~Laura's POV~

After our little discussion about my schooling, it becomes an awkward silence as we walk to what I assume is their tour bus or something. But I'm surprised when we actually end up at a house. Mike just walks right in and Jaime holds the door open for me, giving me an encouraging smile.

What the hell, I figure. As soon as I step in the house, two large sets of arms are wrapped around me.

"Laura!" Vic and Tony say in unison.

"Well geeze guys, thanks. Nice to see you too." Jaime says, fake pouting.

"We see you every day, moron. And Laura's cooler than you." Tony smiles down at me fondly.

I feel like my blush runs from the roots of my hair down to my toes, and I can't help the grin that takes over my face.

"You guys are amazing. Simply amazing, and I can't thank you enough for everything."

"Thank us?" Vic says, laughing. "Girl you saved our asses."

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"We leave for tour tomorrow. And we hadn't found anyone to sing with us yet. So seriously, thank YOU."

I'm startled by the sudden reappearance of Mike, followed by two unfamiliar people.

"Laura," Mike says, "I'd like you to meet Vic and my parents. Papa, mama, this is Laura. She's coming on tour with us."

They both hug me immediately. "You are so beautiful dear," Mama Fuentes exclaims, "but so skinny! What has your mother been feeding you?

I freeze. "I um, live on my own."

They frown at me. "Aren't you kind of young to be on your own?"

The one question I didn't want to answer. "Well, yes. I'm 17. But my parents left years ago. They, well, they didn't want me anymore."

I feel someone just lift me up in the air and walk away. I'm in too much of a daze to fight it.

~Tony's POV~

They didn't want her anymore, so they left. No, that's unacceptable. I need a minute. I need to just talk to Laura about this. So while she's lost in her own thoughts, I let Vic know what I'm going to do and just toss her over my shoulder, walking to the guest room where I've been staying.

"What do you mean sweetie?" I ask, holding her practically across my lap, like a baby. She looks up at me, and curls into my side, sitting next to me. I instictively wrap my arm around her.

"I was getting bullied in school. Death threats, told to kill myself, and the like. So I tried to commit suicide. My parents decided they didn't want to deal with a fucked-up kid like me, so they left. I was 13. When they left, I didn't really know what to do. So I went to the apartments and met Craig and told him the circumstances." She pauses suddenly, chewing on her lip.

"And then?" I ask, hoping to get the story out of her.

"To put it bluntly, since I couldn't work with school and my age, I gave him my virginity and he gave me an apartment."

My mouth falls open and so does the door, revealing a very pissed off Jaime.

"You were 13? And he made you do that?" He demands to know.

"No, not until I was 14. But I thought it was a one-time thing. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Not only did he continually rape me, but he abused me." She pulls down her shirt a little bit, and I can see crudely written letters, burned into her skin.

"Craig's initials. He did this today."

Jaime punches the bed right next to me, narrowly missing my thigh. Laura jumps, clearly frightened by the sound and her memories.

Jaime just leaves the room after that, angrily muttering under his breath. Laura looks up at me with tears in her eyes. "Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry."

I shake my head and wrap my arms around her, pulling her into my chest. "No sweetie, you did nothing wrong. Jaime just really cares about you, like the rest of us, so hearing that people were hurting you makes him angry."

"Wow."

"What do you mean wow? That's how people react when they care about each other."

Her tears are flowing freely now. "I'm sorry, Tony. I wouldn't know. There's never been anyone who stuck around long enough to care about me."