A/N: Hey, guys, this is a new Defan story that I recently came up with. This is more of a prologue than an actual chapter, but I still hope you like it. I would very much appreciate your reviews, so I could know if I should continue writing this!.

Damon's POV

I walk slowly through the hospital hallways, knowing well enough where my mother's room is, but reluctant to get there. I know, I was already late this morning, but I still had no will to open the door and face her in the barely alive state that she was, so instead, I sighed and sat down on one of the benches in the hallway, running my hand through my messy hair-I can't remember when's the last time I had a decent shower-I was running constantly between the hospital and the company, making sure that everything's alright there-I had no time to just stop and think about everything that was going on.

I took a drink from the already cold coffee in my hand and leaned back on the wall, closing my eyes and taking a breath, trying to get myself together before facing my dying mother yet again. I really loved her, do not get me wrong, this wasn't some kind of burden to me, but watching her die proved to be way more painful, than I initially thought it would be, once we found out she has cancer late last winter. I actually hoped that we'll manage to fix things and that she'll get better, but she was already in a late stage and the treatment wasn't working at all, no matter how the doctors tried.

And they really did-I mean I took her to the best doctors in the state, I even wanted us to fly to New York, so she can be examined by another specialist there, but she refused, saying that she's tired of doctors and hospitals and just wants to live whatever's left of her life. I didn't care how much I will spent on the treatment, the hospital and the nurse I hired to take care of her, while I was dealing with everything going on in our family publishing company, but she was feeling bad for me wasting all my savings. I had to constantly fight with her on the matter, so eventually I just accepted the fact, that she'll always give me a speech about having to think about my future, maybe even find a wife, since my last relationship proved to be a disaster, and stop working so much.

I loved my mother, I really did. I would give anything to keep her here with me for as long as I can-she was my entire world. I was never really on good terms with my father. No matter what I did, I don't believe, I ever managed to get his approval-he was a very stern and reserved man and I guess, I was a big disappointment to him, even though I was a perfect student, graduated with good grades from college, and started working right away in our family publishing company, which we co-owned since my father had the stupidity to start this thing with another partner, who didn't care much about the business and conducted things from England where he lived.

Dad was trying to prepare me to take over our part of the shares and the business once he dies, which however happened way too early and definitely without any of us expecting it, three years ago when he had a heart attack on his way home. I really want to say, that I missed him-I did, but he was an awful man, who threated my mother in ways no man should ever threat a woman. I remember that a little after I turned eleven, things between them got worse and I never figured out why. My father began drinking more, they would constantly fight and he would take it all out on me-he used to yell at me so much. He never touched me, he wouldn't dare to, not with mom making sure, that she would rip his heart out if he ever lays hand on me, but he abused me verbally and he told me things, that I'm sure I'll never forget.

I finally decided, that it's time to stand and check up on mom, considering how late I am for work already, so I tossed the empty coffee cup in the bin and knocked on the door, though I knew she wasn't sleeping-she barely got any rest these days.

"Come in" she responded with her weak voice and I put on the widest smile I could once I entered her nice cosy room. She was lying in bed, looking worse with every passing day, her red hair was spread on the pillow, she was extremely pale and her blue eyes-the same as mine, had a darker shadow, carrying sadness and pain. I hated seeing her like that-it completely broke my heart.

"Come over here, Damon" she invited me in as she realized, that I'm taking a bit too much staring at her instead of settling down. I've just had a twenty minute conversation with the doctor, telling me that she doesn't have more than a week left, if not less, considering how rapidly her condition was deteriorating.

"Hey, mom" I lean down and give her a kiss on the forehead. She stretches her hand and cups my cheek

"Hey" she responds weakly and I sit down on the chair next to her bed, grabbing her hand and squeezing it lightly. "How is your morning going, sweetheart?" she asks and I shrug my shoulders, trying to hide how tired I really feel, since I don't want to worry her right now.

"Good, how is yours?" I ask and she gives me a light smile, before a sharp pain interrupts our conversation and she closes her eyes. I immediately stand up and sit next to her on the bed, she's gripping my hand and in a minute she relaxes again.

"Mom, are you okay?" I ask and she opens her eyes

"Can you give me some water, please?" she says and I hurry to make her as comfortable as I can, bringing the glass to her mouth and waiting patiently until she drinks half of it and pulls away indicating that this is enough.

"I should go get the doctor" I say but I feel her strong grip on my wrist and before I could even leave her bed, she's pulling me back to it, refusing to let me go

"No" she says stubbornly and I furrow my eyebrows, annoyed at her behavior "Not today. Today we have to talk about something" I look at her confused.

Talk about what? She already told me she has settled the will with our lawyer and we had numerous goodbyes already, since there were nights when she was fine and such when she was on the verge of dying and without the possibility of living through the next morning. I was tired of saying goodbye, I knew all the things she would say to me and I couldn't bring myself to listening to it all once again-it broke my heart. I refused to imagine not having her in my life and no matter how she tried to sugarcoat this in words and convince me that it is all fine and she has accepted that she'll leave this earth soon, the pain inside me was stronger than ever, especially as I watched her being barely able to keep her eyes open

"Something which I should've told you a very long time ago."

"Mom, what's going on?" I say, seeing how concerned she looks "If it's about the company, don't worry, I won't let us-"

"It's not about the company, Damon" she said and lightly squeezed my hand again with a small smile, probably laughing at my inability to stop thinking about work for once "I don't give a damn about the company. You can sell it, you can let it go bankrupt, I don't care, as long as it brings you personal satisfaction, you can do whatever you want with it." I nodded, but continued staring at her confused, not getting where she's going with this. "This is about something else. I have to tell you the truth before I die."

"What truth?" I ask and I feel her hand slightly trembling in mine. What on earth was this all about? I've rarely seen my mother worried about something. She was always such a strong woman that I looked up to. I watched her close her eyes and take a deep breath, when she opened them up, I noticed that she had a hard time not letting the tears go

"Mom, you're scaring me."

"Promise me that you won't hate me after this, Damon" she says on the verge of breaking down and I wonder what terrible deed she has done, that makes her so vulnerable

"I could never hate you, mom, what are you talking about!" I raise my voice just a bit, getting a little irritated with the whole situation

"You remember when you were ten?" she asks and I give her another confused look, well yeah, that was like fifteen years ago, I have some memory of it

"How I went away for a while and came back for a month only to leave yet again?" she asks, trying to figure out if I remember the time of our lives when she was in and out, that was the only time I lost faith in her and thought that she would never come back. I knew back then, even if I was just a kid that she was arguing way too much with dad, which is why she went away to visit her sister in her home town Mystic Falls.

When she took too much to come back, I began hating her for leaving me alone with dad, even though she called all the time and convinced me that everything's going to be alright. She came back for a month and she looked so different-so much more happier and alive, that was until she began arguing with father again and one night he got so mad that he yelled at her to go away-she left again, and came back months later. I missed her so much that I didn't care if she was back to being sad and depressed-I had her by my side and I was happy.

"Well… something happened back then. Something which I never told you about."

"Did you get hurt or something?" I ask, confused as to why she thinks that something which happened fifteen years ago mattered now.

"No" she smiles at my concern "I fell in love" she says simply and I furrow my eyebrows. What was this charade now? She fell in love? Did she have some kind of affair? God, if she did, I definitely didn't want to know anything about it. "Your father and I, we were having a really hard time back then." she begins to explain as she sees how I can't make sense of anything right now "And I decided to go visit my sister, thinking that giving some space between me and Giuseppe won't be a bad idea and might even heal or relationship and strengthen our marriage. I proved to be wrong when I feel in love with a man there."

"Oh God, mom, I don't need to know about your affairs!" I protest and squeeze my eyes, imagining her cheating on my father. I hated the man, but he was still my dad and even though he's dead that doesn't make this right.

"Listen to me, Damon, this is serious" she says and I look her in the eyes, realizing how much it hurts her to actually even talk about this, so I decide it's time to get serious as well. This wasn't a joke or some kind of guilty revelation-she really wanted to tell me something

"It wasn't just an affair. I fell deeply in love, he was the man I wanted to be with. He made me the happiest woman alive, I've never felt like this with your father, not even when we were young and so foolishly loving one another. He gave me everything, I ever wanted and things were going great, until I found out-until I-" she stuttered and gripped my hand again "Until I found out I was pregnant."

"You were what again?" I ask as I stand up abruptly and move away from her, not believing a word that comes out of her mouth. My mother was pregnant? What was this? I never got any siblings-I was a single child. I knew that my father wanted a girl all those years, I've heard him blame my mother that she's weak and won't get pregnant again, but I never knew she actually was! From another guy! What was this? This wasn't my mother-my mother doesn't cheat and have kids out of another man.

"Damon, please!" she begs me with her weak voice "Hear me out." I take another step back and lean on the wall, staring intensely at her and the tortured expression on her face-she seemed to be in pain

"You were pregnant?" I ask calmly now

"Yes" she nods "I was. I and I was going to come back for you and leave, but your father found out. He made me stay for a month back home while he dealt with the person I fell in love with. He hired people to beat him up and drive him out of town, then he came back home and made me go away and give birth, since it was too late to make an abortion already."

"Wait a minute" I say, trying to make sense of what was going on here "You're saying, that you had a an affair, got pregnant and then father almost killed the guy you fell in love with and drove you off so you can give birth?"

"He didn't want anyone to find out, that I was carrying a child" she was already crying, there were tears falling down her pale cheeks "He was so ashamed. He threatened to divorce me and take you away if I don't do as he says, so I had no other choice. I would never leave you alone with him, Damon" she stated and I felt the tears in my own eyes "Never" she repeated "Which is why I had to give the other child away."

"So you gave birth?" I ask in disbelief and she nods, she won't stop crying, but I don't approach her to take her hand in mine, I don't to help her calm down, I don't want to soothe her-I can't believe she did this. She gave birth and gave the baby away. She might've done it all because of me, but that doesn't make things right. It makes them worse, actually

"A boy" she says and smiles through tears "I got to hold him for about half an hour before giving him away. He was the most precious angel ever and my heart broke when I had to give him up, but I knew it was for the better."

"I can't believe you did this." I raise my voice again "You're saying that all these years, you were hiding away the fact that I have a brother? You gave him up! You never talked about him or tried to find him?"

"No" she shakes her head "Which is why I want you to find him now."

"How exactly am I going to do that, mom?" I ask frustrated "We don't know what happened to him? What if he found another family? Or if he's in another state? We have no idea whether or not he's even aware of the fact that he's an orphan? What if they found him a family when he was a baby? What do you want me to do now-appear in front of some people's house and tell them I'm looking for my long lost brother, because my mother's dying and she decided now is the best time to make amends?"

"Damon, please!" she interrupts me "I don't want any of this. I just want you to find him and talk to him! He's your brother, you deserve to know each other. And yes, you're right, we have no idea what happened to him-he might've been adopted or he might still be in the system. I want you to find him and take care of him, I can't make up for all the mistakes I made, but you can."

"Mom" I shake my head realizing that whatever she did to this boy must've ruined him, no matter if he has found his family or not. How do I do this exactly? Go and just find him-it was a big state! And what if he's not even living here anymore?

"I-I" I start stuttering as I approach her again and she reaches out to find my hand. She looks worse right now and I think that I should go call the doctor. I see her closing her eyes and breathing slowly, heavily and I'm about to leave so I could get help, but she pulls me back again

"Please, Damon" she begs "Find him."

"I don't even know his name, mom." I say sadly "How am I going to do this?"

"His name is Stefan" she smiles, probably remembering what it was like to hold him in her arms "When I gave him up, I filed the documents with the name Stefan Christopher Williams. That was his father's last name." I stretch out to the nightstand on her right side and tear a piece of paper from the notebook there, then grab the pen from my jacket pocket and hurry to write everything she's " saying now

"He must've just turned fifteen" she continues, smiling sadly as she watches me try to put it all down on the piece of paper. I was writing an innocent orphan's boy life on a small piece of paper. "I gave birth on September 7th 1997 in Mystic falls, Virginia." she furrows her eyebrows, probably trying to remember some other detail "His hair was a light shade of brown and he had this little mole on the right side of his neck." I doubt that this would be of any help, so I didn't put it down, instead I tried to imagine what he must look like "I overheard the social worker say that they'll be driving him to a group home in Savannah, but I have no idea what happened to him after that" she rubs her forehead tiredly "Maybe they moved him away or he stayed there, I have no idea."

"Is that it?" I ask after she stops talking for more than a minute. She opens up her eyes again and gives me a light nod. I stand up, not sure what to say to her anymore. I feel so betrayed in ways and also guilty, because she chose me over this boy. She left him alone. And now she wanted me to go out there and magically find him, because she was dying and wanted to fix her mistakes. I didn't want to fix her mistakes for her, but I did want to find my brother. I always wanted to have a sibling, I've always dreamt of having a brother.

"Damon?" she asks as she sees me leaving and I turn back to her one last time before I disappear and go back to working, thought I doubt I'll be able to do anything productive today "I know this was too much, but-"

"It's okay, mom" It's not actually, but what can I say to her? All those years I thought that she was the perfect parent, my mom who would never leave me behind, the person I could talk to and ask for advice at my worse. And now I find out that she had an affairs while she was still married to my father and gave birth to a child, only to give it up. Who does this? Why?

How could you even leave a child like this? A baby?

And how was I better than him, that she refused to let me go, but gave him up? Where is this child now? Where is this fifteen year old teenage boy with the brown hair? What is the color of his eyes? What is his story? Is he a lonely broken soul or is he living a good life?

"I just need some time to process it, that's all" I reassure her, but she knows I'm mad-she always knows, she can see it in my eyes and I realize that my voice is way too stern. I rarely fought with her and she knew it. She could recognize my anger, mixed with desperation.

I closed the door and walked away, not prolonging it this time like before I went inside her room. Now, I wanted to leave as fast as I can. I was so confused and full of questions-I wanted to ask her more things, to figure it all out, to understand why she decided to give my brother up.

I stopped and stared down at the note in my hand "Stefan" I whispered to myself.

I will find you Stefan. No matter what it takes. I make a promise right there in front of the hospital-I can't leave this kid alone, God knows what he's been through all those years. I didn't have time to waste anymore, wondering about why mom did this or why she never tried to find him again. I have a brother-that's all that matters. And I'm going to figure out where he is.

I ended up going to work and calling a friend of mine who worked at the social services. I met with her the same day, she said it's better if we talk in person and I agreed-I wanted to make sure we find the right boy. I wasn't all up for getting my hopes up and then realizing that whoever they found was not the same Stefan Williams I was looking for.

I gave her all the information that I had and she said she'll start looking for him, though it might take some time, since there were way too many orphaned kids in this state and my little brother was one of them-a teenager out in the open. I wonder if he was ever here in the same town as me, if we may be passed by each other on the street without knowing we are related?

When I came back to the hospital in the evening, I wanted to tell mom the good news-that I began looking for him right away, without wasting a second, but by the time I got there, her condition has gotten worse drastically. She was barely responsive and she woke up a few times during the night, but she wasn't herself. She kept having nightmares and talking in her sleep, repeating over and over again "I am so sorry." The doctor said that considering her current condition she might not live till the rest of the week.

He was wrong.

She died the following evening after she told me her big secret, peacefully and in her sleep, seduced by the medications since the pain was way too much for her. I held her cold hand in mine and cried before the nurses pulled me away from her.

Suddenly, I was left all alone in this world.

But I had a brother out there, who's been feeling like this his whole life.

Now it was time for me to change it.

A MONTH LATER

"Don't tell me you seriously didn't leave this office all night" my secretary Bonnie opens up the door of my messy confined work space and hands me a big cup of coffee

"I fell asleep" I say as I move up from the uncomfortable couch, still dressed with the suit from yesterday, stinking a little bit like whiskey. Everyone keeps saying that I should take a break from work, but I can't do this, because I'm afraid of all the horrible things, that I feel when I'm alone. After my mother's death, I've thrown all my strength in work and tried to forget she ever left me, though at night when I eventually came home to my cold empty flat, I found the grief making it hard for me to breathe and eventually I collapsed on the floor after drinking myself to oblivion. If it wasn't for Bonnie to keep calling me endlessly, so I can get to work, I would've not even moved my sorry ass, but on the other hand I needed to do something or else the sadness would dig an even bigger hole in me than it already has.

"Have you eaten anything last night before you got yourself drunk again?" she asked with worry and I shook my head-she knew me far too well, she's been working in the firm for the last five years, bearing with my father's awful temper and now with my current state. I have no idea why she hasn't left already -I was a pain in the ass these days. I had a very hard time keeping my anger down sometimes and whenever I felt like I want to burst out, I would close myself in this office and just punch the wall until I feel my hand hurt like hell. I think Bonnie ran out of ice bags to bring to me-she always knew, she always heard.

"I'll make sure to bring you something later then" she says after she leaves the morning reports on my desk "Oh, there's been this lady trying to find you from the Child services office" she says "She keeps calling for the past hour."

"What!" I stand up abruptly and she gives me a confused look "Call back right away!" I say and rush to my desk. Oh God, I hope they finally found this boy, it's been over a month with no trace of him.

"Mr. Salvatore, sir are you sure everything's okay?" she asks and I hurry to nod

"Please, Bonnie, this is important, just make that call." I say and she sees how serious I am, so she rushes to her desk in front of my office and starts dialing the number. When she's ready and has a response on the other line she waves her hand and I pick up the receiver.

"Hello, Caroline, I'm sorry I took so much to respond" I start apologizing to my old friend from college "It's been hell of a busy morning' I lie without thinking twice and she sighs on the other side, clearly annoyed with me

"You're an asshole Damon, but I will forgive you this once, since the situation is serious." I clear my throat worriedly and run my hand through my messy hair

"What's up, did you find him?" I ask and I feel myself starting to sweat. It was one thing to talk about the possibility of finding this boy and completely another to actually meet him. I'm not sure I was ready for this.

"Yes." she responds and lets a tired sight "Actually, my friend Alaric did. He's been the social worker responsible for him for the last ten years. He knows Stefan like the back of his hand."

"So he knows where he is?" I ask as I realize how stupid my question is, of course the guy knows where he is, why am I even asking this.

"You need to get downtown, he wants to talk to you." she says sadly

"Is the boy okay? Is there are a problem with him?" I don't like the sound of her voice, something tells me that things are not right

"Just get here, he'll explain everything."

"Is he adopted already or something else?" I won't stop asking questions, I need to know about Stefan, I've never met him, but I already feel nervous. I would hate myself if something bad has happened to him. I still had a hard time accepting my mother's death and the fact that she left an innocent baby all alone in this world-I just didn't want to find this boy ruined somewhere. It would be way too cruel and I had no idea if I have enough strength to deal with it. Though I knew that I have to find strength if I wanted to make things right and get to know him.

"He's not adopted, Damon" she finally answers after a minute of wondering whether or not to tell me "He's been transferred to group homes and foster families all his life." my breath gets stuck in my throat and I realize it only after she continues, without hearing a proper response from me "Just come here, please, Alaric will explain everything."

"I'm heading your way" I say and put the receiver down tiredly. I don't know what I was expecting-that this boy will be living somewhere happily ever after with his big family, having a great life, going to school, being regular?

Okay, I was jumping to conclusions, maybe things weren't that bad, maybe I just didn't know the whole story and now I was going to get it and maybe catch a glimpse of who Stefan Williams really is.

I'm in Alaric's office in less than half an hour-I've been driving like crazy and I'm lucky I manage to do it at such speed without being caught. He's a nice man in his forties who welcomes me in his extremely small and kind of messy office, which reminds me a little bit of my own though it was ten times smaller. He seems tired, when I arrived, I had to wait for him, because he had went away to deal with a kid who had to be transferred to another family, so he politely excused himself for being late.

At first we exchanged a few polite words, like how nice it was to meet him and how grateful I am for Caroline being able to track down my brother. It's still so strange to me to actually acknowledge this-I have a brother out there. It wasn't a thought that you just get used to after spending 25 years as a single child.

"So, you're Stefan's brother" he says as he sits and starts looking through the files on his desk, obviously looking for something "I can't believe that there's anyone out there who actually gives a damn about this kid besides me." he states sadly and pulls up a file from his big pile "No offence" he adds as he rubs the back of his neck nervously

"None taken." I say though I feel that awful guilt stuck in my throat again "I just recently found out that I have a brother at all" I decided to be honest with him and I see that he seems confused, but not surprised. I'm sure he had dealt with far worse things than this. "A little before my mother's death, actually."

"Well in this case, you have my condolences" he says sincerely as he flips the file open and I nod, not willing to discuss this anymore, which he understands so he being the busy man he was, decides it's time he finally starts discussing the reason I'm here

"Stefan Christopher Williams" he says and hands me over the file. I take it from him with shaky hands and stare at the photo of what seems like a fifteen year old boy with a very messy blond hair and green eyes. He seems skinny, dressed in a plaid shirt which looks too big for him, there are dark circles under his eyes, he isn't smiling, even though he's supposed to, since this seems like one of this photos they take for the yearbooks, on the contrary-there's some sadness, even darkness in his eyes-he seems ruined at the age of fifteen and I swallow hard "Age fifteen, currently living at a foster family in East Point, Atlanta."

"He's here?" I ask my voice way too hoarse, I should've finished the coffee Bonnie gave me "In Atlanta?"

"Yeah, well he is here for now" I raise my eyebrow and he sighs, leaning on the window post behind him "Stefan is a very troublesome kid. He didn't used to always be like that. When he was a child, he was sad and not very talkative, but he was energetic and full of life. In the last few years he's been the biggest pain in my ass, in the last three months only he has escaped all the foster homes I've found for him and it took me weeks to bring him back and make him settle down"

"But…why?" I asked him a stupid question and he rubbed his forehead tiredly.

"To you Mr. Salvatore, the term orphan is just a word, to him it's his entire life." he explained sadly and I shiver from the thought of his kid being all alone for fifteen years, I flip through the pages of his file and go years back only to see a sad smiling ten year old boy, or a desperately looking five year old-he was a very sweet kid, I can't figure out how nobody ever adopted him. There was something in his look that reminded me of mom-that kindness that she carried with her, the compassion-it was all over his face and it made my eyes sting with tears

"He's been moved from home to home and he grew to hate the entire world. He doesn't think anyone cares about him at all. I can't make him go to school-his grades are awful. He's been caught stealing ten times already." I furrow my eyebrows and swallow hard. Damn this boy was hitting rock bottom "Do you know how nice it is to get a call in the middle of the night from the police station?" I flip to another page and see two photos of Stefan's back and arms which were full of bruises and I look up, feeling sick

"What's this?" I ask and he stares down the file in my hand. Once he realizes what I'm showing him he looks away, probably feeling ashamed that he couldn't stop whatever it was that happened to this child

"Was he abused?" I speak the unthinkable words and saw him nodding sadly

"I got him out of there as soon as I can, only to make him confess that this wasn't the first family to do this to him."

"Oh, God" I leave the file with trembling hands on the desk, feeling like my morning coffee wants to get out already. He sees it and hands me a bottle of water from his bar in the corner

"I'm sorry, I should've left those parts out." he says apologizing

"No, I'm glad you showed them to me" I say and for the first time I give him a serious and determined look "I want to go see him. Can we do that?"

"Of course" he reassures, happy with my will to meet my brother for the first time. I take another sip from the water, I feel too sick to even talk right now. "But remember this-the boy won't welcome you with open arms. He's been through a tough time these past few months, one of his close friends from the orphanage died and he's been rebelling out, pulling up a fight and hating everyone and everything."

"I still want to see him."

"Don't get me wrong, he's not a bad kid. His heart is kind and good, but he's hurting a lot and that's why he's acting out so much. When we tell him, who you are, he won't just hug you and be happy to see you. He's got an attitude. And he's very sarcastic."

"On other words, he's ruining himself?" I ask and stare at the big cardboard box behind Alaric, full of photos and posts of missing kids. I stand up slowly and Ric watches me approach the board. I find Stefan on it right away-this photo wasn't in the file, probably because it's a more recent one-he's dressed in a blue plaid shirt, with a black hat on and a bruise on his left cheek, he's looking so angry and I feel as if I'm standing right in front of him as he tries to burn a hole in me

"I gotta take that one off" Ric comes behind me and pulls the announcement for the missing then fourteen year old Stefan

"He ran away a few months ago and it took me five weeks to find him again. Is just that he runs so often, that I don't feel the need to remove this anymore. I just change the date he went missing and run it back in the system." he says sadly. "That's the reason why your friend Caroline couldn't find him at first-he continues, his voice hoarse. I know he cares about Stefan-I can see it in the way he's talking about him. He's not just another orphaned kid for him, he really wants to change things for the boy "Cause he was in the missing kids files and she was looking at those who are at foster care right now."

"How long has he been with this new family?" I ask curios "Are the threating him alright?'

"Just for less than two weeks. It's been hard to find him a family these days, once he runs away, they don't want to take him back in anymore" I wonder how many families has he been to. This sounds like an eternal cycle of pain and misery "And as good as any foster family I guess" he shrugs his shoulders "I haven't been there to see him since I left him with that woman and a bunch of other younger kids. I was going to go and check things out next week, but it's good we're doing it now."

"Why so?"

"Cause he's been too silent this past week and when he's doing so it means his up to something" he gave me a tired smile "Come on, let's go meet your brother." he patted me supportively on the shoulder and I followed him, feeling concerned, lost, but still sure of one thing-I couldn't leave this boy to deal with everything on his own. I had to find a way to help him. I had to take care of him.