AN: here's chapter 13. Enjoy, people.

Lexi's POV:

The next day, I woke up to the house completely silent- which was very unnatural. My sixth sense was telling me something was wrong.

Calmly, I got out of bed and quietly walked over to my wardrobe. From my bag, I took out my gun and slowly walked downstairs.

"Hello?" I called out and silently berated myself. If there was an axe murderer in the house, they wouldn't be likely to respond.

I heard some noise coming from the garden. I went outside quietly.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEXI!"

I completely blame instincts on what happened next.

I pointed and fired my gun a couple times at the source of the noise before my brain processed what they said.

"Holy cheese balls why the hell were you shooting at us?!" Ryan practically screamed.

"Thought you were an attacker," I shrugged, putting my gun down.

"Happy birthday Lexi," Thomas said, a terrified look on his face.

I took in the scene. A white tent dominated the centre of the garden with too many balloons tied to it. A slightly deformed chocolate cake sat on a table with sixteen candles lit on it. My half-brothers were either hiding behind the table or eating the mint ice cream, completely oblivious to their surroundings.

"Thank you," I whispered, feeling slightly choked up with emotions.

"Come on," Ryan tugged my arm, "it's time to cut the cake. I'm hungry."

Third Person's POV:

The DeLaCruz and DeLesco brothers crowded round the table as Lexi began cutting the cake. She looked so happy it melted all of their hearts.

They all sang 'happy birthday' and Sam videoed the scene.

"Make a wish," Luke smiled.

Lexi thought for a moment before blowing out the candles. For past birthdays, she'd wished that she had a loving family- one who actually cared about her. This time, she wished that no harm came to her brothers.

Suddenly, some of the balloons burst. The DeLescos and the DeLaCruzs immediately took a protective stance in front of Lexi, thinking it was a gunshot.

Lexi began breathing heavily, flashbacks playing like a loop through her mind.

She couldn't see. She couldn't hear. She couldn't think.

She knelt on the grass, her hands covering her head and tears leaked through her eyes.

"No, no, no, no," she mumbled over and over again, rocking backwards and forward.

"Lexi," someone's voice cut through the flashbacks. Blindly, Lexi gripped their wrists.

"Lexi," Ryan repeated. The others stood in a circle around the two of them, concern etched on all of their faces.

"You're safe now," Ryan said softly, "we won't hurt you."

"You don't know that," Lexi whispered, eyes flitting around, "I didn't- I didn't think they would hurt me."

The atmosphere grew taut at the word 'they'.

"We won't hurt you," Ryan said firmly, "now, try and breathe deeply."

Lexi inhaled. At first, it was difficult, but it gradually became easier.

"What do you want to be when you're older?" Ryan asked, hoping to take Lexi's mind off what was troubling her.

"A doctor or a therapist," Lexi replied, "I want to help people," she'd almost stopped shaking and her breathing had returned to normal.

Mission accomplished, Ryan thought with a smile, "that's cool! You know, Luke is a doctor."

"Really?" Lexi turned her gaze to Luke, who nodded, "that's cool."

The DeLescos and the DeLaCruzs sat down, each studying Lexi with a worrying gaze.

"Do you want to talk about it?" William asked.

Hesitantly, Lexi nodded. She took a deep breath and began.

"I was abused for as long as I can remember," her voice cracked a little, "at first, it was emotional. Then, it became physical. Liam would burn me with his cigarettes and leave me outside in the rain. Isla loved to beat me to near death and break beer bottles on me," she was silently crying. Ryan scooted next to her and wrapped an arm around Lexi.

"I was five when I first tried to kill myself. That's how I met Ace. He was the only reason I wanted to live. I joined a gang for a few years. I wanted an escape from reality- I wanted control over my own life. But I left last year. Ben Garcia is just one of the many assassins after me- but most are too scared to do anything," she chuckled weakly at that and wiped her tears, "well, now you know." She decided to leave out the part where Liam and Isla were now looking for her.

All the men were silently fuming at Lexi's foster parents. They each vowed to find and brutally murder them.

"Hey, Lex, why don't you go and freshen up a bit and all of us will go to the fair, okay?" Ryan kissed his sister's temple and she nodded, giving him a side hug.

"Thank you for listening," she said quietly, standing up and walking back to the house.

"I'll kill them," Thomas said.

"I'll help," Sam's jaw was clenched.

"Any progress on finding them?" Ryan asked Antonio and Flynn.

Flynn shook his head, "no, but I'll tell the gang to look harder."

"Come on," Lexi came out of the house, looking considerably happier, "we going or are we just gonna sit around be gloomy all day long?"

Her half brothers smiled, feeling a surge of warm affection for their little sister. They were all happy that she had come to live with them.

Little did they know, that happiness wouldn't last long...

End of chapter 12.

*evil laughter* cliffhanger!

I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)