Jamie feels like his heart is being ripped out of his chest. They can't just do that- Annalise is his sister. She'll always be his sister, they can't just take her like that...

He's crying. He doesn't want to be crying in front of these people, but he can't help it. He's never been without his big sister before, hell, she'd practically raised him. The tears, he could see that they felt bad for him, but there was nothing they could do- Annalise would be eighteen soon, not many people would take her in anymore. Jamie still has a chance, he's a cute kid, curly hair, but sad eyes. He hears everything, sees everything. The most observant little kid you would ever meet.

Maybe if I talked to them- Annalise is crying and screaming, clawing her way towards me- why won't they let me go with my sister? Jamie's thoughts race, his heart pounds. His worst fear is being realized, someone is taking the only family he has left away from him. He doesn't know if he'll ever even see her again, much less if he'll ever hear her laugh, see her smile, smell her deodorant- which no matter the house change always stayed the same. Dove brand, cucumber and something else he couldn't describe, that he just knew was Annalise. It smelt like home, like safety. 

He hears a car horn, which is oddly out of place, they're no where near a road. 

"Go, jackass! You have the right of way, move your fucking ass!" Annalise screams, leaning onto the car horn again. Jamie had fallen asleep in the front seat of the car and had a nightmare. One about him and Annalise getting moved to another new foster home... And they'd split them up. It hadn't happened thus far, but the thought terrified Jamie. It always will. Annalise is all he's ever known as a constant in life. Take her out of the equation and Jamie's just another screwed up foster kid with no one else in the world.

"Clean up your language, Anna! I'm only 14." Jamie jokes, laughing sleepily, still fully recovering from his sleep.

Annalise smiles at her little brother, "Sorry, little man, I'm 17. I can say whatever the hell I want." She rolls her eyes, "Especially when the jackass in front of me is driving shittily!" She honks yet again, the sound starting to get more annoying than usual. 

Jamie chuckles, "Well, try for me okay? If you keep honking like a maniac we'll get caught before we make it to that place your friend told you about..."

"My friend? It was Leo who told you about it. Cass just assured me that it was real." Annalise rolls her eyes again.

"Eh, same difference."

"That's an oxymoron, Jam. You know that."

"You're an oxymoron!"

"Stop it, you sound like a 14 year old boy." Annalise teases, sticking her tongue out at Jamie in the rear view mirror.

"I am a 14 year old boy, sis." Jamie counters, though he knows he's more mature than more boys his age.

"That's a fact that I am aware of. However, it's not relevant to our current discussion." Annalise says, hoping her confusing wording would trip up her little brother, who though smart, is not the most keen with word patterns or nearly as smart as his big sister is.

"Stop it! Using big words won't stop it from being insulting. I think." Jamie shakes his head, still not quite sure if what Annalise had said was insulting or not.

"It wasn't insulting silly." Annalise chuckles, semi-proud of herself. The car halts in front of a building. It looks like any other slightly run down abandoned building, but the pair knows what's inside. Or at least they hope they know.

Annalise sighs, taking the keys out of the car's ignition. They're in the back, where no one would see the car, and the girl turns to her younger brother. "Wanna go check it out?"

Jamie nods, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I love you, Anna. I don't want you to get hurt anymore." Annalise is, in all honesty, not looking her best. Every inch of skin covered, covering hundreds- if not thousands of bruises. This foster family was not the kind you'd hear about in movies. 

Annalise smiles, "I love you too, Jamie. And I promise no one will ever hurt you when I'm around."

She opens the door and takes a step outside, taking a deep breath. Jamie joins her at her side, taking her hand and giving it a light squeeze. He knows she's scared, even if she won't admit it. 

They walk towards the building slowly, both of their heart rates increasing rapidly, like a small animal when they see something that would eat them. They were absolutely terrified.

Annalise takes another deep breath before doing the secret knock Cass had taught her, knock knock pause knock knock knock kick. 

The flap at the top of the iron door opens, a pair of squinty eyes that dart around observing both of them before swinging the door open. 

"Who the hell are you two?" The suspicious tall boy looks them both up and down, probably wondering how the hell they found the safe place or who the hell told them.

"I'm Annalise and this is my brother, Jamie. We're friends with Cass and Leo?" Annalise says, trying to use small words in case the older boy hadn't completed school- you could never know with foster kids or runaways.

"Fine, come in. I'm Julian, this is Laurel." He points to a girl with short curly hair, moving away from the doorway to let them get a good view of what's inside the place.

Something small and blonde whizzes past Julian and tackles Jamie, "Jam Bam the Man! I'm so so happy you're here." It's Leo, Jamie's best friend other than Annalise.

Cass follows behind her younger brother, "Hey, Anna. I'm so glad you got here safe- You look like hell..."

Annalise shrugs, "I'm alive, and Jamie is happy. That's all I care about."

Julian appears behind Annalise, "Come on, we need to do the initiation ritual- truth or dare."

Annalise stifles a laugh, "That's such an original idea." She whispered to Cass, who made a shut up motion, Julian had a bit of a temper at times.

Laurel shakes her head, "That's why we do it- seems stupid, but you can learn a lot about people through it."

They all sit in a circle, Julian sitting right next to Annalise, which made Jamie a little uncomfortable, but he tried to ignore the uneasy feeling growing in his chest. Several truths are answered, dares are done, and clothes are shed (you have to shed an item anytime you chicken out). 

Soon Annalise was the only one still fully clothed, she did every dare, she was more scared of people seeing her bruises than anything else. "I dare you to kiss Julian, for at least... 5 Mississippis." Someone dares, though no one was really sure who- it was dark by now and none of them could really see by the firelight.

So Annalise did it- and Jamie runs away crying. Someone is stealing his sister after only an hour or so of knowing her... He couldn't handle it. He didn't want to.