Ending

With a click the door was locked and the banging came to a halt. Joel and Stuart let out a sigh of relief and turned to look at Noel.

Touching his face, Noel hesitated as he reached his eyes. Where the feel of of cold plastic once was, was skin, circling around his eye sockets, he reached forward to touch the white around his eyes, but accidentally poked himself in the eye.

"Ouchie," Noel whined, breaking the tense silence in the room. Rubbing his eye, Noel stood as he was rushed in a hug from the front and back by Joel, Angelina and Angelica.

"You're back!" Angelica cried in to his hip, "I thought the bad lady took you away forever"

"Listen kid, you ca. Have your fun in other worlds, just come back at the end of the day okay," Angelica said as she wiped her eyes, "just don't do that again"

It was weird being hugged by his sisters. Usually it was one sided hugs or him pushing Angelina away when she tried to get to affectionate. It was a warm feeling. One he didn't think he would be able to feel before his misadventures in the other world and the other mother.

"I won't be traveling to other worlds anytime soon," he joked.

"You better not," Joel warned a small smile

It was weird joking about the situation Noel knew. Out of the corner of his eye, his father and mother squirmed. It was clear they didn't know what to do now. It was because of them that Noel even wanted to leave permanently. It was some lucky/unlucky circumstance that he ran away to a soul eating demon and needed to be saved.

Breaking away from his sisters Noel approached his parents. His mother jerked, wanting to envelop her son in a bone crushing hug, but knowing she didn't deserve to do it. She wanted nothing more than to apologize and promise that everything would be better for him. But that wouldn't have been enough.

"So.." Noel trailed off. "Where do we go from here"

Sara broke down in tears. Falling to her knees she wrapped her arms around Noel, holding him to her tightly as the tears fell down her face. "I'm so so sorry Noel," Sara sniffed, "I've been a terrible mother to you. I let things go and turned my head because I was convinced you was a problem child. But it was me, and I'm so sorry for what I've done to you"

Noel swallowed the lump in his throat as he cried in his mother's arms.

A week later Noel sat on the steps outside of his home. Ghost laid in his lap sleeping as Noel sighed in sadness. Things were weird. He knew they were. His parents were coodling him and treating him like a delicate flower. His mother wouldn't let him out of her sight or out of her touch. It took Joel to convince her to give him a break.

"Why am I such a mess up," he sighed as he looked up at the moon

"It's not you." Leaning his head back, Noel watched as his father made his way towards him and sat down on the step next to him.

"It kinda is. If I never left things wouldn't be weird"

"But that was our fault"

"I just.. don't want you and mom to treat me like I'm going to run away at any given moment. It's weird. It's making me feel... out of place"

"Yeah, I get it," stuart sighed. "Truth is, is that we want to make it up to you. It's not that we're scared you'll leave, it's just that we're guilty"

"Can you be guilty in a normal way though?"

"We would need therapy for that," Stuart chuckled. "Would you want that?"

"Therapy?"

"Yeah. A place we're we can just talk in a safe environment with someone who can bridge our feelings and help us understand one another. No misunderstandings or miscommunication"

"I think that would be good for us"

"Yeah. I'll schedule a session for next week then"

"That's fine. I just want to get back to normal"

The two were silent as they listened to the world around them. Ghost growled in his sleep, his tag wagging fast as he shifted in Noel's lap. The two smiled down at the puppy who helped them in the other world.

"Want to m ow a fun fact?"

"That's random" Noel raised an eyebrow, "but sure"

"My favorite musical, is into the woods." Noel's eyes went comically wide making Stuart laugh. "I know, I know. Granted, I've only ever seen 3 plays in my life"

"Who held a gun to your head to make you go to a play"

"Don't be over dramatic, At that age I didn't hate musicals and the like when I was younger. I was neutral to them but your grandfather over them like you"

"So grandpa took you to see musicals"

"Yup. We grew up poor so he only ever went to three duding that time, and he always took me"

"Why?"

"I guess because I was the eldest and he felt guilty about the position he put me in"

"What position is that"

Stuart told Noel about his childhood. How his grandfather was a music lover who would play music on the street to make money, while his mother stayed home to take care of their home and the kids. He to,d Noel how he grew up poor, and how he would often times have to sleep in his fathers truck whenever he didn't have money to pay the rent.

"So be prioritized his love for music over his family," Noel stated

"I wouldn't say over his family, but he would have fathered worked doing what he loved rather than what he had no interest in"

"So time were hard for you and everyone growing up"

"Yup," Stuart nodded, "and as the eldest I felt a sense of responsibility for my brothers and sisters,"

Stuart explained how when he was old enough he worked. He worked for his brothers and sisters and his mother. He put food on the table, and new clothes for school, and even rent when they got a permanent apartment with a nice enough landlord.

"My father felt guilty that I had to work as hard as I did, so he wanted to share his love with me."

"Besides into the woods, what other two plays did you see"

"Wicked and The Nutcracker"

"And out of those two you liked into the woods?" Noel raised an eyebrow

"Don't judge me," Stuart chuckled. "I guess I liked how they changed the fairytale stories. It was different"

Noel laughed. "But I guess I can see why you hate my love for music and art and stuff. I never knew you grew up that way"

"It just made me want to provide for my family. I didn't want you to turn into the person my father was, but I went about it the wrong way"

"Well, we can move past it now can't we"

"Yeah," Stuart nodded. "Maybe we can see a play, and you can share that love with me the same way my father did when I was young"

"That would be cool, but everyone would come this time"

Stuart smiled and ran a hand through Noel's hair. They weren't perfect and there were things that needed to be healed, but it was a start.