I love this chapter, and I know you all will, too! It's just adorable. But there are serious points here and there, which will continue into the next chapter. For the meantime, let's all enjoy the cuteness, as brief as it is.

Read On!

The sound of the door creaking as is opened echoed against the walls. The sound of the door creaking was enough to draw the attention of the small boy that TJ couldn't help but look at. The small child turned around from looking in the rabbit cage and looked at him with shock and fear in his bright blue eyes. TJ, who still was carrying the heavy shopping bags, didn't know how to react.

When he and Becky arrived home, they saw that their parent's car was in the driveway and that they were home. In the rush to get upstairs and into his room, his forgot about his brother being home as well. He didn't expect the child to be in his room of all places, but there he was, in his room sitting on the floor.

Neither of the males said anything out of surprise at the other being there. Though he hadn't said anything, TJ thought he was already doing a bad job as a big brother, because the child seemed like he wanted to run out of the room as fast as his legs would let him. He didn't want to scare his little brother, but it was clear that he was doing it without trying.

"Uh….hi," TJ said, breaking the silence. To ease the tension between the two of them, he wasn't to start a conversation with his brother. He didn't get an answer back; his brother inched away from him instead. TJ placed his bags on the floor and slowly made his way over to his brother. He sat next to him on the floor, and leaned against his bed. He felt relieved when his brother didn't try to move away from him again. "Do you know who I am?"

"…no," The little boy whispered. He wore light blue jeans, a large white shirt with the shoulder of the shirt falling off exposing his right shoulder, red shoes with the laces undone, and a long necklace with a pacifier on it.

"My name's TJ. I'm your big brother," he said. "Have you heard about me?" His brother nodded. "Good. I haven't heard about you. What's your name?"

"Mmm….my name's Zackary David," Said the boy.

Hearing that name made TJ pause. Zackary David. That was the same name of his former principal's deceased son. What are the chances that his brother would have the same name, and hell, look a little like him? TJ saw a picture of his principal's son one day. He had messy black hair, bright eyes, and a smile on his face. Besides the eye color and smile (although he planned to make his brother smile all the time), this Zackary looks a lot like him. But it's just a coincidence, right? It couldn't possibly mean anything.

"You call me Zack. Momma, daddy, and Becky call me Zack. You my brother," Zack said pointing at TJ. "You call me Zack, too. 'kay?"

"Okay, Zack. It's nice to meet you. You were looking at my bunny," TJ said. "Do you like her?" Zack nodded. "Do you want to pet her? She like's being petted, and I think she likes you." He unlocked the cage and reached inside to pick up Duracell, who all but leaped into his arms. First, TJ held her for a couple of seconds, then he gently laid her on Zack's lap. He was worried that Zack would pet her too roughly, at that he would hurt Duracell. He was proved wrong when Zack petted her softly, Duracell didn't try to get away. "She likes you."

"What's her name?" Zack asked.

"Her name is Duracell."

"Can I call her Dura?"

"If you want to. I don't see why not." As he watched Zack pet her her, TJ could see that Duracell's fur was not as white as it used to be. It was dingy, and it was matted in areas. Taking a mental note to give her a bath later that day, he focused on making his brother happy.

"Fluffy bunny," Zack laughed. He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the top her head. "Stinky bunny. Bath time for Dura?"

"I'll give her a bath later. Right now, I have to put away a lot of things and unpack. But you can keep playing with her while I unpack, okay?"

"'Kay." Smiling, TJ got back on his feet and started to put away his clothes. Every few minutes he would look over at Zack, who was occupied with Duracell. Soon, Duracell hopped out of his lap and started to hop around the room to explore. He held back a laugh when Zack followed her around the room, calling after her to come back. The day promised to be a long one; unpacking, getting to know his brother, giving his rabbit a bath, and the part her dreaded the most, seeing his parents for the first time in for years. That alone was going to stress him out.

"TJ! TJ! TJ!" Zack shouted while pulling on his jeans. "Can you help me, please?"

"Sure. What do you need help with?"

"I gotta get somethin' off a shelf, but I can't get it 'cause last time I tried I broke my wist," He said. Zack reached up and took TJ's hand and started to lead him out the room and into his. When the door opened, TJ was met with papers and crayons scattered on the floor, mostly around a small plastic table and chair in the corner, baby blue walls (one of which was covered with pictures Zack drew), a bed, and the bookshelf that Zack was pulling him over to. "Can you see the coloring book?"

"Yeah, I see it. Is that what you want?" Zack nodded. Kneeling down, TJ picked Zack up and lifted him high enough to reach the coloring book himself.

"You're really strong," Zack said after he was on the ground again. "Thank you."

"No problem. You like to draw?" TJ asked him. "You have a lot of pictures in here…."

"I like to draw with chalk…and crayons, but I like chalk betterer," Said Zack. "I can't draw with chalk 'cause it's cold outside and I can't draw on the walls. I draw on the chalkboard at daycare though….I'm gonna draw you a picture, 'kay?"

"Okay. I have to go finish unpacking, but I'll be in my room if you need me, Zack."

'This whole big brother thing is easy,' TJ thought as he went into his own room. 'I don't know what I was worried about….' He put the last of his new things away, and found that he still had plenty of room left in his closet. He didn't think he needed anymore clothes, but whenever Becky (inevitably) was going to come in, she would drag him out the house and back to the mall.

Thinking that his parents would come up and talk, he passed the time by going through the boxes that were stacked around the room. The first box he looked in held all his old comic book. He could help but read a few of them before moving on to the next box, which held his own clothes. He debated with himself if he should keep them for when Zack grew up, or if he should give them away.

"He's a small kid, even for his age," He said to himself. "I'm not sure if he'll fit these when he gets older….and style changes too…hmm…" A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. 'Look who it is. It's either now or never, though I have no problem with avoiding them…' He thought.

"Come in," He said, not turning to face whoever it was that was at his door. the sound of a pair of feet stepping into his room hit his ears before stopping.

"TJ?" Hearing his name being called, TJ took a deep breath a slowly turned to face both his parents. His mother was the closest to him, and had tears in her eyes that were waiting to fall. His father was behind him, but TJ didn't spend longer than a second or two looking at him.

"Hey."

Within a blink of an eye, he was being crushed by the tight hug his mother was giving him. The anger he had held towards both his parents had long ago simmered away into disappointment when he had a better hold and understanding of his emotions. But he didn't hug back. He absolutely refused to. "I hope you know I have questions that need answers," He said. "Until then I'm just no able to show any affection towards either one of you."

"Yes, we understand," His mother said, forcing herself away from the one-siding hug. "You must have a million questions to ask us, and we're going to answer all of them. Have you met—"

"TJ! TJ!" His mother was interrupted by Zak running into the room, calling his name. TJ kneelt down when Zack came to a stop in front of him. "I drew you a picture!"

"Can I see?" Zack handed him a piece of paper with a rough drawing of a bunny on it. "This is a really good picture, Zack. Is this Duracell?"

"Uh-huh! Can we give her a bath now?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, we can give her a bath, now," Said TJ. "Can you go and get me a towel? I'll meet you in the bathroom with Duracell."

"'Kay." Zack said before running out the room.

"I have a rabbit," TJ said, walking over to the box Duracell was sitting by. "She followed me into Duval and she won't leave me alone. Her name's Duracell, and she rubbed off on me. Zack likes her, too. Can we talk about this later? She needs a bath." He didn't give his parents time to answer since he walked out of the room with Duracell in one hand and a plastic bag in another.

~*~TJ's POV~*~

Fuck I love spaghetti. Ate the whole damn plate in twenty seconds flat. Can you blame me? All I had to eat was prison crap for the last four years. Mom made a lot of it though. Good thing; I'm on my sixth plate. This whole meal is a delicacy compared to that prison food, and I'm going to eat until I can't eat anymore. I deserve to eat like a pig.

Zack's looking at me. Heh, he's trying to eat as fast as me too, getting tomato sauce all over his shirt.

"Chew your food," I told him I said between bites. He slowed down right away. Good kid. Great artist, too. That picture he drew me was amazing. So would never guess that a three year old drew that. It's no Picasso, but it's damn close.

"So, TJ, how are you?" Mom asked.

"Hungry," I said, getting my seventh serving. "But that's not what you're talking about, is it? Are you asking about my state of mind? Fine I guess. More philosophical than I was when I went in. Not as, as everyone here at Third Street might put it, batshit insane as I used to be. Still have problems. I'm a pyromaniac, but I'm trying to keep that under control. Should I start from the beginning? I think I should…it can get confusing if I don't start from the beginning." I took a few bites before talking again.

"When I got there for the first time I met a guy named JoJo. He became one of my best friends in Duval. He helped me adjust faster than I would have on my own. He bleached my hair blonde, and I liked it. He bleached my hair, and he taught me how to tighten his dreadlocks in exchange for it. Then I met this other guy named Tommy Gun. These aren't their actual names, by the way. He kept bullying me and gave me those bruises on the left side of my face that you saw when you two visited me for the first and ONLY time, but we'll get to that soon enough. Tommy Gun and his friends kept bullying me until he was transferred over to the older dorms. JoJo introduced me to his friends, Specs and Bandit. There was another guy named Box, but he was only in there for a month or two. The four of us because really close in the last four years. Then one day Tommy Gun came alone with his friends and he," I paused to cover Zack's ears. I don't want him to hear this. Call me overprotective. "Took out a pocket knife and cut me from the left side of my forehead, across my eye, and to the bridge of my nose. I was blinded in my left eye from that." I took my hands off of Zack's ears and continued to eat. "I can't see anything through my left eye. I had to go the hospital over that, and I had expected to see you guys there, but you obviously weren't. But like I said, we'll get to that later. Then I got put into these rooms called the white rooms. They put inmates in there for no reason at all, and people go insane in there. I met this one kid, his name was Johnny. He was in the room across from me. He was a sweet guy. I think I loved him. But he's not here anymore. He's gone, by his own doing. I was just like the rest of the other inmates in the white rooms losing their mind. After I was out from there," I paused again to cover Zack's ears. He doesn't mind. He keeps on eating. "I didn't think I could take it, and I tried to get out the only way I can. I tried to kill myself. It didn't work, 'cause I'm still here. But you guys weren't when I was in the hospital. My old principal was. You remember him, right? Principal Prickly? When I was in the hospital, he was there waiting for me to wake up. I didn't try to do it again though. After that, I got into some illegal stuff that I don't think you all want to know. That's about all I'm ready to tell you."

The whole time I talked I didn't look up from the plate I was eating off. I didn't want to look at them. Not right now. I can tell they're staring at me. Is it in shock? Probably.

"So," I said, looking up at them. "Do you mind telling me why I haven't seen either one of you in four years?"

"We thought it would help you adjust to Duval better," Dad said. "Without us to make you home sick, you could focus on adjusting to Duval without us as a distraction."

"It wouldn't have mattered. Principal Prickly visited me twice out of the month and it didn't change how I adjusted," I told them. "It anything, it helped. I called home, no one picked up. I mailed letters, didn't get a single reply. Do you know what that's like? I mean Christ, some contact with my parents would be nice everyone in a while. But most inmates don't have that sort of contact anyways. Don't bother apologizing. It's nothing against you two. The value of 'I'm sorry' to me plummeted in Duval. I'd rather see an apology than hear it."

"Momma says you should always say you're sorry when you do somethin' bad," Zack said quietly. I should've waited until he was asleep to talk about all this.

"I know, Zack," I said, running my fingers through his inky black hair. "But this is different."

"C'mon, Zack," Becky said, picking him up and out of his seat. "Let's get you cleaned up." She walked out of the kitchen, carrying Zack with her.

"I need to go to the doctor and the dentist," I said, turning away from watching Becky leave with Zack. "My eye, the blind one, it won't move. It's stuck. I think it's infected. And I have a bunch of cavities and my wisdom teeth hurt. So…yeah. That's all I got."

"We are happy that you're back home with us, TJ," Said mom. "We're were thrilled when he got the letter in the mail that you were coming out on parole."

"So was I. But you must know that I'm not going to forgive and forget about this right away."

~*~V~*~

I can't sleep. Shit.

It's 3 o'clock in the morning and I'm still wide awake. I have nothing to do tomorrow, but I still want to go to sleep. There's a lot on my mind, but that hasn't stopped me from sleeping before. I think I'm too used to sleeping in a room less than half this size and with someone else. I wonder how JoJo is doing. Hope there's not a thunderstorm. He hates thunderstorms.

Turning on my side, I could see across my room. Duracell is in her cage, sleeping away, nice, clean, and fluffy. Next to my bed sitting on top of a box was a laptop and an iPod. Becky bought those for me. I think I'll paint my room soon. I go to school next Monday. My paper work was transferred over to Duval. I'm in the second half of my eleventh grade year. I just want to get in, and get out. No personal relationships with any of my old classmates. Keep it cut and dry.

Do I want to go to college? I'm not sure. College isn't right for everyone. I have some time to think about it.

Did the door just creak? I sat up in my bed to check if it was the door that made that sound, and was met with Zack stepping into my room wearing an oversized t-shirt as pajamas.

"Zack, what are you doing up this late?" I asked him. "You should be asleep."

"…Had a nightmare," He said rubbing his eyes. "I'm scared. Can I sleep with you? I don't wanna wake momma and daddy."

"C'mon," I picked him and a laid him down next to me in my bed. He snuggled under the blankets. "What was your nighmare about?"

"You went away again and you didn't come back," He said, drifting off to sleep.

"I promise, I won't leave again, okay?"

"Really?"

"Really. Now it's time to go to sleep, Zack."

"'Kay. I love you, TJ."

"…I love you too, Zack."

Just a heads up, we're going in a new direction next chapter. As in, it won't be in TJ's point of view. It'll be someone else's. For the majority of the chapter, anyways. It'll be a fun time. :)

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