When I heard Nate say Wyatt was outside with my uncle, my heart stopped. After rushing the twins to a table, I quickly head out to the back. I can hear Nathan following me, but I don't have time to deal with that. I need to get Wyatt safe and figure out what the hell my uncle is doing here.

Pushing the back door open, I'm slightly blinded by the bright sun outside. Blinking my eyes, I turn my head to see Dorian gripping Wyatt's left arm tightly.

"Get your hands off him right now Dorian." I yell, while running over to them with Nate close on my heels.

I watch my uncle release him and turn towards me as Wyatt runs over to meet me half way. I look past him to my uncle and see he's more pissed off then ever before.

Oh shit! This isn't going to go well.

"Lainey, what the hell. You need to go back inside. I've got this taken care of." Wyatt says.

I quickly push him behind me as I see my uncle starting to stumble towards us. Not taking my eyes off him, I respond to Wyatt.

"Wyatt. I'm not doing this right now. I'm not even going to try to make you go inside because I know you won't, but you need to get behind Nathan right now." Knowing he's about to argue, I make my voice even sterner and quickly finish my thought.

"I'm serious Wyatt. Do not argue with me right now. You being in the middle of it will only make things worse. Do as I say now or you are going to be in a world of trouble, do you understand me?" I hear him let out a string of cuss words, but I can also hear the shuffling of feet. I turn around and sure enough he has stepped partially behind Nathan, who is a few feet behind me.

"Angel, is everything o..." Nathan's words of concern are cut off by my drunk and very pissed off uncle.

"You! You bitch. I knew you were the one who stole my money. How dare you!" He sneers, getting closer with each word until he is only a few feet away. I can see Nate moving out of the corner of my eyes, probably to step in between us, but I hold up my hand and shake my head to stop him.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Dorian. I didn't steal any money. Incase you hadn't noticed, I work here and make my own money. I don't need to steal yours." I say back, getting angry at the accusation.

"You lying slut! You know damn well what money I'm talking about. You or one of those bratty children stole $200 from my room last night and you're going to pay." He spits out at me.

Forgetting Dorian for a moment, I turn my head to see a very guilty Wyatt looking at me. Shoot! That's where he got the money from.

"Wy, what did you do?" I ask in a low voice, my face a mixture of surprise, anger, and fear. I see Nathan looking confused but his muscles are tensing.

Dang, on top of everything, he's now going to know about our life.

"I'm sorry Lainey. I couldn't watch you work yourself to death when that jackass was supposed to be providing for us. He was supposed to take care of us! I was just trying to help!" He says exasperatedly.

I feel betrayed, hurt, guilty, and a million other things.

I should have provided better for him. He shouldn't have stolen. Our uncle shouldn't be such a bad man.

But, thinking that won't change what is happening now. Pushing my thoughts to the side, I give him a look that could kill a zombie.

"Nathan, take Wyatt inside now. I'm going to sort this out and be in in a minute." I say to him, anger and fear lacing my words.

"But.." Wyatt starts.

"I SAID NOW!!!" I bellow, making Nate grab Wyatt and drag him inside. Once I see them go in, I turn back around to face the maker of my nightmares.

"Dorian, I'll pay you back every bit. It was my fault, I told him to steal the money. Wyatt did nothing wrong." I say, trying to keep his anger off my brother and on me. Well, my plan definitely worked.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH! I KNEW IT! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY ME BACK IN MORE THAN JUST MONEY, YOU SLUT." He says, as he tightly grabs onto my wrist, leaving bruise marks. No, not here.

"Stop. You hurt me here, and we get taken by CPS. You don't want that to happen because if we go, so does all the money you get to raise us. I don't have the money right now, but I can get it." I say. I can hear how shaky my voice sounds, but it seemed to have done the trick because my uncle lets go of my arm.

"HAH! Damn right I'm getting my money back, you bitch. And that's with interest. If you want me to stay away from you, then I get paid. I figure, that little jackass in there has been stealing from me for a while plus for all I've done for you brats, you owe me. Why don't we start with $200, I expect it by a week from today." He says to me.

"What! Dorian, I don't have that kind of money." I say exasperatedly, already freaking out.

"Well you better get off your fat, lazy ass and figure it out." He says and then gets really close to my face.

"If I don't get my money, I'll take my payment in blood. Whether that's your or one of those other little brats in there, I don't really care. But I will get it. Oh and don't bother coming back, you no longer have a home with me." He finishes, spits in my face, and then stumbles off to god knows where.

I stand there, shocked and watch his retreating back before wiping my face and walking back towards the diner building.

What the hell am I going to do? I don't have that kind of money and there's no way I'm letting any of my siblings get hurt because of it. Shit! Where are we going to stay?

My small freak-out starts to get worse and worse as I think about what all I'm going to have to do. But first, I need to figure out what the hell just happened.

I open the back door and walk into the break room and see Nathan and Wyatt. Ignoring Nate's concerned looks, I stomp straight to where Wyatt is sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.

"Wyatt Anthony Scott! What the hell were you thinking? How could you steal from him? Were you even thinking? Oh my gosh, clearly I've not raised you right because gentlemen don't steal." I yell. He looks at me and I glare.

"Lainey, I'm sorry. I didn't think he would notice the money was missing. I just wanted to help out. You were working yourself to death and I knew we were tight on money. With the twins practices and my football tryouts coming up, I knew you wouldn't be making enough at the diner so I took matters into my own hands. I had no other choice Lainey, you wouldn't let anyone help you." He says to me in a voice mixed between sorrow and anger.

"Oh, so this is all my fault? Wyatt I told you to let me handle everything and you promised me you would. We have plenty of money for everything coming up, and that's without me having to 'work myself to death'." I lie. I was already stressing about how to pay for everything but there's no way I'm telling him that.

"You're fucking lying and you know it. Our ass wipe of an uncle owes us so much it's ridiculous, that money should have been ours to begin with. I know I should have told you, but I don't regret taking it." He says, looking at me with a look of pure anger, although I know it's not directed at me.

He might not regret it, but I'm sure going to.

I let out a long sigh, rubbing my hands through my hair before looking back at him. I can feel my anxiety about the situation increasing, so I need to end this conversation before I snap.

"Look Wyatt. First, watch you mouth around me. And second, I don't care what your motivations for doing it were, you don't steal. EVER! If I catch you doing it again, I'll let the police handle it." No I won't. But if the look on his face is any indication, my threat hit its mark.

"Now, I need you to go out front and start getting the twins all packed up. I have bags for all four of us in the front closet. Also, please tell Hal something came up and I need to leave for the day, but will call him tomorrow." I say to him.

"But..." He starts.

"Wyatt, please. I just need to think for a second and I can't do that with anyone else around. Now go do as I said, but this conversation is not over mister. When we get to the hotel you and I will be discussing your punishment." I say to him, in a softer tone although still getting my message across.

I watch him get up and I turn to the window on the opposite wall. Looking out, I hear the door slam shut just as my chest begins to tighten and tears fill my eyes. I start to slide down to the ground but feel a pair of warm arms wrap around me.

What the heck? I thought I was alone.

I can just barely register Nathan's distinct smell as his arms wrap around my body, holding me to his chest. I honestly forgot he was in here and just heard all that. But as my panic attack starts to get worse, I can't make my brain work enough to care.

I feel the familiar tightening of my chest and the pulsing in my ears. I start to see the lights dimming and black spots filling my vision before a rough voice brings me back to reality.

"Breathe Angel. I've got you. Just breathe."