For the remainder of my first night, I stayed hidden away in my room, dwelling on dark thoughts that I would be scolded for if people were aware. I learned every inch of the wall that my bed was pressed against, scanning it over as my mind swirled with thoughts and memories better left untouched, and yet I kept pushing at them, finding the mental pain was easier to handle than the throbbing in my skull and the dull ache in my chest. I had coped with mental pain from a young age, when I had began to see the hallucinations and delusions, the reasons for why my father had abandoned my family and I.

I spent most of the next day like that as well, sprawled out on my bed, wondering how long I could pretend not to exist before being drawn back to reality. Sadly, basic human needs eventually won out, and I had to draw myself out of bed for the bathroom and food. I tiptoed out of my room, biting down hard on my lip, glancing around to check for anyone. When I found that the coast was clear, I fully stepped out of the room, starting down the hall for the bathroom.

I paused at the bathroom door, glancing down the hall. Voices met my ears from somewhere deeper in the house, and I found myself wondering who exactly was home at the moment. I shook off those thoughts, deciding to do what needed to be done then return to my room. I only had so much time to put myself back together before I had to start school in a couple of weeks with the boys.

When I reached the corner before the kitchen, I leant against the wall, holding my breath as I attempted to see if there was anyone in there at the moment. Tilting my head, listening closely, I came to the conclusion that the kitchen was void of inhabitants and safe to enter, which was a relief since my stomach wouldn't stop grumbling. I inhaled deeply, as if that could prepare myself to walk into the kitchen where I might potentially run into someone I didn't want to speak to.

I forced myself to move my feet and enter the kitchen, desperate for food at that point. I paused in the middle of the kitchen, looking around and frowning as it dawned upon me that I had no idea where anything was. My head dropped forward and I let out a small sigh, tears of frustration forming in my eyes. I had never cried a lot until recently; ever since my family died, I felt like all I did was cry.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing looking so sad?"

My head jerked up at the sound of a male voice speaking to me, and I took a step back as an automatic reaction. I had never met this boy before and this was somehow worse than it being one of the boys I had met before. I probably would have been able to handle Mik and even Landon, but a new person wasn't something I was in the right mind state for at the moment.

I looked him over, taking a moment to try to a get feel on him before I answered. He was handsome too, of course. He had brown hair, brushed away from his face with some strands falling over his forehead in an endearing way. His green eyes were peering at me curiously, lit up with interest, though I was sure he had to already know who I was if he lived there. He was shorter than the other boys, maybe around Mik's height, but fit as well.

I swallowed and instead of saying hi like I had originally intended, I said, "Food."

He blinked at me, his lips turning up at the corners. "Excuse me?"

"Um," a blush heated my cheeks and I felt like running back to my room and never coming out again. "I... I need food, but I don't know where anything is..."

"Food? Are you hungry, Nyx?" Mik had once again popped up, coming out of nowhere. He had done that the day before as well, though I had been in such an emotional turmoil that I didn't think to question it. As much as I wanted to question it now, my stomach growled again and I pushed my curiosity aside, deciding food was more important.

"Um, yeah," I admitted quietly, ducking my head down, observing my feet as if they were the most interesting thing in the world to me at the moment. "I haven't had anything to eat yet today..."

"I'll make you some food then!" Mik exclaimed, cheerfully, though his disposition in general seemed to be cheerful. I tilted my head and shot a questioning glance to the boy I had just met.

"Jase!" Isaiah growled as he stomped into the kitchen. He promptly froze at the sight of me standing in the middle of the room, wide eyed and confused, already regretting my decision to not starve to death. I shuffled from foot to foot, my skin itching from so many eyes on me. I feared I might even start twitching if they didn't look away soon. Isaiah, thankfully, tore his eyes away from me and scanned the room, assessing the situation. "What's going on here?"

"Nyx is hungry, I'm making her food, Jase was flirting with her," Mik explained simply, his back facing Isaiah as he began to rummage through the cabinets, obviously searching for something in particular.

Isaiah's lips turned down and he narrowed his eyes at the boy I had bumped into who I assumed to be Jase. "Don't flirt with Nyx. She's shy enough as is."

I wanted to argue that I wasn't really all that shy once you got to know me, but found that my tongue was glued to the top of my mouth and words were unwilling to come out of me in the moment. All they had seen of me so far was shyness, barely speaking with them and barely coming around. Before the brutal murdering of my family, I was a lot more talkative, a lot more lively, but now, without them, I didn't see much purpose in anything.

Jase scoffed, as if offended, but the sparkle in his eyes told an entire other story. "Maybe she's shy because you guys haven't tried to befriend her hard enough," he argued, leaning up against the counter. Many of the guys had done that in the brief 38 hours that I had known them and it made me wonder if that was something I would get used to them doing. Mik caught Jase's eye, and he turned away from Isaiah. "Mik, what are you making?"

"Ramen noodles," he replied, once again not sparing a glance at the person he was speaking to, apparently too engrossed in his current activity to pay anything else any attention. My lips quirked up and my eyes followed his movements, already finding him rather endearing from the small amount of interactions that we'd had so far.

"I don't think so, Mickey," Isaiah said hesitantly, exchanging glances with Jase. Jase's brows were furrowed together and Isaiah was frowning, as if neither approved of what was occurring. I frowned too, wondering why they both were acting as if Mik was going to poison me. "Maybe we should make Nyx something else, yeah?"

Mik turned, finally facing us all since Isaiah had entered the room. He looked adorably confused, but also somewhat bothered by the fact that the two older boys were bothering him about the food he had selected to make me. His big brown eyes darted between Isaiah and Jase, silently questioning what they thought was wrong with his decision, and my heart warmed.

I stepped up next to Mik, resting a hand on his shoulder, causing his eyes to finally fall on my face. His eyes lit up some and he sent me a small smile, though it was no where near close to the exuberant one he had tended to greet me with.

"Ramen noodles sounds great, Mik," I said quietly but firmly, a quiet command to the other two boys to leave him alone. "I can't remember the last time I had some of those." I paused before the next pare, aware of two things: it would hurt for me to say it but it would also make Mik feel ten times better about himself and the ramen noodles. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to follow through. "My mom used to make them for me when I was young... It'll remind me of her."

All three of the boys' faces softened and Isaiah gave a small, almost imperceptible nod of the head towards Mik, as if encouraging him to go back to what he was doing. Mik brushed hand against my arm as he passed by; it could have been an accident, but part of me believed that it was his attempt of comforting me without passing any lines or pushing any limits.

"Hey, Nyx," Jase said after a beat of silence, brightening up again after the tense moment. "Why don't you come sit with me while Mik makes you some food and tell me about yourself, yeah?"

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Isaiah interjected before I could respond to Jase. My eyebrows shot up and I tilted my head, hoping I was conveying the amount of irritation I was feeling. I could tell that Isaiah was just trying to be helpful, but all he was really doing was shooting down his foster brothers that just wanted to help me fit in.

"And why's that?" I asked cooly, a small edge to my voice. I didn't fancy people trying to make decisions for me, especially people I barely knew.

Isaiah flushed, scratching the back of his neck, taken aback by my sudden amount of spunk. I was a shell of the girl I used to be, but it didn't mean I was going to let some boy walk all over people because he thought that he could. Isaiah seemed kind enough, protective even, and that was nice of him, but some people didn't need that protection.

One of those people was me.

"I just wasn't sure you would be up to talking." Isaiah admitted in a subdued voice. He ducked his head down, avoiding my questioning gaze.

I stood straighter, jerking my head up so my chin was held high. I liked these boys, more than I wanted to admit to myself, but one thing they needed to understand right off the bat was that I wouldn't be pushed around and I wouldn't allow them to make decisions for me. I was no longer the girl I used to be and I might have even been a little crazy, but I didn't need them to treat me differently because of that.

"If I didn't want to talk," I said, crossing the kitchen and plopping down on a chair so hard my tail bone vibrated from the impact. "Then I would have said so. Thank you for your concern though, Isaiah. It's very much appreciated." I paused, thought over the next part, then added it anyways. "Would you like to join us?"

a/n: meh... I have mixed emotions about this but this is my kick off to NaNoWriMo. It's kind of shorter than I wanted it to be but it got what I needed accomplish. It was going to be longer but Jas and I agreed that this was a good stopping point. I hope you enjoy and that you guys like Jase and seeing more of Mik and Isaiah.

xoxo,

ry.