Cray McCoy and the Christensen twins, Ashley and Aidan walked along the streets together grinning. Cray had just stolen a rich woman�s purse after she had laid it down on and turned away for a second, it had been easy enough. No one even saw. Both the boys were eager to see how much money was there and just what else was in it.

Every time Cray stole something when the twins were around he would try to give them both a little a little bit of what he took. If there was nothing but money he�d give each of the boys some coins.

"Well?" Ashley spoke a bit hesitantly. "Anything good in there?"

"Give him a second to look throw it, Ash. Christ�" Aidan said, rolling his blue eyes.

"I was only asking."

"Well don�t. You�re just annoying him."

"I�m not trying to�"

"Well you are!"

Ashley looked away and frowned some and Aidan grinned. Cray smiled at them both and shook his head then nudge Aidan and ruffled Ashley�s hair playfully. The two of them looked over at him and smiled. Cray was like a father to them; they looked up to him. They had since they first met him.

"Cool it kids." Cray smirked. "I�m looking, Ash. Don�t worry." He threw his arm over the boy and pulled him to him, giving him a small hug.

Aidan watched, jealous that Cray was actually giving Ashley all the attention and not him. Cray never seemed to realize that he favored Aidan but the twins had and it had affected them both in many different ways. He had pretty much raised them after all, finding them orphaned on the streets when they were nine.

"Well?" Aidan asked this time. "Anything good in there?"

Cray laughed at the repeat of Ashley�s question. "Yeah, there�s some good stuff in here. We got a good load of money and some feminine things. Lipstick, rouge� a mirror. Here we go." He tossed Aidan a pack of cigarettes. "For the smoker," he grinned.

"Anything for me?" Ashley asked.

The nineteen-year-old looked back through the purse and furrowed his brow. Aidan watched him some and then glanced at his brother smirking and waving the cigarette pack at him, knowing already there would probably be nothing for Ashley.

"Sorry, Ash. Nothing."

The blonde bit his lip and nodded some. He knew that was going to happen. Cray looked down at him and rolled his eyes, ruffling his hair again.

"Next time there�ll be something for you, Ash. I promise. Even if I gotta pick a whole nother pocket just so you can have something too, all right?"

Ashley smiled again, glancing up at him and nodded. "All right. Thanks."

"Anytime." He glanced around some. "Wait here guys."

They watched him walk into a nearby building then looked at each other. Aidan was glaring at his slightly older brother and Ashley then just looked away. He knew Aidan was upset with him. Their whole lives Aidan had been given all the attention and was now starting to feel left out that Cray was actually starting to notice Ashley too.

"Suck up." Aidan spat.

"I wasn�t sucking up, Aidan."

"You�re always doing that. You�re always making him feel sorry for you. It�s making me sick." He leaned up against the building Cray walked in.

"Screw you, I was not." Ashley shot back.

"Ya know, he�d like ya even better if you picked a pocket for him, got him a little more money." Aidan lied.

"You know he doesn�t want me to today. He told us that this morning."

"Aw, come on� not scared, are ya?"

"I�m not scared!" Ashley glanced around a little.

"Then do it. Right there, that old guy. Get his wallet." Aidan grinned. "You won�t get caught so just do it already." He knew if Cray saw this Ashley would get in trouble and that was just what he wanted. Ashley knew it too.

"Fine."

Ashley cursed under his breath as he went over to an old man. Aidan watched him grinning. Casually Ashley pretended to bump into the elderly man, dipping his hand in his pocket when he did so but the man caught him and grabbed his hand.

"What do you think you�re doing, kid?" He asked then glanced around the crowed streets. "Thief!"

Ashley tried to pull his wrist away from the man but it was only when Cray grabbed him from behind and yanked him away that he was free. He could feel his stomach turn, knowing he was going to be in trouble.

"Come on, kid, run already!" Cray screamed at him and Ashley took off, followed by Aidan who was laughing.

Ashley was crying by that point but was trying hard to stop. He could hear Aidan behind him and the other boy didn�t stop laughing until they got back to the building and Cray took them both up to his room to punish them.

~*~*~

Their backs were killing them. Neither one of the twins wanted to see what they looked like. Why did Cray always have to be so abusive when he disciplined them? It didn�t seem fair. Out of all the pickpockets that worked for him it was only Aidan and Ashley he ever hit. Cray said he did it because he cared about them.

"You all right?" Ashley asked his brother once they got up to the washroom. Thankfully, no one else was there.

Aidan scoffed. "Not like you�d care."

"Don�t be like that Aidan� come on, you all right?"

"I think." The blonde responded, removing his shirt as well, discarding it in the same place his brother had. "Let�s see what you were bitching and moaning about," he turned his brother around and lightly touched his back, ignoring the older scars and focusing mainly on the newest one. "He only broke skin once. Can hardly tell. Don�t be such a baby about it next time."

Ashley sighed. He didn�t want there to be a next time. Neither of them did.

"Let me see yours," Ashley said turning back around, brushing a few locks of his hair out of his eyes.

"Probably nothing." Aidan smirked, turning.

Ashley looked at the other boy�s back, his eyes slightly widening. There was a large bruise from where Cray had punched him and three long cuts from Cray�s belt. They were bleeding and Ashley wondered why he hadn�t noticed the blood on his shirt when they left. He grabbed Aidan�s shirt from the ground and dabbed it against the cuts, causing his brother to wince in pain.

"Sorry�" Ashley apologized.

"You did that on purpose."

"I did not. I�m cleaning up the blood."

"Well, guess it ain�t nothing then, huh?" Aidan grinned.

Ashley sighed. "I�ll go get some stuff to clean it with."

"Think he�ll still be mad at us tomorrow?" Aidan asked quickly as Ashley put his shirt back on. "I mean� he ain�t usually but he never usually hurts me like this," then he added, mumbling. "Wasn�t even my fault."

"It wasn�t mine." For once he could say that and know it was true.

"Sure it was. You�re the one who can�t even pick a pocket right anymore since you got thrown in the refuge."

"I wasn�t supposed to be picking pockets. Cray told you I couldn�t. It was your fault Cray did this." Ashley said quietly.

"Was not! It was yours shit head." It had never been his fault before, he couldn�t face the fact that for once Cray thought it was.

"Fine! It was mine." He sighed again, not in the mood to deal with Aidan at the moment. "Cray probably will have forgotten by tomorrow anyway." Ashley told him then walked out of the room.

Aidan nodded slowly then went to the bunkroom after his brother left and fell down on his bed where he shut his eyes tightly as cold air hit his back and made it sting. He bit his lip and forced himself not to cry while he waited for Ashley to return.

~*~*~

Ashley quickly went next door to the girls� house to get some alcohol for Aidan�s cuts (and some so he could just drink the pain away) after searching and finding none at the guys� house. He stepped inside and managed a small smile when he saw Brooke cleaning in the kitchen. He watched her a couple moments until she noticed him and smiled.

"Ashley, evening." Brooke greeted.

He smiled again and nodded a hello. "Um, do you have any alcohol over here?"

"Alcohol?" She looked at him. "There might be some. Why do you need alcohol?"

He looked down at his hands a moment. He couldn�t very well tell her the real reason. Cray would just get even more upset if he told anyone in either houses he was hitting them so he simply told her the other reason he wanted it.

"Thirsty."

"Oh. You don�t want water?" She started looking through a cabinet and Ashley just watched her. "I didn�t think you were one for alcohol," she smiled.

"I don�t want water." He told her. Aidan would start to worry if he didn�t return soon. "Is there any?"

Brooke smiled at him. "Yeah. In a hurry I see." She brought down the bottle then took out a glass. "Don�t drink too much, Ashley. I don�t need you sick tomorrow, all right?" He nodded and grabbed the bottle, which seemed to surprise Brooke some. "Not going to drink the whole thing are you?"

He shook his head. "No. I�ll pay you back." He just needed to get out of there before she noticed the little bit of blood on him.

"Don�t worry about it. Going back next door?" She asked; he nodded. "All right. Don�t tell Mr. Fieldman I gave you that."

Ashley looked down at the bottle of alcohol and shook his head. It had been such a long time since he last had a drink; he took off the cap and took a little sip. "I won�t."

"Have you seen Cray today?"

He looked at her quickly and nearly dropped the bottle. "Why?"

"No reason." She smiled. "I�ve never seen where he lives. Thought I�d go see him. Say hi and all. He�s always coming by and all."

"Oh� he�d like that." He didn�t know why he was telling her that. "He likes you." Maybe this would please him and he wouldn�t beat up on him and Aidan for a while.

"That�s� nice." She looked at him then glances away towards the counter. "Um, he seems like a good guy. He is, right? I mean, he�s nice to you and Aidan?"

Ashley backed to the door, feeling as though she was trying to get him to say something he�d regret. That Cray would make him regret saying. It seemed like everyone lately was going against Cray. He swallowed some and took another drink.

"Why?"

"Oh no reason." Brooke smiled again. "I just want to make sure I�m not wrong."

"He�s nice to us�" he shook his head. "Cat doesn�t like him."

She nodded. "Yeah, I got that impression. I�m not sure why she doesn�t. I don�t see any reason not to like him."

Ashley nodded, knowing she�d think differently if she went over to the guys� house and saw what he did to Aidan�s back right then. If she went over to Cray�s then he�d be happy. That�s all Ashley cared about at that point.

"He�d like to see you� if you want. Whenever."

"Oh, then maybe I�ll head over there now."

"Now?" His eyes went wide. He could still be mad and take it out on her. He didn�t want that. Brooke was the only person besides his brother that he actually cared for and could talk to� but she wanted to go. "O-okay." He hesitated again before finally telling her his address.

"Thanks." She looked at him a moment then motioned to the drink in his hand. "Be careful with that."

"Yeah� I will," he said, slipping out of the kitchen and heading back next door.

Aidan heard him as he came up the steps to the bunkroom and jumped up, going over to the door. He narrowed his eyes some and crossed his arms. Ashley just looked away from his brother�s glare and walked into the room.

"Took ya long enough."

Ashley took a drink from the bottle and shrugged. "Talking to Brooke� sorry." He walked back over to the washroom and grabbed Aidan�s bloody shirt.

Aidan rolled his eyes and followed, "No you�re not. Don�t say sorry unless you mean it. Never hear me apologize do you?" He nodded to the bottle. "Thought you stopped that."

"It�s for your cuts."

"Yeah and is that why you just took a swing of it? That don�t help my cuts at all." Aidan scolded. "If Cray catches you drinking again he�s gonna do the same thing he did to you last time."

"I know," he said softly.

Aidan shook his head and went back to the bunkroom lying back down on his bunk. Ashley sighed; drinking again then went over to the other boy and poured some alcohol on the shirt, placing it over Aidan�s cuts.

"Hey! Be careful, will ya?"

"I�m trying�" Ashley told him.

"You are not."

Ashley sighed and shook his head. Aidan just frowned.

~*~*~

"Come on Ash, stop drinking it all down!" Aidan yelled later that night outside of the Hoboken Newsboys� lodging house. "I�m gonna go tell Cray if you keep it up."

"You won�t." Ashley said, taking another drink.

"I will!"

"You wouldn�t."

"Like hell I wouldn�t." He grabbed the bottle from Ashley�s grasps. "What the hell�s wrong with you, Ashley? Huh?"

Ashley lowered his head and looked away. "Nothing."

"Oh so then you want Cray to beat the shit out of you again for doing this, is that it? Is that why you�re drinking again?"

"No," Ashley responded quietly.

"It is! You like it don�t you? Because this is the only way you ever get attention. When you do something wrong and he has to punish you. You do it on purpose, don�t you?!"

"No." Ashley told him, bringing his blue eyes up to meet his brothers�.

"Yes it is! You�re jealous that Cray likes me better so you gotta do everything you can to mess things up so he can pay attention to you instead." Aidan said, narrowing his eyes. "You�ve always done this! It�s just like when you pulled that little suicide thing. I bet you were just trying to get attention then too! Weren�t you?"

"No! You know that isn�t true!"

"Yes it is! You can�t stand it either because you know I�m right."

"You�re not right!" Ashley told him, his eyes tearing up slightly which didn�t go unnoticed by Aidan.

"Not gonna cry, are you? You know what Cray thinks about guys who cry!" Aidan hollered at him.

"I don�t care what Cray thinks! I hate him!" Ashley screamed, surprised by his words more then even Aidan was. It wasn�t necessarily true. Cray had his good points and could be nice to him when he did what he was told.

"Take it back!" His brother yelled, dropping the bottle of alcohol to the ground but luckily not breaking it. "Take that back Ashley!"

Ashley shook his head, locks of his hair falling down into his eyes. Aidan ran a hand through his hair and glanced around; worried that Cray would be there somehow and would start hitting Ashley for saying what he did.

"Take it back!" He yelled again, pushing his twin brother hard.

"No!"

He pushed him back which only made Aidan throw a punch, hitting Ashley hard in his mouth, making his lip start to bleed. Ashley took a step back, wiping his mouth then tackled his brother to the ground. Aidan let out a cry as his back hit the sidewalk and then screamed again as the weight of his brother fell on top of him. It only took a second for him to push the pain aside, not enough time to let Ashley even get in once good punch.

It didn�t take long before Aidan was able to pin Ashley down beneath him, holding his hands above his head. He was stronger then the other boy and always had been. Ashley kicked and squirmed, trying to get away but it was to no avail. Finally, he gave up and the two just glared hatefully at one another.

"Who was there when dad died, huh? Who took us in? Cray did!" Aidan told him. "We�d be dead if it wasn�t for him!"

"And who beats the shit out of us every time we do something wrong? And I wouldn�t have tried to die if it wasn�t for him! He hates me!"

"Can you blame him? If you just did what he said he wouldn�t beat on you so much! You�re just too stupid to realize that! He�s all we have! Maybe it would have been better if he never found you that day." He regretted the words the moment he said them.

He quickly got off of Ashley and backed away. Ashley got up as well, nearly speechless. He stared at the blonde, his eyes suddenly growing soft again then he just shook his head.

"Go to hell, Aidan�"

Aidan glared at his brother then pushed him out of his way and took off down the road to the building where Cray and the rest of the gang lived. Ashley watched him then sunk down against the wall, grabbing the bottle of alcohol and starting to drink again.

"Oh shit�" he muttered. "He�s gonna tell."

Ashley quickly ran into the lodging house and put down the alcohol then hurried back outside and ran to Cray�s as fast as his fourteen-year-old body could take him.

~*~*~

Aidan sat in the lobby of the building after hearing people yelling upstairs. It sounded like girls from the lodging house and most likely was them but he wasn�t about to get in the middle of it if they were up there making Cray upset.

Moments later Cray came back downstairs, obviously mad. A few seconds after he came down Brooke rushed out the door followed by FireCat and last Mussy came down and left but not before going over to Cray and punching him. Aidan�s eyes went wide when he saw that. He had never seen anyone---and certainly never a girl punch him before.

"Little bitches!" Cray screamed when they left.

"What happened, Cray?" Aidan asked, getting up from his spot in the room.

"I was finally getting somewhere with Brooke and those two came and ruined it!" He groaned and flipped the table that was down there, making all the other kids in the room jump and watch him.

"Aidan---" Ashley stopped dead in his tracks when he ran into the building and saw how mad Cray was.

Cray�s eyes shot over towards the door and he quickly stalked over to the younger boy, glaring at him. Ashley shrunk back, debating weather or not to run back out the door.

"You didn�t tell Cat and that other little bitch Brooke was over here, did you?"

Ashley quickly shook his head. "No," if he hadn�t been so scared he would have told him right then that he was the one who actually told Brooke to go see him.

"You�re lying." He narrowed his eyes more. "And you�ve been drinking. I thought I told you not to drink anymore. You wanna end up some deadbeat bum on the side of the streets wasting every penny you earn to get more alcohol, huh? You wanna end up like your father?" He grabbed Ashley�s collar and tossed him over towards the stairs. "Get up there."

Ashley quickly ran up the stairs, knowing what was going to happen next but not wanting to upset the gang�s leader anymore. Cray went up after him and Aidan just watched, not saying a word or trying to stop him from going after his twin.

~*~*~

Aidan couldn�t take much more of Ashley�s screaming. He could sense how much pain he was in and he only wished that Cray would leave him alone. He bit his lip and listened. Listened to his brother�s cries and pleas. Listened as the sound of leather slapped against Ashley�s bareback. He glanced around at the other kids who all seemed to be trying to ignore the crying. Ignore what was going on.

He felt sick to his stomach. He felt as though it was all his fault. If only he hadn�t picked a fight with him. He sighed some and ran a hand through his hair as another cry was heard from upstairs.

He looked back down at his hands before finally just getting up and leaving the building, going back to the lodging house. He took the bottle of alcohol upstairs to the washroom and prepared bandages for when Ashley came back home.

Soon enough Ashley slowly walked up the stairs to the bunkroom, having successfully avoided the newsboys in the lobby. His face was red and tear-stained and the back of his shirt was soaked with his own blood.

Aidan watched him as he painfully took his shirt off, not even acknowledging that his brother was in the room then sat down on the bed and stared down at his shaking hands. It was then that Aidan noticed not only were Ashley�s hands shaking but his whole body was as well.

"I�m sorry." Ashley said.

"I�m sorry too."

"Why does he hate me?" Ashley asked quietly, keeping his eyes focused down on his hands, afraid to let his brother see he was starting to cry again. He was in too much pain and couldn�t hold it back.

"He doesn�t."

"Then�why�?"

"I don�t know." Aidan told him truthfully.

"Maybe it would have been better if he didn�t find me that day."

Aidan shook his head. "Don�t say that, Ashley."

"Being dead would be a blessing compared to this."

"That isn�t true." Aidan forced a smile. "You can�t leave me here all alone, anyways."

"I don�t wanna go through this anymore." Ashley confessed.

"I know�"

Ashley glanced at him a moment then looked away again. Aidan sighed then quietly sat down beside him. Carefully, he put his arms around his twin brother and hugged him. Ashley hugged him back and then the two just sat there in silence.