AN: here's chapter 7. Enjoy, people. This is a song chapter- those of you who have read 'Running' and 'Going back' will probably know what I mean.

Note: I have used Google translate when talking in another language and we all know how inaccurate it can be. If I have made a mistake, please tell me and I will correct it in the future.

Lexi's POV:

I felt like the second day of school sucked more than the first.

I was tired and angry throughout the whole day, without really knowing why. I glared at everyone, but flinched at loud noises.

Finally, the blessed hour of lunch arrived. I stormed over to the cafeteria and sat at an empty table. I pulled my hood up and plugged my headphones in my ears, not actually listening to any music, but pretending to do I didn't have to talk to anyone.

A movement in front of me made me look up. To my slight surprise, I saw Jackson sitting there, calmly eating his sandwich.

I didn't say anything, thinking my silence would make him go away. He didn't. We just sat in semi-awkward silence. Him eating and me pretending to listen to music.

"Why are you sitting here?" I asked finally.

He raised an eyebrow, "free country," gah, I hate it when people used that argument.

The rest of lunch passed with no conversation. Afterwards, we gave each other a curt nod before departing.

X

When school ended, I left the premises. Thankfully, it wasn't raining so I was able to walk home. I still didn't know why I was in a bad mood.

I entered the house and went upstairs, hoping to avoid contact with all of my half-'brothers'.

"Hey Lexi how was your day?" Jack asked when I was halfway up the stairs.

"Fine," I responded shortly, "not much homework, though."

"Cool. I'll call you when dinner's ready."

I nodded and went to my room, placing my bag inside my wardrobe and sitting on my bed. I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. Then I decided to take a shower. I carefully took off my necklace and placed it on my desk, taking a spare set of clothes and going inside the shower.

The whip marks on my back stung as the hot water hit it, but I was used to pain. I scrubbed myself clean, wary of the many bruises, cuts and burns that littered my body. Then, I put on a long sleeved shirt and leggings and a small amount of makeup. I reached out for my necklace, but found it gone. Frowning, I checked under the desk, thinking it had fallen, but it was there.

I went downstairs and into the living room where the triplets, twins, Ryan and Jack were sitting.

"Guys have you seen my necklace?" I asked. Hayden and Ryan shook their heads, but the others were hiding wicked grins. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of my stomach, "what did you do?"

"We sold it," Noah said simply.

Third person's POV:

"You what?" Lexi asked in horror, feeling as if the world had been pulled from under her feet. Jack and Ryan frowned at the other boys.

"We sold it," Kyle said, smirking to hide how uncomfortable he felt.

By this time, the older brothers had come.

The DeLesco twins and the DeLaCruz triplets were expecting Lexi to be angry or roll her eyes and walk away. Instead, she did something worse.

She fell to her knees and placed her palms flat on the ground, tears streaming down her face. She took a shuddering breath to try and calm herself down, but failed miserably. She let out a cry that pulled on all the brothers hearts, even the mean and cold ones. Lexi's shoulders racked with silent sobs.

"How could you?" She whispered, staring at the five younger ones, who were starting to feel ashamed, "that was the only thing left I had of him. It's the only way he'd ever be able to find me."

Ryan knelt next to Lexi and held his arms out. Lexi wrapped her arms around him and leaned against his chest, crying. Ryan was incredibly angry when he looked at the triplets and the twins.

"It's the only way he'd find me again. It's the last thing I had left from him," Lexi said over and over, like a broken record.

Few people in her life had shown her kindness. The one boy who'd showered her with brotherly love and affection was gone. But she'd kept that necklace to remember him and hope he'd come back. Now, her half 'brothers' had taken away the one thing that was holding her up. The one thing that was keeping her from breaking: hope.

"You in my office now," Antonio snarled, glaring at Noah and Sam.

"And you," Flynn glared at William, Thomas and Kyle.

Lexi pulled herself out of her brothers embrace and walked to Noah. He tensed, expecting her to slap him and knowing he deserved it.

"Please," her voice cracked slightly, "please get my necklace back. I'll do anything. If you want me out of the house... fine. I'll go and never bother any of you again. And you won't have to worry about your reputation getting damaged. Please," she looked down and placed a hand over her mouth.

The other brothers looked in disgust at the triplets and the twins. They'd all grown slightly fond of Lexi- although they'd never admit it out loud.

"Lexi?" Juliana asked and came into the room. She had heard what happened and was beyond enraged at the five younger brothers, but kept her temper in check, "oh my Querida," she hugged Lexi, "come on, let's go into the kitchen and we can talk," she shot the younger brothers a nasty glare and lead the upset girl away. (Darling in Spanish).

Inside Antonio's study, he sat behind his desk and Flynn stood some way behind him. The five sat- shamefaced- on the chairs in front.

"What were you thinking?" Antonio gritted out.

Noah shrugged, "we don't like her. We wanted her to leave."

Flynn coolly raised an eyebrow, "and you thought selling her most prized possession would make her leave?"

They were silent.

"Noah and Sam, you are grounded for one month. Your phones and keys will be taken away and you owe Lexi an apology," although legally, they didn't have to follow Antonio's punishments or rules, the twins complied.

"The same goes for you, Thomas, William and Kyle," Flynn added.

The five brothers were quiet when they handed over their various possessions. Only Sam actually felt proper remorse for his actions. The others were just sorry that they got caught and punished.

Lexi'a POV:

I felt empty as Juliana lead me to my room. For the past year, I'd held onto the tiny piece of hope that Ace would come back and save me. The necklace was the only thing I had of him- except the memories.

"Will you be okay?" The kind woman smiled when I nodded and kissed the side of my head before leaving. I sat on the bed, thankful that I was alone. After a few minutes, I decided to go to the music room I saw a few days ago- playing always helps clear my mind.

Fortunately, I managed to get there without running into any of the brothers. I sat in the booth and picked up the guitar, strumming a chord. Soon, the music and words flowed out of me as I sang 'I'm only me when I'm with you' by Taylor Swift (song at top of the page)

Bold- song
Italics- flashback

In a field behind your yard
You and I are painting pictures in the sky
Sometimes we don't say a thing
Just listen to the crickets sing
Everything I need is right here by my side

And I know everything about you
I don't wanna live without you

We were in the park. The sky was black and dotted with beautiful stars. Ace was leaning against the tree and I rested against him and he wrapped an arm around me. We didn't speak nor did we need to.

I would probably get into trouble with Isla and Liam, but right now, I couldn't bring myself to care much. I never seemed to when I was with Ace. He was like my big brother and best friend rolled into one.

He hummed a tune and stroked my hair as I slowly drifted off to sleep. That night, I got a beating, but I didn't care. Even when I was lying on the cold, hard floor covered in blood.

I'm only up when you're not down
Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground
It's like no matter what I do
Well, you drive me crazy half the time
The other half I'm only trying
To let you know that what I feel is true
And I'm only me when I'm with you

Twelve year old me sat on the flimsy mattress that served as my bed in my room doing homework. Fortunately, Liam and Isla were too drunk to pay any attention to me, so I was able to escape a beating.

Someone threw a stone at my window and I grabbed my gun. When drug dealers and gang members regularly come to the house, I was forced to quickly learn how to defend myself. If Liam and Isla found out I had it, they'd probably use it on me.

"Who's there?" I called out.

"The Doctor," I relaxed when I heard Ace's deadpan voice.

"Hilarious. What're you doing here? If they catch you-" I whispered frantically.

"Calm down, they won't. Come on," Ace beckoned. I shot him a look, but he pleaded and I finally relented.

I snuck downstairs and greeted the fifteen-year-old.

"Come on!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me away. We walked and talked for a bit, but Ace wouldn't tell me where we were going. Finally, we stopped outside a huge mansion. We snuck to the back where we could hear the music, yet we were concealed from anyone watching.

Suddenly, a loud bang made me flinch. Ace slung an arm around me and pointed. Looking up, I gasped, mesmerised, as the beautiful fireworks lit up the sky.

"Thank you for bringing me here," I whispered.

He kissed the side of my head, "anything for you, Lexi."

Just a small-town boy and girl
Living in the crazy world
Trying to figure out what is and isn't true
And I don't try to hide my tears
My secrets or my deepest fears
Through it all nobody gets me like you do
And you know everything about me
You say that you can't live without me.

"Hey Lex, you okay?" Ace asked, looking at me in concern.

Seven year old me fake smiled, "I'm fine, Ace," I gripped my arm where I'd cut myself a few hours ago. I wasn't proud of it, but I was desperate.

Ace studied me and gently took my arm, lifting up the sleeve. He inhaled sharply and I looked away.

Ace cupped the side of my face and tugged it so I was looking at him, "do you want to talk?"

I broke down and confessed all my deepest secrets and fears.

"I'm sorry," Ace whispered, tears filling his brown eyes as I told him about the abuse.

I shook my head, "not your fault."

He hugged me, "I will always be there for you, Lexi. I love you."

"I love you too Ace."

I'm only up when you're not down
Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground
It's like no matter what I do
Well, you drive me crazy half the time
The other half I'm only trying
To let you know that what I feel is true
And I'm only me when I'm with you

When I'm with anybody else
It's so hard to be myself
And only you can tell

Five year old me snuck out of the house. Liam and Isla had started physically abusing me a year ago, and I'd had enough. I was too tired to carry on.

I pulled myself onto the edge of the bridge and crouched, ready to jump.

Suddenly, someone pulled me back. I let out a small scream and detangled myself from that person.

I glared at an eight-year-old boy. He had black hair and brown eyes.

"Why did you pull me back?" I snapped.

"Why were you trying to jump?" He countered.

"My parents don't love me," I said sadly, looking down.

"What about your friends?"

I frowned, "I don't have any. No one likes me."

"How about I be your friend?" He grinned toothily.

"Really?" I asked.

In reply, he stuck out a hand, "I'm Ace."

I smiled shyly, filled with tentative hope, "I'm Alexandra. Call me Lexi."

I'm only up when you're not down
Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground
It's like no matter what I do
Well, you drive me crazy half the time
The other half I'm only trying
To let you know that what I feel is true
And I'm only me when I'm with you

Ace's parents marched over to him, wearing grim expressions. We were playing in the park. When Ace saw the adults, he pushed me behind him and took up a protective stance in front of me. They didn't like me at all and even threatened me on several occasions, warning me to stay away from their son.

"Let's go, Ace," his mother- Hannah- grabbed his arm.

"Where are we going?" Ace frowned, not moving.

"We're moving," his father- Paul- replied, looking at me in disgust, "and you're not allowed to keep in contact with this girl."

"Lexi is my best friend," Ace snarled protectively. We held hands tightly.

Hannah rolled her eyes and yanked Ace away from me.

"Ace!" I cried out, confused. Paul gripped my shoulders tightly and pulled me back.

"Don't touch her!" Alex yelled, glaring venomously at his father.

"Get in the car," Paul snapped, pushing Ace away. I was frozen in shock.

"I'll find you!" Ace shouted as his parents pushed him in the car, "no matter where you are, I'll find you! I love you!"

"I love you too!" I called back weakly, watching the car drive away.  I clutched the necklace he'd given me and steeled my resolve. Either he'd find me or I'd find him.

All I had to do was wait.

End of song

One year later and I'm still waiting, I thought, where are you Ace?

Looking up, I did a small double take when I saw all twelve of the shocked half-brothers sitting on the couch in front of me. I was too into my music to notice earlier. I waved and harshly wiped the tears from my eyes.

Carefully, I placed the guitar back on its stand and left the room, pausing at the doorway and looked at the triplets and twins, "today has shown me that you guys don't hate me. That's fine, not everyone has good taste. But that doesn't mean you can go and sell someone else's possession," I shook my head and glared at them, "I hate you," I snarled before leaving.

I can't wait for Stephanie to find me a new foster home.

End of chapter 7.

Long chapter with a song 😃. There might be another song in the upcoming chapters, but I haven't decided yet.

I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)