Derek stood in the furniature store looking at a bed, he had finally outgrown his small single bed some of his siblings had also been through, and his four year old sister was getting too big for her toddler bed.

"Dad can I get this one?"

"A bunk bed Derek, now really, what would we use a bunk bed for?" He smiled, he knew exactly what Derek's plan was.

"For when Mark wants to stay at our house, it will be more comforable than the floor."

"Sounds good, sir can I order this in black," He said to the clerk. "What kind of sheets do you want Derek?"

"Superman for me, and Spiderman for Mark." Derek's father grabbed some sheets and headed to the checkout. Derek came home very excited to tell me the good news.

"I guess you should call Mark and tell him!" I said. I knew it was his parents work night tonight, "Maybe he wants to come for dinner and cookies." Derek called him and he came half an hour later. I was proud, I heard Derek let Mark chose which bed would officially be his. That night we ordered a pizza and then we all sat down and watched a movie. Mark and Derek went to 'their' room and the next morning they didn't come down until almost ten. Derek was up earlier, but Mark needed his sleep, something told me he was still scared to sleep alone.

X

The boys had their first fight that year, Derek was a team captain for dodgeball and he didn't pick Mark first because he wanted to give a girl who was never picked first a chance and Mark was picked by the other captain. Derek told me all of this when he came home alone that day. I decided to go talk to Mark. I put Derek in my car and we drove to his house, much not to my surprise no one was home. We knocked on the door and he looked through the peephole and opened it.

"What do you want," He said looking at Derek.

"I said I was sorry, it was one day, one game and it's over now," Derek said.

"No. It's always like this, the people that are my friends stop wanting me and ignore me and it's like I'm just there but not really." There weren't too many times before where I had been able to see the damage his parents had caused him, but this was one of them. It was like abandoment, his parents never hurt him, but he wasn't played with, cooked for, or loved. He just existed. I still tear up when I think about it, I wish I could have loved him more, maybe that would have prevented the bigger problems that laid ahead.

"Mark, Derek is your best friend, you are his best friend, he will always be here for you no matter what and I really want you to forgive him, you need eachother."

"I guess I shouldn't have acted that way," Mark said.

"I understand," Derek said.

"Now hug boys!"

"Really mom," Derek Said. They did, and it warmed my heart. Now they really were siblings, because siblings don't always get along. "Mark, what are you doing about dinner?"

"I was left this," He held out a t.v dinner, frozen chicken, frozen corn, frozen brownie.

"Well why don't you come eat with us, I can drive you home, or you can stay with us even though it's a school night, Derek hasn't done his homework yet."

"Neither have I.." Mark said looking guilty.
"Well, then there we have it, you two will do your homework." In the morning I packed a lunch for both the boys, and Mark didn't have any clean clothes because he was about to do laundry so he wore some of Derek's.