Hi everybody! I don't think this one was that long of a wait was it? I think its better then some of my other updates. Sorry im not the fastest update.

Thanks to:

CompetiveSwimmaChick

COTTfan24

Stix

Thunder-Godess

irish-table

Aveline

and

acting-singing-bella

Thanks for reviewing!

Oh and I would like to dedicate this chapter to COTTfan24 for all her help in this chapter! Thanks a bunch!

Chapter Twelve: Isolation

Later at the Parker Household:

As they quickly pulled into the driveway Jay cut off the engine and opened the door. He walked swiftly around the truck and opened the door to the back seat. Slowly and gently he pried his brother of the back seat and walked swiftly towards the house, Theresa and Mayle following suit.

When they walked into the house, they found the kitchen in an utter mess. Pots and pans were all over the kitchen counters and floors. There was spilled batter and ingredients dripping down from counter tops and saucepans. A think layer of flour covered every single object in the entire kitchen, including Mrs. Parker. During the time they were gone she was trying to make a cake in honor of Mayle and Denzel's last day of school and Jay's return home. Unfortunately it obviously didn't turn out as she expected. She wasn't much of a cooker when it came to baked goods. She had been taking cooking classes for a while now but she had never seemed to be able to make cookies or brownies or cakes without blowing up the kitchen. Usually when ever she needed a cake or a specail treat she went and bought it. But today she wanted it to be extra special. Bad idea of course.

But none of them really reacted when they saw the mess, all too preoccupied with Denzel. When they entered the kitchen, Jay supporting his brother under the legs and holding his head up against his shoulder, it took all of Mrs. Parker's strength not to scream.

"W-what?" She said rushing towards the boy in Jay's arm. "What happened? Oh my poor darling!" Tears were now showering her face and mixing with the flour on her cheeks.

"Mom!" Jay said loudly, trying to calm down his mother seeing her shaking form. "Mom, calm down. We need to help Denzel."

She nodded worryingly. "T-take him upstairs." Was all she could manage to say before she broke down sobbing.

Theresa instantly went to her and bent down next to her. Trying to comfort her she warped and arm around her shoulders.

Jay hated seeing his mother like this, but he needed Theresa's help with Denzel. She might know how to fix him up. He looked down at Mayle who was staring at her hurt brother with tears glistening on her face.

"Mayle." He said quietly and she turned her face up towards him. "Go to mom. We'll take care of Denzel. Make sure she's okay." Mayle nodded silently and went over to her mom and put her tiny arms around her neck.

"Theresa." Jay said to her and she stood up. "Let's go." She quickly walked towards him and they both went upstairs. Placing them on his bed they tended to the little boy's wounds the best they could.

Theresa refrained herself from crying, trying to keep level headed about the situation as Jay was. But she couldn't help but notice the large amount of bruises that were on his skin. As she moistened the skin on his face she could help but feel something odd. She looked down at his shoulder and saw a bruise that looked somewhat half healed. She blinked once and put her face closer to the wound. Yes, it was at least a few days old and already healing.

But that couldn't be right, he just got hurt today………….didn't he?

Theresa opened her mouth to say something, but as she turned her head to look at Jay and speak with him she felt her body tense up. He was sitting on the left side of Denzel's bed, his hand entwined with his brothers, stroking it gently and comfortingly. A look of his never ending supply of worry showed clearly on his face. In that instant she knew she couldn't worry him any more with her suspicions. So instead of opening her mouth to speak she looked back down to the boy's other hand which cut was freely bleeding once more.

When Denzel finally woke up from being unconscious it had nearly been three hours. He sat straight up in his bed and grimaced at the pain he felt. Instantly Jay went to push him back down but Denzel only sat up straighter.

"What happened?" He asked in a quite voice looking around where he was. "When did I get home?"

"Nearly three hours ago." Jay said worryingly. "Denzel what happened?" Immediately the boy swung his legs over the side of the bed and Jay stood up. "Denzel what are you doing you need to rest!"

He paused for a second before getting up and walking out of the room. Jay stood up to go after him but stopped in the doorway. He looked to see where he went but couldn't see him anywhere, but he did hear the back door closing quietly. He quickly rushed to the window and saw his brother sitting down on the edge of the back porch, ankle deep in snow, his winter coat pulled tightly around him. He rushed downstairs to talk to him but he was not the only one.

His mom was rushing towards the door but paused unsure of what she should do. Soon she walked outside, and although Theresa, Mayle, and Jay couldn't hear what they were saying, they could tell that Mrs. Parker was failing miserably at communicating with her son.

After a few minutes she returned into the house alone, tears slightly in her eyes which she wiped away with the back of her hand. His family tried to speak with him several times after that but all of them came back defeated. When Mayle tried to speak to him he didn't even look at her. Most of them got similar reactions. None of them got many words out of him. He simply allowed them to stand there and try and convince him to come back inside while asking him questions. But every question they asked was left unanswered.

Jay sighed as he looked out the glass door to watch his brother who was still sitting on the snow covered porch. Slowly, for the third time that evening he opened the door and walked outside. This time before he could even say anything Denzel spoke to him.

"Just go away Jay." Denzel whispered pulling his winter jacket tighter around his body.

"Denzel." He said slowly in response. "Cant you just see we are trying to help you?"

For a while Denzel didn't speak. "There is nothing for you to help with." He said after a while.

"Why wont you tell me what happened Denzel?" Jay continued to urge him. "This isn't like you! You don't usually act like this! Why are you blocking us out?" He felt his patience running thin. Why did he have to be so stubborn?

"This is none of your business Jay!" Denzel said turning around to face him. "Stop trying to act like dad cause your NOT!" By now he was yelling and to refrain himself from from crying he turned back around to face the snow covered lawn.

Jay froze up a hurt expression on his face. He didn't know what to say.

"Im surprised you still remember him." Jay whispered quietly, finding nothing else to say. "And I know im not dad Denzel." Jay said as he took a step closer to his brother and put a shaking hand on his shoulder. "But I am your brother. And I love you just as much as he did. Just remember that ok?" he said before he walked off the porch and back inside.

Jay closed the door silently and walked away with a hurt look on his face. Theresa was waiting for him.

"How did it go?" She said quietly.

Jay looked down. "Terrible. Its like, it wasnt even him speaking to me."

There was a long pause and Theresa moved forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "Im sorry Jay. But maybe..." She paused.

"What?" Jay said looking at her hopefully. "You got a plan?"

Theresa bit her lip, almost as if she was unsure if what she was saying was the best thing to say. Until now she hadn't thought of interfering, since it was truly none of her business, but she knew that no one was getting through to the boy, and if he didn't tell them what happened. She was going to have to find out herself. "Jay, let me talk to him." Theresa proposed.

"I don't think he will listen Terri." Jay said sighing.

"Maybe he doesn't have to, Jay I can touch someone's hand and find out what happened to them. If im careful enough I wont have to resort to that power. But if worse comes to worse I can touch one of his wounds and see what happened and who hurt him." Theresa explained quietly. Hoping no one would over hear them.

"Do you think it will work?" Jay said hopefully a look of worry in his eyes.

"It will have to." Theresa said looking at where the young boy was sitting. "Im not sure if anything else will."

Outside on the deck:

"Denzel, can I talk with you?" Theresa said walking outside and towards where he was sitting.

"Go away Miss Theresa." Denzel snarled at her angrily, not even bothering to turn around and glare at her.

"Miss Theresa? Where did that come from?" Theresa said with a surprised look on her face as she closed the door and sat down next to him.

"I heard Mayle calling you that."

"Oh..."

Theresa didn't say anymore. She just gazed at the small boy who was staring up intently at the sky.

She couldn't find the right words to say, but she knew she had to say something.

"Denzel, listen." She tried to say as she moved to put a soft hand on his shoulder. But her hand froze in mid air as he whipped around to face her, glaring harshly into her eyes.

"No you listen! If my brother sent you to find out what happened then you better just go back inside! Because im not telling you or anyone ANYTHING because it is none of your business! And if i did, you would be the LAST person in this entire world i would tell!! I don't even know you!! How can you expect me to trust you?" Denzel said glaring at her angrily.

"Your brother didn't send me to get you to say anything." Theresa said calmly. "And I don't expect you to trust me."

"Then what are you doing here?" He growled angrily, his eyes still firing up with rage.

"I came here to tell you, that……….I know what you are going through." She responded causing the young boy to snort.

"Now I know you're saying that out of pity, you don't even know what happened. And you're not going to find out." He said turning away from her, still glaring.

"I don't want to find out." She said quietly, trying not to lose her patience with him. "And you're right, I don't know what happened. But I can tell that what ever happened to you, has happened before."

"How would you know?" he said quietly, although not as harshly as before.

"Because." She said taking one of his arms which caused him to slowly look around to face her. "These bruises here, they are a few days old. Some of them look like they've been there for months."

Quickly he tore his arm from her hand.

"That's none of you business. And don't you dare tell my brother!" he said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Why are you worried about me telling your brother?" Theresa said knowing she was getting somewhere.

"Im not worried." Denzel said in a small voice.

"Ok maybe what I said was a little off." Theresa said re wording her sentence in her head. "I think that you're not worried about telling your brother. I think you're worried about what your brother will do."

"What do you mean?" Denzel said looking at her curiously.

"Well you obviously got into a fight." She began, surprised to find that Denzel was actually listening to her. "And this isn't the first time you've been a fight." Denzel stared back down at his feet once more. "You know that if Jay finds out who did this to you, he will want to do something about it. You don't want Jay getting involved." Theresa said staring at the younger boy.

Denzel sighed. "Why are you telling me this?" he said looking at her.

"Because I know it's true." She said simply. Although she only said half of the truth to him. She did know it was true, but she wasn't about to tell him it was because she could read minds.

Denzel didn't speak for a long time. But after a few minutes he sighed. "Ok, so maybe you are right. I just…" He paused again. "…this is my battle. I can't let Jay fight it for me. I can't make him think I am weak."

"You aren't weak Denzel." Theresa said soothingly.

"How would you know?" Denzel said looking at her with a hopelessly lost look in his eyes.

Theresa felt a pang of pity for the poor boy. "Because you remind me more and more of your brother every minute Denzel." She said smiling.

At this he snorted. "How? Im not brave like him, im not popular, I don't have lots of friends im not even as nice as him! I can barley talk to my own sister without snapping at her now." Denzel said looking down at the ground.

"But you have the same heart as him." She said. "You have the same blood running through your veins as him. You are equally as brave as him; you're equally as stubborn as him. Even to admit something like this to me, someone you don't even know on a personal level." She said smiling. "Tells me you have the same heart. You are just as kind as him. And you are just as, if not more, stronger then him."

At that last part Denzel gave a little snort. "Im not strong, or else I wouldn't be in this state now would I?"

"There are different types of strong." Theresa explained. "You may not be as strong as Jay physically, but you are equally as strong as him in will power."

"Will power?" Denzel said confusingly.

"You don't give up easily; you will do what ever it takes to make sure that people you care for don't get hurt in your affairs. And you want so much to fight your own battles, all by yourself." Theresa felt her heart sink; he really was a lot like Jay.

"I don't have that much will power." Denzel protested quietly.

"Well you are definitely as stubborn as your brother that's for sure!" Theresa said laughing slightly.

Denzel's mouth broke out into a small smile and he laughed slightly. Theresa smiled in response. "There we go, just keep that smile on Denzel." She said winking. "And keep your chin up. Things will be better soon."

Denzel nodded and smiled slightly. "Thanks Theresa, I do feel kinda better now that I've talked to someone about it."

"You can talk to me when ever you want Denzel." Theresa said putting a hand on his shoulder. But as she did she saw Denzel wince and immediately she knew she touched one of his bruises. But she could not pull her hand away for she was already sucked into one of her visions.

"Get away from me!" Denzel yelled angrily, swinging his backpack in front of him at the three advancing boys. The other boys just laughed. They both seemed at least two years older then him.

Soon Denzel was backed against the dodge ball wall and the boys began to throw a fury of punches at him. She heard Denzel yell in protest and try and punch back. When his fist hit one of the older boys square in the jaw they stopped punching him. The boy he hit howled in pain and dropped to the ground. Blood began to come from his mouth.

"You little ass hole!" The boy screamed as he held his jaw. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Im not going to stand for this anymore Ryan!" Denzel hissed angrily and the boys began to advance towards him. The boys laughed as Denzel began to try and throw punches at them. And two boys held him back from fighting them.

"Your just a little bastard what are you going to stop us?" They mocked him causing the boys anger to rise.

"Im not a bastard!" He shouted.

"Yes you are, you don't even know your father! Your father probably hated you; he probably realized the disgusting piece of filth that you are!" The sneered at him.

"SHUT UP!!" He threw his body towards them but he was held back.

Immediately the leader of the group, the boy identified as Ryan began to punch him repetitively, causing his clothes to tear, and blood to come out of his nose and mouth.

The boy grunted and soon began to cry out causing the other boys to laugh at his pain. Soon they left him alone, kicking him before leaving him lying on the snow covered ash fault.

Theresa gasped and jumped in her seat pulling her hand away from the small boy.

Denzel looked at her with a worried expression. "Something wrong?" he said quietly.

Theresa shook her head and put on a shaking smile. "No, nothings wrong."

Denzel raised an eyebrow at her curiously but said nothing.

"You should go inside and get some sleep Denzel." Theresa said not looking at him.

"You promise you won't tell brother?" he said quickly.

"What am I not supposed to tell him?" Theresa said quietly smiling. Although she felt like she was about to barf at what she just saw.

Denzel looked like he was about to say something, but he didn't. But Theresa saw something in his eyes. He couldn't be thinking…………he couldn't possibly know that she knew could he?

But he didn't say anything. He got up with a smile and walked to the back door.

Theresa had to smile back. This was truly one of the first REAL smile she had gotten out from him.

He paused at the back door and turned around to face her. "Thanks Theresa." He said before walking inside.

Not to mention the first time he said her name without scorn.

But she seemed to feel that she made no progress. She might have found out about what happened, but now, how was she supposed to tell Jay when Denzel didn't even know she knew?

Or did he?

That's all you get for now! Sorry Im too busy to write the next chapter. Lots of things have come up making it difficult for me to update. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It's greatly appreciated.

Signed,

Destiny's Daughter