Alison was eagerly walking toward the parking lot, dragging Jess and Ayda with herself. She had called Rich and had asked his permission (much to her annoyance) to go out with her friends after school. Rich had agreed but asked her to be home before 7. So now Alison was running to the parking lot to meet her friends who had told her that they will come to pick her up.

Once there, her eyes scanned the area. "Are they here?" asked Ayda. Just then an old pickup truck with chipped paint came inside of the parking lot and Alison squealed happily. The sight of a hundred limousines would not make her happy the amount seeing that old truck did. "They are here." she said and clapped her hands. She quickly kissed Jess and Ayda and said goodbye before running toward the car.

She hopped in and immediately was crushed in Ashley's bear hug. "God, I have missed you." said Ashley happily. Alison hugged her back tightly. "I have missed you too, Ash." she said, her voice muffled by Ashley's shoulder.

"Okay, girls." chirped Logan. "Enough of girly stuff."

Alison released Ashley and hugged him from this neck and kissed his cheek. "I know you missed me too, L." she said playfully. "Don't fool yourself."

"yeah, yeah, whatever you say." said Logan sounding annoyed but he kissed her cheek fondly nonetheless.

"Where is my hug?" whined Ed from the passenger seat. Alison hugged his neck tightly too. "no one knows but you are child, my dear." she said and everyone laughed.

"Okay, guys. Let's get out of this parking lot. I'm afraid my poor car gets depressed here, between this many luxurious cars." he said sarcastically and drove out of the gates. "Where to??" he asked once they were on the road.

"Owl dinner." yelled Ashley and Alison. "I have missed their burgers and I'm starving" said Alison and rubbed her hands together and everyone laughed at her enthusiasm.

****

"Wow girl, you are living in a castle." whistled Logan as he drove inside of King property right at 7 P.M. "Here is so big."

"Yeah, big, but hilariously suffocating," grumbled Alison not wanting to leave her friends so soon. Only when she was with them again, she find out how much she needed them. They had made a great day for her, making sure to make her laugh and forget her problems for a few hours.

"Are they two of your brothers?" asked Ed and Alison looked at the mansion in front and saw Mason and Ben standing at the front door watching the car approaching, both wearing black suits. "The one on the left is Mason." she explained. "The one on the right is Ben. He is a family friend."

"They look intimidating." said Ashley and shivered. Once they stopped in front of the house, Ed turned to Alison. "Al, If they did anything to hurt you even a bit, you should tell us. Okay?" he said both serious and concerned.

Alison looked at his blue eyes. She had not told them about what Xander had told her two nights ago. She knew how much they would be angry but she also knew they would not be able to do anything and that would hurt them. "Okay, Ed." she said with a reassuring smile. She then bent forward and kissed his cheek and Logan's and after hugging Ashley for the last time, she got out and watched them drive away. Suddenly she felt sad like they took a part of her with themselves. She wanted nothing other than to leave with them and never go back to that house. "Okay, Alison Harris." she whispered to herself. "The little twins plus Hunter need you. Be tough."

She then turned around and faced the two frowning men who were not even a bit satisfied with her way of showing affection to her male friends.

"Hi!" she smiled and waved for them as she walked up the stairs.

"Hello, Alison." greeted Mason with a nod.

"Hi, sweetheart." smiled Ben and patted her head. He laughed when Alison pulled her head away and pouted.

"You are on time." said Mason still frowning.

"Well I don't want to be in trouble." answered Alison and looked anywhere but his eyes. "more than the amount I'm in." she whispered.

Mason's face softened a bit. "Please understand that all of these are for your safety, Alie." he said.

"I try," said Alison trying to keep her cool face although she was annoyed inside. "Now if you excuse me, I should go and do my homework."

"Go and freshen up." nodded Mason. "We will wait for you for dinner."

Alison turned to Ben. "Will you join us?" she asked hopefully.

Ben smirked. "Well how can I decline the wish of a fine lady?" he said and looked smugly at Mason who rolled his eyes.

Alison chuckled and walked inside and to her room. The dinner was fun with Ben there as well. He joked all the time and caused everyone to laugh. Damien and Xander weren't there so that had added to Alison's relief.

After dinner, she excused herself to her room. She was oddly tired. She did her night routine and went to bed with a book in her hand. An hour later, her back and calves started to ache slowly. Feeling the familiar pain, she went to the bathroom and sure enough found her period striking with full force. The stress and frustration she had felt in the past two weeks had caused her pain and bleeding to intensify.

After cleaning up herself, she went to bed and covered her body with her blanket. As the time passed, the pain increased and she started shivering. She tossed and turned for a few hours before deciding that she couldn't take the pain anymore. She needed painkillers. She stood up and doubled over in pain as she felt a jolt of pain right under her belly.

She winced from the pain and looked at the clock. It was one A.M so she couldn't just call Marisa. So she walked out of her room slowly. Still doubled over in pain and hissing with each step, she reached the first floor and walked toward the kitchen, not paying attention to a shadow that had been sitting on a sofa in the living room, scrolling on his phone. Though he did notice her and stood up and followed her to the kitchen and watched her curiously as she searched the cabinets and drawers.

"What are you doing?" Alison jumped and whirled around scared as she heard Damien's deep voice. But she immediately winced in pain again. "What's wrong?" he frowned as he stepped closer to her.

"Nothing," answered Alison embarrassed a bit. "I'm just looking for painkillers."

"You are pale and look like to have a bit of fever." said Damien as he inspected her. "I'm going to grab my keys. We are going to doctor."

"No," said Alison aloud and grabbed his arm before he can leave. "It's normal. Can you just give me two painkillers, please?"

"I see nothing normal here." scolded Damien. "you are in pain and don't look fine."

Alison blushed and moved a bit under his intense eyes. "It's normal for a girl. Believe me." she said shyly.

Damien frowned more but after a few seconds, it was gone as if realization fell on him. He took her arm gently and guided her to the table. "Sit here." he said as he helped her sit on a chair. He then walked to the fridge and pulled out a half of toast sandwich with ham and lettuce and put it in Alison's hand. "You can't swallow painkillers with an empty stomach." he explained simply and walked to one of the cupboards.

Alison watched him shocked, not believing her eyes, as he pulled out a bottle of painkillers and filled a glass with water, and placed them in front of her. "eat the sandwich first." he said again and Alison nodded and took a bite. She didn't expect his sympathy at all.

She watched curiously while munching her sandwich, as he went to one of the drawers and pulled out a small sack and filled it with rice. He then knotted the top of it and placed it in the microwave. After the microwave beeped and finished, he took out the sack and walked toward Alison who was looking at him wide-eyed. He knelt in front of her and gently put the sack under her belly. She sighed in content as the heat of the sack warmed her up and the pain subsided a bit. She opened her eyes and locked eyes with Damien who was looking at her with concern.

"Thank you." she whispered and he nodded. He then opened the bottle of painkillers and brought out two pills for and handed them to her who swallowed them eagerly.

What he did next, shocked Alison to the core. He stood and put a hand on her back and another under her knees and picked her up bridal style like she weighed nothing and walked out of the kitchen. Alison protested a bit, but when she saw her words are reaching deaf ears she snuggled closer to his chest, using his warmth to warm up, and closed her eyes.

Damien gently placed her on her bed, making sure to keep the sack in its place all the time. He covered her with her blanket and walked out of her room only to return a moment later with an extra blanket. He covered her with the second blanket and sat on the bed next to her.

"Turn your back to me." he said and Alison did as he told her only to feel his warm hand rubbing her aching back a second later. "You don't have to do this." she whispered. The room was silent so Damien heard her fine. "I want to." he answered. "You are my sister."

Alison's heart warmed up at hearing him confess just like her body. A smile formed on her lips and she closed her eyes and did a happy dance in her mind. Damien was a man of few words. he never show emotions to anyone. His face was emotionless most of the time other than moments that he was angry, but now Alison knew that he cared for her and had accepted her as his sister.

"Thank you, Damien. Really." she whispered as her pain subsided slowly because of all the three elements of painkillers, the warmth of the blankets, and the comforting circular motion on her back. Her mind become fuzzy and soon she was sleeping.

So she didn't see that Damien smiled faintly down at her and his eyes softened. He caressed her hair and kissed her temple gently. He only knew that this little girl had somehow found her way to his cold heart and warmed it up with only her presence. He had sworn to himself the moment he had seen her first time on the church, that he was going to take care of her and protect her like a little sister he never had. After a few days that he had known what kind of an independent, kind, and great girl she was and how everyone was warming up to her, he had become more determined to protect her. What Xander did and called her on the first day of school had angered him to the core and he had a bad fight with Xander. But he knew even a hot-headed boy like Xander will warm up to her eventually. It was only a matter of time.

He sat beside her for a few more minutes. Once he was sure that she is sleeping comfortably, he stood and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.