August 2030

New York City was loud. Really loud. Michael had to cover his ears to block everything out. He was sitting in the back of a car, sandwiched between two of his friends. The one to his left was named Luke, and he was a lot bigger than Michael. He was six years, three months, and eighteen days older than him. He had black glasses and braces, and he loved playing Pokemon. He loved showing Michael his collection when Michael was upset, so that made him really cool.

To Michael's right, was a girl. Not much older than him, but still bigger than him. She had wild curly brown hair and tan skin. She was very loud. She loved to talk to Michael, about anything and everything. Her name was Liz, and Liz was emotional. Every time something would happen, Liz would react much more than Michael would. It was always obvious when she was upset. But, when she was happy, she was very fun to play with.

Sitting in the front of the car were his friend's parents. He was still nervous around them, but they seemed really nice. Nicer than anyone had been to him, ever. The one driving, that's the one that Luke and Liz referred to as 'Dad'. He was the tallest out of all of them, and he had blue eyes, like water. Michael came to the conclusion that 'Dad' didn't like driving, because he complained about everyone else on the road. The man sitting next to him, 'Papa', was the one calming him down, and every now and then, he would turn back and check on him and his friends. Luke was asleep, his cheek awkwardly pressed against the window, while Lizzie was happily fidgeting with a Rubix Cube, humming something that Michael had never heard before. Michael, shy but bored out of his mind, gently nudged her.

"What's that you're humming?"

Lizzie turned towards him, flashing a smile. "It's from the Sound of Music! Sixteen Going On Sixteen! It's my favorite."

Papa chimed in from the passenger's seat. "Sweetie, it's Sixteen Going On Seventeen, but you were close!"

Not missing a beat, Lizzie continued to ramble. "Yeah, that! Dad and Papa put the movie on when I don't feel good. My favorite character is Maria, 'cause she's got a pretty voice, and-"

"I hate to interrupt, Ladybug, but we're home."

"Oh."

Michael looked outside to see a sidewalk, illuminated by a weak streetlight. Other than that, he couldn't see much. Michael wasn't too fond of dark spaces, so he considered staying in the car until the sun came back. However, he felt Luke shift next to him, stretching and yawning.

"Can we go to bed when we get up there?"

Papa answered. "We need to get Michael settled, remember? Dad and I will try to make it quick, but you and Michael share a room, now. We need to get his things up before anyone goes to bed."

Michael sat huddled in the back as Liz got out of the car, and a warm breeze graced him as the car door opened to his right. He could hear far away car horns and yelling, with words that Michael didn't quite understand. He brought his knees up to his chest, pressing his sneakers against the car seat, feeling the fabric cushion his heels. He was suddenly intensely interested in the floor, which was decorated by decapitated Goldfish crackers. He managed to count six of them before he felt a hand on his shoulder, startling him.

"You ready to get out, buddy?"

Michael looked to his right to see Dad, smiling at him. Michael shook his head, burying his face in his knees. He felt the hand on his shoulder start rubbing his back.

"Why not?"

"Mommy said that bad men come out in the dark and hurt people." Michael lifted his head to see that the entire family was on the sidewalk, looking worried.

Lizzie spoke, still twisting her Rubix cube. "I used to believe in monsters when I was little, but then I started to take karate classes, so now I can kick anyone's butt! If bad men try and hurt you, I can kick their butt!"

Papa was next to speak. "It's okay, Michael, Dad and I will hold your hand on our way back to the apartment."

"Dad and Papa are really good at keeping us safe, and if it makes you feel any better, I can sleep with the lights on." Luke chimed in, leaning over Dad's shoulder to help him out of the car. Dad stepped aside and let Luke persuade Michael to get out. Michael stumbled while he stepped out, clinging onto the person nearest to him, which happened to be Lizzie. She enveloped him in a giant hug, grinning wildly. As Michael struggled to escape, the trunk door opened, and Luke, Dad, and Papa all began to take Michael's things out of the trunk.

One such thing that caught his eye was his stuffed wolf, Diggory. The plush toy was in rough shape, having been destroyed more than once by various events. The most recent event still played over and over again in Michael's head, with his mother's screaming and crying refusing to leave his brain. She had taken Diggory and pulled him apart in front of Michael, saying how he was too old for stuffed animals, and that sleeping with them made him soft and weak. He waited until she was asleep to gather up Diggory's mutilated body and try and glue him back together, unsuccessfully. For the next few days, Michael carried Diggory in his backpack, not knowing what to do to fix him. It wasn't until Luke had noticed him fiddling with stuffing that he approached, asking to help. That was how Michael had met Luke's family, and everything happened very fast after that.

Michael told Luke what happened with his mom, and Luke told his grandparents. He didn't remember much, but he remembered sitting at a table with Luke and his grandparents, and they kept asking him if his mom had done anything else bad to him. Michael told them about everything, how she locked him in closets for hours on end, how she locked him outside all night on one occasion, and how she regularly destroyed his things as punishments. The next thing he knew, some policemen were asking him the same questions over and over, and Michael got scared, falling silent. He also remembered one of the men telling him that his mom was very sick, and that she couldn't take care of him anymore. He was sent to live with people he didn't know, but he always visited Luke and his grandparents. In fact, he spent more time with Luke's family than his new one. After a few days, Michael got to meet Luke's younger sister, Lizzie. She was the human equivalent of a firecracker, she was always moving. Michael always wondered where Luke and Lizzie's parents were, but Luke never wanted to talk about it, and Lizzie didn't know anything. But, she always remained optimistic.

"They're going to come and get us soon, they said so at Christmas! They always call us to ask how we're doing, they live in New York! Well, Luke and I live in New York, too, but we're living with Mimi and Grandpa right now. It's like a vacation, Luke and I had to switch schools! Not many people like me, though. But you like me, right?"

Understanding Lizzie was a skill that Michael had to practise, because she talked a million miles an hour, but he got the hang of it after a few weeks. Eventually, Luke and Lizzie's parents did end up visiting, and Luke was happier than Michael had ever seen him. He was insisting that Michael come and meet them, so Michael was helpless as Luke held onto his wrist and dragged him to his house. As it turned out, Luke's parents knew quite a bit about Michael, as they had been filled in by Luke's grandparents, as well as Luke himself. He sat close to Luke the whole evening, leaning on him, while Luke's parents talked to him. The conversation was a blur, but one question would stay with him for years.

"How would you feel about living with us?"

Present Day (September, 2039)

Michael wiped some sauce from the corner of his mouth as he ate, earning a stern look from his parents. He smiled widely, no doubt still having sauce on his mouth. He sat closest to the window, in one of the two armchairs. Kurt sat in the other, next to him. Luke and Blaine sat on the couch, and Lizzie sat cross-legged on the floor. She was inhaling her pasta at an impressive rate, and Michael thought she would choke for a good few minutes. Unsurprisingly, she was finished before everyone else and kneeled to get up and go to her room, but one glance from Kurt made her sit back down. She fidgeted with her socks, pulling them back up to her knees, wiggling her toes. Lizzie's fashion sense was questionable, to say the least. She always managed to be put together outside the house, but in the comfort of their apartment, she didn't put forward any effort into her appearance. She usually had on a shirt three sizes too big for her, basketball shorts, and knee socks that never matched. Lizzie was also a known clothing thief, as she regularly wore shirts belonging to the rest of the members of the family. Today, she was wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words '2036 Spelling Bee Championship', which rightfully belonged to Luke. And as soon as Michael noticed, so did his brother.

"Yo, that's my shirt!"

Lizzie looked down at her front, confused. "It is? Shit, I'm sorry, Luke."

"Take it off!"

"But I don't have any other clean shirts!" This comment caught Blaine's attention.

"Didn't we tell you to do your laundry this weekend?" Blaine raised his eyebrows at his daughter, who was now biting her lip and looking slightly guilty and embarrassed. Blaine sighed, putting down his bowl, while Kurt picked up where he left off.

"Sweetheart, you can't keep procrastinating on your chores. We need to have a serious discussion about your time management, because this is getting ridiculous!"

Lizzie uncrossed her legs and folded her hands on her lap, looking even more embarrassed. "I know, I don't mean to! God, I hate feeling like this!"

"Like what?" Luke asked.

She unclasped her hands and crossed her arms. "Like I have a million pop-up ads in my head that I can't get rid of. I can't remember shit, and it's annoying!"

"Have you talked about this with Doctor Alethea? He might be able to help, honey." Kurt got up and began collecting the dishes, and Luke followed to help. Lizzie ran her fingers through her hair, her eyebrows upturned with worry.

"He wouldn't understand…"

"It's his job to understand us, stupid."

"Michael!"

"Sorry."

Blaine got off the couch and sat next to Liz. "Liz, we hired Dr. Alethea for a reason, he did an amazing job helping Michael, and you and Luke really needed some guidance, so that's why you two started seeing him. Don't be afraid to bring up anything with him, okay?"

"Wait, so does this mean that Dr. A is the family's quack doctor?" Michael finished his bowl and set it down, once more wiping his face.

"Don't call him that, it's unprofessional!" Michael heard Luke call out from the kitchen.

"I've been seeing him way longer than you, that gives me seniority! Besides, Dr. A is all about me doing what makes me feel comfortable, so suck it!"

"Michael!"

"What? What did I do wrong, now?" Michael huffed indignantly, crossing his arms. Blaine gave him a 'careful what you say next' look from across the room, and Liz rolled her eyes.

"Mikey, you gotta stop with the attitude, it's starting to get on everyone's nerves."

"Coming from the girl that's literally attitude incarnate?"

Lizzie stopped herself, and thought for a second. "Good one. But, seriously, at least I'm trying to reign myself in!"

Michael felt his pulse quicken as his face began to heat up. "Listen, I get it. I'm a troubled child, and I desperately need help, I've heard it all before. Save it."

Lizzie quickly softened her tone, and continued, "Michael, that's not what I was saying at all! Luke and I have issues, too, and I had one hell of an attitude back in middle school. I'm just saying that, when you talk about yourself like that, you make everyone around you a bit uncomfortable."

"I don't care."

"Well, you should."

"Well, I don't." Michael felt like he had a rock sitting at the bottom of his stomach. He shifted uncomfortably, and muttered, "Can I be excused, now? I had a bad day at school, and I really want to go to bed."

At that moment, Kurt and Luke left the kitchen, both looking equally concerned. Kurt asked, "You wanna tell us about what happened, or are you going to brush us off, like you did earlier?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Tough. Your father and I want to know what happened. Luke, Liz, rooms, come on."

With that, Luke and Liz headed off towards the hallway, to their rooms. As soon as both doors could be heard closing, Kurt went over and helped Blaine up from the floor, grabbing his hand and pulling him upright. They both sat on the couch, with a space in between them that was clearly meant for Michael. Michael grumbled and reluctantly got up and moved to the couch, sitting at the very edge of the cushion, hugging himself.

"Relax, bud, it's okay."

"It's really not, but thanks anyways."

Michael sat more normally, leaning his head back and staring at the ceiling. He could see the insane amount of cracks and stains decorating it, which was a frequent issue with people in their apartment building, but the superintendent was too lazy to do anything about it. Michael could see a new stain forming near one of the corners, and as he shifted his head back to look forward, Blaine spoke.

"Okay, what happened?"

Michael bit his lip and looked at his lap. "I had to deal with a lot of idiots today, that's all. No big deal."

"Okay, that sounds like a very big deal. Dealing with idiots, how? What did they do?" asked Kurt, looking more and more concerned.

Michael remembered how helpless he had felt when trapped in that dark closet, and he knew that his parents would treat him like a child if he told them what actually happened. So he tried to lie.

"They just annoyed me during class, and I had a few choice words to say to them. Nothing major."

Kurt and Blaine exchanged looks of disbelief, and Blaine continued, "Alright, now tell us what really happened."

Damn it.

Michael clenched his teeth as he spoke. "During gym, some kids locked Peter, Hazel, and I in the supply closet as a joke. And I freaked out a bit. But I'm fine now, I promise."

And, as expected, Kurt and Blaine immediately started babying him. Before the doting attention got to a nauseating level, Michael wrestled himself out of their embrace, muttered a quick 'Good night, love you.', and rushed to his room before they could protest. As soon as he shut the door, the babying only continued.

"Hey man, you alright?"

Michael flopped onto the bottom bunk, messing up the thick comforter that lay atop it. He rested his head on his pillow, and turned to answer Luke, who had returned to typing on his laptop.

"Yeah, I'm good." A pause. "Middle school fucking sucks."

Luke's voice came from the top bunk once again. "Don't I know it. Oh, don't forget to turn on your lights."

"Shit, I forgot." Michael reached over to the outlet on the nightstand next to their bunk bed, and plugged in his special lights. They were meant for Christmas, but Michael didn't really care. This way, Luke could sleep without having to wear an eye mask. Once the light had been turned off, the only sound that could be heard was the clicking of Luke's keyboard and the pattering of lingering rain outside. Michael turned and saw that Diggory had been knocked to the floor beside their bed, so he relocated him next to his pillow. It had been years since Michael had actually paid attention to his old toy, but upon further inspection, he saw that the stuffed wolf was missing an eye, one of his legs was attached by a few dozen threads, and there was uneven, clumsy stitching holding him together.

But, he was still going strong, so that made Michael smile to himself.