CHAPTER 4

7 January 2013

Dear Diary,

So... I... No... There's... Maybe... Nothing.

I've got nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

It's been 3 days since I told the others about HIM...

And...

Well...

Nothing much has happened...

I refuse to talk about him to anyone... I really just refused to talk about family full stop.

I should never have opened my mouth.

I should never have told them.

And I should never have inquired about my brother.

Never.

I looked up sharply as there was a bang on the door, quickly hiding my notebook before abruptly standing up as Jack burst in.

He was grinning madly, and flashed me his trademark smirk, before slamming the door behind him and quickly locking it.

A split second later, there was a repeated banging from the other side.

"YOU CANT HIDE IN THEIR FOREVER WILDER".

I turned back to Jack surprised as Merritt shouted at him from the hall.

Jack just continued to grin.

The Mentalist swore loudly, "FOR FUCKS SAKE JACK. GET THE HELL BACK OUT HERE".

"NOT IN A MILLION YEARS MAN" Jack shouted back.

"DANNY CANT HIDE YOU FOREVER WILDER. AND THE DAY THAT HE KICKS YOU OUT, WILL BE THE DAY I'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU" Merritt yelled, and I heard one more loud bang on the door, before light footsteps could be heard going down the hall, and back downstairs.

I turned back to Jack, "... What did you do?".

He laughed, "Aw, man, what DIDNT I do?".

I stared at him blankly and he sighed, "I declared war on Merritt. A prank war. Jokes. And, unforcently for him, he decided to accept. So as of the past 7 hours, 32 minutes, and 19 seconds, I've been annoying him every chance I get. The reason he's trying to catch me, is because I may have put superglue on the brim of his hat, which is now stuck to his head, before I possibly might have painted his entire room pink and stuck posters of Nicholas Cage to all his possessions".

I smiled slightly, "He's gonna kill you, you know".

The 17-year-old shrugged, "I know. But hey, at least I won't get old and wrinkly".

He grinned again, before suddenly frowning as he looked around, "... Damn, your rooms tidy".

I remained silent and he slowly straightened up, wandering around in a circle as he took in everything, "Seriously dude, this stuffs perfected...".

"... I like to keep things neat" I replied slowly and he scoffed, "No kidding".

Grinning yet again, he spun back around to face me, "Right. Ok. I'm gonna be here for a while. And I'm not gonna let you throw me out either. Cause I really don't wanna die right now man. So... You got anything to do?".

I shrugged, "Not really".

He nodded slowly before suddenly perking up again, "Hey, dude, guess what?".

I shrugged again.

"I know what we can do" he said happily and I sighed, "And that would be?".

He grinned, "We could always talk".

I stared at him, "Talk? Seriously? That's your big idea? Ok... What do you want to talk about?".

He grinned, "Anything and everything I guess. It's not like you have some... I don't know... Some sort of pyhscopathic brother out to get you that we could talk about or anything".

I frowned, "... No".

His grin dropped, "What?".

"No" I repeated, "Jack, I'm not talking about him".

He scowled at me, "Spoilsport... I don't even know his name man! At least give me that!".

"... Its James" I replied quietly and he grinned again, "Now we're getting places. Why's he called James?".

I sighed, collapsing back down on my bed and leaning up against the wall, staring at my hands, "He's called James because that's what our father was called. The 'J' in my name also stands for James. So everyone just called me by my baptist name. Daniel. He was James, and I was Daniel. Happy?".

"Not at all" Jack replied seriously, walking over and falling down next to me, "I want to know more. Like, for instance, where are your parents now?".

I glanced up at him.

He was staring back at me with pure curiosity in his eyes.

"... They're dead" I replied simply and he immediately looked guilty, "Jeasus man... I didn't mean to... Like...".

"Jack" I snapped quietly, "It's alright... They've been gone for a long, long time".

He stared at me, "... You were an orphan, weren't you?".

I nodded slowly, turning back to looking down at my hands, "My parents weren't the... Most loving... Of people. They ignored us. Never even said hello or goodbye... And then they died when I was 7. And at the time, we weren't the richest either... So, when they passed away, James and I inherited nothing. We had no other relatives to turn to. The house was sold. Pictures and memories were taken away. And we were literally left with nothing".

I paused slightly before continuing.

"James was 10 at the time, but he was a smart kid. And he knew what the chances were for us being adopted together... So instead of waiting for the foster family to arrive, he packed the little clothes we had, and ran. He refused to have to have us separated, refused to leave my side. So we took to the streets, living on the side of the road in a cardboard box...".

"And got food from rubbish bins behind restaurants" Jack muttered and I looked up at him surprised. He smiled slightly, "You're not the only one who knows how that feels man... My parents died in a house fire when I was three. By the time I turned 9, I had been through exactly 43 foster parents. So I ran. Started from the bottom-".

"-And worked your way to the top" I finished and he laughed slightly, "Yea. Worked my way to the top... Guess we're more alike than we know".

He grinned, throwing his arm over my shoulder and ignoring how I flinched, "You what I think man? I think you weren't hugged enough as a kid".

I couldn't hold back my smirk, "And I'm guessing that's the solution to all of life's problems?".

And suddenly, he frowned, turning to face me fully, "... Have you ever been hugged?".

I remained silent and he stared at me, "... You haven't, have you?".

I shrugged, "Just a stupid hug. They don't mean that much".

He actually glared at me, "J. Daniel Atlas. Yes, or no, have you ever been hugged?".

I paused for a minute, "... No".