Peter watched the trees pass the windows, with a bored expression on his face.
Susan, the care worker, nudged him with her hand.
"Peter, cheer up a little, please."
"I don't want to live with them." The twelve year old boy replied, scowling out of the window.
"Peter, Tino and Berwald will take good care of you"
"I'm sure they will, don't mean I wanna live with them."
Susan sighed. "You never have explained why. Is it because they're homosexual, Peter-"
"I said I was fine with it, I know a boy with gay uncles. I don't want to live with them though."
Susan shook her head. "Peter, you'll be fine."
"I want my brother."
"He's un-contactable, Peter. He's officially listed as missing"
"Then look for him!" Peter snapped. "Wait for him, and then look for him, find him and let him raise me rather than these Scandinavian weirdo strangers. He always comes back in the end." Why did they always offer excuses that foster care was best? Why not wait for Arthur?
Susan sighed. "You'll be fine, Peter. This couple was chosen because they're a good, loving match for you."
Peter trailed his finger into the window dew instead of replying, continuing his glare. They pulled up to nice, respectable houses in the London suburbs. The living rooms of some of the houses looked only slightly smaller than his previous flat.
They stopped by a semi-detached two story house, smaller than some houses on the street but clearly modern, expensive and well kept. Peter did feel a little in awe of his new house, but shook his head and imagined his brother.
Arthur, Arthur, Arthur.
He maintained that stance, but was shaken out of his daze by a hand pulling his arm out of the car. He grumbled, and grabbed his suitcase from the boot, refusing to let Susan do it for him, and approached the door.
Susan rang the doorbell. The door was immediately opened by an excited, clearly older-than-he-looked-man who was wearing an apron and holding a ladel.
"Peter! Come in!" he said in his accented voice, and waved the ladle at Peter. Peter stared at Susan, who nodded encouragingly, and Peter begurdngly walked in. He sat himself on the sofa in the living room with out being told to.
"Hello, I'm Tino, Tino Väinämöinen" he said. Peter nodded, he knew their names (but conceded he wasn't ever going to bother learning how to pronounce his last name. "Berwald just went out for petrol- oh here he is now!"
A few seconds later, Berwald appeared and introduced himself to Peter. Peter nodded, and then zoned out of Susan's and Berwald and Tino's resulting conversation.
He zoned back in. Susan was tapping him on the shoulder. "I'll check up on you in a bit, okay Peter?" Susan asked, sweetly.
Peter always found her a bit patronising.
"Whatever" he shrugged. Susan nodded, and walked to the door, and eventually left.
The awkward silence did not last long.
"I'm cooking dinner right now, Peter. I hope you like lasagne!" Tino said.
"I guess. Can I see my bedroom?" he asked, bluntly.
Berwald nodded, and took Peter upstairs. He was shown his room. It was painted blue, and was rather plain, but Peter noted it was double the size of his previoius room that he shared with his brother.
"Cool" he said nonchalantly, and sat down on the bed.
"I hope everything's okay." Berwald mumbled to Peter, and Peter shrugged.
He didn't know what to say.
He didn't know how to act.
He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now.
Berwald looked at Peter. "Dinner will be ready soon, I'll call you." He said. Peter nodded, and he was left alone, and so he unpacked his meagre belongings and his prized possession, a photo of him and Arthur. It was one of the few photos they had together, taken on Arthur's friend's camera and given as a present from Arthur. They were smiling, and Peter stared at it longingly.
He heard the calling for dinner, and so he trudged downstairs to the dining room. It was spacious and modern, and Peter felt a little sick.
This wasn't right in anyway.
A bowl of homemade lasagne was placed in front of him, and he began to eat it without saying a word.
"Its nothing personal, Berwald, Tino, but I'm not going to stay here long." He said as he finished the meal.
The couple looked a bit surprised and slightly bemused. "Why is that, Peter?"
"My brother is coming to get me soon."
An awkward silence followed. Tino sighed. "We've heard things about your brother, Arthur, wasn't it?"
Peter nodded. "Yeah. People are making out like he was a bad brother because he disappeared a lot, which is why he was a jerk, but he always came back, which is why he was only slightly a jerk. He always took care of me when mum and dad didn't, and I don't need you to."
Berwald and Tino exchanged glances. "Well, we'll take care of you for the time being then." Tino smiled a little as he said that, and Peter hated the look of pity on his face.
Peter didn't want any pity.
I hope this is mostly accurate, I actually found it surprisingly hard to research the foster care system…
Review if you enjoyed! Review with constructive criticism, please.