Welp. Here comes this monster of a chapter. Ended up writing the last of it much faster than I thought. I honestly didn't think I'd get it out this early. However, it's here.

Again, I do have to warn people about some possibly upsetting things in this chapter; mentions of alcohol, abuse (physical and emotional), neglect and violence are in this. Make sure to prepare yourselves if you want to read it still, but if not, I'll find a way to make it easy on those that don't later. Either way, you've been warned.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. This is one I've been looking forward to publishing and I hope it hits the right notes.

(where are we? what's happening? where is everyone?)

(let us out, let us out, let us out)

(I've been a good brother, I've done everything they said, I stayed out of his way)

Ed was the one to open his eyes first, the sound of a toy wagons wheels turning waking him.

The boy snapped upwards, an ache in his back as he was greeted by the familiar sight of the cul-de-sac. He was in the middle of the road, something that made him scramble. His heart raced, wondering how he got here.

"Hello? Is anybody out there?" Ed said loudly, the sight of the suburban homes making a pit form in his stomach. He could still hear the sound of wagon wheels turning, squeaking softly. "I know someone's there. Speak up."

Ed looked down the street where the sound was coming from, trying to remember how he got here. The last thing he could remember was helping the girls out of the Storybook, the book closing around them after the last girl got out, and-

Somebody appeared on the horizon.

Ed blinked as he saw a form of his six-year-old self move forward, pulling the wagon with a broken television in it. He was happily humming along to a song that didn't exist, skipping to its beat wrong, and generally just having a good time.

Ed remembered this. This was after the first scam he and Eddy tried to pull.

"Wha- You're me. Did I accidentally time travel?" Ed waved at his younger self, trying to get his attention. "Hey! I know you're not supposed to talk to strangers yet, but have you seen-"

Ed tried to step in front of the boy, only to have him go right through him. He shivered involuntarily, feeling violated as he turned to watch his younger self go.

"Wait!" Ed ran up to match the kids' pace, looking around once more. They were nearing his old house. For some reason, that caused his gut to twist. "We're going home. Oh. Ok. That's good. Mom's probably worried since we've been out so late."

Little Ed, as he started calling him, didn't respond, still humming that song that didn't exist. Ed's smile waned at that, feeling something telling him how wrong this all was. Like he didn't know that already, right?

They arrived at his house sooner than he would've liked. The driveway to his house had never seemed to uninviting to him, but he hadn't been here in months. Or was it longer? He didn't like thinking about it, but it wasn't like this place was giving him much choice.

"Hey, dad's home!" Little Ed dropped the handle of the wagon, running up to the door.

"Kid, that might be a good idea," Ed was doing his best to catch up with the kid again, reaching out Little Ed as his hand reached the doorknob. "We don't know how long dad's been home-"

(he's never happy when he gets home)

Ed blinked as Little Ed closed the door behind them. He'd grown several years, probably around to the age of ten. It disoriented him, the jump, and the leap in age. The blinding smile on his younger self's face kept him centered as he felt himself drawn to the living room.

Ed bit back a scowl as he saw that his dad was already in front of the television, his suitcase tipped over beside the ottoman. The vacant look on his face, an unidentified bottle with brown liquid, and the fact that he didn't even get out of his work clothes showed that he he'd barely been home ten minutes before already deciding to mentally check out.

"Hey dad, what are you watching?" Little Ed moved closer, trying to get a peek at the screen. Ed moved behind, as if he could make a difference in what was going to happen. "Is it one of the monster movies? I thought you didn't like those."

"I don't." Ed's father rubbed at one of his eyes, showing clear fatigue. Working at one of the local factories took its toll, even if he got to work on the managerial side of things from time to time. "Kid, I'm just trying to relax right now. Maybe go off and play with some of those toys you got downstairs?"

"But I haven't got to see you all week." Little Ed didn't seem to get the hint if the tired sigh breezing over him was any indication. He bounced on the balls of his feet, much to Ed's chagrin. "You haven't even talked to mom yet. You want to know what she's making for dinner?"

"It's the same thing she makes every night, kid. Not sure what you're getting excited about." A swig of a drink and a roll of the eyes later, he shooed the kid away. "I've been working all day, so leave me alone. Play with your sister or something."

"You're always tired." Ed said, mirroring his younger self. He came off more bitter than his Little Ed. He wouldn't admit it, but it also showed a lot more contempt. "You never have time to do anything with me. You never did."

"Yeah, yeah." Ed's father drank again, already switching his attention back to the television. He started mumbling something that Little Ed didn't hear, but Ed did. "Why the hell did we have two again? Didn't want to even deal with one…"

Ed stood there, even as Little Ed headed towards the stairs. The tv turned to static soon, but his father just kept watching, ignoring the footsteps of his child self heading towards Sarah's-

(she always got what she wanted before you got anything at all)

-room was unbearably pink as ever. Little Ed was becoming less little, about twelve now. Ed didn't like how his smile seemed a bit smaller. Where did they go again? What were they just doing?

"Sarah?" Little Ed said cautiously. That was a wise move. She always seemed to catch him by surprise with something. "Mom wants to talk to you about going to violin practice today. She's starting to get really peeved."

"I'm not going!"

Both versions of Ed swerved around, trying to find where the voice came from. The mounds of stuffed animals. It was hard to tell which way it truly came from, especially as it was muffled.

"But mom will get mad at me if I don't! You can't miss it again." Little Ed whined. He always got grounded if he couldn't get his sister to do anything. He was grounded a lot because of it. "And you know what happens when she gets mad."

"I don't have to if I don't wanna! She won't let Jimmy come over tonight!"

"God, she always had bad tantrums, didn't she? Just kept screaming, punching, and biting." Ed scoffed. He frowned, uncomfortable at the candid it sounded. "She loved us, though. I think. I don't really know."

Ed remembered the punches and screaming more than any tender moments now that he thought about it. He did his best not to, trying to shut it off before it could get to him. Just put it away somewhere, anywhere, don't think about it…

"Sarah, I'm not joking! She's really not in a good mood right now and I really want to have movie night with my friends!" Little Ed stomped his foot on the ground. "It's not my fault you broke Jimmy's retainer."

That set her off, with a dollhouse being thrown at his head for his troubles. Little Ed was able to duck in time, but not react when a tiny ball of pink and red that tackled him soon after. A lot of screaming and yelling as Sarah rained blows on him.

Little Ed was trying to catch her hands, doing his best not to hurt her, but the strength of a child in a tantrum beat his. He received some scratches as a result, and every blow would leave a bruise for later.

"Hey, hey, stop that. Sarah, that's not-" Ed reached out to the two kids, forgetting that he couldn't interact with them until his hand went right through them. "Dammit- Sarah, stop!"

His voice happened to coincide with Little Ed's giving off a disturbing reverb. His younger self got a good hold of Sarah's hands, which only ended up in him getting bit. Predictably, this caused him to yell and accidentally push her.

Sarah didn't hit the ground hard at all, but the act still surprised her. She looked angry for a second before smirking. She turned her head towards the door when Little Ed's eyes widened in horror.

"Mom!" Sarah yelled in mock hurt. "Ed pushed me!"

"She bit me!" His younger yelled, trying to cover himself. "I swear, she did!"

"ED! Come downstairs, right now!"

Little Ed deflated, giving his sister a betrayed look. All he got was the smirk in response before he trudged out of the room, heading for the stairs once again.

Ed did his best to not look at the younger version of his sister with disgust. It wasn't a brotherly thing to do. Even if she did this all the time. Even if she sometimes did worse. Especially whenever he Sarah got him in trouble with mom-

(mom's only punishes me when she talks to me)

Ed dealt with the jump much better this time, only flinching slightly. Little Ed was about thirteen now and Ed couldn't help but note that his smile was wilted and barely there. Then again, seeing the mess in his room wasn't exactly a nice sight.

Ed remembered how he started actually cleaning up for himself to make Double D happy and that it was nice to come home to a place that didn't smell like spoiled milk and mold. Of course, his mom didn't seem to like that since it's "her responsibility to clean." Even if she'd never done it for him.

She was currently throwing his clothes out of his drawers, searching for something.

"Ed, did you take one of my old artbooks again? I can't find it anywhere." Ed's mother growled, closing the drawer roughly. She didn't seem bothered by how she roughly threw everything out there. "I need it."

"I don't remember taking one." Little Ed shrugged noncommittally. He didn't look her in the eye, subdued, awaiting an attack. "I've been with Double D and Eddy all day."

"Don't you dare lie to me, son. I know you keep on taking it whenever I'm not looking." Ed's mother huffed, as if he was in the wrong here. "Always with the sticky fingers. Can't you just play with your toys."

"Most of them are broken and I can't use them." Little Ed mumbled, shifting his feet around. He stared at the mess in the room with a closed off look. "You don't even use that stuff anyway."

"Excuse me, I wanted answers, not back talk." Ed's mom leaned down, grabbing his face rough enough to get Little Ed to look at her. "Now tell me, or I will ground you to your room without supper."

Little Ed and Ed's mom just stared at each other and silence, Ed watching it all with a sense of anger in his gut. He bit back some more choice words, wanting to rip her hands away from the boy's face.

"He's going to have nightmares about you, and that isn't fair. It isn't fair." Ed felt something wet drip down his face. He didn't register it as tears, his rage clouding things. "You shouldn't send your kid to bed hungry. You shouldn't make him feel like this."

The staring contest would've gone on longer, but a shout could be heard upstairs.

"Mom, I found your notebook! It just fell off the desk!" Ed's dad yelled down. "Can I please just get back to watching tv?"

Ed's mother frowned, letting go of Little Ed's face. The boy just looked down, doing his best to suppress tears of his own.

"Lout. Could've been an artist if he didn't-" Ed's mother scoffed, heading towards the stairs without looking back. "Clean your room. This place is a mess."

Little Ed didn't seem to hear her, staring off into space as Ed made sure to glare at the woman's back. It was barely a few moments later when Sarah was heard yelling, with the smaller Ed turning around and just silently walking up the stairs. Ed just followed behind, the door upstairs coming closer-

(I hate them all)

-and Ed just walked out of the stairwell, cellphone in hand. The teen paused, realizing that he was the only version of him here now. No one else to work as an avatar.

And tonight was the night he left.

"Lumpy, you actually gonna make it to Sockhead's birthday tonight?" Eddy's voice sounded strained. Ed remembered why that was, though it eluded him right then. "I know he said to wait till tomorrow, but I just got a feeling…"

"I'm sure Double D is okay. If he wanted us to come, he would've asked." Ed didn't really mean to say anything back, but it came out all the same. He had a feeling he would've had to do it anyway to complete the memory. "You have the cake, right?"

"In the fridge. Parents didn't ask about it since they're focused on-" Eddy paused for a moment before coming back. "Sorry, got to head out, heard something downstairs. I'll be right back."

"Ed!"

Ed winced, smile disappearing before replying. "Yeah, looks like Sarah wants something. Talk to you soon."

Ed hung up as he dreaded the next encounter. Everyone had been home tonight and that usually made things worse.

He found everyone in the living room, his dad just watching the television blankly as his mom was cleaning up his trash. Sarah was going through the movie collection, frowning.

"I'm having movie night with Jimmy tonight, and I need to find The Princess Diaries. Have you seen it anywhere?" Sarah was actually pretty calm, something that was happening more often nowadays. "I can't find it and its cult classics is the theme."

"I don't know. I made sure to put it in alphabetical earlier." Ed just shrugged, not seeing it as a big deal. At least she wasn't yelling right now. "Dad, did you pick out a movie earlier?"

The man only grunted, which did nothing to fix the problem. Just the same, honestly, and Ed felt his irritation spike. Was he even awake?

"Let me see. Is nothing done right in this house?" Ed's mom looked into shelf quickly, grabbing and throwing things out. She eventually pulled one out. "There it is, dear. Your brother put it in the wrong place."

Sarah looked at the movies thrown on the floor, distinctly uncomfortable as she looked between Ed and their mom. "Thanks."

"Ed, can you pick this up and actually do it right this time?" Ed's mom gave her son a glare. "It actually pays to do it right the first time."

"But you just threw them on the floor!" Ed's voice came out as a whine, and he absolutely hated it. He could feel his temper spike again, and he did his best to cut it down.

"Don't talk back to me! I am your mother and I have given you so much." Oh god, she was going on this tangent again. Ed hated that. "When I had you, me and your father had to do so much to get by…"

Ed watched at the woman talk, drowning her out as he's heard it so many times before. Something in him couldn't stand listening to it and he needed an out, something, anything before he-

SLAM

Ed blinked, things having gone red for a moment. He saw the shelf, broken, on the floor with all the movies strewn about. It was dead quiet, and everyone's eyes were on him, and dad had woken up. His mouth went dry as he blinked rapidly, trying to think up of an apology.

"Wow, mom. You really need to be more careful." Ed's smile was dazzling and wide, and it absolutely frightened him that he couldn't shove it down. "You're usually not this clumsy. Maybe you need to sit down."

"What in the world- what did you just do?" Ed's mother pointed a finger in his face, her son still smiling madly. "If you really think that you-"

"I'm sorry, is that really ticking you off? Maybe you should've thought of that before getting knocked up in high school!" Ed's turned from serene to enraged within seconds, cowing the women completely. "Maybe you wouldn't be blaming everything on me if you and dad weren't such losers and maybe thought to use a condom! I'm certainly not at fault for that."

"Hm." Ed's dad woke up briefly, eyes fluttering. "Is something happenin'?"

"Go to sleep, you stupid drunk." Ed was heading towards the door, darkly muttering insults while his face turned from anger to calm in almost a revolving door. "I'm going out. You guys have fun without me!"

"Ed, wait-"

Ed didn't wait, slamming the door on the rest of Sarah's words. His emotions were still storming through his head, he moved down the street with a pep in his step and anger in his heart. He already had a destination in mind.

For a brief moment, he remembered that he didn't have a gift for Double D ready yet. Hopefully, he wouldn't mind him just showing up.

Double D stared down at his younger self with a tinge of annoyance. It wasn't something he actually wanted to feel, but considering the situation he was in, he figured it was justified.

He knew this was the work of the Storybook. Why it was doing this escaped him, but he didn't know whether or not this was being broadcasted. He also didn't know whether or not it would stick to only certain moments or it would play out his entire life story.

The only reason he hadn't done anything is because he wasn't sure what would happen if he went off script. That, and he couldn't interact with anything.

"You do realize that it's a bit rude to go through other people's things, right?" Double D asked Eddward, the name he'd chosen for his younger self. "I know we're just moving in, but those are mother's and father's things."

Eddward didn't seem to care, going through some of the dustier boxes with a curious fervor. It would've been cute if Double D didn't feel a bit of resentment.

"Eddward? Dear? Where are you?"

"In here, mother!" Eddward shouted back, still going through some of the boxes. "I'm just trying to find something!"

"Ah, he's into something again, isn't he?" Double D scowled as he heard the sound of his father chuckling. "Where are you, kid?"

"In here!" Eddward coughed as he opened up a box, dust getting everywhere. He noticed what was inside and immediately went for it. "Oh, what's this?"

The door to the room opened up, his parents coming inside as Eddward pulled out the pedal steel guitar, a tiny, dinky thing that hadn't been tuned in years. Double D could only stare at his parents faces as they softened as the boy plucked at the strings.

"Ah, you found the ol' guitar. Thought I threw that thing out." Double D almost wished his father did. It would've made things easier. "I don't think I played that thing since college. How long has that been collecting dust?"

"Maybe if you weren't such a hoarder, you'd actually know when." Double D's mother walked over to her son, watching as he plucked at the strings with fascinated eyes. "It looks like you like it, honey. Do you want to learn how to play?"

"Hon', I don't think he really wants to-" Double D's father stopped as Eddward appeared at his legs, eyes wide as he tugged at his pant leg. "- or maybe he does? I guess we can do something while we get situated for the job."

"That's the spirit!"

Double D watched from the sidelines; face scrunched up in an unidentifiable expression. He didn't remember this as much as he'd like. Something about it felt so… fake to him.

Eddward was shown a few things from his father before getting his hands onto the instrument again. He played the sequence his father showed almost perfectly.

"Hey, you're actually pretty good at this!" Double D's father had a light in his eyes as he thought of something. "Maybe if we got you a couple of lessons…"

"Oh dear," Double D's mother sighed, swatting at her husband's arm before perking up. "I suppose it would be good if we could show it off to some of our coworker's…"

Double D scowled again, starting to believe that this was part of his memories once again.

(everything's all for their own gain)

The warmth of the house turned into a biting chill, to a memory that Double D could actually count on being real.

Eddward was holding onto a mini version of the guitar, sitting on the front porch. Double D sighed at his sorry state, moving to sit down next to him. Eddward just kept his eyes on his watch, and Double D noted that he looked older than before.

"Where are they?" Eddward pouted, a foot tapping on the ground. "They missed it. Are they ok?"

"First time?" Double D hummed thoughtfully, putting a hand on his chin. He couldn't really pinpoint when this trend had started happening, but this seemed about right. "They're alright, y'know. Just running a bit late, which they'll say when they get here. And continue saying. Might want to get used to that."

Eddward looked down the street, seeing that most of the other houses already had their lights out. Lights did appear down the street eventually, which caused the boy to stand up. Double D just sat there, watching him move forward.

The car slowed, stopping completely when it hit the driveway. His parents got out, blinking a little in surprise to see their young son outside looking ready to cry.

Double D sighed before counting down on his fingers. "Three, two one…"

The two's eyes widened before moving towards their child and hugging him quickly. Double D rolled his eyes as they apologize a lot, and Eddward started crying buckets. The teen just shook his head. It was a familiar sight, at least right now.

"Oh dear, we're really sorry." His mother whispered frantically, running a hand through her boys' hair. "We didn't realize it would take that long. We just sort of forgot."

"Maybe we should leave a key with you just in case." Double D frowned at the fact that his father chose to do that instead of the obvious solution. "We would've told you, but- god, I'm so sorry."

"I didn't see you guys at the recital and didn't know what to do." Eddward sniffed. Double D recoiled. "I walked home because I thought you forgot, but then I didn't see your car. You didn't leave a note."

The parents hugged their child, shooshing him softly as the cold of the night bit at everyone. The teen could see the gears turning in his parents' heads as they came up with an idea that would become key to his childhood.

"Hey," His father said to his mother gently. "Maybe we should start stocking up on sticky notes…"

(papers instead of faces, writing instead of speaking)

"Sockhead, you kept complaining about how I wasted paper yesterday, right?"

Double D was glad the teleportation to different locations here didn't give him teleportation sickness. He felt like there was a few more places to go.

They were in the kitchen now, Eddward still growing up faster, and with Eddy hanging around this time. Double D had honestly forgotten how tiny he was before puberty, especially compared to now. The same annoyance and smugness were at least familiar, though.

"I'm very much aware of that, Eddy. I had to show you an entire PowerPoint presentation that you promptly slept through." Eddward messed around with some homework, while also checking over Eddy's. "You haven't really changed your habits either, so I maybe I need to make a refresher course."

"Dear god, no. I'm not sitting through that again." Eddy waved around the room with a casual air. "I've had enough lecturing for a lifetime. I'm talking about, you know, the absolute metric ton of sticky notes?"

Eddward looked around before shaking his head. "I have no idea what you mean, Eddy. These are all perfectly easy to recycle, especially through proper channels. There's no need to be facetious."

Double D rolled his eyes at his younger self's use of polysyllabic words. He really wanted to be seen as smart back then, didn't he?

"Yeah, but still dude. This is... this is just way too much." Eddy got up, grabbing at one of them off the fridge. "Make sure to get make lamb chops tonight? You seriously make your own dinner?"

"Yes. It's part of my chores, Eddy. You know this." Eddward put the sticky note back right where it was, almost obsessively. "I have to make dinner for myself most nights. Haven't you had to do it?"

"No. My parents don't want me even close to stove. Ed isn't allowed to touch a spatula, remember?" Eddy laughed, but it was off this time as he actually looked at the sticky notes. "…This is kind of a lot. I mean, seriously, is this how you and your parents talk?"

"It's… They're very busy people, Eddy. They leave these to make sure I stay on top of things." Eddward shook his head, moving some upcoming doubts away. "The only reason there are so many is because I fell behind on some things due to illness."

"Which they're rarely there to help with." Double D kicked at the floor, the scene beginning to upset him now. "You had to make your own soup and everything because they've been preparing their projects or their reports. And you'd get scolded on these notes whenever you fell behind."

Deaf ears failed to hear the remark and Double D felt his blood boil.

"Whatever dude. This sounds like a scam for them to just put off they're stuff on you." Eddy leaned back into his chair, recognizing a fight he wouldn't win. "At least it can't get any more crowded in here.

Ah, but he just had to tempt fate. At least that was-

(more of the same, more notes, more requests, less everything)

And they were in the same place, but it was different.

Eddward was alone this time, at the ripe age of thirteen, as he did his homework. There were more notes and they practically swallowed the room.

Double D couldn't hold back the frustration anymore. He went towards the chair opposite the boy, doing his best to keep his voice down as he started to talk. His words came out choked and angry.

"You realize this isn't normal, right?" Double D swallowed, an unidentifiable emotion that needed suppressing. "This whole thing with the notes, the lack of contact- when was the last time we saw them in the house?"

Eddward sniffed. He was sick again. Double D figured that was because of the cleaning, the constant work. It was later than usual, so he figured it would be a tough morning for him tomorrow.

"I'm not sure how much I saw them at your age. It was always at their work events, I'm sure of it." Double D got up, checking one of the walls, the one that told them about school events. "You'll have to prepare for a dinner next weekend. They started getting sparse a couple years back but looks like they still happen."

"Goodness, why does there have to be so much homework?" Eddward groaned, putting his head onto his book. "I have to tutor Ed tomorrow too. Maybe I should reschedule… no, he needs help more than I do."

Double D had to forcefully remind himself that the boy couldn't hear him, feel him, that none of this was even real. The stupid Storybook brought them here, bringing up old forgotten memories that weren't worth repeating.

"Ed was right. Maybe I should just ask Clawdeen to turn one of us." Double D laughed loudly, and the silence helped carry it. It wasn't a pleasant sound. "None of this is going to be worth it, you know. It's all going to be a waste of time you'll regret."

Eddward sighed. Double D paused, in the vain hope that maybe he'd heard him. The boy grabbed a sticky note located right next to him.

Double D slumped, though he moved to look at the writing scrawled onto it. Mother's handwriting was as familiar as ever.

Be home soon. Love, Mother.

Eddward sighed shakily, grabbing the pencil yet again. He went back to work, doing his best to understand the equations in the book.

Double D knew he was doing his best to make Mother and Father proud. Like it mattered.

It made him feel sick.

Double D stomped out of the room, heading towards the dining area with a stone face. He couldn't stand being here anymore watching his younger self toil for-

(nothing, it was all worth nothing)

-Double D was alone now. That made him stop, the phone held to his ear filled with static as he registered that. The sight of a birthday cake caused his breath to hitch as the memory fell into place.

"You really think we should let Eddy go home? Like, alone?" Ed's voice came in, and Double D felt every bit of agency slip out of him. He'd replayed this moment plenty of times in his head to realize what was going to happen next. "He didn't seem happy. Maybe we should camp out in the junkyard again."

"Ed, I don't like it as much as you do, but if he's willing to give this a shot, we should respect that." That didn't mean Double D wasn't ready to call the cops on short notice, but he did believe what he was saying. "Though, if you do feel bad about it, we can try and invite him out later."

"Oh, right, you have your party with your parents!" Ed said excitedly, but then he paused. Double D really wished he hadn't. "You, uh, said they were showing up right?"

"Of course! They're retiring soon anyway, and they said they wanted to celebrate just as much tonight depending on how today's meeting went." Double D was especially excited about that. He already had the cake set up on the table and everything. "I just need to wait for the call."

"At least it isn't sticky notes…" Ed probably hadn't meant that to be said out loud, judging from his next words. "Hope it goes well! I'll call back later. I think my dad's coming home soon."

"Good luck." Double D shook his head as the phone cutoff, putting away in his pocket. "He really needs to learn how to say goodbye properly."

The teen moved to sit down at the dinner table, yawning. He hadn't slept well the past few days, but that wasn't anything new. All the hard work he did made it, so he needed to catch up on rest occasionally. At least the hard work would pay off now.

There wasn't a lot of decorations set up, but he figured that would be fine. They had a lot of things to talk about and plenty of time to catch up, considering he still had time in high school.

It was strange to think about but having his parents around would certainly feel like a reward. Maybe that wasn't healthy.

…Not the time to think about it. He had to prepare for them to show up, and he has. All he has to do is wait.

Double D yawned again, looking at the clock. He didn't actually know when they'd get off work, but he figured it would be soon. He may have jumped the gun a little bit, but better that it was all done now rather than later.

The boy put his chin into his hand, supporting it as he closed his eyes. He figured that a nap wouldn't hurt too much as long as he woke up before-

RINGRINGRING…RINGRINGRING

Double D shot up, the sound of his phone causing him to jump. He hit his knee on the bottom of the table, causing him to curse before he was able to get to his phone.

"H-Hello?" The teen did his best to mask the pain. He couldn't help but look outside the window, a cold pit forming as he saw that how dark it was. "May I ask who's calling?"

"Eddward! I was wondering if you were up. How's everything at home going?"

It took him longer than it should to recognize the voice. "Mother?"

"Who else would it be?" His mother tittered, causing Double D to frown. She sounded strangely happy despite retiring and also being extremely late. "We just got some good news! Honey, come over here..."

The pit in Double D's stomach grew, turning colder. He could actually hear a part going on in the background. A familiar sting of bitterness rose up to greet the sound.

"Hm? Oh, right! Son, we actually got surprised by an offer today. If things go well, we'll be training to be next in line to run the company!" His father said. And that was wonderful news. They'd been working hard for it for years. "We just need to celebrate with some people at the office and we'll be just dandy."

That was… fantastic. Double D was really happy for them. Even if they promised that they would retire tonight like they were supposed to. Of course, they didn't actually need to. Though they could've.

"That's great! Fantastic e-even." The teen was trying to come up with something to the news and oddly found it hard to continue talking. "When do you think you'll be coming home? The cake is still-"

"Oh, keep it for later. The original reason to celebrate isn't even there anyway. I'm sure your friends would like it."

Double D choked. They didn't remember what else was happening today, didn't they?

"Dear, we'll get back to you. I'm sure you're already done with your chores, so you can go to bed early tonight." Mother said. "Schools over, so feel free to sleep in!"

And with a click, they hung up. Double D, on instinct, put the phone away limply, staring at the birthday cake that would've been for him. It looked positively silly now and he hated looking at it now.

As if something possessed him, he got up abruptly and went into the kitchen, locating the sticky note that promised they'll be coming home. The "Be home soon!" message was stared at as Double D thought over all the times he waited in this room, looking at messages like this constantly. Doing his homework until late hours in the night. Cleaning until it made him sick.

All the time he'd been hoping that it would be worth it just to have them around. That had been so childish.

Double D grabbed another message, detailing a chore. Then another. Then a handful, tearing them off every surface he could see.

He didn't know what he was saying as what he'd realize was a mental breakdown went on, but one sentence stood out

"I wasted so much time."

Eddy didn't like closets much. He didn't have a debilitating fear of the dark or small spaces, but that didn't mean he liked them. But that was where he woke up first, in front of a tiny version of himself.

His eyes didn't adjust to the dark immediately, but the sniffles were a dead giveaway that he wasn't alone. When they did adjust, he was surprised to see the little pinwheel hat atop the kids head and the oversized shirt he always wore back when he was that age. And the tears dripping down his face, only welled by a black eye.

"Jeez kid, that's a heck of a shiner on ya'." Eddy found himself saying, leaning down and reaching for the kid immediately. His hand phased right through kid. "Oh. Looks like I can't help you there. Sorry about that, Pi-"

"Pipsqueak! Where the hell are you?!"

Eddy froze, practically mirroring Pi- Shorty as they looked towards the door of the closet. He'd almost forgotten why a younger version of himself would be hiding in here.

"He's still downstairs," Eddy said, mostly for himself. He doubted that Shorty could hear him since he couldn't touch the kid. "That's good. He probably won't find us, and it sounds like he found dad's stash. Maybe he won't find us."

Eddy wasn't sure if he believed that. Evan was persistent, sober or not, and he didn't think that being downstairs would help Shorty much. The whimpering didn't help.

"Kid, kid, trust me when I say this, but you need to stay quiet." Eddy continued vainly. Why was he even bothering if he already knew the conclusion? "It's going to be okay. I promise."

"Why can't he leave me alone?" Shorty mumbled, breath hitching. "I didn't do anything this time."

Eddy growled. He reached for the door, but he couldn't touch that either, an actual wall preventing him from leaving this.

Why was the Storybook doing this…? The Storybook!

The realization came as the footsteps started getting louder, the creaking stairwell signaling Evan was incoming. Shorty tried moving back into the coats, but it wasn't big enough to hide him. Eddy knew that as soon as Evan opened the door, the kid was as good as caught.

"Just keep quiet. Maybe I can do something about this." Eddy's magic flared as he tried to manipulate the book to doing what he wanted. He could feel himself pull on something, but it wasn't giving. "Just have to cut this short."

The footsteps only grew louder with time, and Eddy could tell it wasn't going to work before he got here. It made his magic flare more, attacking at any and every enchantment, because dear god, he's coming this way, I have to get out of here.

As the door flung open, Eddy could only raise his hand instinctively with a fire spell at his fingertips so-

(I'm not going to be hurt anymore)

The vision faded and Eddy had to squint as flashing lights blinded. Blue and red, they washed over the lawn. The fire was put out before he could burn the house and everything surrounding it to the ground. It took him a second to realize where he was.

Shorty was sitting on the porch with a shock blanket on him. His mom and dad were tending to him, checking over a busted lip and slightly damaged eye. They ignored the sight of their other son being dragged towards a police car in favor of watching over their kid.

"Let me go, you pig! You can't do this to me!" Evan dragged his heels, fighting against anyone trying to move him forward. "You don't even know what was going on! Why isn't anyone listening to my side?!"

Eddy saw his dad look up briefly, glaring at Evan with near visible poison in his gaze. Shorty just kept quiet, moving further into Mom's side.

"What the hell was he even thinking?" He growled. The paramedics had looked his son over and said he was fine, but considering he was shaking out of fear, he wasn't willing to think so. "We've worked so hard to get here and he just threw it all away."

"Not. The. Time. Dear." Eddy's mom gave Shorty a quick look before starting to whisper. "We'll talk about charges later, okay? Eddy's not... well, he's not doing well."

That was an understatement. Eddy remembered this night. It had taken months for him to figure out how to prove Evan was doing everything to him and it all just... ended after this. It was pretty simple, honestly, getting Evan mad enough at the right time. Making sure things were destroyed so his parents would know something was wrong.

"We really got him, didn't we?" Eddy remembered his dad actually tackling Evan after he saw his brother hit him. It had looked pretty glorious at the time, but it had been short lived when he saw his brother actually being dragged away. "God, it didn't even seem real."

Eddy knew Shorty was probably falling off the high right now. Dreaming about it and actually seeing it were two different things, especially when his parents were so devastated from the fallout.

"Kid, I want you to know this wasn't your fault." Eddy didn't like how his dad was being so gentle. It would've been easier to forget him if he was a lousier parent. "We'll figure this out. It-it isn't going to cause anything bad. Heck, one less mouth to feed."

"Darryl!" Eddy's mom swatted at her husband. It was honestly the only funny thing about this. "Not what we're focusing on! We need to make sure the charges stick first."

Eddy scoffed at that, the light feeling disappearing as soon as it came. It wasn't going to work. Evan was only a few months shy of eighteen, which made sure that the courts went easy on him. And even after he disappeared after the verdict, it was like he was-

(still there, nothing changing, always reverting back)

-And Eddy was in a church now. And not a local one.

He looked down at his seat, watching as Shorty messed with a tie that refused to comply with him. Again, Eddy felt the urge to try and help him out, but his dad beat him to it.

His focus was quickly taken away from it too. It was his aunt's funeral after all.

"Why are we even here?" Shorty asked, in the callous way that only a child could do. Eddy had known what death was, but he hadn't known who Aunt Judas was. "Mom doesn't talk to her side of the family, right? I could be at home."

"I wouldn't let anyone hear that if I were you." His father hissed. He put a hand on Shorty's shoulder, causing the kid to tense before he hurriedly let go. "Kid, trust me. We do need to be here, whether you like it or not."

"Who even was Aunt Judas anyway? I don't remember her sending any postcards." Shorty, along with Eddy, looked over the pews. His mom was standing at the front of the line, the service technically over already. The sight of her crying was very uncomfortable. "Mom didn't seem to like her much either. Didn't she bully mom or whatever?"

Eddy's dad sighed, looking briefly among the family members neither of them would recognize, or even see again. Despite the funeral, Eddy would remember his mother still refusing to talk with her family after this.

"It's complicated, son. Family will always be a complicated thing." Darryl held a hat in his hands, twisting it softly as his eyes glazed over. It didn't take much brainpower to realize what he was thinking about. "Your mother and her sister didn't get along very well. Doesn't get along with anyone else, but... well, it was different this time."

Eddy shook his head. The explanation didn't make sense to Shorty, and he knew it. To his twisted little mind, this should've been a victory. His mom outlives someone that made her life hell, and here she was crying about it.

…The irony wasn't lost on him, with Evan dead now. But he didn't miss him like her mother missed her sister. He didn't get the opportunity to get the record straight, like he'd always wanted. He had so many ways to do it now from magic alone, much less the variety of other things the supernatural world offered him.

Huh. Maybe he hadn't changed as much as he thought since they got here.

His mom was coming down the aisle and Shorty was forced to keep quiet by his dad. She had stopped crying as much, having composed herself before she got there. It didn't disguise the tear tracks on her face.

Eddy still didn't understand and never would.

The service continued and some people were coming up to the podium at the front. Eddy ignored them, knowing that it wouldn't-

(matter, they brought him back, with their stupid sentimentality)

-mean much since he would get moved again. At least this time they were home again.

Eddy could barely see Shorty in the dark, crouching behind a wall. He was honestly just a few years away from being his age now, though he hadn't gotten much taller. Eddy figured that worked to his advantage since his parents weren't far, talking near the back.

"I keep on thinking about it, Darryl. I don't know why, but I can't help it." Eddy's mom sniffled, blowing her nose in a tissue. Eddy remembered this having been going on for several minutes by now. "I'm usually fine, but whenever there's a moment of quiet, I can't help but wonder what would've happened if I reached out."

"Hon, you can't think about that. You're just going to keep upsetting yourself, Sherri." Darryl said. He could sell people a hunk of junk and call it a vehicle, but comforting people really wasn't in his wheelhouse. "Didn't you say your sister was horrible? I know you shouldn't speak ill of the dead and all…"

"I know what she was like before I left home. I didn't know what she was like after, though." Eddy remembered seeing his mother dab at her face with the tissue, like an old woman on a tv show when she was saying this. "I heard so many stories- still hear so many- about how she changed after I left. Maybe it doesn't matter now, but maybe we could've gotten along again. And now we can't."

"There is no way to change the past, honey. If we could, a lot of our problems would be solved." Darryle picked at his sleeve. It was one of the shirts he wore at home after a long day at work, something big and ratty, something he wouldn't wear in front of customers. "Are you sure it's just about you and your sister?"

"…I don't want what happened with me and her to happen to Eddy and Evan. We haven't talked to our son in years." Sherri sniffed. "I know Evan was horrible, but maybe we didn't give him a chance to explain himself or make himself better."

Eddy heard Shorty stop breathing. He was doing the same.

"We found him standing over Eddy about to give him a black eye. I don't think we can go back from that." Darryl said forcefully. "I'll admit, maybe we should've noticed something was wrong with him. We did find a lot of bottles in his room, but that doesn't change the fact he hurt his own family."

"But shouldn't we at least check on him? Maybe he got help after we kicked him out?" Sherri gripped at her husband's arm, desperate. "We wanted a good family, Darryl. Can we at least try?"

"…At some point. Not now, though. Maybe when Eddy is older."

Shorty flinched back and started hurrying towards the stairs. Eddy just glared at his parents, not watching the boy leave. Sherri got up to get something for herself while his dad just sat there, rubbing his face with his hands.

"You're acting like would want to-"

(it was their fault what happened that night)

"-make amends. Evan's not owed a single thing." Double D's voice came from the phone. He'd left a message when he was busy, and he played it over several times to prove he wasn't the only one thinking this. "Good luck. Call us if you need a place to stay to get away from him."

Eddy sighed as he turned off the screen, putting the phone in his pocket. There wasn't anyone else playing the role of Shorty anymore except him now. Hearing the clinking of bottles not too far away, Eddy found himself feeling resigned. The Storybook needed a story to start and finish, and it was going to get one.

He was wearing his yellow hoodie despite it being warm out, reaching into his pocket as he grasped at the wrench. He got off the stairs he'd been hiding in, moving towards the kitchen.

Evan was going through the drawers when Eddy found him, trying to find where their parents had stored the booze. He'd looked rattier than Eddy remembered, the signs of addiction plain. It still didn't elicit any sympathy from him though.

"You're really doing this now?" Eddy's voice wasn't angry or brave. It was just tired, mixed with a heavy disappointment he didn't know he could feel. "It's only been two days."

Evan froze, jerking his head to look at his brother. His startled look gave way to annoyance as he realized it wasn't his parents.

"Don't judge me, pipsqueak. If you didn't get me kicked out, I wouldn't have had to turn to this just to get by." Evan deflected. He went back to going through the drawers, grumbling, and cursing. "Besides, as a guest, shouldn't I get what I want? You owe me, so I'd avoid squealing."

"I don't owe you anything. You got yourself kicked out." Eddy figured that he shouldn't be taunting his brother like this, but the wrench in his hands gave him some strength. Or maybe he just wanted to use it. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you were hitting the bottle longer than that. Always liked taking advantage of dad not locking up his stuff."

"Oh, screw you." Evan finally closed the drawers to turn and look at him, scowl set on his face. "Like you know anything. Run off, before I decide to make you."

"…Mom wanted you to come here and act like a part of the family." Eddy's voice came out choked. It was enough to make Evan pause. "Why do hate me this much? I was just a kid and you deserved to get caught. And here you are, making your own life worse and continuing to blame anyone else but yourself. Just tell me why, and I'll leave."

Evan tensed, the apathy leaving before he lunged. "I said screw off!"

Eddy had thought himself prepared, but he immediately froze up. His brother shoved him at the fridge, and he seemed ready to land punch before Eddy was able to finally get the wrench out and start swinging himself.

Eddy couldn't keep track of the fight if it could be called that. Evan had definitely hit him once, and Eddy had hit him once, but it was all overtaken by fear and anger. It was all such a blur that he didn't even notice the damage to the kitchen as Evan got sloppy, or even when they somehow got outside.

In the chaos, Eddy felt someone grab him before he could land a hit on his brother, doing their best to hold him. Back. He could see something tackle Evan and Eddy struggled harder so he could try to take advantage of the confusion. Swings went wider, he was screaming, Evan was yelling, and whoever was holding him was trying to shout in his ear…

Eddy sent a flying elbow towards the person's face. A crack of a broken nose and his mother shouting out in pain.

Eddy was dropped and he scurried away to see his mother holding her face. He felt a pit form in his stomach, but it was swept away by fear again as a hand went toward him. He swung at it with the wrench, his father moving it away in time to prevent getting hurt.

"I told you I didn't want him here!" Eddy's heart was pounding with adrenaline. He could taste blood and his eye ached. He must've got punched in the face. "I told you this would happen, and you didn't listen! You didn't listen before, and you aren't listening again!"

"Kid, calm down, you're going to wake the neighbors!" Darryl held Evan firm, words faltering at the wild look in Eddy's eyes. "Put the wrench down! We can try and talk this out before-"

"Before what?! I don't want to talk to him!" Eddy did his best to ignore his mother trying to hide her pain, still whimpering softly. "Are you willing to let him fight me just to get your little family together?! It's like nothing changed! "

"Honey, please. We're just trying to do what's best for you two." Sherri reached out again. Eddy forced her back with a wild swing. "Please. Just listen to us. We can work through this."

Eddy looked at his parents, at Evan. His pulse still raced, and his anger still burned bright, wanting to fight, wanting to cry, wanting to scream more.

Eddy threw the wrench, causing both parents to flinch away despite it not even being close to them. In under a second, he was running as fast as his legs would let him.

He wouldn't realize it then, but that would be the last time he would ever see Evan. The part that remembered it made the moment feel more bitter.

A campfire was billowing when all three of them were together again.

Eddy's frantic running had led him to Double D's backyard. He could see Ed hunched over, holding a stick with a marshmallow turning a scorched black. He didn't seem fully present, even as Eddy plopped down beside him automatically.

Double D had been tending the fire, and Eddy could see sticky notes being used as kindling. His friend gave him a long look before tossing the bag of marshmallows at him.

"You look terrible." Double D didn't have to question what happened. The statement was enough to get Eddy to snort. "Ed, your marshmallow is burning."

Ed jerked, hastily blowing on the sweet piece of food. He tried to bite into it, only making things worse. Eddy actually did laugh this time despite the fact Ed was having a crisis.

They eventually turned to silence, gloom taking over. There was some fiddling with the coat hangers they'd fashioned into sticks before Ed started talking.

"I don't think I can stay here anymore." Ed said honestly. He sounded more tired than they'd ever heard him be. "If I have to hear my mom yell at me for something I didn't do or see dad waste away on that chair of his, I'm going to go insane."

"I know. I found your bags packed in the van." Double D said, twisting the coat hanger a bit more due to his nerves. He gave Eddy the side-eye. "I know yours are packed too ever since your parents told you Evan was coming around."

"Can you blame me?" Eddy saw Double D look away. He could tell it was because of the black eye forming on his face. "This place keeps on changing, but it's never for the better. The only good thing that's happened to this place is us getting along with the suckers in the cul-de-sac."

"I'm not saying I disagree. I'm just saying that it's a big decision here." Double D looked at the both of them with conviction. Though, they could tell it could waver. "If we do leave- and that's a big if- I don't think I can stomach coming back. We wipe our hands of this place if we do and never think about it again."

"Deal. Evan and my parents can go to hell." Eddy blew out his marshmallow, biting into it. The adrenaline was wearing off and he need to feel the warmth to feel something. "I don't plan on leaving a note. You leaving one for Sarah, Ed?"

"No. I think she'll be happy to see me gone." Ed laughed. It wasn't really funny. "She'll get all the attention she usually gets and more. Hopefully it doesn't make her bored."

Another bout of silence occurred. Double D got up, wiping his hands on his pants.

"You gentleman can continue having smores while I get packing. I need to make sure one of us properly prepares for a long trip." Double D turned, heading towards his house. He pointed at the stack of sticky notes. "Make sure to use all the kindling."

The crackling of fire was the only response before the illusion finally snapped.

[LINE BREAK HERE]

The Storybook spat them out soon after the illusion fell apart, the Ed's deposited unceremoniously on the floors of Heritage Hall. Ed curled into a ball while Double D moved to him on reflex, trying to prevent his friend from shutting down completely. Eddy scrambled to get up, mind trying to bring itself back to reality.

Eddy blinked and he could see horrified faces. He wasn't sure what for a few a seconds before catching a glimpse of the Storybook closing behind him. Confusion turned to panic as he mentally sorted through what they could've saw, what they could've heard, what they know-

"E-Eddy?"

Apple's voice caused him to twitch. Tears were in her eyes, and she looked fearful, like she was trying to treat a wounded animal. Eddy must've looked wild in that moment because she flinched.

It was her reaction that told him they'd seen everything that happened.

"Well," Eddy felt himself say. He felt weirdly calm right now, despite everything that had happened. It was probably because of all the emotional stuff that had happened then and there, but he honestly couldn't care less what it was. "Sorry to say this, but I don't think we're doing an encore of that. If you don't mind, I think we're done here for today."

Raven jerked, putting a hand out. "Eddy, wait."

"Can't really do that, Ray. Ed's feeling a bit down right now and I don't think it's best to keep him out when he's like this." Eddy raised a hand. He could hear Ed holding back tears and it almost ruined his concentration. "Now, if you'll excuse us…"

With a snap, Eddy disappeared, taking Ed and Double D with him. The room dropped to a dead silence as everyone silently took everything in. Anyone with questions felt them die in their throats and they could only feel numb as they saw something flutter to the floor.

Another glowing page was at their feet, the brightness of it taunting them. Bloodgood had the sense to grab it before they could forget. Acquiring it didn't feel like a victory like it should've been, tainted by everything they just witnessed.

"Girls," Bloodgood started authoritatively. They all looked at her, and it did hurt her to see that some of their eyes were redder around the edges. "I need you to remain quiet about all of this for now. At least let things settle before you make any decisions. Do you understand?"

The girls nodded. None of them provided any resistance. Even Cleo was keeping her mouth shut on the matter, defying Bloodgood's expectations. She knew it was most likely out of shock and she'd need to discuss the possibility of counseling, but it was serviceable for now.

Bloodgood dismissed them soon after and they dispersed quickly. She'd have to hope none of them didn't go and report anything before they could talk again. She looked down at the golden pages, ordering them softly with a muted expression.

"…I should've asked more questions. I should've asked many more questions." Bloodgood felt herself grow weary. Very clearly she'd forgotten one very important part of her job; helping her students when they needed it. "I have a lot of work to do."

And with that promise, a new chapter opened.

Yeah, I like how this turned out. Sorry if it was upsetting for some people, but I did make sure to put in the warnings above. Either way, I hope it was at least enjoyable for a 10,000 word chapter.

I won't keep you here much longer, so I'll see you all next chapter. Expect an intermission to give everyone, especially the characters, a bit of an emotional break.