Chapter Three

"You know, letting you off with just one punch would be too easy," Terrence said. Mac cowered before him; his little limbs trembled, and, in the back of his head, he felt Bloo. It irritated him and he straightened...just in time to be kicked in the side. Groaning, he looked up and Terrence pile drived him. His eyes watered and he gasped.

"If you screw this up, I'll make the rest of your life a living hell," he snapped.

"I'm not the reason..." Mac choked, having problems getting the words out, "Dad didn't come..."

"You and your stupid imaginary friend better not ruin this," Terrence repeated. He balled his fists and glowered. "Or else."

Mac wasn't stupid enough to ask 'or else what'. He groaned, rolling over onto his side, and massaged his tender midsection. Terrence waited until he was capable of standing before walking off and Mac hissed, limping while he held his stomach. He tried not to think about how much he hated his brother, or how unfair it was Terrence constantly picked on him. He also tried not to think about Bloo's presence in the back of his mind.

Terrence kept about ten feet away from Mac, so it looked like Mac was randomly following an older kid home. Walking only made the injuries worse, but he wasn't going to lie there and wait for them to get better. For all he knew, Terrence was waiting for an opportunity like that. So he toughed it out, mentally calculating how far it was from Foster's Home to his apartment. The answer he came up with- "way too far".

Every block jostled his newfound bruises and he suppressed groans. Terrence looked back at the crosswalks and smirked at his younger brother, who avoided eye contact. When it came time for the light to change, Terrence darted in, catching a red light before Mac had a chance and disappearing into the crowd. Taking advantage of the reprieve, Mac rested against a sign.

Dimly, like water reflections in a pond's depths, he 'saw' Bloo in his mind's eye and heard, like a memory, him call his name. Ignoring him, he trudged forward. His whole body hurt and he ignored the curious stares of passerby. He waited for the light to turn again, crossed, and continued home. He thought he heard Goo jabbering somewhere in the crowd, but when he looked up, she wasn't there. It didn't matter.

The resumed walk took longer than it should have. Instead of twenty minutes, it took nearly thirty, and Terrence was waiting at the door for him when he arrived. The nasty smirk on his face had vanished, however, and he looked confused, which wasn't an unusual expression, but still. It looked like he might have been thinking...and that was unusual for him.

Terrence shoved him into the apartment and Mac stopped, suddenly aware of two things. One, Bloo's presence in his mind had grown stronger, meaning the imaginary friend was either close to sleep, or something had shifted dramatically in their bond. Two, his father was sitting on a chair across from his mother and both parents wore extremely rigid smiles, like they wanted to hurt each other, but were feigning politeness for the sake of their children. Mac swallowed, mentally flicking a hand at Bloo, who blew him a raspberry and stayed where he was.

"Oh, good, you're home," his mother said, oblivious to her younger son limping inside. Terrence shut the door, locked it, and pushed Mac onto the couch. Mac stumbled, caught himself, and glared at his older brother, who smiled innocently. Tonight of all nights, Bloo had decided to go to bed early. Jeez. What were the odds? And since when had Bloo actually ever cared that much about his creator's life that he'd be willing to forgo fun to spy on him?

"It's not 'forgoing fun', or whatever you said. It's keeping an eye on you, so you don't get yourself killed without me. Really, Mac, where would you be without my loving guidance?"

Bloo's voice came at a distance; perhaps he wasn't asleep. He also wasn't present aside from his commentary, which had been a prerequisite for the dreams. So, acting like the minor irritant didn't exist, he looked at his parents. Terrence sat beside him on the couch and stared at their father. His steel grey eyes drummed into his father's face and Mac grabbed the couch's edge for comfort. His fingers were one of the few spots on his body that didn't hurt.

"Your father and I have been discussing our...situations," his mother said.

"Yeah, and?" Terrence broke in. He stared from one parent to the other.

"Your father would like to, on an experimental basis, seek custody of one of you," their mother said.

"Custody?" Terrence said at the same time Mac said, "One of us?"

"I'm not sure I can handle both of you at the same time," their father explained.

"Traditionally, the courts don't like to split siblings up," their mother said, with a dirty look at his father. "But this might be better than the alternative."

"Which is what?" Terrence snapped. "Spending another few years in this cruddy apartment?"

"Terrence!" their mother snapped. "No, the alternative being visiting on the weekends, which doesn't seem to work."

"But...would we have to move to Townsville? What about school? And friends?"

"You don't have any-" Terrence started and Mac kicked him.

"That's what we've been discussing. It's not fair to uproot you two in order for this to work...and we have to get the court to agree to it, too," she said.

"And we can always drive back here to visit your friends," his father said. Bloo's interest waned, like he was flipping channels in Mac's mind. Mac rolled his eyes at him and hoped his father wouldn't mention anything about the type of friends Mac had in town, which weren't of the normal, human variety. In fact, Frankie and Madame Foster were his only real, human friends, and he couldn't mention them without somehow bringing up how he had lied to his mother about abandoning Bloo.

"That's if this goes through," their mother corrected.

"And if he goes with him," Terrence snapped. "Why should he? It isn't fair. He doesn't even remember him. Just because he ran away from home-"

"He ran away because you goaded him," their mother snapped.

"We'd switch off," their father said quickly. "One of you would be with me for six months, then another for the rest of the year."

…

"So, are you going to do it?"

"Do what?" Mac hissed aloud. His parents' meeting was over and he was back in his room. Bloo sat on his bed and swung his legs back and forth. The imaginary friend's presence had gone from minor irritant to major annoyance and the worst part about it was that suppressing Bloo and regaining his thoughts without interference wasn't an option.

Bloo snorted at him. "What do you mean, 'do what'? Stay with your father for six months. What did you think I was talking about- daring Coco to lay an egg in a birds' nest? Actually, that'd be kind of interesting, especially if the egg had lizards in it..."

"I think Terrence might kill me first," Mac said, addressing Bloo's original point and not the tangent he'd gone on. "He's furious Dad would even consider getting custody of me."

His imaginary friend, however, continued on his tangent and didn't seem to have noticed Mac had addressed him. He was running scenarios in his head and imagining the birds being eaten or taking flight in horror. Then he wondered whether Coco had ever tried to join a flock of birds only to discover she couldn't fly...he snapped his fingers in front of his face and Bloo blinked.

"What?"

"Focus," he hissed. "If I live in Townsville for six months, how am I supposed to see you every day?"

"Oh, that's easy," Bloo snorted. "You could always take a bus. Or have your dad drive you."

"Don't you think it'd look a little suspicious? Not to mention there aren't actually any buses that run from there to Townsville."

"You always have to make things difficult, don't you?"

He sighed. "Bloo, do you always..." He paused and stepped toward the door. Crooking his hand, he beckoned to Bloo, who hopped off his bed and followed. His imaginary friend gave him a quizzical look.

"What are we listening for?"

"There's no way in hell I'm sharing my time with Dad with that little freak!" Terrence snapped. "I don't give a shit if he's Mac's father too!"

"Terrence!" their mother snapped. "Watch your language!"

"Just because he almost got himself killed doesn't mean he has any right to him!" the older boy continued heatedly. "He wouldn't have run out if Mac hadn't been born! I don't see why Mac gets rewarded when it's his fault Dad left in the first place. We were just fine until Mac came along and ruined everything."

"Ooh, ouch," Bloo said sympathetically. He placed a hand on Mac's shoulder but since he wasn't actually there, just dreaming that he was, the arm had no substance. "You okay, buddy?"

"He's right..." Mac breathed. He looked back at him and ignored the tears swimming in his eyes.

A stinging slap brought their attention back to the drama unfolding in the living room. "Don't talk about your brother like that! And for all you know, he might have left even if Mac wasn't born. You can't make assumptions like that, and frankly, Terrence, I'm getting a little sick of your attitude. Why can't you just be happy, for once?"

"Because I hate him! Him and his stupid little imaginary friend!" Terrence snarled. Mac and Bloo exchanged a look.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," their mother said archly. Mac's heart drummed in his chest, but his mother didn't acknowledge the last half of Terrence's statement. "Go to bed. I'll deal with this in the morning."

"You always say that," Terrence sneered. He stomped away and punched the door Mac stood behind, jostling him and sending vibrations through Bloo's incorporeal state. Mac's head ache and he waited for the world to stop swimming. Judging by the aggravated sigh, the older boy's actions had not gone amiss, but she chose to ignore them.

"Oh, Mac..." his mother said, perhaps thinking her son was asleep or else, not eavesdropping. "I wish you hadn't found him."

Mac flung himself on the bed and dug around in his mind for the irritating little burr Bloo was at the moment. He yanked it up and Bloo resisted. Another firm tug brought a frustrated scream to Bloo's lips and he jumped in front of Mac's head.

"Hey, what are you trying to do here?"

"I wanna be left alone, Bloo."

He shut his eyes and rolled over, facing the wall. Sniffles and a few muffled cries escaped him and he pressed his face into the pillow.

"Aw, c'mon. You always knew Terrence was a jerk...and your mom-"

"Don't," Mac snapped. "Just leave me alone."

But he didn't. Perhaps he sensed leaving would have been the worst possible thing for his creator right now...or else he opted to be stubborn instead, but Bloo sat right behind Mac. Unable to physically touch him, Bloo watched him choke on his sobs and then punch the wall. The apartment was dead silent.

"Mac?"

"Maybe you could wake up and sneak in," Mac mumbled. "I'll leave my door open."