: (Robin) Brittany's Parents and Axel

Fuming, I stomped up to my bedroom, Olive following closely behind me. I slammed the door shut and flopped myself onto my bed. I was surprised to see Brittany and Aidan talking and smiling at each other.

"What's wrong?" Aidan asked me and threw a cushion at me. "This stupid guy from my class called Axel has been selling drugs to my Dad," I answered, clenching my fists. I saw Brittany's eyes widen when I mentioned Axel's name. "But I'm also angry at all the secrets that were hidden from me. Paris. And my Dad being a psychotic murderer and drug addict,"

"Axel sold your Dad drugs?" Brittany whispered. Blaze was sleeping beside her. "Yeah," I sighed and grabbed a pot of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice-cream and ate a scoop. "You guys hungry?" All of them nodded enthusiastically. "Man, I could eat a damn horse right now," complained Aidan.

"I'll order us a couple of pizzas," I responded and picked up my phone.

The pizzas were delicious. I didn't know how hungry I was until I took a bite of my pepperoni pizza. I placed the pizza boxes on the table and everyone helped themselves. Pepperoni for Olive, Aidan and I and vegetarian for Brittany. Blaze woke up and Brittany offered her a slice which she took, played with for a while and took a few exhausted bites. "You guys want to shower and get into some clean clothes?" I offered to Brittany and Blaze. Brittany gingerly nodded and carried Blaze into the bathroom. I selected a t-shirt and joggers for Brittany and I manged to find some old baby clothes which my Mom kept in the attic for Blaze. A cute pair of dungarees and a plain, white t-shirt.

When they came out of my en-suite, smelling of my favourite cupcake soap, Brittany sat on my large L sofa with Blaze beside her. "I'm hiding from Axel. And my parents." she stated, staring at the floor. "Why?" asked Olive gently. "Axel... well I thought I had a true friend when I met him. Turns out he's a bit of a psycho. I don't know why... Also, he's always cutting himself. When I asked him what was wrong he screamed at me and told me to mind my own business. He...he also tried to kill me," Brittany replied reluctantly, burying her face in her trembling hands. "And your parents?" I asked whilst taking another slice of pizza. "I don't want to talk about it." she mumbled and a sob escaped from her. "Brittany," Aidan said softly. "It's okay. We won't tell anyone and I want to help you more than anything else in the world. Please." "Drinking," Blaze said and picked a piece of pepper of her pizza. "Brittany has 2 jobs. Starbucks and KFC. My sister is hard worker," Olive, Aidan and I all stared at Blaze. We weren't really sure what she meant but it was something. Oh. And we hadn't heard Blaze speak at all yet. "She has 2 jobs?" I asked Blaze. "Yeah," Blaze replied and nodded her head. "Parents drink all day," "Yeah." Brittany joined in but I could feel her reluctance. "They spend all our money on alcohol. I have 2 jobs just to keeps us living under a roof. When I come back from school they're always passed out and the house reeks of alcohol. It's disgusting. I tried to stop them drinking once but they... they... beat me," All three of us looked at her and Blaze sympathetically. "You shouldn't have had to go through that," I said and put my arm gently around Brittany's shoulders. "You should've told someone,"

"Yeah," said Aidan and the twins nodded their heads in unison.

But one question still burned in my mind like a candle flame. Why were her and Blaze covered in blood? Olive beat me to it. "Why were you covered in blood?" she asked and gave Blaze a hug when Blaze came up to her. "Mummy's blood," Blaze replied. "Hit her head on the shelf," "Our Mum passed out and hit her head on a shelf. Blood spilled onto the floor, soaking Blaze who had ran up to her. Mum was badly wounded so I used my sweater to hold against her wounds. My Dad was furious and thought Blaze and I had done something to her. I called 999 and my Dad shouted at me, threatening to kill me, just like Axel had. But I knew I had to call 999 otherwise she would've died. I ran off with Blaze and my Dad screamed at me saying that he would find us and kill us as a punishment for killing Mum," Brittany stated and ran her fingers threw her wet hair. "I came to you because for one, you lived nearby me and for two, as much as I hated you, I knew you were a trustworthy person," Brittany trusted me? Now that was a shocker.

"I think we all deserve some sleep," I said. "Let's go to bed. Brittany and Blaze, you guys can sleep in my room for the night. I'll hide you from my Mum in the morning," Olive and Aidan trudged off to their room and I offered Brittany and Blaze a space beside me in my King-size bed. Soon, we were all asleep, listening to the crashes of thunder and the thudding of the rain outside.

...

Olive, Aidan and I woke up first. We walked down the stairs to find my Mum eating breakfast. She yawned and said,

"Is it just me or did anyone else fall asleep really quickly last night!" We gave her a smile and picked up some waffles for breakfast, slathering Nutella all over them. When my Mum wasn't looking, I grabbed 3 waffles and raced up the stairs with Olive and Aidan following close behind. "Brittany! Blaze!" all three of us hissed. Brittany blinked and stretched, pulling her duvet off herself. Blaze awoke too.

"Are you going to go to school?" I asked. Brittany looked at me in horror and said, "No! Of course not! I'd be questioned about what happened to my Mum and my Dad could find me and kill me! Someone needs to look after Blaze too," I nodded and passed her the Nutella slathered waffles which her and Blaze gobbled down gratefully. "Where are we going to hide you?" I whispered thoughtfully.

"We could hide them in here," Olive suggested. "You could leave the room and Brittany could lock it. Your Mum doesn't have the key to unlock your room. You'll have to let Aidan and I out of the house first though. Our parents are picking us up in a second," Just as Olive had predicted, my Mum shouted up the stairs to Olive and Aidan. They looked at me like they didn't want to leave and then left the room.

"Keep in touch," they both hissed into my ear. "I'm leaving for school now Mum!" I called down the stairs. Time to start my plan.

I informed Brittany and Blaze that they had to be silent at all times, eat my secret ice-cream collection if they got hungry, and if my Mum was to somehow enter my room then they had to hide down in my underground basement. Yes. I did have an underground basement. It was made for storage though. Not people, so it was extremely claustrophobic in there. There was only enough room for one person but Blaze could squash in if she pressed herself against Brittany. I gave Brittany my bedroom key and was just about to walk out of the door when Brittany called my name.

"Yes?" I replied. "Thankyou. I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you for this but I will," she said. I gave her a smile, walked out of my bedroom and ran to the bus stop, not looking back.