upset her.

"Hey, Jimmy?" Rebecca's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Do you have a computer?" she asked.

"Yes, why?" he wondered.

"I needed to look some things up and was just curious," she answered.

"Sure, I'll go get it," he said, standing up from the armchair he was sitting in.

His thoughts quickly took over his brain again, but he shoved them aside as he got his computer. He brought it out to her and then placed it on the dining room table. He wheeled her over to it and then stopped her in front of the screen. Jimmy had to boot up the computer and type in his secured password before he left her alone with it.

Rebecca smiled gratefully when Jimmy left her alone in front of his computer. This was her shot at figuring out where she came from. She was so curious, but she didn't want anyone else to find out. She knew the basics on how to delete one's Internet history from living in numerous libraries in different states. Every time that Rebecca would search the libraries for information she never found a single thing. A lot of the reason though was because she'd always find the library too late when they were closing and they would kick her out before she could hardly start her search.

Now that Rebecca had a computer that she could use without being interrupted she prayed that she would actually get somewhere with her research about her family. When she had reached an age where she actually understood that she needed a family or rather that she belonged with a family she started to try and find them. She wasn't sure which state she came from or where her family might be. She knew that they were out there somewhere and she just needed to find them. Rebecca worked furiously on the computer and when she got nowhere she went to go and clear the history since she didn't want anyone to look at what she was searching for. As she went to delete the history though, she noticed a website that looked like a search engine for finding people. She clicked on it and it brought up a screen where you could type in the person you wanted to look up and it would pop up with the information you wanted.

Rebecca racked her brain for any kind of memory as to what her parents' names were. Her last name was Hastings. She knew that from the engraved necklace that had been around her neck before the chain began to wear out. She drummed her fingers against the table as she fought with her memory. The most she got was a lot of the color red. That's all that seemed to peak through her memory and she was getting really frustrated with that. Rebecca sighed heavily. She wasn't getting anywhere at the moment and she was stressing too much over this whole thing. She truly wanted to find her parents and her family, but deep down she was afraid that she wouldn't like the news.

******

It had been a couple of days since Rebecca started using Jimmy's computer. She still hadn't gotten anywhere with her search, but she wasn't going to give up. She was determined to find them or figure out her memories if she could. Her nightmare had come back a couple of times and both Leana and Jimmy had come and comforted her, but for some reason it didn't bring the comfort she had felt the last time it had happened. She knew that she had, had the nightmare one last time when she was still on the tour bus, but she didn't know who had comforted her when she had it. Besides the thought of trying to find her family that also plagued her mind, but she didn't quite understand why.

Jimmy walked into the house after coming home from practicing with the band. He had asked if Rebecca wanted to come, but she said no saying that she was busy looking for something. He looked over to where Rebecca was when he left and sighed heavily. She was passed out over the laptop. He couldn't help but notice how busy she was with the computer lately and he even brought it up to the guys. Matt even asked if he had told Rebecca about her family yet. He said he didn't and Matt actually got angry with him, but then he mentioned what his fears were and he cooled off.

Jimmy walked over to Rebecca's sleeping form and gently pushed the wheelchair out from underneath the table making sure not to let her fall to the floor. He lifted her out of the chair and then walked her up to the bedroom she was using. Laying her down on the bed he sat in a chair just looking at her. She was such an innocent young girl and he didn't want to tarnish it by telling her what he knew about her family. He knew that she needed to know, but he was scared that she wouldn't be able to handle it. He got up from the chair and walked back downstairs to the computer. He lifted the top of it and it booted back up. He typed in his password to access the actual desktop and it opened up with an Internet website.

Jimmy stared at it and felt his temperature drop. She was searching for her family. That meant she really wanted to know about them. Jimmy couldn't help, but finally make his decision. He would rather her hear the news from him instead of finding out from some Internet site that could possibly spit out lies. He and Zacky had made sure that the information he had found out was true by calling the police from the location. They confirmed it, but didn't discuss it further. Jimmy couldn't let her know from a website. He had to tell her himself. He sighed knowing that she probably would hate him and not believe him, but he was willing to take her anger.

******

Jimmy gave Rebecca a few more days to search the Internet. He wanted to be sure that she wouldn't find anything first. So far the sites she was looking at weren't giving her the results she wanted. It had been a fluke that Zacky had located the information, but he had. He wanted to tell her alone. He didn't want her to be angry with anyone else in the group but him. He didn't think it would be right. She was actually supposed to tell him which person she was going to stay with next since her third week was coming to an end soon.

Rebecca had yet to decide the next house she would be staying at. Her mind was focused on finding her family instead of living at another house for another three weeks. She knew that she had to decide soon though because her time with Jimmy was coming to an end. She had enjoyed his company and came to trust him a lot within the three weeks. She still had her doubts, but they weren't as strong anymore. Although, she actually noticed that he had been quite distant lately. She had gotten along really well with Leana and having someone help her take showers and baths wasn't so bad anymore.

Rebecca really wanted to trust the others too, but since she hadn't lived with them yet, she had her doubts and suspicions. When Leana was home and not working she would have her friends come over. It was mostly Gena and Michelle, but sometimes Val would show up and another girl that she met, Lacey, who was Johnny's girlfriend. She liked Lacey a lot. Lacey was the shy type and didn't talk much, which helped her transition to her a lot faster. When Lacey warmed up to Rebecca they talked quite a lot. It was actually helping her decide when the girls were over on where her next stop would be in her trust battles.

Rebecca really enjoyed the girls' company. She had given her search a break and started focusing on where her next stop would be because it was important. She was worried about Jimmy though. At the moment she was hanging out with Leana and the rest of the girls who were over and just chatting. Jimmy had walked into the living room with the rest of the guys following him. Rebecca noticed his grim expression and frowned. He needed to have a smile on his face. Frowns didn't look good on Jimmy at all. She turned her attention to all the guys and noticed that they all had grim expressions.

"Hey, Rebecca, can I talk to you alone?" Jimmy asked her.

"Sure," she smiled at him, hoping that it would get him to smile at her.

Jimmy walked over to her and bent down with his back facing her. She was confused at first until he looked back at her. She got the hint from his eyes. He wanted privacy so they were going to talk upstairs away from everyone else. Rebecca latched her arms around his neck and then he stood up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and then he walked up the stairs. He bypassed her room, which confused her even more. She had never been his room knowing that it was his privacy and she wanted to respect that, plus she couldn't get around on her own anyway.

Jimmy set her down on the bed and then he walked to the corner of the room. Rebecca sat at the edge of his bed and stared at him as he paced back and forth. She heard him whispering to himself and was really confused. His head popped up and then he stared at the open door. He walked over to it and closed the door. Apparently he didn't want anyone to hear them talking. She heard loud laughter coming from downstairs so that meant that the others weren't even trying to remotely listen. She turned her attention back to Jimmy when she heard him sigh loudly.

"Jimmy are you alright?" she asked him concerned.

Jimmy looked at her. He had to tell her now. There was no way to keep avoiding it. She would be leaving his house within two days after she divulged where she was staying. He had run out of time to figure this all out. He took a deep breath before he finally sat down on the floor and stared up at her.

"Rebecca, there's something I need to tell you. You're probably not going to like it and the trust that you've built up towards me so far is probably going to vanish immediately, but I hope you let me explain completely before you start to judge," he finally said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"When you went missing, the guys and I went looking for you. We knew that you didn't know the area and Huntington Beach isn't the best of places sometimes at night. We were scared for you even though we still barely knew you. I decided to stay behind though because I had a different area to search," he started to explain.

"I don't understand," Rebecca whispered out.

Jimmy cleared his throat before continuing. "I wanted to know why a young person such as yourself was alone. You said that you didn't remember much and I wanted to find out why. Zacky decided to help me since he knew a little bit more about computers than I did. While the others were searching for you Zacky and I were searching for answers about your past," Jimmy said.

"Why?" Rebecca asked.

"We weren't sure, no; I wasn’t sure what to make of the whole situation. You didn't seem like a runaway; at least you didn't act like a normal runaway. You seemed more lost and confused than anything else. I wanted to be able to help you if I could," he answered.

"Did you find anything?" she asked curious.

"I didn't find anything, but Zacky did," he said.

"What did he find?" Rebecca wondered, sitting up straighter.

Jimmy cleared his throat again. He felt like he had a rock stuck in it and it wasn't going away by simply swallowing. He was having a hard time now. "Zacky looked at some police reports from the Connecticut Police Department. He searched past reports and found out about your family," Jimmy said.

"What did it say?" Rebecca wanted to know.

"Your parents, Tyler and Haylie Hastings were murdered. There were reports that the rest of
Tyler's family was killed a few days after your parents along with Haylie's family. It also stated that you had an older brother, but they couldn't find a body so that case is still open," Jimmy explained.

Rebecca sat silent trying to understand what he was trying to grasp the new info. She couldn't believe it. She had an older brother who was supposedly missing. Her parents were dead and any kind of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents were all dead too. She was without a family. She was alone. It explained why she was alone for so many years trying to survive on her own.

"Did the reports say anything about me?" Rebecca asked finally.

"The police reports said that there were signs of a little girl in the family, but since they couldn't find a body of her either they reported her kidnapped," Jimmy answered, looking away from her and at the floor.

Rebecca was silent again. This was all new to her. The family she was trying to look for no longer existed, well except maybe her brother. She didn't have faith that he was alive though. If he was then wouldn't he have come looking for her? Why hadn't she come across him before? Why hadn't she been found by him? Did he even want her? Did he even know that she was alive still? She couldn't wrap her head around this at the moment.

"Why did you wait so long to tell me?" Rebecca asked.

Jimmy looked at her. She was holding up pretty well so far. Would she feel betrayed so soon? The only way he could find out is if he told her the truth. He couldn't lie to her. "I waited because I wasn't sure how you would be able to handle it. I didn't even know that you were looking for them until I saw the websites you were going on. I wish that I hadn't waited so long. I was actually planning on telling you right after we got back from the hospital, but you seemed so fragile already that I didn't want to add to the fragile state that you seemed to be in at the time," Jimmy explained.

Rebecca stared at him. She couldn't believe that he kept vital information from her. She let his words sink in about why he waited though. As she mulled over them she realized that he was just looking out for her. He seemed to really care about her. She still couldn't condone that he kept that from her. Apparently Zacky knew as well and she really didn't want to be around him at the moment either. She finally knew who she was staying with after Jimmy. She would have to endure two more days with him, but then she would be able to move to the next house for another three weeks.

"Can you please take me back downstairs?" Rebecca broke the silence with her question.

Jimmy stood up and nodded. He picked her up bridal style not sure if she would want the piggy back ride again after what he told her. She wasn't looking at him so he knew that she was angry. He didn't blame her though. They returned to the group downstairs and Jimmy sat her down on the couch in between Michelle and Leana. She smiled at the girls and then turned her attention to everyone in the room.

"I've made my decision on to where I'm staying next," she said.

Everyone's attention turned to her. They waited patiently for her to speak again. "I'd like to stay with Johnny first and then move to Matt's house afterwards," she said. Everyone looked at her confused. They had all thought that she would choose Zacky next. It surprised them all about the decision she made. They weren't about to deny her, her request though. That would just ruin the progress that she made so far with them. Jimmy was silent after Rebecca revealed who she wanted to live with next. He knew a part of that decision was because she was hurting inside.

"Jimmy, could you take me back upstairs now," Rebecca's voice cut through his thoughts.

He nodded and picked her up. He laid her down in her bed and she rolled over so that her back was facing him. He held in his sigh because he knew that she was upset and trying to cope with the news that he told her. He placed the covers over her and then left her alone like he knew she wanted to be. He went back downstairs and rejoined his friends.

"What was that about?" Matt asked confused.

"I told her," Jimmy answered.

Everyone was silent. They now understood Rebecca's behavior because they probably would have reacted the same way. She was grieving, or so they thought. They weren't entirely sure what was going through her head because she hardly spoke and she never let anyone in.

"I'm surprised that she didn't ask to leave right away," Brian said.

"What do you mean?" Matt demanded.

"I mean, she obviously either doesn't want to talk to anyone or just doesn't want to be around Jimmy after finding out. I would think that she would want to leave right away," he explained.

"She's a person who doesn't go back on her word ever, and I noticed that from the get go," Leana hissed at him.

Brian stayed silent after that. Leana was scary when she was angry. Leana wasn't angry though. She was upset that Rebecca decided to withdraw into herself instead of talking to someone about her feelings. She had honestly thought that Rebecca was making more progress in letting people in these last couple of weeks. Apparently she was wrong.

Upstairs Rebecca tried to fall asleep. She couldn't though. Silent tears were slowly trailing down her cheeks at the thought of possible betrayal from the one man who seemed to care about her from the beginning. He knew information about her and didn't tell her right away. She was upset. Rebecca thought about asking to leave now instead of in the next two days, but she knew that she said three weeks with each person. It wouldn't be fair to Jimmy if she cut his time short and not the others. She had to be fair. If anything she was a fair person and never went back on her word. At least she tried to practice that now, since she had people to rely on. Rebecca dried her tears and continued to stare at the wall next to the window before finally being able to fall asleep.