Finally, after many days of traveling she'd reached California. It nearly taken all of her power to get there. Now that she was there, her whole body was full of pain, trembling from the cold, and because she was too weak to move. It felt like she'd had to pay a price way too high to get there.

She could not even remember the last time that she had gotten any sleep. It had been way too dangerous to sleep on the highway. She had only spent the first night of her trip in a motel, but hadn't been able to sleep more than a hour. She was just too afraid of the guy she spent the night with who had offered to take her with him to the motel. She also could not remember the last time that she ate something, but she was sure that she could not hold anything inside of her stomach anyway.

Her whole life everybody kept telling her that life in America was way better than in her home country. Now she had the feeling that this was the biggest lie that she had ever heard. When she had started her trip to America, she thought that there would be people to help her once she get there. It didn't take her very long to find out that most people only seemed to think of themselves. Nobody seemed to be interested in her problems.

She could still feel the eyes of the men on her body when she was sitting next to them in their cars, happy that someone let her ride with them. She even could still feel their hands on her knees when they tried to touch her.

A few hot tears were running down her face. She had absolutely no idea what to do next, how to find a way out of this hell. It seemed like she'd just escaped from one hell, only to find herself in another hell which was different but in some ways even more dangerous.


Joanna Martinez was a young, Mexican woman, soon to be 21 years old. She had grown up in a poor family. Her parents had five children and could hardly take care of them. They had learned to live from day to day without knowing how or if they'd have anything to eat for the next day.

Her mother always said that there was a better life for Joanna in her future. She'd said that Joanna would be the one who would save her whole family. Joanna had never understood the real meaning of her mother's words until the day her father told her that she had to go away. She'd never finished school because it was too expensive, so she was forced to stay at home and take care of her younger siblings.

In her father's eyes, she was never really any use for their family because she didn't make any money. Without any hesitation, he'd sold her to an owner of a large estate who had offered such a large amount of money for Joanna that the family could live of it for at least a whole year. Joanna begged her father to change his mind about the offer. The only thing that she knew about the man was that he was almost 50 years old. She never imagined herself being with a man that she didn't know, never mind that she didn't love.

Her father had hit her. He had never allowed her to talk back to him, especially because he thought that being a girl she was expected to be seen and not heard. Joanna did not give up though. She'd even begged on her knees for him to change his mind about sending her away to stay with a man that she already feared even before she met him. Nothing stopped her father from hitting her though. He even took off his belt and hit her on the back with it until she was lying on the floor, crying in pain.

Joanna did not take much with her. She knew that she had no time to leave. She only said goodbye to her sister Mariella, who was two years younger than her. It was hard to leave her in Mexico because she knew that once she was gone, her sister would have to go through the same thing that she had. She'd even thought about taking her with her, but she decided that it was just too dangerous.

She'd ran away during the middle of the night without knowing where she was going. The only thing that she had in the back of her mind was what she had heard about life in America. People always said that in America life is better for everyone. So, America should be her safest place to hide.

Joanna's hand was shivering as she searched for something in her bag, hoping that what she was looking for was still there. Finally, she was holding a picture in her frozen fingers. She wasn't sure what time of the day it was, but considering that the sun had not yet started to rise already, she guessed that it was very early in the morning.

She could barely see what was on the picture through the darkness. Her eyes were hurting from all of the tears that she had cried. She knew that it was her younger sister whose face was on that picture. The only family member that she honestly loved from the bottom of her heart. She could hardly stand not knowing if she was okay or if she ever see her again. Maybe her dad had already sold her to the same guy that he had tried to sell her self to.

Her thougts were interrupted by a group of a few young men who were laughing and talking loudly, walked down the beach towards the direction that Joanna was sitting, her back leaned against a small wall which was behind the beach. There were four or five of them, near Joanna's age or maybe a couple of years older. Some of them were holding bottles of alcoholic drinks in their hands. Instinctively, Joanna pulled her legs up to her chest and put her arms around her body.

"Hey Baby, what are you doing here?" one of the guys asked her, as he stopped right in front of her. His voice was shaky as he spoke, throwing the almost empty bottle through the air. His friends all laughed and without noticing Joanna found herself surrounded by them.

Carefully she looked up, pressing her lips together but didn't answer, hoping that they'd leave her alone.

"You can speak, can't you?" One of the other guys slighty nudged against her arm.

"Come on Nick... Why do you want to talk to her? You do NOT usually talk to girls like her." the first guy laughed.

"Are you cold?"

For a short moment she felt hope rising up with his question.
"Yes." she whispered back.

"Wow, so she DOES speak," the tall, blonde guy that his friends called Nick, grinned.

The first guy placed his hands on both of her arms and pulled her rough roughly to her feet. His face almost met hers when he continued to speak. "Are you cold? Because I have some ideas of how warm you up..."

She almost stopped breathing when she was hit with the smell of alcohol and fought against throwing up.

The other guys laughed and started to cheer their friend on. "Yeah Mike, show her!"

Mike began to drag her by her shirt. That was the moment Joanna realized where this was heading and tried to fight against him. Two of the other guys held her arms so that Mike could pull her shirt over her head.

"Wow, I like what I see. Nice body, baby!" Mike said with a horrible grin on his face.

He had drank a lot of alcohol throughout the night, as did his friends as well. He could now barely stand on his feet. "You wanna touch her, too? I saw this hot chick first, but yeah... you can touch her anyway!"

Three of the guys grabbed her breasts. She choked as she felt their hands all over her body. Mike playfully hit Nick's arm because he was the only one who was just standing there doing nothing. "What's up, dude? This isn't a turn on for you?"

"It is, for sure, but I'm done for today." Nick replied with a small grin. His head was aching like hell and he felt like everything around him was cloudy.

"Okay then... That means, more left for us."

Mike moved Joanna's skirt up her legs, while two other guys held her arms so that she wasn't able to move. She almost gave up fighting, knowing that she had no chance anyway.

She screamed loudly when Mike slid himself brutally into her. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she tried to block out the ugly phrases coming out of Mike's mouth. The way that he was speaking to her made her feel like she was nothing, but some cheap whore.

It didn't take long until Mike came hard inside of her. Joanna's body already ached from the pain Mike had caused her, but she was still aware that the others were so turned on already that the only thing she could do was to feel the next body over hers. Nobody seemed to care that she was crying and that her body was trembling. They only stood there, laughing at her helplessness as they cheered him on.

Fortunately, after the second guy finished, it finally seemed like they'd enough fun and turned away from her, leaving her almost naked and desperately crying on the floor.



It took all of Joanna's power to get her aching body up from the cold ground. She could still hear and see the group of guys, walking along the beach. She could even see them turning around and walking into her direction again. She began to fear that they had changed their minds and decided to come back to her again.

Fortunately, they didn't come back. They just stood there, talking and laughing without taking anymore notice of her. Only the blonde guy was looking at her from time to time. When her eyes met his directly she could not believe how someone with such warm blue eyes could do something like that. „Come on guys, let's go.“ Mike shouted.

Nick hesitated for a moment. It seemed like it was impossible for him to just leave the beach. A small part of him wanted to stay and help the woman who still laid a few yards away, but he knew that it was already too late for that. „Carter, let's go. Leave that bitch alone!“ Mike pulled Nick with him.

Nick stumbled but did nothing to fight against Mike now. He felt horrible and he knew that it was not only because of the alcohol in his blood.

He leaned against the wall to throw up before he followed his friends. All he wanted to do now was to go home. He felt so sick that he could not think any longer about what happened at the beach before. In the meantime, Joanna searched the ground for the picture of her sister which had fallen out of her hands when they had begun to attack her. When she finally found it, she could feel the tears again. The picture had some cracks now, but thinking that it was the only item that she owned, she pressed it tightly against her aching body.

For the early time of the day, Angel was in an exeptional good mood. She felt like at this point of her life she had nothing to complain about. It really seems like everyhing she's doing went perfect. She get more requests for shootings like ever before and when she'd continue like this she finally makes her a name in the model business. She felt even more proud of it because she did it without using her famous family name. She simply called herself Angel without the family name.
She was walking along the beach, holding her Starbucks Coffee in her hand and smiled about the memories that came to her mind when she bought it a few minutes before. The employee tried to flirt with her all the time and it ended up that he gave her his phone number.
Angel hardly took notice of what was happening around her. Usually she was not interested what other people are doing.
This case was something completely different. The young woman caused her to stop immediately. She was lying on the ground which was supposed to be very cold. Her shirt looked disrupted and her skirt was ridden up. Her dark hairs fell over her face and though she had a dark natural teint she looked extremly pale at the moment.
Angel made her way to her and knelt down on the ground. She laid her hand on her should carefully which caused her to shiver. What shocked Angel the most was the desperate view in her eyes, full of fear.
"Hey, there is no reason to fear. I wouldn't do anything to you. Yor are cold, right? Take a sip of my coffee." she offered and friendly smiled at her.
Joanna looked at the beautiful young woman next to her and at the cup of coffee she offered to her. She could not remember how long she was lying on the ground. She lost all of her trust in people so she wasn't sure to take the coffee. The idea of getting some hot coffee to drink was stronger than her fear so she finally took the cup.
First it really felt good to drink someting hot but after a few small sips, she turned away to throw up.
Angel gave her a frigtened look. Usually that would have been the point on which she'd stand up and turned away from her but without knowing why she just couldn't do that and leave her alone now.

Without hestitation she took off her jacket and handed it over to Joanna. She didn't even care about the fact that it was worth more than 1000 Dollar.

„Hey, I'm Angel.“ she friendly introduced herself.

Joanna looked at her surprised. She seemed to be the first person that was nice to her.

„I'm Joanna.“ she answered in almost perfect english. She used to study the language when she had to stay home, hoping that this was going to help her to find a better life.

The jacket was really warm but Joanna was still shivering. „Where do you come from?“ Angel asked.

„I don't have a home.“ she whispered.

Angel swallowed and began to ask herself what she was doing here. Since when did she – Angel Carter – care about other people and try to help them? The only one she was really interested in, was herself. That is what people used to tell her, even her own siblings.

„I could invite you for breakfast, if you like?“ Angel offered.

Joanna was surpised again but she was sure that Angel wouldn't be dangerous. She nodded.

When she tried to get up she realized that her abdomen still hurt and her legs were almost too weak to stand.

Angel took her hand into hers and walked next to her. A few minutes later the two women arrived at the same Starbucks that Angel visited earlier already.

Angel ordered a sandwich for Joanna and two cups of coffee.

„Here, you should try and eat this.“

It felt so good to eat something after such a long time though her stomach still hurt.

Angel just watched Joanna. There were so many questions running through her head but she could not find an answer. Why was she here? All alone, without having a home, without money? And what happened to her?

„Where are you from?“She tried to ask er again.

„I'm from Mexico.“ Joanna answered. Finally she felt warm now after she drank the hot coffee.

„And what are you doing here? I mean, why did you leave Mexixo?“ Angel continued.

Joanna kept silent about this one. She didn't want to talk about it with someone that she didn't know. She was illegal in the country and they could send her back to Mexico.

Angel let out a small sigh, realising that Joanna didn't want to talk about it. „How old are you?“

„20, turning 21 in three weeks.“

„So you are at my age.“

Angel realised that she could not be more different. She had a feeling though that it connects them that they are at the same age. She still couldn't believe that there is someone in such a bad condition... someone that could have been herself instead.

„What happened to you? I mean... what did they do to you?“ Angel tried harder to find something out.

Joanna moved away from her and the table they were sitting at. She put her arms around her body and shook her head. „No, no, no.“ she whispered and continued to shake her head.

All of a sudden she jumped up and Angel was quick enough to notice that she wanted to run away. She held her arm. „Wait! You have nowhere to go to. It is okay that you don't want to talk. Please don't run away. If you want you can stay with me.“

Joanna's eyes widened and a voice inside of her told her to say no but on the other hand Angel was the first person that helped her. Probably she would not survice another night on the street.


30 minutes later Angel and Joanna arrived at Angel's appartement in the city. Angel told Joanna to sit down in the living-room while she walked into her bedroom. She just needed a few minutes alone to think about the whole situation. She had to admit that she had absolutely no idea what she could do next. Especially because Joanna didn't want to talk to her.

She began to think about people who would help her. She knew that she could not ask her friends in the modelling business. Actually she would not even call them real friends that she can count on when she'd need them.

In the end she figured out that she only knew two people that she trusted enough to ask them for help in a situation like that...



Angel hesitated a bit but decided to call Aaron. She was sure that Nick would have been the one to give better advice but he also would have been the one to ask more questions. He would have been confused by the fact that Angel called him to ask for his help because that was something that she had never done before. She always wanted to have it clear that she could make it alone and especially without Nick's help. Aaron would not ask questions and would be right there if she asked him.

"Hey sis. You are up early, so what happened?" Aaron answered his phone, laughing.

"I could ask you the same. No, seriously, Aaron, I need your help."

"Whow, that is something new to me. Help for what?" he asked curiously. "If it is for your modelling, forget about it, Angel. I won't ask anyone." Aaron added.

Angel sighed. Her family never took her modelling for serious. "It is my job, okay? Thanks, I don't need your help with it, it is going very well at the moment. Could you just meet me at my appartmen? It ist very important and it is something much more personal."

"Since when does my sister ask me for help when it is something personal? If it is that imporant... I'm on my way already."

Angel breathe a sigh of relief. For a short moment she thought that it was a bad idea to ask Aaron for help.

She stood up from the bed and went back to the living-room. Joanna was still sitting there like she had not made a single move in the meantime. Her eyes had this empy view again and it seemed like she did not notice anything around her.

Angel hoped that it would not take long till Aaron arrived and that he had an idea what to do next. She just sat down next to Joanna without saying a word, just to gave her the feeling that she was not alone.

30 Minutes later the doorbell rang and Angel almost ran to the door to open it. She gave her twin a short hug. "Follow me. My problem... is sitting in the living-room."

She pulled Aaron with her until they reached the door to the living-room where Aaron stopped and gave her sister a critcal lool. "Who ist that? And what is she doing here?"

"This is Joanna. I met her at the beach this morning. I think she spent the whole night there. She is from Mexico. I'm not sure what happened to her because she didn't want to talk about it. She has nowhere to go. No money, no place to stay. I really want to help her but I don't know why." Angel explained to her twin brother.

"Okay, so who are you? Where is my sister?"

"Aaron, I'm serious. I really want to help her!"

"The only person you're taking care of is yourself. Your biggest problem is if your hair looks good and if you wear a white or a black shirt..."

"That... is not true." Angel mumbled though she knew that it was the truth. "Are you going to help me now?" was all that she asked. She really did not want to start a fight with her brother but she knew that they were really close to ending up in a fight.

"If I had an idea how. I mean, you have no idea who she really is and why she is here. Probably she is illegal in the contry. Which means that it would be criminal to help her."

Both of them, Angel and Aaron, looked up when Joanna stood up from the couch. "Maybe... I should go. I don't want to get you into trouble." she said and wanted to leave the fighting Carter siblings alone.

This was the first time that Aaron noticed how pale Joanna looked. How tired she seemed to be and how much pain and fear there was in her eyes. How disrupted her shirt was and how much pain it caused her to walk. That was the moment he began to understand his sister. There was something about this girl that made him realise that he just couldn't leave her alone with her destiny.

"Wait, don't walk alone!" He held Joanna's arms to stop her.

Angel felt that it was the right desicion to ask Aaron.

Joanna's eyes widened when she felt Aaron's hand on her arm. Her eyes met his and suddenly she had the feeling that she recognised him but had no idea why. She moved away from him till her back hit the wall behind her and she had nowhere to move. Her whole body was trembling now and she let her body slip to the ground.

Aaron and Angel looked at each other helpless. "What have you done?" Angel shouted at him.

"Me? I didn't do anything!"

"You scared her. Idiot!" Angel pulled Aaron away to kneel down next to Joanna, pulling her close into her arms.

„Hey... shhhhht, please don't cry. This is just my brother, Aaron. Sure, he is an idiot but he is harmless.“ Angel tried to convince Joanna while she was crying on her shoulder.,

Angel felt relieved that Joanna let her take in her arms but she could still see that she was trying to protect her body. „Please talkt to me. Tell me what happened. Does anything hurt?“ she still tried to get some more information from her.

Joanna just nodded her head.

„Where does it hurt?“

She pointed at her stomach, at her legs and her adomen.

Angel had to shiver for a moment. She looked at Aaron and from the look of his face she knew that he was thinking the same. For the very first time in ages she had the feeling that her twin brother and her had a really close connection.

Of course that would have been an explanation why Joanna was so feared of Aaron. As well as her disrupted shirt.

„You know what? Maybe you should take a nap. You could take my bed. After it you can take a shower, I'll give you some of my clothes to wear and then we can talk. How does that sound?“

Joanna gave Angel a thankful look. Her body needed to relax. Maybe she could really talk about what happened later but for the moment she just felt to weak.

„Aaron, help me!“ Angel instructed her brother to help her getting Joanna up from the ground. This time Aaron pulled her arms very carefully, completely aware of the fear in her eyes when he approached her.

They helped her up together and brought her to the bedroom. For the momet it seemed like Joanna understood that Aaron was no danger to her. Above all she felt to weak to fight against him anyway.

Joanna let herself fall down on the bed the moment they reached it. It felt like ages ago since she slept on a real bed and on such a big and comfortable one probably never before. So she fell asleep after some short minutes.

Angel looked over at Aaron and moved him out of the room. As soon as they were outside, she questioned „Do you think what I think?“

„I think that she had to have had a really bad experience. Something pretty bad happened to her. To be honest... I understand why you want to help her.“ Aaron admitted to his sister.

He took Angel by suprise. Of course she put a lot of hope into her brother but she didn't expext him to understand her. „Really? So does that mean that you want to help her too?“

„Angel, I definetely understand where you're coming from... why do you want to help her. It is just that I have no idea how. I mean, as long as we don't know what happen. I'm quite sure that she is illegal in the country so it should be clear to you that she can not stay here forever. She'd need a green card. So how do you think I can help her? By marrying her?“ he asked her irionically.

Actually he thought it was a good thing that her sister cared about other things besides her modelling, it was just that he wanted her to think about the consequences and to warn her about acting blind.

Angel's eyes widened. „Oh my god, you are good, bro, really good!“ she said enthusiastically.

He grinned. „Thanks, I get to hear that quite often. Well not from my sister's mouth. What are you going to tell me with this? I'm not going to marry her, no way. I just turned 21 and I have a girlfriend.“ he said, not wanting his sister to set more hope into him.

„Who said that I was talking about you? There must be a reason for having two brothers. I knew that the day would come when I would know the reason, why.“

Aaron could not help but started to burst out laughing as serious as the whole situation was.


„No, you can't be serious about that? Nick? If there is one person in California that is more against marriage than I am, that would be Nick. Forget about it, as soon as possible. Nick won't get married in his whole life. I guess it is what he is afraid of the most. He won't even listen to you, when you ask him for that. He's going to kick you out of his house.“ he turned to be serious again.

Angel shook her head and gave her brother an angry look. She was really into her idea so she did not want to hear that it would'n work.

"No, Nick would never do that."

Aaron raised his eyebrows. "How do you know that? Nick loves to do what he wants to do. I think, the last thing that he needs in his life is to marry a woman." he continued to tell his sister that the idea wouldn't work.

"Nick has a heart and because of that he would want to help Joanna too."

"Oh my god, Angel, wake up! When have you seen Nick the last time? He never showed his heart. That is if he has one. He didn't get to manage his own life. What makes you think that he would get to manage a life with Joanna in it?"

"I'm going to ask him. He wouldn't have a choice after he saw Joanna once. Actually the two of them would make a nice couple."

Angel began to like the idea to find the perfect woman for her older brother.

"Says whow? She is still very young and I seriously doubt that she and Nick would make a nice couple." Aaron stayed at his opinion.

"So, could you marry her? No! Do you know someone else who could do that? No! I'm going to visiti Nick now. Stay here and take care of Joanna when she wakes up. Call me if you need me."

Aaron couldn't believe that Angel was so resolved to do that. He had a very bad feeling about the the whole thing because he could alredy see Nick's reaction infront of his eyes. It just seemed like Angel had to try it on her own to see that it could never work.


30 Minutes later Angel arrived at Nick's house. She still couldn't believe what Aaron said earlier. She really trusted Nick and kept her faith in him that he would help her.

It toolk a long time till Nick opened the door. Angel's very first reaction was to make a few steps back. Nick looked like he hadn't sleep for days. He wore a casual shorts and a shirt which seemed to be sweaty and dirty. The smell of alcohol took Angel's breath off for a few seconds. Nevertheless a small grin formed on Nick's lips as he regognised Angel standing in front of him.

"Hey sis, very nice of you to visit me."

Angel swallowed hard but gave Nick a short hug. "Hey Nick. I have to talk to you.

„Come in.“ Nick mumbled and pulled his sister with him.
His living-room was a complete mess. It looked like a bomb just dropped into it. Empty dishes, empty pizza boxes, bottles, glases were placed everywhere in the room. It seemed that Nick didn't care about that at all and let himselp drop down to the couch with a bottle of beer in his hands. „So what's the matter?“

For a short moment Angel thought about admitting to herself that probably Aaron was right looking at his older brother and the chaos in the room. It was just that she stilll refused to believe it.

„Nick, if I told you that a friend of mine needed your help, you would help her, right?“ she carefully started to ask him.

Nick had to grin immediatelly. „I'd say it depends. I could help them change their clothes.“

Angel hit his arm. „Damn, Nick, it was a serious question.“

„Okay okay, I just couln't help but try. You could introduce me to some of your modelling friends anyway.“ he laughed, taking a gulp of his beer.

„It is something very important to me. I have no idea who I could ask instead. If you said no she could not stay in the country. Would you marry her?“

Nick stared at Angel, graped his bear again and emptied the whole bottle just to fetch a new one. „Have you been drinking?“ he asked.

Angel grasped. „No, not to talk about you, obviously. Nick, believe me, you would understand it if you saw her.“

He shook his head in disbelief. „I don't care a pap for it. I only want to have fun. If it helped you... I could show her how it feels if I took her real hard. You could ask me about that one again.“

Jerkily Angel jumped off the couch, took the bottle from his hands and poured the beer over his head. „How could you be so cold? You disgust me! You know what your problem is? That no one would ever marry you the way that you are. That no one could love you.“ she screamed at him, being in a rage.

Usually his sister's word would have hit Nick hard but it was like the alcohol was his protection that nothing could really touch him. He just shrugged his shoulders and told her to get lost without any emotion.

„I can't believe that I used to think that you wanted to set a good example for us.“ she mumbled, not even trying to hide that she was disappointed about his behaviour. She turned away from him, did not say another word and left his house.


Nick looked after her for a short moment but shrugged his shoulders and got up to grasp another beer regarding the fact that the other one was empty now that Angel had tipped over his head. He didn't even care about the fact that his shirt stunk of beer. He let himself fall back to the couch and openend the new bottle.

Whatever his sister was thinking now... it was nothing to care about.

Angel was angry and disappointed on her way back home. She started to understand why Aaron was so against her idea and she even wished that she had listen to him so that she didn't have to see her older brother this way.

"Aaron?" she screamed when she opened her door.

Aaron came from the living-room and he could already tell from the look at his sister's face what he had known before.

"Why is Nick acting like this?" mumbled Angel and felt relifed that Aaron took her into his arms.

"That bad?"

"Yes... I never knew that he could be such an asshole. I really believed that he would at least show some interest if I asked him for something. He didn't care about it at all. It seemed like all he could think about is just alcohold and sex." Angel said.

"I know. I could imagine what would happen. I'm sorry. Maybe you shpuld try it again when he is sober. Though I have no idea if that happens very often." Aaron considered. He seriously doubt that this would make any difference but he could see that it really upsets Angel so that he wanted to say something that cheered her up a little bit.

Angel just nodded. "How is Joanna doing?"

"She is still sleeping." Aaron answered and walked to the living-room with his sister.

When Joanna woke up the first thing that she noticed, was, that her abdomen was still hurting a little bit. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to orientate herself. Instinctively she wanted to get up and ran away from her. She had to remember Angel. Angel had threaned her well and she helped her. Took her with her and let her sleep in her bed. Joanna shiffered a little bit and carefully get up from the bed. Her legs were still shaky and she was trying to orientate herself in the appartment.

"Can I... take a shower?"

Aaron and Angel became silent as she could hear Joanna questioning. Angel stood up and get to her. "Hey, of course you can. You can come with me and I'll show you everything." she said and laid one arm around Joanna's hips to take her with her to the bathroom. She placed a towel ready for her and left Joanna alone.

Joanna slowly took her clothes out and get under the shower. For the first moment the water felt warm and pleasing against her skin. It didn't change that she felt dirty and even digusted from herself. She took a washcloth and started to rub over her body again and again, desperately trying to get herself clean.

It seemed like what happened to her had left one's marks and it was impossible to wash the away. Joanna leaned her back against the wall and let herself slid down to the ground. The water was still running but she didn' care abut that. She did not even notice any longer. The water on her skin started to mix with the tears running down her face.


"Maybe I tried it the wrong way. Though I have to admit that I could not expect a marriage with Nick to someone when he is acting like that."

"Nick doesn't want to marry. What do you mean? You tried it the wrong way?"

"Maybe I should have taken Joanna with me to introduce her to him. It worked for you. You saw her and wanted to help her. I'm going to try it again and ask him with Joanna together when he is sober." Angel dediced though she had to admit that she had lost a lot of her faith in Nick after their meeting before.

„Is Joanna still in the bathroom by the way?“ Aaron asked, having the feeling that she was in the bathroom for hours now.
Angel gave her brother a shocked look. „Oh my good, she is. I'll have a look after her.“
„Joanna? It's me, Angel. Can I come in?“ Angel was knocking at the bathroom door but didn't get any answer. „Joanna, I'm coming in now.“ she announced before she opened the door.
She felt completely shocked when she entered the room and immediately turned off the water which was still running down Joanna's frozen body. Angel took the towel to wrap it around her shoulders and sat down next to her.
„Hey, what happened? You can talk about it. I really want to help you.“ she softly told Joanna.
Joanna leaned against her shoulder and let her tears run down her face. „Are you hungry?“ Angel asked after she did nothing else but holding her close in her arms. Joanna nodded.
„Okay, so let's go to my bedroom and find some clothes for you to wear. I'll ask my brother to catch some food.“ Angel suggested and got up.
Joanna put her hand around Angel's wrist. „Thanks.“ she whispered.
„Not for that. I have more than enough clothes to wear. And Aaron won't die if he moves a little bit.“ Angel waved aside.
„No, I meant... Thank you for everything.“
„You don't have to. It's just that I really want to help you.“

„Thanks.“ Joanna repeated. Meeting Angel was the first good thing that happened to her after she left her home which seemed to ages ago.

Angel took Joanna with her to her bedroom. „Let's see if we can find something nice for you. I bet Nick is going to end up being pleased to marry you.“ Angel mumbled.

„What?“ Joanna didn't understand what Angel had said.

„Nothing. Look – these jeans and the white top – would fit perfect. Though I'm quite sure everyhing would look good on you, you have a perfect body.“ Angel smiled at Joanna. This was totally her business now. If there is one topic she was good at this would be fashion and clothes.

Joanna grasped the clothes from Angel. She was quite sure that she had never seen more beautiful clothes before. She put them on and felt a little bit better than before. Her own clothes still gave her the feeling of being a cheap whore.

„Perfect. I knew that.“ Angel said happy. She quickly went to the living-room to send Aaron to get some italian food. He grumbled a little bit that he was the one who had to go but left the apartment.

„I... I ran away from home.“ Joanna said in a low voice when Angel came back.

Angel placed herself on the bed next to Joanna. „What? Why?“ She remembered that she had the wish to escape from home sometimes when she was younger. Her family stressed her and she hated the fact that everything was focused on her two brothers.

„My dad wanted to marry me to a man who is way older than I am and who is supposed to be brutal. My dad hit me because with being a girl you have no worth for in his eyes.“ Joanna recounted.

Angel's eyes widened in shock. She didn't expect to hear something like that though she knew that something bad had happened. All of her sudden her own problems seemed to be so meaningless. At the same point she realized that her plan had to work because there was no way that she could let it happen that Joanna had to return to Mexico. Not after she found out what happened there.

„I ran away without having any idea where to go to. It was awful. I never felt more down like at that time of my life.“

„Are you afraid of your father and this guy? Did they cause your pain?“

Joanna shook her head. „No, there were some guys at the beach. They laughed and bawled and...“ She couldn't continue to speak. It just hurt too much.

Angel swallowed hard. „Fucking assholes. They should cut them off their digs. I promise you that I'm going to help you and that you don't have to go back to Mexico.“ she said and gently pulled Joanna in her arms.

Joanna snuggled herself closer to Angel. She gave her the feeling that she was the only person she knew that really wanted to help her and that she could trust her.

Angel did nothing but held Joanna close. She felt so sorry for Joanna, knowing that she had a better life but could do nothing to help her get a better life too. That still would only work if Nick helped her.

She could let Joanna stay at her apartment but if she got caught by the authorities they would take her back to Mexico immediately and she did not even want to think about that for a single second. If Joanna stayed in the country she would need a job but that would only work with an authorization to stay.

Angel looked about when she heard Aaron coming back. „Thanks Aaron. Is it okay for you to go now? I want to talk to Joanna and I think it would be better to do that without you if you understand what I mean?“ She stood up to take the food from Aaron's hands.

„Sure, it is okay with me, sis. I think it is important for Joanna, having someone that she could talk to. By the way, I admire what you're doing, Angel. Especially because I did not expect something like that coming from you.“ Aaron truly admitted.

„Thanks. I just feel bad that I can't do that much. Not without Nick's help. Maybe I'll visit him tomorrow again. He should be sober in the morning, right?“

„I'm not sure. Depends how he had spent the night before.“

„What? Why have you never told me before? I mean... when did Nick start being this way?“

„I can't tell you because I have no idea. It's just that he couldn't deal with his own life. I haven't told you because there is nothing you could do about that, sis.“

Angel shook her head. „I don't believe that. Thanks again for your help today, Aaron. I'll give you a call, okay?“ She hugged Aaron and after he left the apartment she went back to her bed.

„Here's something to eat.“ She pulled the food next to Joanna on the bed.

Angel noticed that Joanna was looking at the picture of her sister. „Can I see it?“ she carefully asked.

Joanna showed her the picture. „Is this your sister? She looks a lot like you.“

„Yes, it is. Mariella. She is 19. The only reason why I wish that I could go back to Mexico. I left her alone and I would do anything to get her out of there.“

„Hey, if you married that guy it wouldn't helped her anyway. You love her, huh?“

Joanna's eyes started to fill with tears. „Yes, she is the only person in my life that I really love.“

Angel sighed when she had to think about her own sibblings. She just found out that she didn't know her older brother. She didn't get to see her two sisters that often and they relationship was not that close. The only one she felt a strong connection to was Aaron.


Angel had already put half of her clothes to her bed, searching something for Joanna to wear.

„Does it actually matter what I'm wearing?“ Joanna wanted to know while she was watching her.

Angel shook her head. „No, it DOES matter. I have to introduce you to someone.“ she simply answered. „I think I found something know. It is not too overdressed but still sexy and I'm sure that it would take his breath away. Try it on and I'll do your hair and your make up later too.“

Angel was relieved that Joanna seemed to feel better this morning than the day before. She even seemed to have fun once that she put the clothes on and Angel had begun with the hair and the make up. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, surprised what she saw when Angel finished her styling.

„Wow... this... is not me.“ she mumbled.

Angel laughed. „Believe me, this is you. You are a beautiful young woman.“

Joanna stroked through her mellow hairs and over her cheeks. „Thank you. That is unbelivable. You are very talented with this.“ she still was overwhelmed.
"whow das... das bin... nicht wirklich... ich." murmelte sie.

Angel was very comfortable with her work. She blew her hairs dry and put some discreet make up on. She was wearing a black skirt and a red halter-neck top which indicated her perfect body underneath. „Okay, we are ready now.“



When they arrived at Nick's house, Angel asked Joanna to wait outside first because she wanted to talk to Nick alone to find out if he is sober and how is doing today.

Nick raised his eyebrpws when he opened his door to see his younger sister. „What do you want... again?“

He sounded like he was sober and Angel couldn't smell any alcohol this time but from the look of his face he didn't seem to be amused to see her.

„I want to introduce you to somebody.“

Nick grined. „You introduce me to one of your modelling friends finally?“

„Can you take this serious for once? Joanna?“

Joanna got out of the car. She felt very unconfident. She had never look the way she did today and it felt good when she was with Angel alone but being around someone else was different.


Nick watched the young woman that walked through his door. He had to admit that maybe the visit of his sister didn't turn out that bad but he had a very strange feeling that he knew this woman. He just couln't explain to himself why.

Joanna had her eyes turned to the ground and looked up when she reached the door. At that moment she felt like her blood froze in her veins and she started to shiver. She could even feel the same pain she had felt that night at the beach when she saw Nick standing right in front of her. She took a few steps back, trying to hide herself behind Angel's back.

It was the same moment that regognition hit Nick why he had the feeling that he knew her though she was looking different in Angel's clothes, her hair done and the make up. The look in her eyes was exactly the same that it was that night. He could see the same fear in it and that was how he regognised her. He instinctively took a few steps back too, feeling really ashamed of what he had done to her. Being confronted with the events of that night was almost too much for him to stand.

Angel looked at Nick, then at Joanna and back at Nick again. She could feel Joanna trembling behind her and decided that it was better to bring her back to the car.

"Hey, you don't need to fear." Angel knelt down on the ground, taking Joanna's hands in hers after she sad down in the car.

Joanna was still shivering and she tried to hold back the sickness she felt when she saw pictures from that night in front of her eyes. "He... he... was... one of them."

For the first moment Angel had no idea what Joanna was talking about. She didn't even want to think about it. When the realisation hit her, her eyes widened. "No... no... this just can't be the truth." she babbled though she knew that it was. The expression of Joanna's face was answer enough. She closed her eyes, trying to handle what she just had heard. Nick was her brother but she just couldn' let him get away with that.

"I'll be right back. Don't run away, he won't hurt you." Angel said and got up to walk back to the house.

"You... you are such a fucking asshole! How could you do something like that?!" she screamed at Nick who was still standing in the door and hadn't move since he had regonised Joanna. Angel's hand hit his cheek real hard.

Nick looked at her surprised. He had never seen his sister like this. "Are you crazy?"

"That was the nice way. You have no idea what I would like to do to you. You never would have sex again, for sure." Angel was still yelling at him, completely out of control.

"I... I... but I didn't..." Nick tried to say though he knew that this would not change anything.

"That doesn't make it any better. Oh my god. I mean if you don't find a girl who wants to sleep with you then go and pay for it. You have enough money."

"I'm... so... sorry." Nick stuttered.

"You don't have to tell me. You have to tell her but I don't think that she would listen to you."

"I know." Nick said. "I was drunk and I wasn't myself."

Angel shook her head. "Then you should not drink that much. That is still no apology. I can't believe what happened with you. I don't know my own brother. I think, I don't want to know my brother." Angel was still angry but over all she was really disappointed.

"Well you know what? You are going to help me. And I could tell you... don't you dare to hurt her again. I'm sure the press and the police would find it very interesting what happened.

His eyes widened. "You wouldn't tell anyone?"

"Believe me Nick, I would do that. You're going to listen to me now."

Angel pulled her brother in his house and took him with her to the living-room. "I really didn't believe that Aaron was right. I thought that you have a heart but now I see how much I was wrong."

Her voice was full of disappointment now. This time Nick couldn't hide behind his alcohol like he usually did and so his sister's word hit his heart. He could feel that he did have a heart more than he wished. He wished that he was drunk, even tried to think how he could get something to drink right now, knowing that it was impossible.

"Okay Nick, you're going to have just one chance to make it undone. Not only for me but for Joanna. Though I think you could not really make it undone. I always thought that I could count on you. You disappointed me too much."

Nick swallowed hard. "Angel, I think I can't help you. I'm the wrong one." He mumbled. He knew that his problem was that he was just afraid. Afraid to admit his mistakes and to try to make it undone. Over all afraid that he would have to show that he has a heart.

"I agree with you that you probably are the wrong one. Joanna is scared of you and she has a reason to be scared. The only problem is that you are the only one that I one who could do that. You are going to marry her. Joanna has to go back to to Mexico and that would be even worse than marrying her. I can tell you one thing... if you don't treat her right or hurt her in any kind of way, not only physically, I would let everyone know what you did." Angel said seriously.

Nick interlocked his hands and was getting nervous. He wished to be drunk again. "She would not want it." he mumbled.

"I could unterstand her. Nobody would want the Nick that you are at the moment. I'm going to talk to her. There is only one thing she is more scared of and that is to be sent back to Mexico. So she is going to do it. I'll let you know what we are going to do next. Keep in mind what would happen when you won't to what I ask you for."

He nodded. "I'm sorry."

"I already told you... don't say that. Show her. You could still save her life."

Angel stood up and was very suprised to see that he stood up too, tyring to give her a hug. She shook her head. "I'll be back." was the only thing she said before she left him alone, realising that Joanna was still waiting outside. She just hoped that she hadn't run away.

Joanna was sitting in the car, starring into space. Nick was Angel's brother. Did that mean that she could still trust her? What would happen, when she would support what he had done? What would happen when she left her with Nick?

For a few times she was thinking that she'd better run away now but there was something that kept telling her that Angel was different. She just hoped that she was right with that.

„Sorry that it took me so long.“ Angel said when she sat down in the car, next to Joanna.

She decided to drive home first before she talked to Joanna.

„I'm really sorry. I mean, I know that that would not change anything that had happened but I just wanted to apologize for my brother. Usually he is different.“ It was not easy for Angel to say this especially because she was not sure if she knew her brother, seeing a side of him that she didn't want to know.

Joanna nodded. That really didn't change anything.

„Look, I know what we could do now so that you don't have to go back to Mexico.“ Angel said, which made Joanna look at her in surprise.

„I know that you would not want to do that. The only possibility is to marry an ameican. I'm sorry but I don't know anyone else who could do that but... Nick.“

Joanna reacted in exactly the way that Angel expected her to react. She shook her head heavily. She could see the pictures of that night again. She could also see that moment that Nick turned around to look at her. It seemed like he had been the only one who was thinking about going back to her to check if she was okay. That didn't change the fact that she was afraid to marry a man that she didn't love and she could never love someone like Nick for sure.


Moments after Angel left, Nick went to his minibar to take a bottle of vodka out of it. The first gulp almost made him feel like his heart was on fire but curiously that feeling made him able to stand everything that had happened better. The charges that Angel made against before hit him real hard especially because everything she had said was the truth. That it had been his younger sister who hald told him made the whole situation even more impossible to stand for him.

The fact that he was forced to marry now was something he could not stand at all. He was not ready for that. He didn't believe in marriage. He did not even believe that love exists.

The next gulps of wodka took the pain in his heart away.

He reached for his cell phone to call Mike. He had to get away from here or he would go completey insane. Though he had to admit that Mike wasn't the person that he needed to see now especially since he had met Joanna before. He never talked about his problems or his feelings to him. He didn't feel like he wanted to talk about that. He didn't want to be told that he had to change. He just didn't want to be alone at the moment and needed someone to drink with.



„I... I just... can't do it.“ Joanna whispered.

Angel sighed. „I can understand that you are afraid. I would be afraid too if I were in your shoes. You don't have to be afraid of Nick. He is not a bad guy. I will take care of you that see that he wouldn't hurt you again.“

„I'm not in love with him. He is not in love with me.“ Joanna mumbled.

Angel had to admit that she had a point with that one and she didn't know what to say. She had never been in love before.

„You want to stay here, right?“

She nodded in agreement.

„You want to get your sister out of there?“

Joanna could feel the tears in her eyes when she had to think about Mariella and all she could do was to nod again.

„Then marry Nick. You could stay here for sure. Listen, I would offer you to stay with me if that was possible but it wouldn't work for long. I just don't want you to go. Believe me, Nick has more than enough money, so you would not have to worry about anything. Maybe you could even go back to Mexico one day to get your sister our off there.“

Joanna could feel hope rising up. Though it would still mean that she had to marry a man that she was afraid of and that she didn't love. Marrying a rich american would be a step in the direction that she would need to help her sister to get a better life.

„Okay, I'm going to marry Nick.“ she said in a low voice, having felt she had lost another piece of her heart.

Angel put an arm around her shoulders. „We are going to make this work. Nick is going to want to marry you. I'm sure he thinks that you are beautiful.“ she tried to cheer Joanna up.

Joanna blushed. She really could not imagine this. She wasn't even sure if she wanted Nick to think she was beautiful.


Later that night Angel called Aaron that she had managed to get Nick and Joanna to marry.

„Wha? How did you do that?“ Aaron wanted to know.

Angel thought that it would be better for Joanna and Nick – though she was not considering of him at the moment – if she didn't tell Aaron what happened that night.

„Let me say it like this... I made it clear what would happen if they didn't do it and I showed them their advantages.“ she answered.

Deep down inside of her she had to admit that she was not sure at all if they were doing the right thing and still had her concerns about it.

„Morning sis.“ Aaron hugged his sister when he greeted her.

„Morning. Thank you so much for coming. We need you as a best man.“

Aaron raised his eyebrows. „Just to let you know... I still think that it is wrong. I'm not doing this for Nick, I'm doing it for you and because I want to help Joanna.“ Aaron made his position clear.

Angel sighed. „I know. That is the reason why I have to thank you even more for being here now.“

„It is okay. Where is Joanna?“

„She is taking a shower. I'll help her to get ready later. I want her at least to look a little bit like a bride.“

„How did you imagine the wedding to be? I mean... don't you think everyone would imagine a huge glamourous wedding of someone like Nick Carter? They are going to ask questions. No one had ever seen Nick and Joanna together and suddenly they are married. It should be clear to you that the wedding is only the beginning. There will be examinations later to get her a green card. Joanna and Nick didn't appear like the perfet couple.“ Aaron said in a serious voice.

„I know. I thought that the wedding should a small wedding because they don't want their love to be focused in the media. Nick didn't want her to be on every magazine cover and to keep her completely out of the media because he didn't want that to affect their relationship. About the examinations... they both know that they have to lose a lot when they didn't manage them, so they are going to make it.“ Angel tried to sound as confidend as possible.

„I wish I'd have your optimism.“

„You have no idea how hard it is.“ Angel mumbled.

„What?“

„It doesn't matter. You better drive to Nick now, to make sure that he is on time and that he is wearing some adequate clothes.“

She thought about being the one to pick up Nick because Aaron had no idea how she get Nick to marry Joanna but she decided against it. She wanted to help Joanna to look a bride. She just had the feeling that she had to do that for her friend at least and wanted to be the one to do her styling for today.

„Okay, gonna try my best.“ Aaron answered and gave his sister a quick hug.


A short moment after Aaron had left, Joanna came out of the bathroom, looking awed and pale. Angel put her arm around her shoulders.

„Hey, everything is going to be alright, huh? First of all I'm going to make sure that my brother is going to see how beautiful his wife is.“ she gave her a small smile.

Joanna already noticed that it seemed to be very important for Angel and so she gave her a forced smile though she actually wanted to cry.

When she was younger she always imagined her wedding. She was going to marry a prince that helped her to get out of her hard life. She was a beautiful bride and their wedding was a perfect dream wedding...

She sighed... She already had to realise that her dreams never came true.

Angel placed Joanna on a chair infront of the mirror in her bedroom. She organised a dress which she had worn on one of her former shootings. It was noble looking cream-coloured dress which had a small taste of a wedding dress in Angel's eyes so that she knew that this dress was the one she wanted Joanna to wear.

Joanna was staring at Angel when she showed her the dress.

„I... I can't wear... this.“

„Sure, you can. I know that it is not the wedding that you deserved and I want you to wear at least a beautiful dress.“ Angel said, making clear that she didn't take no as an answer.

After Joanna put the dress on she sat down again and Angel did her hair and the make up. She put the hair up, leaving some single streaks out to let them curl over her cheeks. She put some decent make up on and some glitter on her eyes.

While Angel was looking very content at Joanna's reflection in the mirror, Joanna could feel the tears rising up when she was looking at her. She fought against them because she really didn't want to cry on her wedding day... only if it were because she was so happy but not because she was afraid about her future.

While Aaron was waiting for Nick to open the door he already suspected the worst. It took Nick way too long to open up.

When his older brother finally stood in front of him he could see that he was more than right with how he expected Nick to look like.

He was definetely not looking like someone who was about to marry in an hour. He was wearing a long, dirty looking, shirt and shorts that were even dirtier. His hair was a mess and there was a strong smell of alcohol in the air.

„Hey bro. Nice to see you.“ Nick grinned.

Aaron shook his head. „Why didn't I expect it to be different. We have to go now. Your wedding!“ he said, not showing a reaction to what Nick had said before.

Nick began to laugh. Not a real laugh at all. It sounded more like he was laughing only to avert crying. „My wedding? I don't want to marry.“ he responded.

Aaron sighed. It seemed to be harder than expected. He has to convince Nick to come with him and he has to get him sober and in some clean clothers. He really didn't even want to think about Angel's reaction when he returned without Nick.

Angel did her best to get everything ready for the marriage within one week. The papers for Joanna, the application for the green card and the wedding date. The only thing that was left for him was to get Nick there.

Aaron pulled Nick inside the house.

„Hey, what the hell are you doing?“ He started to stumble.

„You'll find out in a minute.“ Aaron mumbled, pushing Nick further.

It took him some effort to get him to the bathroom where he turned on the shower and pushed Nick's head under the cold water.

„Ahhhhhh, are you crazy?“ Nick yelled.

Instead of turning the water off, Aaron pushed him further into the shower. „No, I think that you are the one that is crazy. We are talking about saving the life of a very nice and beautiful young woman. I feel so sorry that it has to be you that should save her. Nick, open your eyes. She really needs you. And Angel counts on you!“

After a few minutes Aaron took Nick out of the shower. It seemed like the cold water had make his mind clearer and he didn't fight against Aaron any longer who took him into his bedroom, taking a jeans and a white shirt out of his wardrobe.

„Get this on.“ he shortly insctructed.

Nick started to protest but when he saw the serious expression of his brother, he kept silence. He started to ask himself what was so special about Joanna that they all wanted to help her so bad. He took the clothes and quickly put them on.

„Okay now?“

„Almost. Your hair need to be done.“

Nick went through his hair with this hands, straightend them and gave Aaron a questionend look.

Aaron nodded. „Don't blow this up, Nick. Please do me just this favour and don't blow this up.“ he said in a small was, completely aware that Nick could unterstand him.


Ten minutes later Nick and Aaron arrived at the registrar's office where the marriage was to be held.

Angel and Joanna were already inside. The moment that they went in, was the moment that Joanna's dream clompletely was fading away.

It was a small, uniform office and all that she and Nick had to do was to say yes and sign the documents to get married.

She sat down to one of the chairs while Angel was looking at the clock again. She really couldn't imagine that he dare to not come.

When Nick and Aaron finally entered the room, Aaron gave Joanna a friendy smile. Her sister did a good job and he thought that Joanna looked really beautiful.

Nick did not even looked at her. All he was doing was staring to the floor, sat down on the other chair and mumbled: „We can start with it now.“