Just over a year. Sixteen months and seven days. That’s how long it had been since Piper had been thrown out of her foster home and forced to live on the street, because she had no money, no job, and no ideas. In fact, the only thing on her mind at the time had been getting her brothers out of the foster system, though she had no idea where she would even begin. And now, sixteen months later, she felt like a failure. She still didn’t have a job to speak of, since most places she had access to required an address, and she couldn’t exactly list a house that most people in the Quarter knew was supposed to be empty. The chances that someone was going to be kind and take a chance on her were far lower than the chances that she was going to be arrested, and with her promise to Jaxon ringing in her ears, she found other ways to make a little money. It wasn’t easy, playing her violin on the street for anybody to hear. Even with the chords ringing in her ears as she played, she could hear the snide remarks, the comments about her not wanting to work, saying that she was a freeloader. It was all so hateful, and it made her sick.

Not once had she considered going into the same line of her work as her mother had. She had seen enough brutality and pain from that lifestyle, and she had no desire to expose herself to it ever again. That, and the fact that even the thought of someone touching her was enough to trigger her gag reflex had her taking to the streets day after day, violin in hand, and barely resisting the urge to stop playing and set some prejudiced asshole straight on occasion. It was enough to keep her alive, though she still went to bed hungry more often than not, and for that she was grateful. However, it was not enough for anybody to grant her custody of her brothers, and that was the only reason that they were still in foster care instead of with her, where they belonged. However, there was a part of her that wondered how long it could last. Her violin was already well worn and well loved, and she was terrified of the day her beloved instrument broke beyond repair.

However, she hadn’t even been thinking of the instrument as it swung by her side, bumping against her hip painfully. Instead, her thoughts had been scattered by something far more gut-wrenching. Since she had been kicked out, her and her brothers had a meeting place, one that was close enough for them to sneak to without being noticed, but far enough away for their beloved foster assholles to not see them together. The last time that she had gone to see them, however neither of them had been there. Convinced that something had gone horribly wrong, she had made her way to the thouse, where she had been informed by a frazzled and fearful looking former foster mother that both of her brothers were gone. After a little pushing for information, she’d been told that her foster mother didn’t know where Ezra and Eliot were, and that if Piper didn’t leave, she was going to call the police. Piper, out of her mind with worry, had gone through every channel that she knew of, and all with no luck. Nobody knew where her brothers had gone, and if they did know, nobody was telling her.

Since then, she had been going out of her mind with worry. Every waking hour she was either walking the streets of New Orleans or shifted, flying around to try to find any hint that her little brothers were still in the city. So far, she’d come up empty handed, but she didn’t want to just give up. Of course, she was sure that she would have to look outside of the city soon, if she didn’t want her brothers to be parted from her forever. One thought kept replaying, forcing itself to the front of her mind even though it was useless, and served only to make her feel worse about herself: Jaxon would never have let this happen. And in some ways, that wasn’t necessarily correct. Jaxon had ended up going to juvie and had probably lost track of all three of them, if he was even out, but that was not helping her calm her nerves any. So, she continued walking on the streets, desperate eyes scanning the crowd for any sign of her two brothers.

Out of the corner, Piper caught a flash of blonde, and she jerked her head to the side. Peering around a few people, she saw a shock of blonde hair that looked so familiar. Could it be? She turned towards him, her feet carrying her closer as if of their own accord. As she approached, she noticed other things: the way that he carried himself, the way that he always seemed on alert. The boy tilted his head slightly to the side, just enough for Piper to catch a familiar profile, and everything clicked into place. “Ez?” Her voice was barely a whisper, disbelief and relief choking off her air supply. “Ezra!” This time her voice worked, and she dodged around a few people before stopping in front of him and throwing the arm not carting around a violin around his shoulders. “Thank god, I can’t believe you’re still in the city.” Tears stung her eyes as she held him close to her, before pulling back. “Where have you been? Are you okay? Do you know where Eliot is?” The words came out in a rush, even while Piper busied herself visually checking over Ezra to make sure that there were no bruises, or anything to indicate that his life had taken an abrupt turn for the worse. “I’ve been worried sick.”