Arthur stared at the wall, his breaths shaking as they came out of him. He didn't know what to say. A house he once knew as his childhood home, felt unfamiliar and somewhat scary to him.
The once bright wallpaper had faded, taking the life of the house with it. The furniture was broken, it was a mess, and worst of all, the pictures that once gave the walls glamour were gone.
As he sat on the edge of his childhood bed, he held his chin in his hand. The sheets didn't seem to be as soft as before, and a bookshelf once filled to the brim with his favourite books sat nearly empty.
The exact same could be said about Alfred. He could remember being taken into the home and seeing his room for the first time. Alfred could still remember his action figures on a shelf above his bed, and posters all over the walls.
But it wasn't the same. The posters were worn out and torn, the action figures were gone from the shelf above, and his bed felt uncomfortable to him now. The window was stained, and he couldn't see clearly out of it anymore.
"Oh my god…" He muttered, looking around the room. Even the glow stars that were on his ceiling were gone. Alfred could remember being terrified of the dark when he was little, but the glow stars, combined with a nightlight always made him feel less scared. Whatever happened to that?
But Peter didn't have the same story as Alfred and Arthur. Peter's childhood bedroom was elsewhere, in a place where he had actual parents to take care of him. What Peter had here was a room he couldn't even remember.
Peter was only a toddler when Arthur came back home and took Peter with him. He took care of Peter for a while, but he had to admit, that the way their mother had treated him reflected onto the way Arthur raised Peter. And he felt horrible for it.
And it absolutely broke Arthur's heart to send Peter off with a different family. But he knew it was the only way Peter was going to have a good childhood. And even after Tino and Berwald fully adopted Peter, he still saw Arthur often. And Arthur managed to explain everything to him, to apologize for everything he said.
Thankfully, despite the complicated situation, Peter understood and forgave him. But if anyone couldn't forgive Arthur, it was himself. Maybe if he wasn't raised so shitty, Peter wouldn't have to experience it through him either.
But, Arthur knew he made somewhat of the right choice by bringing Peter with him. Even if he wasn't the best older brother, he knew it was much better for Peter to be with him than it was for the young boy to be at the house with their biological mother.
But, because of this, this house felt weird to Peter. The room wasn't something he assumed toddler him would have. It honestly didn't even look very… Toddler-y. If Peter could choose his own toddler-self's room, it'd probably be ocean themed.
But, still. At least he had somewhere to sleep. Even if he didn't like it all that much, he could've been sleeping on the floor. And even though the bed would be a little small for him, it looked somewhat comfortable. Maybe staying here for a week wouldn't be too bad for him.
Maybe it wouldn't be that bad for all of them.
Maybe…