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Lucy was not happy when Sam told her that Edgar and Alan wanted to go back to the comic shop. She understood why, but that did not mean she had to like it. Going there was too dangerous for them, and she hated to think of something happening again. As much as she wanted to tell them they could not go, she knew in the end she had to let them. They would find a way to get there whether she wanted them to or not, but if she agreed then she could make sure they were not there on their own.
"I want Michael to be there with you boys. You aren't setting foot near them on your own." Lucy gave the boys a worried look.
Edgar nodded.
Sam jumped up. "I'm going too."
Lucy put her hands up. "Now wait a minute, Sam."
"He'll be fine mom, all of them will." Michael gave her a reassuring smile before motioning to Edgar and Alan that they could head out of the door. He put a hand on his mother's arm. "It'll be alright mom, nothing will happen there."
Lucy nodded, patting her son's hand. "I know, just be careful."
"We will. Love ya mom." Michael followed the boys out of the house.
Michael drove them to the boardwalk and then they walked to the shop. Alan was not sure if it was his nerves or the fact that he had not left the house in so long that was making him out of breath. They had to slow down and stop a few times, but finally they got to the shop. It was open again, and inside sat their parents. Alan could see the nerves on his brother's face as well. They both were thinking about turning back, but they kept going forward. When they got inside they looked around to see how things were getting along. Mrs. Frog perked up at the sight of her sons and came over.
"My boys. You're back." There was concern in her voice as if she had forgotten what caused them to leave.
"Yeah, for now." Edgar held back the temptation to start screaming at them for what happened.
Mrs. Frog's eyes landed on the large bruise still on Alan's eye, she reached her hand out a little as if she was going to ghost her hand over the bruise she initially caused, but instead she gave them a half smile and nod before going back to her place behind the counter. Mr. Frog remained behind the counter, and could not seem to make eye contact with his sons, even through the sunglasses. He was trying to look at anything but them.
Sam was looking at the comics, and turned his attention to the Frog Brothers. "Want help reorganizing these? Looks like there's a lot of work here."
That snapped the boys out of their thoughts, and Edgar spoke. "Yeah, okay."
They spent awhile reorganizing things in the store. Michael helped, but kept his eyes on Mr. and Mrs. Frog. He wanted to make sure they knew he was there to protect their sons from them. He watched as the two slipped out of the store, but the other boys did not notice. After they left he turned his attention back to Alan who was leaning against a shelf.
"You should sit down, we can handle this."
Alan nodded and made his way to the stool behind the counter. Sitting was definitely a good idea for a while. By the time closing came, Alan was exhausted. Edgar too was tired, he had been stuck at Sam's for so long, having an almost full day of work was taking its toll. As they were closing up, Lucy came in. She scanned the store for Edgar and Alan's parents, but was half relieved and half disappointed when she did not see them.
"Are you boys ready to go home?"
They all nodded.
"How was everything?" She looked at Michael.
Michael glanced at the younger boys. "A little rough. They mostly avoided us and then left."
Lucy put a hand on Edgar's shoulder as he walked by her. "Let's get home, boys."
When they got home, Lucy made dinner for everyone. The Frog brothers were quiet, while Sam tried to make some conversation throughout the meal. After dinner Edgar and Alan went into the living room, where Alan fell asleep almost as soon as he sat down on the couch. Edgar stayed up for a little longer with Sam, but he too was exhausted from the day. Sam was fiddling with his fingers.
"You think you'll go back again?"
Edgar nodded. "I think we have to. Even with them there. We can't just abandon the shop, and we definitely can't just sit around here feeling sorry for ourselves all the time."
"Well I don't think you guys should go without me or Michael."
Edgar was going to protest, but he felt better with them there. "Do what you want."
Sam nodded and stood up. "Get some sleep Edgar."
"Yeah you too." Edgar laid down and thought about the future for him and his brother. He hoped all the bad was behind them.
Over the course of the next few days, the boys would go to the Comic Shop and their parents would disappear sometime in the day. Michael and Sam always made sure they were with the boys, which relieved them. Knowing their friends were there gave them an excuse to ignore their parents. They did not want to say anything to them or even pretend like nothing happened. They just wanted to move on from what they did and hope nothing happened again. Sam helped out the Frog Brother a lot while he was there. He really knew his stuff and was able to organize all of their comics for them. The more the boys were there the better they were feeling about everything. Getting out and working everyday was making Edgar and Alan feel more like themselves again. Edgar even began talking about plans to take out more vampires. Everything was starting to feel normal again, and the boys wondered if it was safe to go home, or if they should still stay at Sam's.
After everyone had gone to bed one night, Edgar and Alan stayed up in the living room and talked about what they were going to do next.
"We can't stay here forever, bro." Edgar sat on his cot across from his brother.
"Sam's mom would let us though, if that's what needed to be done." Alan picked at a button on the couch.
"Is that what you wanna do?"
Alan shook his head. "No, I'm not saying it's ideal. I don't want to take advantage of them and make them take care of us, but if we go back who's to say they won't kill us next time they decide to get crazy?"
Edgar sighed. "I know. That's our home, and I wish I could say it would be fine, but you're right. We can't risk another thing happening. I can't watch them almost let you die again."
"It wouldn't just be me next time." Alan gave him a sympathetic look.
"So what do we do?"
"I'm not ready to go back there Edgar. It's not safe for us, and I don't know if it ever will be."
"Right now this is the safest place for us, so until something else comes along, I guess we'll stay for a while longer." Edgar knew that was the right decision, even though all he really wanted was to go back home.
The more the boys were at the Comic shop, the less they saw their parents. Edgar and Alan worried as to what they were doing when they were not around. They knew that them not being there meant they were probably out partying with their friends. The thought of that made them afraid to even think about going home. Of course when the shop was empty, the boys could not help but wonder what was going on outside.
Alan was sitting behind the counter while Edgar was rechecking the stock with Sam for the second time that night.
"You think our house has become their primary spot now that we're not there?"
Edgar put his clipboard down and turned to his brother. "Probably, can't imagine how trashed that place is now."
Alan did not say much else after that and Edgar went back to checking everything over. It was not until they were ten minutes from closing did their parents walk in. Mrs. Frog went straight up to the counter, causing Michael to go on the defensive.
"What do you want?"
She was a little taken back by the, to her, random teenager in front of her. "I just want to talk to my boys."
Michael looked at the Frog Brothers who nodded. He stepped aside so she could pass, but kept an eye on her and her husband.
"You boys look good." She gave them a small smile.
The boys only stared at her.
"Do you think you two can handle things for us if we're gone for a while?"
Alan stood up a little. "Where are you going?"
"To get help. Your father and I decided it would be the best thing for everyone. We don't know how long it will take, but we may be gone for some time."
Edgar and Alan stared at her stunned. They never thought they would hear those words come out of their mother's mouth. Edgar looked at Alan and then back at his mom.
"Yeah, I think we can handle everything until you get back."
She smiled and nodded at them. "Things will get better boys, it will."
She turned and left the shop with her husband. Sam saw the interaction and walked over to the still stunned boys.
"Did she just say they were going somewhere to get clean?"
Edgar nodded. "I think she did."
"That means their trying to make it up to you two. That means they do care." Michael hoped the reassurance would help them.
Once they closed up the shop, the Frog Brothers did not say much. They grabbed some food with Michael and Sam before heading back to Sam's house. When they got there they sat on the couch while Michael and Sam went to talk to their mother about what Mrs. Frog had said.
"You think they're serious?" Alan was staring at the deer head on the wall.
Edgar shrugged. "I don't know. They've never said anything like that before. Never thought they cared to try and get off that stuff, seems like that was all they cared about."
"What if they actually go through with it, do you even remember what it was like before they got hooked on that shit?"
"A little, but no matter what happens, we can never become some happy family; they ruined that a long time ago." Edgar clenched his fists.
"I guess we'll just have to see what happens." Alan did not know what else to think or say at the moment.
"Yeah, guess so."
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AN: Thanks for reading!
