Thanks for all the support! I am sorry… Life just keeps getting in the way…

Anyway, enjoy!

"ALEX! GET UP!" I heard Angel yell from his room.

It was Saturday morning and I had been looking forward to sleeping in. Jack and I had spent the rest of the week helping Ma out at various charity events. Ma was a master at finding us odd jobs to do on short notice when we got in trouble, by now she had certainly had enough practice. Either way though, I was completely exhausted, the thought of a nice boring, uneventful weekend appealed to me at that moment more than anything else in the world.

Not in this house! I thought bitterly as I shoved my head under my pillow to block out the sun that was shining through my bedroom window.

Angel stomped into my room at that moment, dumping a bucket of water on top of me.

"You should have seen that coming!" He teased.

He was right, after living here for nine years I probably should've seen it coming.

"What was that for?" I demanded through chattering teeth.

"I said get up!" He grabbed me and threw me awkwardly over his shoulder.

"Angel! Put me down! Knock it off! Angel!" I pounded as hard as I could on his bare back as I noticed disgustedly that he was wearing nothing but an old, tattered pair of boxers.

He walked calmly down the stairs, laughing to himself as I screamed and kicked. It wasn't fair that he was so much stronger than me. I was putting all my energy into trying to escape but my older brother remained completely unfazed.

He dumped me roughly on the couch, "Told you I'd get her up."

"Angel." Jerry said tensely.

I turned around to see a nicely dressed woman standing rigidly beside Ma.

"She's from Child and Parent Services, isn't she?" Angel observed nervously.

Jerry raised his eyebrows, unimpressed.

"Right, and you guys call me the screw-up?" I noted.

To that Jack smirked, "Oh give it time, I'm sure you will have proved it at least once by the end of the day!"

Out of habit I grabbed a pillow off of the couch and threw it, rather violently in his direction.

He was about to throw it back when Ma cleared her throat. "That's enough." She frowned and gave us each a stern look.

"Sorry, Ma." Jack, Angel and I mumbled in unison.

Angel reached over to help me up; I was soaked from head to toe thanks to his clever stunt and dressed in one of Bobby's ripped hand-me-down shirts and a loose pair of short-shorts, standing next to Angel in his underwear. I can't even begin to imagine how the scene must have looked from an outsider's point of view.

My other three brothers were dressed to the nines, at least in comparison to their habitual attire. Bobby wore a pair of black dress pants with a light blue dress shirt and a dark blue tie, his hair was gelled back and he was standing up straight. I almost couldn't recognize my goofy brother behind the costume.

Jerry was obviously dressed to impress in a black suit with a shiny red tie, he was even cleanly shaven. Jerry's getup didn't come as much as a surprise to me; it was his habit to 'dress for success' as he put it.

Jack was much less impressive, wearing a faded pair of blue jeans with a black dress shirt, but for Jack, this was an incredible feat. Even his generally wild mane was combed back properly.

"How about you two go on and get yourselves dressed, and then come back down and join us, ok?" Ma suggested, and Angel and I most certainly didn't need to be told twice.

Upstairs, I threw on a tee-shirt and a pair of jeans and turned to leave my room, anxious to remedy the terrible first impression. I reached the stairs and looked down to see Jerry leaning against the wooden railing. He took one disapproving look at me and shook his head.

"Go change!" He mouthed, waving his hand to shoe me away and his brow furrowed in annoyance.

I ignored him and moved to continue down the steps. Jerry rolled his eyes and ran up towards me. He grabbed me roughly by the arm and turned me back towards my room.

"Are you really that helpless that you can't even get dressed on your own?" He demanded.

"It wouldn't be a problem if you weren't so high maintenance!" I argued back.

Angel poked his head out of his room at that moment, still wearing nothing but his old Simpson boxers, "Shut up, both of you! Don't you know they can hear you down stairs?" He whispered urgently before slamming the door again.

"Jerry, I don't dress up, I don't have anything to wear." I said, considerably quieter this time.

Clearly displeased, he walked toward my closet and flipped swiftly through my clothes before pulling down a sparkly red dress that I hadn't worn in at least two years.

I shook my head, "No way, that's way too small on me now!"

"Well it will have to do for today." He shrugged. "Now get dressed!" He reached for my door then paused to look back at me. "And, do something with your hair!"

I heard him knock firmly on Angel's door across the hall, "Wear something nice!" He ordered.

I rolled my eyes but quickly grabbed a brush to run through my wet and mangled hair. I heard Angel's footsteps on the stairs and sighed, turning back to the dress.

Feeling defeated, I put it on and looked myself over in the mirror. The dress, which had fit me perfectly a few years ago, was now obviously several sizes too small, and considerably too short. I moved uncomfortably as I realized its tightness and the way it clearly showed every curve in my body. I looked good, if of course I were a prostitute.

I flipped desperately through my closet again, hoping something would pop out. When nothing did, I turned, bitterly, to join my family downstairs.

They were seated on the couch, the boys all remaining completely silent while Ma held up a friendly conversation with the social worker. Despite himself, Jerry smirked when he saw me, he could tell that I found the dress incredibly disagreeable, and apparently he was enjoying my pain. My eyes shot over to Angel, who was wearing his navy blue Marine dress uniform.

"Nice get-up!" I teased as I sat down beside him.

"Nice dress." He shot back harshly.

I looked away, awkwardly, knowing my outfit wouldn't come anywhere close to passing my brothers' already strict dress-code.

"This is Mrs. Hemmingsworth, she's from Child and Parent Services, and she's just going to have a look around. I ask that you all be on your most respectful behaviour." Ma introduced, "These are my sons, Bobby, Jackson, Jeremiah, and Angel, and this is my daughter Alex."

In turn, we each shook her hand and greeted her with an obviously forced "Nice to meet you."

Ma frowned, obviously disappointed in us, but didn't let it show for very long. "Why don't we start by showing you around the house?"

"That would be great." Mrs. Hemmingsworth answered.

As a group we headed over to the kitchen. Bobby stopped and grabbed onto me, spinning me around to look at him. "Go change!" He whispered.

"It's not my fault! Blame Jerry." I answered, trying to pull free of his grasp.

He opened his mouth to say something but before he had the chance Ma cleared her throat and Bobby immediately released me.

I turned to see the social worker staring at me; I made brief eye-contact before I looked away. From previous experience I was sure that nothing I could say would remedy what she was thinking, so I decided to leave it be instead of risking causing even more damage.

"Okay, maybe the dress wasn't the greatest idea after all." Jerry laughed once I was within whispering distance.

"You think?" I shot back.

We took turns playing tour guide to show the social worker around, it was long and tedious and none of us cared enough. We had each spent our share of time in abusive homes, where we hardly saw a single social worker stop in to check up, but they were always so happy to come here anytime the chance arrived. Mrs. Hemmingsworth nodded along, pausing every few minutes to take notes.

We headed upstairs to show her our rooms, starting with Jack's. As we reached the door Jack hesitated coming to a complete stop before even reaching for the doorknob. Silence fell over us all, each unsure of what was going on. Finally Angel gave him a sort of "what is wrong with you look?" which seemed to push him into motion.

Jack opened his door to reveal his room in its usual disaster. His bed was unmade and clothes and loose papers lay strewn across the floor. His desk rested cluttered with guitar books and empty cigarette packages, and peeking out from under his bed at least one empty beer bottle could be seen. Protruding from a side pocket of his backpack was a small baggie containing an unspecified subject, but even though it hadn't been mentioned, we all had our suspicions. The majority of us were used to seeing his room this way, but I didn't want to think about what Mrs. Hemmingsworth was thinking.

I turned to Jack, "Well done." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, at least I don't look like I belong in a cat-house!" He snapped back.

I glared at him. "You do, actually. But for a different reason."

He turned and hit me, obviously without thinking. As soon as his hand made contact we both froze, refusing to see the reaction to our fooling around.

Ma cleared her throat. It was obvious that she didn't know what to say.

Jack and I both looked down, lost for words. In my peripheral vision I could see Bobby role his eyes. After a moment of silence we continued the tour. When it was finally over we all headed back downstairs.

"Is there anything else we can do for you?" Ma asked. She sounded friendly, but I knew she was just about as anxious as the rest of us for this meeting to be over.

"Actually yes." She flipped through the stack of paper in her clipboard. "Can I speak to Jackson and Alexandria, each alone please?"

Sorry this is so short, and not very good, I'm trying to get myself back into it. I will try to have a more exciting one up very soon! Thanks for the continued support and don't forget to review!

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