"Slow it down, rugrats," a voice called out.

I winced and jumped back as a handful of shrieking kids nearly ran me over. I bumped into Liam. He put his hands on my upper arms to steady me.

"Sorry about that." Jessie ushered us through the door of The Impact Youth Center. She craned her neck and shouted over her shoulder. "I said slow down!"

Liam quirked a brow. "They're an energetic bunch."

Jessie shook her head ruefully. Her brown hair was up in a low bun and pulled away from her face. She wore not a speck of makeup, in contrast with my own heavy eyeliner and lipstick. My brother's girlfriend had that wholesome girl next door look.

Or at least, she did when she worked at the youth center. I'd seen her dressed for her part time job at a dingy dive bar. I'd never seen someone make a complete one-eighty from schoolteacher to biker babe so thoroughly. Standing here in front of me, you never would have guessed she looked just as at home in a leather miniskirt as she did in a cotton blouse.

"You were never that rambunctious as a kid, were you?" Jessie asked Liam.

His green eyes twinkled. "I was worse."

"Somehow I don't doubt that." She gave him a cheeky smile before turning to me. "Thanks so much for coming out to support our fundraiser."

"Of course," I said. "This place means a lot to me."

Jessie didn't know everything, but she knew the center was where I had gotten started with my very first rock band.

"Gael's around somewhere," Jessie said. "I've got him acting as my errand boy today."

She handed me and Liam plastic wristbands in exchange for a wad of small bills.

"These are your passes," she said. "It proves you paid to get in."

"Just like at concerts," Liam said as he examined his.

Jessie beamed. "There's actually going to be a short concert later today."

"Who's playing?" Liam asked, no doubt wondering how a run down non-profit on the rough side of town could have convinced a band to come.

"Some kids at our center put together their own rock band," she explained to Liam. "We thought it was the cutest thing, until we realized how serious they were. Now we're just proud and impressed."

"We'll have to stick around for it." I nodded to a booth where a woman was using face paint to turn a little girl into a cat. "How does this fun fair work?"

"It's two tickets per game or activity," she said. "You can buy them from Anya and Micah over there." Jessie gestured to a table along the wall with two kids standing behind it. "They're both in the band. They'll benefit from this fundraiser, so they were happy to help out."

The table was manned by a tall teen with thick black glasses and a younger looking girl with her hair hiding half her face. They looked to be around the same age as my friends and I had been when we first started our band. I had seen them play before, so I knew he was the keyboardist and she was the lead singer.

"Food and drink can be bought with cash," Jessie continued. "We've got a bake sale with treats the kids have made. If you're hungry for more than just cookies and brownies, a few local restaurants donated some catered food."

"You've really got this whole thing planned out," I said.

"It's not the event of the century, but the kids had a lot of fun putting it together." A fond look spread across Jessie's face. "We're hoping to raise some money to buy more supplies for our art programs. Paintbrushes, blank canvasses, things like that."

"This place only runs on donations?" Liam asked, surprised. "There's no government funding or anything?"

"The government funds standard programming," she said. "Early morning day care, after-school tutoring, things like that. But as for the non-traditional stuff—"

At that, Jessie's brow furrowed.

"Local politicians don't always see the point in giving away tax dollars to painting classes or music lessons," she finished.

"Really?" Liam frowned. "That's complete bullshit."

"It is," Jessie agreed. "Those are some of our most popular programs. But—" she shrugged. "Funding for the arts is usually the first to go, I'm afraid."

Liam's nostrils flared, as if he'd been personally offended.

"How much money are you looking to raise?" he asked.

I had a sudden vision of Liam whipping out his checkbook, right then and there.

"Why don't we go play some games?" I interjected as I linked my arm through his. "You can be all macho and win me a toy."

The frown on Liam's face melted into a soft smile as he looked down at me. "I thought you hated all that macho-caveman stuff?"

"It's for a good cause."

"That game over there has some donated stuffed animals as prizes." Jessie pointed to a wall with dozens of balloons taped to it. People were using plastic darts to try and pop them. Her eyes drifted over my shoulder. An alarmed look appeared on her face. "Stop—!"

"Oomp," Liam huffed as a teen boy rammed into him from behind.

"Shit, sorry, man," the kid said as he righted himself. He looked to be fourteen with long, gangly limbs.

"Language!" Jessie admonished.

"Whoa, hey, you're Gael's sister!" the kid gaped at me. "You're the lead singer of his band!"

"That's me." I hid a smile. I recognized the kid as one of the guitarists in the youth center's rock band.

The kid's eyes flicked to Liam and the awe faded a bit.

"Who invited Douchebag and Gabbana?" he asked.

I nearly burst into laughter. I'd told Liam not to wear that shirt.

"Zain!" Jessie scolded the kid, exasperated. "Be careful who you call names. You'd kill to one day be as successful as Liam Knight."

"Who?" the kid asked dismissively.

I held back a snicker. Liam's expression was hilarious, both confused and affronted at the same time.

"Whatever," Zain continued, ignoring Liam. "I just came by to tell you that Gael said we're almost out of bottled water at the bake sale."

"Tell him I've got some more in the trunk of my car."

He nodded and hurried off to relay the message.

"Sorry about that," Jessie apologized for the second time. "Kids these days."

"It's cool," Liam said, although his lips were twisted into a frown. "I was a little shit disturber when I was his age, too."

"He's actually a really sweet kid," she said. "He's just at that age where he thinks he has to play it cool."

"Do boys ever grow out of that stage?" I asked.

Jessie and I shared a grin.

"Why don't we go get some tickets?" Liam asked, still looking vaguely disgruntled.

I agreed and kept my arm looped through his, tugging him out of the way when stray children ran by us.

"I've never been around so many little tiny humans in my life," Liam said. "How does Jessie deal with it?"

"With great patience, I assume."

"No wonder she's able to handle Gael," he said. "She's used to putting up with bratty kids."

I laughed.

"That's exactly why Jessie and Gael are together," I explained. "My brother's antics had been putting our chances of getting a recording contract at risk. No one wanted to sign a loose cannon. Since Jessie's job is to wrangle unruly youths, I essentially hired her to "babysit" him until we'd sealed the deal. I hadn't expected her to fall for Gael. I certainly hadn't expected my wild, playboy brother to fall for her, either."

"Makes sense," Liam said.

"How so?"

"What boy doesn't dream of getting it on with the hot babysitter?" he grinned.

I snorted. "That's exactly what my brother always says. But Jessie's been good for him. He's been a lot less out of control lately."

"He does seem to have taken on a lot of responsibilities," Liam agreed.

"If I didn't know his girlfriend was the cause, I'd worry it was alien bodysnatchers."

"Surely he hasn't changed that much?" Liam asked.

I thought about it. "I suppose not. He's always taken care of me, always tried to be the mature one when it came to the two of us. He just never took anything else seriously. Our mother was never around to discipline us so he could get away with anything."

"And now Jessie's made him realize that actions have consequences?" Liam guessed.

"I think that's exactly it."

We reached the table selling tickets. The tall boy in glasses was already reaching for a roll of tickets and the cash box.

"Thank you for coming to our fun fair," he said politely with a nod.

"How much are the tickets?" I asked.

"They're a dollar fifty each," the girl piped up. "But you get one extra ticket for every ten you buy."

"How many games are there?" Liam asked, already pulling out his wallet.

The boy paused, seeming to count in his head. "I think we've got twelve booths, between all the different games and activities."

"I'll take three hundred tickets," Liam said.

I nearly choked on my own tongue. Both kids went wide-eyed and gape-mouthed.

"Three… hundred?" the girl asked slowly.

Liam took a handful of bills from his wallet. I tugged him aside as the kid continued staring.

"What are you doing?" I hissed under my breath.

"Buying tickets?" Liam said carefully, as if unsure of what set me off and not wanting to repeat it.

"You're buying more than four hundred dollars worth of tickets."

"It's more like four fifty, I think."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I couldn't help burst out.

"It's a fundraiser, isn't it?"

"That's not the point," I said. "You don't go waving that kind of money around in a place like this."

His forehead creased into a confused frown. "It's a kid's fun fair."

I wanted to smack him. So I did. I smacked him lightly in the chest with the back of my hand.

"Do you really want to go flashing those bills around?" I said. "Do you not remember the abandoned buildings and broken windows we passed by? Most people don't even make that much money in a week's worth of work. Most people here are probably never even seen that much money in one place. The only people who have are drug dealers."

Now it was Liam's turn to look like he'd bit his tongue.

"Are you saying people are going to think I'm a drug dealer?" he asked under his breath.

"No." I scanned the room with a furtive eye. I couldn't stop myself from picking at my nails, flakes of polish coming off under my fingers. "I'm saying people are going to think you're a rich asshole and some of them are going to want to get a piece of that."

A look of understanding finally crossed his face. Understanding and chagrin.

"I thought this place had been cleaned up since you last lived here…?" he trailed off.

"Cleaner, yes. Spotless, no."

"So you're saying I might get jumped and shanked in an alleyway?"

I nearly reeled back. Liam words were like a bullet through my chest. A bullet that shot through the almost-healed fissure inside me, cracking it wide open. Dark tendrils oozed out, slithering between my organs, wriggling their way between my ribs. They congealed in one big mass around my heart, threatening to clamp down and squeeze the life out of me.

Liam couldn't have known how close to the truth he was.

"I didn't even think of it like that." His eyes weren't focused on me. They were now scanning the room warily, just as I had done.

I forced myself to breathe, taking a slow, shallow lungful of air. My fingers and toes tingled, my body both chilled and boiling hot at the same time.

"I'm sorry I'm an idiot." Liam returned his attention to me. His face turned concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

I hadn't meant for the words to sound so curt, but it was hard to talk through my tight throat.

Liam took both my arms gently in his hands, making me face him. I didn't know what he saw in my expression, but his own turned pained.

"I'm sorry," he murmured again. "I should have realized."

His green eyes were so soft, caring. They were like a beam of green light blasting through the darkness.

The dark tendrils writhed and squirmed, fleeing that glow, disappearing back into the fissure. My breathing evened out. I pressed my hands against my thighs, stopping my fingers from picking at the red lacquer on my nails.

"I'm fine," I said. "I just want you to be safe."

"I'm sorry I made you feel otherwise." He leaned forward and tilted his head down.

I put a hand up to still him. "No PDA in front of the children."

He paused, then tipped his chin up and pressed a kiss to my forehead instead of my lips.

I heard a burst of high-pitched giggles from behind us.

"Someone's got a booooyfriend," came a chorus of voices.

I groaned and thumped my head forward onto Liam's chest.

"Great," I said. "Jessie's going to get a hundred letters from angry parents appalled at the inappropriate behavior their children were subjected to."

"Kids gotta learn the birds and the bees sometime."

I stifled a snort of laughter, looking into Liam's eyes again to meet his gaze. He cracked a grin and gestured to one of the booths with a nod of his head.

"Want to go get your face painted like a cat?" he asked.

"I'd much rather see you as a cat," I said. "Cute pink nose, whiskers and all."

"Only if you swear to not take pictures."

"No promises."

Liam took my hand in his and squeezed. I returned it.

The crack inside me began to close. Not completely, and not quickly, but it was closing, growing smaller. Small enough to keep the darkness from escaping.

For now.