"Talk?" Tadashi asked, struggling to process the information he'd been given, but his brain was still foggy and moving sluggishly. His parents hadn't been dead for twenty four hours and social services where already on his doorstep?

"Yes, may I come in?" A part of Tadashi wanted to slam the door in his face or beg for a little more time; but Tadashi knew that would look bad. So, Tadashi reluctantly stepped aside and said,

"I-uh…of course."

Bubbles walked inside and said, "Thank you." Trying to be a good host Tadashi walked over to the couch and said,

"Please take a seat." Bubbles sat down in the single chair while Fred and Tadashi sat down side by side on the couch.

"Now, let's get right to business. I assume you want to become Hiro's legal guardian?"

"Yes," Tadashi said. "He's my brother, I can't lose him!"

"How do you plan on caring for him with no job?" Bubbles asked. How did he already know about that? Tadashi forced himself to focus on the conversation at hand and sat up a little straighter saying,

"I'm on summer break now so I'm going to find a job and…and I'll most likely drop out of college."

"Tadashi you have a schola-" Fred argued but Tadashi cut him off,

"Yes it pays for tuition but it doesn't cover textbooks which are really expensive, especially now that I'm starting to take core classes nor can it pay for supplies for projects which I do a lot of. Not to mention, all that time in classes I could instead spend at a job making money."

"If you drop out you might not ever be able to go back th-" Fred argued to Tadashi cut him off,

"I don't care Hiro is more important."

"Their ha-"

"Excuse me but who are you?" Bubbles asked, pointing a finger at Fred.

"I'm his-

"He's my friend," Tadashi snapped, glaring at Fred.

"If you're a friend then why are you here?" Bubbles asked.

"I drove him home from the hospital and he asked me to sta-" Fred began but Bubbles turned his attention back to Tadashi and snapped,

"You don't have a car?"

"Not anymore…well I actually don't know. The crash happened last night and I was with Hiro the whole time. The officer I spoke to didn't mention the car and I was more worried about my family to ask." Bubbles did not look pleased. He sighed and said,

"Listen, I know you care a lot about your brother, and normally I would give you some time to get everything sorted. But you do not have a job and that is something I cannot ignore for very long. What will you do when you run out of food?"

"I have a card linked to my parents' account that I can use unt-" Tadashi began.

"No you can't," Bubbles said. "You parents account would have been frozen by now."

"What?" Tadashi asked, freezing. "Why would it?"

"Whenever someone dies any account with their name in it is frozen until the will and who will get the money gets sorted out." Bubbles explained. Tadashi felt his heart start pounding madly in his chest. He had an account but it probably only had about a hundred dollars in it at most.

Tadashi forced himself to keep calm as he said, "Okay well I have some money I can us-"

"And when that runs out?" Bubbles demanded. "Sure you might eventually get your parents money but that takes time, anywhere from six months to a year. And that money won't last forever even if you somehow have enough to last you six months. Not to mention, if they never wrote a will you might not ever see that money. Do your parents even have life insurance?"

"I-I doubt it…" Tadashi admitted. He was almost positive they never even wrote a will. The subject had come up before and every time they insisted they didn't need it because they were young and healthy and they had a long time before they needed to worry about that.

"That's what I was afraid of," Bubbles sighed. "It's likely you won't be able to stay here then."

"I can find an apartment," Tadashi assured.

"If you had a job which you do not currently," Bubbles snapped. "You need at minimum first and last month's rent for that which I highly doubt you have enough for. You need a job and if you cannot get a job you cannot care for Hiro."

"What are you saying?" Tadashi asked feeling light headed. He was going to take Hiro away. His parents haven't even been gone a day and he'd already failed them miserably.

"I am giving you a week to find a stable job or I'll have to take Hiro." Bubbles said, standing up.

"A week?" Tadashi whispered, his limbs frozen. There was no way he could get something that quick…

"I'm being very generous." Bubbles sternly said. "Good day." With that he walked out the door. Tadashi knew he should have followed him out, but he could hardly breathe. He had to somehow find a job, plan his parents' funeral, sell the house and find a suitable apartment to live in. Tadashi slumped over and buried his face in his hands. What was he going to do?

"I can't do this…" Tadashi breathed, his eyes growing watery. Fred kneeled down in front of him and whispered,

"You're not alone. I'll do everything I can to help."

"What can you do?" Tadashi snapped, looking up. "You can't just make a job for me appear! Or get this house sold or make an affordable place to live come out of the woodworks!"

"No I can't," Fred agreed, placed a hand on Tadashi's cheek. "Let me worry about the funeral okay?"

"I can't let you do that," Tadashi said. "It's my parents it should be my pro-"

"I bet they'd want you to focus on finding a job so you don't lose Hiro." Fred argued.

"I don't even know how I'm going to pay for it…" Tadashi moaned.

"Hey, hey, let me worry about that."

"No," Tadashi firmly said, shaking his head. "I can't. I-it's too much…"

"It's not too much," Fred assured, lifting his other hand to cradle Tadashi's face. "I want to help you. I want you to be happy and keeping Hiro will do that so I am going to do everything I can to make sure that happens!"

Tadashi reached up and held Fred's wrists mumbling, "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Smiling, Fred said, "I think it's the other way around." A small smile made its way across Tadashi's face and he said,

"I love you."

"I love you too," Fred replied, pecking Tadashi's lips, "Now, try and get a little sleep, brush up your application and go job hunting. I'll worry about the funeral and I can look around for a place for you and Hiro that's more affordable."

Tadashi pressed his forehead against Fred's mumbling, "I-I don't know what I'd do without you…you're doing so much I how can I re-"

"You don't need to," Fred assured. "I'm doing this because I love you. You are worth it."

Despite everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours, Fred seemed to have a way to make Tadashi smile. Fred had been there for him through everything, the high and the low he knew Fred would be right by his side with endless support and love. Tadashi felt the tears he'd tried to hold back spill over, and felt Fred's thumbs gently wipe them away. Tadashi knew words couldn't even begin to describe how much Fred meant to him, so he kissed Fred and hoped that could be enough.

Fred let out a small moan of pleasure but didn't move to deepen the kiss. Knowing Fred would be there gave him strength. No, it wouldn't be easy, but he was not alone. After a minute they reluctantly broke apart and Fred said,

"Tadashi…about earlier…I know this is your decision but…I don't want you to do something you'd regret."

"Fred I understand," Tadashi sighed, "But I just don't see how-"

"A couple weeks," Fred interrupted pulling away from Tadashi. "Please just wait a couple of weeks before you drop out. You never know what all will happen."

"Like losing Hiro…" Tadashi darkly muttered. Fred didn't say it, but he knew that was partially what Fred was thinking about. And as much as he wanted to be angry at Fred for even thinking like that, he knew Fred had a valid point.

"Not necessarily," Fred whispered, looking hurt. "Just….anything. I would hate to see you give up your dream for no reason."

"Hiro is a good reason," Tadashi firmly said, making Fred look even more hurt.

"I just…what if you can have both?" Fred softly asked. "I know you don't have to worry about paying just yet so….would you do this for me? I will stand by you no matter what you chose and will love you; I just want you to be sure this is the right thing for you to do. Trust me; you don't want to make these kinds of decisions when you're really emotional." This made Tadashi pause. Fred was doing so much for him right now and all he was asking in return was that Tadashi wait before making a potentially life changing decision. How could Tadashi call himself a good boyfriend and say no to that? How could he even think about saying no to Fred right now? He owed him so much….

"Alright…I'll wait to drop out." Tadashi promised, making Fred smile.

"Thank you. Now please try and get a little sleep. You look exhausted and that is not good for job interviews."

"How do you know I'll even get an interview?" Tadashi asked with a small smile.

"Pssh with a pretty face like yours how could you not?"

A grin on his face Tadashi argued, "There's more to work then having a pretty face."

"True," Fred agreed. "But it certainly helps!"

"I guess I can't argue with that logic," Tadashi agreed, a small laugh escaping him before feeling guilty. How could he laugh so soon after his parents died? Sensing Tadashi's distress, Fred assured,

"Hey it's okay. Whatever your feeling I know your parents wouldn't be angry."

"You never even knew my parents…" Tadashi sighed.

"No but anyone who could raise someone as amazing as you can't possibly be very bad," Fred countered. Tadashi felt himself blush as he mumbled,

"Thanks…" Fred smiled and kissed his forehead saying,

"Now seriously, get some sleep. I bet you didn't at the hospital and you'll need the rest."

"All right all right," Tadashi said as Fred stood, gently pulling Tadashi to his feet as he did so.

"Good," Fred said, nodding his head. "I'll call tomorrow okay?"

"Okay…" Tadashi reluctantly agreed as he walked Fred to the door. "Thank you again. For doing all this." Fred gave Tadashi's hand another squeeze and assured,

"You don't need to keep thanking me okay? I know you'd do the same for me." Giving him a pain filled smile Tadashi said,

"I know….I just hope I never have to…I wouldn't wish this on anyone…"

"I understand completely." Fred pecked Tadashi's cheek again and slipped outside, leaving Tadashi alone again. No, I'm not alone Tadashi told himself firmly. I have Hiro and Fred will be here whenever I need him. With that thought firmly in mind Tadashi made his way to his room to try and get some sleep.

End Notes

Just in case people are confused about some of the stuff mentioned above (in the U.S. at least and according to my parents) usually when their is a death every account associated with that person is frozen so Tadashi wouldn't be able to use his parents money. Bubbles also brought up Life Insurance because if they had it (which according to my parents they know a lot of people who don't have it) the boys would usually be given enough to sustain themselves for awhile. Now maybe most people have it but my parents have talked about knowing people who won't get life insurance or a will simply because they're young and don't think anything can happen to them. Anyways sorry for the long note if you have any questions about the chapter or want to point out something I possibly got wrong feel free to message me otherwise I hope you enjoyed the chapter!