Matthew blinked a few times letting my words register. Ty cleared his throat, shuffling uncomfortably.

"Um, I'm going to go to the bathroom!" He blurted out, running off to the back of the cafe. I'm sure he was eager to get away from the awkward and tense atmosphere. I wish I could do what he did too.

"Okay, what's going on?" Matthew asked me, bring my attention back to the harsh reality of what I had to tell him.

I tried to look him in the eye but I couldn't. It was just to hard. My gaze fell to the table, phone clutched in my hand, hidden underneath the table top. I took a deep breath trying to calm myself, but it did nothing.

"Matthew, dad-"

"Jack. Not dad," Matthew interrupted, his lips tilted down in a frown.

I nodded. "Jack texted me today. He- he said you couldn't live in the house anymore."

I waited for a reaction. I waited for Matthew to break down. I waited for him to scream, protest, cry, erupt—but he did nothing. He stared at me with a blank, emotionless expression.

"He kicked me out?" Matthew finally asked, his tone bland and void of any real emotion. I didn't have the courage to say anything. I weakly nodded my head.

"B-but, what? Why? I mean- where will I go? I don't have anywhere to stay! We don't have family here!" Matthew exclaimed, the fact finally settling in his mind. It was so strange to me, Matthew didn't seem mad at Jack or even disappointed. He was just worried about where he'd go, and that was all.

"Oh no! I can't leave you and Hannah there! What am I going to do?" He buried his face into his hands, his elbows resting on the edge of the table.

"Matt, we will be fine. Don't worry about us!"

Ty entered the room, his hands shoved in his pockets. He sighed, "You can stay at my place."

Matthew and I both widened our eyes, blinking at him with our mouths hanging open like idiots. He sighed again, almost sounding irritated.

"Listen, I know you're doing me a favor by helping me find Dr. Belford and I appreciate that so I thought I'd return the favor. I don't want to get involved in your family issues, but the offer is there."

Matthew raised and eyebrow. "You think your parents will let a stranger live in your house?"

"What parents?" Ty retorted bluntly. I thought he was kidding but quickly realized he wasn't. His face was emotionless, but of course, that was the usual for him.

"Oh, okay," Matthew started. "Thank you man, you don't know how much this means t-"

"Whatever. It's not a big deal. Just don't bother me please, and don't question me," Ty snapped. Matthews mouth opened then closed and opened again but no words came out. Finally he just nodded. I looked up at the top of the wall where a small wooden clock was hung against the cream yellow wall.

"Oh! You guys have to leave. We open in fifteen minutes!" I exclaimed, ushering them to the door.

"Okay-okay! I'll text you my address," Ty grunted. I gave him a quick nod before shoving them both out the door. Although, I shoved Matthew softly. I didn't want to injure him anymore. He looked back and waved at me with a smile before heading down the sidewalk. It blew me away how Matthew could still smile at me with everything going on.

I remembered the messages Hannah had sent me and dug my phone out of my pocket. The screen lit up, showing three messaged from Hannah.

Hey! Where are you? It's six in the morning! ~ Hannah

Rebecca where are you and Matthew!? ~Hannah

Answer me! Why aren't you telling me what's going on? Mom is home for once and she is wondering where you are! ~ Hannah

I sighed, staring down at my phone. The messages reminded me of the secrets I was keeping from her. Matthew was right, Hannah deserved to know. She deserved to know everything. We were all each other had and we couldn't let lies ruin that. I typed a quick message to Hannah, letting her know we'd talk when my shift ended at noon.

****

"Rebecca where are we going?" Hannah asked me, seemingly annoyed.

I had just arrived home and she and I were headed to Ty's place so we could all talk. Let's just say, she wasn't happy.

"I told you, I'll explain everything later! Please just go with me," I answered.

Ty had given me an address a few hours earlier. 625 Elmore St. I turned the corner, pulling on to Elmore street. Quickly I realized that this was a bad part of town. Broken down houses, junky cars, and rough looking people lined the streets.

625 Elmore Street was a small rickety gray house. The windows were boarded up. A small beaten red pickup was parked in front of the house on an old cracked slab of cement. Sickly weeds grew in between the cracks, some flattened to the cement like pancakes. Beside the truck was Matthews car, which was much more new looking. It felt out of place. A basketball hoop hung on a fence post and down below it was a small motorcycle. I checked the address one more time, making sure I was in the right place.

"This is where you wanted to take me? Do you want me to get kidnapped or something?" Hannah asked dramatically. I rolled my eyes at her and hopped out of my car. Hannah followed me warily.

I knocked on the door three times and a few seconds later I heard the sound of the door unlocking. It swung open revealing Ty. He opened the door the rest of the way and moved to the side, letting us in. We entered and kicked off our shoes. Matthew was laying across the couch without a shirt on. An icepack lay on his abdomen where purple bruises and contusions spotted his side.

"Hey Ty, and Matthew," I greeted. Hannah just nodded at them.

"Hey sis!" Matthew chirped, tearing his eyes away from the show playing on t.v. I smiled at him and took a moment to look at Ty's house.

We had entered into the living room. The walls were painted a dark gray and an old tan couch was pushed up against one wall. A small rocking chair sat beside the couch, both facing another wall with a small flatscreen. The only light was from a fan hanging from the ceiling. It was dark in the entire house because the windows were boarded off.

I looked over to Hannah and noticed she was also inspecting the place. The guys didn't notice though. They were to busy screaming at the t.v. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the rocking chair. Ty sighed and turned off the t.v. reluctantly.

"Okay, what is going on?" Hannah finally demanded, taking refuge in the corner of the couch.

I explained everything to her. The entire time she kept her gaze on me, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Of course she knew some of it, but not all. When I finally finished she blinked a few times and shook her head. Her head dropped into her hands which were resting on her knees.

"Hannah," I said hesitantly, "are you okay?"

"I-I'll be okay. It is just a lot to process," she replied but it came out muffled. I nodded in understanding, tucking a dark brown lock behind my ear.

A few minutes later, after torturous awkward silence, Hannah lifted her head with shiny blue eyes. She bit her lip and stared at me for a long time before saying, "I want to help, but on one condition."

I nodded but gave her a quizzical look. She continued. "No more secrets. We're a team now, and this," she pointed to the three of us, "won't work unless we tell the truth and don't keep secrets. We have to work together. I don't care how scary or hurtful it could be. We don't lie to each other."

"Agreed." Matthew nodded.

"Whatever," Ty piped in.

"I agree," I said sincerely.

"So, are we a team or what?" Hannah asked. We all took a few moments to look at each other. We weren't agreeing on being teammates for a sport. We weren't agreeing to be acquaintances or even friends. We were promising to be family, and to be there for each other no matter what. It was an unspoken agreement, but we all knew what it meant.

"Yeah," I said. "We're a team."

Hey guys!

Wow! I'm done! Not with the book, but this chapter! This chapter is a little shorter, but I thought that was a great place to end the chapter. Don't you think?

When I originally came up with the idea for this book, I pictured Ty and Rebecca on their own. But, as I wrote Hannah and Matthew's characters I fell in love with them. (Not in a creepy way or anything.) That is something I love about writing. I love being able to create a character who feels like a real person. To authors, a character feels like a best friend and you don't want to let them go.

So, the team was born instead of Rebecca leaving behind her brother and sister. Rebecca is suppose to be incredibly close with her siblings in the story, and I didn't think it would fit if she left them out and lied to them. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I really loved writing this. Don't forget to vote and comment. It helps me out a ton. :D

Have a wonderful day!