Hello again! Thanks for sticking with this story and I know it's frustrating when I don't update which I apologize greatly for. When I said 5 reviews and you'd get an update, I didn't think that would happen that fast. But I'm happy for them! So I'm sorry to say this but after this chapter I have to put this story on a temporary hiatus until school lets out. I'm swamped with homework, essays, and auditions, and I'm really struggling in calculus. I'll pick it back up again in June. Sorry again.

Bookwriter-lover: Thank you! And neither did I until I wrote it down.

LaurenHardy: Hope this has the brotherly moment you were looking for. But I must warn you I'm not very good with touching moments.

Cait: Hmmmmmm. I don't think so. Lol

Lizzie: Here you go

JackFrost: Thanks and I will try

LLTIF: Thanks I'll try

Chapter 3: Uncertainty

(Frank is 11, Joe is 10)

The bright sunlight filtered in through the blinds, bathing the sleeping boy in the hospital bed. Michael opened his eyes, slowly taking in his surroundings. He had had a nightmare that a psycho had forced him hurt Daniel and now his brother wasn't speaking to him. Oh wait, Michael groaned, that wasn't a dream.

The day before, Dr. Gray had moved Daniel's bed into Michael's room. Michael had tried to talk to his brother several times, only to be met with silence and a cold stare. Michael didn't know what to do; he wanted to apologize but didn't know how. He was just thinking of something to say when Daniel started thrashing around in the bed. He let out an ear piercing scream.

Michael jumped up. "Daniel!" He yelled. Michael made his way over to the other bed as fast as his broken body would carry him, ripping out all the machines in the process. Michael started shaking Daniel, gently at first then harder, he was panicking. Daniel just screamed louder. "Daniel! Daniel, wake up!" Silent tears were dripping down the boy's face.

Daniel calmed down suddenly and opened his eyes. His body was covered in a layer of cold sweat and his eyes were filled with fear. "Please don't hurt me anymore." He looked directly at the other boy as he whimpered these incriminating words that made Michael feel like a failure.

"Oh, little brother. I'm so sorry." Michael's vision blurred with tears as he brushed damp hair off his brother's forehead.

"Don't touch me!" Daniel flinched and tried to move as far away from Michael as possible.

Suddenly, the door burst open and in rushed Doctor Gray and Nurse Camille. "You are not supposed to be out of bed!" Nurse Camille shrieked at Michael. When he and Daniel flinched. Camille immediately softened her tone. "Michael please get back into bed." She calmly reinserted the IV into Michael's wrist.

Meanwhile Doctor Gray was checking Daniel over. "Did you have a nightmare, Daniel?" He asked gently while checking the boy's vitals and writing on a clipboard.

"Y-yes, sir." Daniel whispered, barely audible.

"Would you like to tell me about it?" Doctor Gray gently prodded.

"Um, no sir" Daniel replied and averted his eyes. How was he supposed to tell the man that his dream was about his brother plunging a knife into his heart?

The man frowned. "Suit yourself. Maybe you'll open up to Michael?" Dr. Gray knew Daniel was blocking out his older brother. He just didn't know why. "Would you like something to help you sleep?"

"No, sir." Daniel was determined to get through this with as little drugs as he could.

"Alright. But son? You don't have to call me sir." The young doctor said lightheartedly.

"Yes sir." Daniel smiled at the man. "I mean, Doctor Gray."

After getting both boys comfortable, Dr. Gray and Nurse Camille left, leaving the two boys alone in the quaint room.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Michael asked a few minutes after the door closed. The silence was unbearable.

Daniel didn't say a word. Just continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Come on. You can't keep this up forever."

"Sure I can." Daniel said defiantly, and then mentally kicked himself.

Michael signed. At least he was getting somewhere. "Listen, I'm really sorry about all this, and-"

"You promised." Daniel broke in. His voice sounded distant.

"What?"

"You promised you would never hurt me."

Michael felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. "I'm so sorry Danny. I'm so sorry. Please understand that I had no choice. Dad made me. He had a knife to your throat. Don't you remember?" Michael was on the verge of tears.

"H-he did? I didn't know that." It was true. All Daniel remembered was Michael beating the crap out of him and trying to kill him. "Dad was there?"

"Dad's the one that did this to us! Why on earth would I hurt you intentionally? If I did this to you, don't you think I'd be the one behind bars? Let alone sharing a room with you?" Michael was ecstatic.

"Oh, yeah. I guess so." He had never thought about that. "But you did hurt me." His blue eyes clouded.

"Yes, I know I did. And I feel terrible about it. I would have never done it if it wasn't for dad threatening your life."

There was a moment of silence. "I'm sorry, Michael."

"Sorry for what?" Michael was surprised, what did Daniel have to apologize for?

"For everything. Ignoring you, blaming you..."

"It's ok little brother. I think Dr. Gray said you had a concussion. It probably messed with your memory."

There was a minute of silence. "Michael?" Daniel said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"Love you too, Danny."

Both boys fell asleep with a feeling of hope. Things were finally going to change.

Two weeks later, two boys stepped into a cozy, well-furnished house in Bayport New York. "Welcome to your new home, boys." Fenton said happily as he set their luggage by the stairs. Laura and Gertrude came out of the kitchen with freshly baked cookies and overjoyed smiles on their faces.

Michael and Daniel didn't know what to do. They stood awkwardly by the front door until Fenton offered them a seat on the couch. When they took their seats, Fenton and Laura pulled chairs up to face the couch. The boys felt very uncomfortable, they snuggled closer to each other.

"Boys, this is my wife, Laura. And my sister, Gertrude." Fenton began, feeling the tension in the air.

"Hi." Daniel mumbled.

"Good to meet you." Michael nodded at the two women who smiled kindly.

"We're so happy to welcome you into our home." Laura graciously threw her arms around the children, but withdrew quickly when they both flinched. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." She was crushed; Fenton put an arm around her to comfort her.

"Would you kids like a cookie?" Gertrude offered them the platter and smiled as each boy took one of her famous chocolate chip cookies.

"Would you like to tell us about yourselves?" Fenton asked kindly.

The boys exchanged a glance. "Well I'm Michael, I'm eleven. This is my brother, Daniel. He's ten."

"Ok. I'm sure you're tired from the trip; let me show you your rooms." Fenton saw the boys were not going to talk at the moment.

Fenton led them upstairs and down the long hallway. "This'll be your room Michael." He set the small suitcase next to the door and walked to the next door. "Daniel this is yours. There's an adjoining bathroom inside."

"We can't share a room?" Michael asked.

"There's only one bed in each room and I doubt you'll both fit in one." Fenton said. "But we can make it work for tonight." He quickly countered when seeing their faces fall.

The boys nodded, relief washing over their faces.

"Well I'll leave you alone now so you can get acquainted with the surroundings. Make yourselves at home and yell if you need anything. Dinner will be at six. How does spaghetti and meatballs sound?"

Both boys smiled and nodded vigorously.

"Ok. I'll leave you to it then." Fenton smiled reassuringly. He turned his back and started walking down the hallway.

"Thank you." Came the quiet unison voices.

"You're welcome." He replied as he descended the stairs.

The boys went into their new bedroom and closed the door. The room was spacious with a small single sized bed with the headboard pushed up against the wall. The walls themselves were painted a shade of green and had various pictures. There were two matching oak dressers one either side of the bed. The entire room was flooded in sunlight that came in through two windows on the far wall.

Michael and Daniel sat down at the foot of the bed. "So what do you think?" Michael asked, referring to the Hardy's.

"I don't know. They seem nice. But people are not always what they seem." Daniel said sullenly.

"I guess we'll find out more at dinner." Michael replied as he lay down on his back. "But it sure is nice is finally sleep in a bed."

"I think I'll go check out the other room." Daniel muttered and crossed through the bathroom into the other room. It was mostly the same, except the walls were blue and on the dresser was a picture frame. As Daniel neared it, he saw that it was a family portrait of the Hardy's, but they were younger and had two small children in their arms. The date on the back of the picture was June 11, there was no year. The scene was bright and happy the Hardy's were by a lake and were caught mid laughter. It was a jubilant photo that made Daniel smile. He went back to the other room to show Michael the picture, but the older boy was already asleep. Mr. Hardy was right when he said the beds were small.

Who are these boys? Where are they now? Daniel wondered aimlessly as he went back into the other room for a nap of his own.