Welcome to the Family

The thirteen year old girl woke up with a start. She blinked her eyes in confusion and listened closely. Loud banging continued to be heard through the house. She blinked again before realizing that her parents were sound asleep. She groaned when the pounding continued. She kicked her blankets off and padded to her bedroom door. She walked out of her bedroom and then down the hall to her parents room. She eased the door open and slipped inside. The girl walked over to her dad's side of the bed and started shaking him awake.

"Dad, dad, wake up," the girl said.

"Huh, what?" the man asked, lifting his head.

"Dad, there's someone at the front door," the girl said.

"What?" the man asked, still half asleep.

"There's someone at the door," the girl repeated sounding a little scared.

The man grunted in response and sat up. He moved his feet to the floor and then left the room to go see who was at the door. The girl followed him to the front door and waited by the opening to the living room. She watched as her dad opened the door and how he barely had time to catch the young girl in his arms as she pitched forward. The girl continued to watch as her dad carried the young girl to the couch. She stood there completely confused and stunned that a girl passed out on her doorstep in the middle of the night.

"Go get some washcloths, some antiseptic, and wake up your mom," her dad said.

The girl nodded and preceded into the downstairs bathroom where she gathered the necessary items her dad asked for. She brought them out to the living before going back up the stairs and into her parents' bedroom again. She walked back to the bed, but this time she walked over to her mom's side of the bed.

"Mom, mom," she said, shaking her slightly.

"What is it honey?" her mom asked.

"Dad wanted me to wake you up," she said.

"Why?" her mom asked.

"I think he wants your help with the stranger passed out on our couch," the girl answered calmly.

That got her moving quickly. The girl watched as her mom scrambled out of bed and pulled her hair into a ragged ponytail and then jogged down the stairs. She skidded into the living room and stopped short as she watched her husband tend to the young girl on their couch.

"Brian, what the hell happened?" the woman asked.

"Kenna came into the room earlier and said that someone was at the door. When I opened the door she lost consciousness. I barely had time to catch her before she fell," he answered.

"What do I need to do to help?" she asked.

"Take off her shoes, but gently. I think her ankle has been twisted," Brian answered.

The woman nodded and went to the other end of the couch. She started to unlace her shoelaces and loosened the shoes. She pulled them off gently and then placed them on the ground. She looked to her husband for more instructions on how to help this poor girl.

"Suzy, get some change of clothes for her. The ones she's wearing are damp as if she's been dunked in a pool or something," Brian said.

Suzy nodded her head and went up the stairs to pick out some sweats and a T-shirt for the girl to wear. The daughter kept watching unsure of what she could do to help. "Kenna call your brother. I think this is the girl they've been looking for, for the last week," Brian told his daughter.

Kenna nodded her head and went to get the house phone. She picked it up and dialed her brother's cell phone number. It rang five times before going to voicemail. Kenna grumbled and hung up without leaving a message. She tried again, but got the same results.

She had just hung up for a third time when her dad walked in. "He's not answering his cell phone," she said.

"Have you tried calling the house?" her dad asked.

"Not yet, but I will. If he doesn't answer then I'll try one of the other guys," she replied.

"Good. Your mom is changing her clothes now. She's getting rid of the clothes that she was wearing except for the sweatshirt. She's going to wash that. I'm in here because I don't need to see that, but I think your mom wants a garbage bag for the old clothes," he informed her.

"Alright, I'll go bring her one," Kenna answered, dialing the phone number to her brother's house phone.

She walked into the living room while the phone continued to ring. She handed her mom the garbage bag and then watched as she carefully redressed the young girl in some warmer clothes. She had a pair of sweatpants on and her mom was just finishing buttoning the shirt that she had on. Kenna walked back into the kitchen and told her dad that it was safe to go back into the living room. He nodded his head and then left the kitchen. Kenna was still listening to the ringing phone.

*****

Zacky was asleep when he heard his cell phone go off. He groaned inwardly and let out a few choice cuss words when he saw the time. He reached for his phone and answered it without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello," he grumbled out.

"Zacky, it's McKenna. Brian's not answering his phone, but my dad needs him to come to the house," McKenna said into the line.

"Why?" Zacky mumbled.

"Some stranger showed up at our house in the middle of the night and is now passed out on our couch. She has brown hair and is pretty young. My dad thinks that she's the girl you've all been looking for," McKenna answered.

"I'll be right there," Zacky said, and hung up the phone. Zacky scrambled out of bed making sure to not wake Gena's sleeping form. He got dressed not really caring if his clothes were dirty or not. When he got down to his kitchen his dog Ichabod started barking frantically. Zacky quickly quieted him with some dog food and then quickly scribbled a note to Gena as to where he went. He grabbed his keys and wallet before heading to his car.

He was on the phone to Jimmy and Johnny while he drove. Just as he got off the phone with Johnny he pulled up to Papa Gates' house. He turned off his car and then jogged up to the front door. He knocked and the door was answered by McKenna. She stepped aside and let him in. She led him to the living room and he took one glance at the young girl on the couch and sighed heavily.

"Is this who've you been looking for?" Suzy asked gently.

"Yeah, her name is Rebecca Hastings. She stowed away on our tour bus when we left Nevada to Long Beach. She's really quiet and doesn't trust many people. She seems to really hate Brian, but that could be because he yelled at her about stealing his hoodie when we found her on the bus wearing it," Zacky explained quickly.

"She looks so pale and thin," Suzy commented.

"Yeah, she's been living on the streets since she was five years old. Well, at least that's what she told us she remembers. She has a recurring nightmare, but doesn't really explain what it's about," he replied simply.

Suzy nodded her head. McKenna left the room and when she returned Jimmy, Johnny, Matt, and Brian were all with her. Zacky turned his attention to them all and waited for the plan of action. He looked to Matt for the plan, but it was Brian who answered.

"She needs to go to the hospital. Her ankle and wrist, possibly her arm, look broken or twisted in some degree. After that I have to discuss something with all four of you," he said.

The other four were speechless. Before anyone could actually reply to what Brian just said there was a groan coming from the couch. They turned their full attention to the couch.

******

Rebecca groaned as she started to move. She didn't know what happened, but she could hear faint voices. Her head was still pounding, but she was no longer shivering. Her wrist and ankle were throbbing and sending more pain throughout her body. Her eyes opened to a semi dark house. She wasn't sure where she was or how she got there. Everything was a blur to her. She sat up and looked out a window. The sun was just barely rising over the horizon.

She turned her head and her eyes fell on a girl who looked about two years younger than her. Her gaze rested on her for a bit until she saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head in that direction and her eyes landed on the tall figure that she recognized as Jimmy.

"Rebecca, are you alright?" Jimmy asked, walking forward and kneeling down next to her so that they were eye level.

"I think so," she answered, furrowing her eyebrows a little.

"Do you remember what happened?" Brian asked, from behind Jimmy.

Rebecca turned her gaze to him and just stared. She couldn't understand his facial expression mainly because every time that she had been around him before he seemed either pissed or annoyed. Now, she couldn't place what his face was saying and that was a big surprise to her since she normally was good at reading people.

"Rebecca?" Johnny's voice prodded.

Rebecca turned her attention to him and there she saw complete and utter concern written all over his face. She liked Johnny. He was pretty funny and had a lot of quirky habits. Rebecca blinked her eyes and then looked back at Jimmy.

"What happened?" She asked confused.

"We don't know sweetie, but Papa Gates, Brian's dad, found you at his front door before you passed out," Jimmy explained.

Rebecca was confused. Her head hurt and she couldn't get her mind to suppress the pain she was feeling in her ankle and wrist. "My head hurts," she said after a five minute silence.

"Do you want to go to the hospital?" Matt asked.

Rebecca looked at Matt and then at Brian. She found Zacky standing next to Brian with a look of concern on his face too. She still couldn't understand Brian's facial expression and it was bugging her. She sat up fully and placed her feet onto the carpeted floor. When she stood up she lost her balance, but Jimmy quickly caught her. Rebecca felt tears start to well up in her eyes, but she furiously blinked them back.

"You need to go to the hospital to get checked out," Jimmy said, holding onto her.

Rebecca nodded her head and kept her weight off of her injured foot. She used Jimmy as a reliever of some weight as they walked towards the door. Everyone followed them because they wanted to know how bad Rebecca's injuries were. Jimmy helped her into Matt's Escalade while everyone else piled in. Suzy, Papa Gates, and McKenna all piled into their car and followed Matt's to the hospital.

When they reached the hospital Johnny shot out of the car and came back with a wheelchair so that she wouldn't have to walk. She smiled at Johnny and then went to grab the wheels to start pushing herself, but a sharp pain went through her wrist when she moved it. She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath of air. The wheelchair started to move and she opened her eyes to look behind her. She saw Brian pushing it. He smiled lightly at her and furrowed her eyebrows again. She couldn't understand his change in behavior or why he suddenly showed an interest in her, but she just shrugged and faced the front again as they entered the hospital.

Once inside the hospital Brian went straight to the triage nurse and started explaining what he knew. The triage nurse handed him a clipboard and he started filling out the paperwork with the information that he knew. Rebecca stared at him completely and utterly confused. How did he know more about her than she did? She turned her attention to Jimmy and frowned up at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked her when he noticed her staring at him.

"How does he know so much about me that I don't?" She asked him.

"I honestly don't know," Jimmy replied.

Jimmy looked at Zacky who glared at him. Jimmy glared back, but quickly dropped it when he realized that Rebecca was staring at him again. Brian returned to the group after he had given the paperwork back to the triage nurse. He mentioned that she would be called back in a little bit. Rebecca nodded her head in understanding. She couldn't help but notice how fidgety Brian was acting while they waited for her to be called back. Since she was on the bus with them for quite awhile she never saw him act that way. He normally just ignored her presence on the bus; well accept that one time he tried to sit next to her. She was still trying to figure that out to.

"Rebecca Hastings," a nurse called her name.

Rebecca looked towards the nurses' station and sighed heavily. She really didn't want to get checked out, but she had an inkling of a feeling that if she didn't she could be screwed up worse for the rest of her life and she didn't want that at all. Someone had started to push her wheelchair and she looked back to see the girl around her age pushing it. She smiled at her and Rebecca smiled back. Someone grabbed her hand and she looked to her left to see a woman with a comforting smile on her face. Rebecca returned it and then faced forward.

******

Brian had wanted to go back with Rebecca, but he was glad that Suzy and Kenna did instead. It allowed him to talk to his friends and dad about where he had been for the last few days. He knew that he should have talked to Michelle about this beforehand, but he wasn't sure how long they would all have with Rebecca before she was taken from them. He had grown to like her and her quietness. It allowed him a small peace of mind from his friends and their overly crazy attitudes, or rather just Jimmy and Johnny's crazy attitudes. He just hoped that the guys would stand behind him on this. He was positive that he might have made a really rash decision, but at the time it was the only thing that he could think of doing that felt right.

"What did you want to talk to us about?" Matt asked.

Brian looked towards his friends and then his dad. He was nervous as hell to bring this up especially in such a public place. He wished that he could have brought it up at one of the houses, but it was too important to wait.

"Brian," Zacky said.

Brian shook his head of his doubting thoughts before taking a deep breath. He wasn't sure how long he would have before Rebecca, his mom, and little sister came back out, so he knew that he needed to start speaking.

"Alright, so I know that you all want to know where I was the last few days, but I'll get to that. First of all, I want to apologize for acting so out of character for once, but since Rebecca has joined this little group I've felt differently towards her since the first meeting," Brian began.

"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked, clearly confused on what Brian was trying to say.

"I mean that I've felt a lot more protective of her than I thought I would. My behavior towards her hasn't been the best, but I'm trying to change that, which is why I sort of disappeared for the last few days," he answered.

"Where did you go?" Zacky wondered.

"I went to a Social Services Agency," Brian replied, "and the person I talked to about Rebecca gave me all the information about why she was possibly on her own. She told me stuff about her family and where she came from. She then mentioned that if Rebecca didn't have a legal guardian in the state of California then she would be put into the foster care system," Brian finished.

"That's not going to happen," Jimmy interrupted angrily.

"Exactly, it's not because I already took care of it," Brian reassured him.

"How did you do that?" Johnny asked.

"I put us all down as her adoptive parents," Brian spoke clearly.