Hey hey gang! Sorry for the delay, but this chapter is 8k words so that should make up for it LOL

It's almost summer! I can't wait to go swimming and hang out with my friends, that's going to be so much fun. Plus - more writing time! Always good!

Reviews!

MoonTheMagical: Thanks for letting me know! Yeah I wasn't sure. There should be one coming soon :)

SomeRandomRobo: Idk, book magic I guess? Or maybe Elizabeth is just practicing the dark arts…we'll never know. Also I need one of those too - I have so much random stuff to fit in there.

Qxr: Sucks that she'll say adios, definitely. And maybe you were right with your vague idea…

Lydia-From-Limmet: Good to see you back again! And I mean maybe. They have committed several felonies, so they definitely should! They are all pretty young though, so I'm not sure how that would work. Elizabeth would get off scot-free, Evan's probably the same, but I think Michael would be thrown in juvie. Unless, of course, William buys him out LOL

Penguimom: I bet you looked INSANELY COOL. Probably like Veronica Lodge!

Warning: smoking, jokes about suicide. William, you're so respectful.

Enjoy!

Chapter 75

Birds Of A Feather, Part 2

William was munching on a salty cracker absent-mindedly and flipping through a tawdry wrinkled magazine when Henry burst through the unlocked door, panting and clutching two shopping bags in his hands.

"I came here as fast as I could! What's the matter?" Henry gasped, sucking in breaths like a drowning victim. William rolled his eyes, setting the magazine down on the coffee table and standing up, stretching and yawning in a way akin to that of a cat's.

"Calm down, Hen, I was just hungry. And you know how lonely I get here with nobody to talk to." William lamented, pouting and batting his eyelashes.

Henry shook his head, catching his breath and mustering a grin. "Jeez, from the way you sounded on the phone I thought you or one of the kids was starving to death or something." He craned his neck as if looking for someone. "Where are the kids, anyway? I can usually hear them from the moment I get on your street," He joked.

William shrugged, snatching a bag from Henry in a swift movement and peeking inside of it, rummaging through the various food and snack items. When William didn't respond, Henry got a worried look on his face.

"Will? Do you know where the kids are?"

He shrugged again. "Didn't check." When Henry gave him a disapproving look, William sighed heavily. "All I know is, there wasn't any dinner made, and I didn't hear any screaming or gunshots happening in the other rooms, so I'm guessing they haven't gotten home yet." He tried to end it with a joke, but it clearly fell flat when Henry didn't laugh.

"William! You're supposed to check to see if they're there! If Charlie was missing, I'd-"

"You'd have a massive panic attack and go into withdrawal symptoms," William muttered spitefully. "Honestly, you two are joined at the hip. I bet you'd bring her to work if you could - oh wait, you already do!"

Henry chose to ignore him. He knew William didn't mean what he said half the time, from years of experience being his friend. "C'mon, let's think. Where could they be?"

William frowned. "This is boring. I didn't call you here to brainstorm, I called you here so you could make me dinner."

Henry ignored him again. "They could be at the brook…or maybe they're at the gas station. Or - oo! Maybe they're at an after-school activity!"

"Please, keep talking. I only yawn when I'm super interested."

Henry glared at him. "Okay Mr Sarcasm, where do you suggest we look?"

"I don't know! I don't even want to figure it out. Look, I'm sure they're fine. They're good at taking care of themselves. Now go make me food, I'm hungry." William ordered.

"Aww. Poor baby." Henry cooed. His tone was light and teasing, but William read it as condescending and his eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"Don't patronize me. Just because you're such a great family man and housekeeper doesn't mean I should be like you, too!" He spat angrily.

Henry's features softened, and he instantly backtracked. "Oh, Will...I shouldn't have- I mean, I didn't mean it to sound like I was patronizing you…I'm sorry!"

William beamed, flipping emotions quick as a flash. "Apology accepted. But pleeeease get me something to eat, I'm starving. I've only had five crackers and a quarter bottle of wine…"

Henry wheezed, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "God, you're hopeless." He paused. "Joke."

"I know." William said snappishly. "I'm not dumb, unlike some people. Get me food."

Henry raised an eyebrow. "What's the magic word?"

"What are you, my mum?" William scoffed.

"That's not the magic word."

"Bite me."

"Fine then, no dinner for you."

William glared at him acidly. "Fucking please."

"There, was that so hard? Now come on, I've got a delicious recipe for banana muffins and all the ingredients we need with your name written allll over it." Henry ordered with a smile.

"Hmph. Sounds…adequate."

"Good enough for me." Henry sing-songed, beckoning for William to follow him down the hallway. As they walked, Henry's umber eyes lit up with another idea.

"Hey, maybe they're at a friend's house!"

"My kids? Having friends? You're a funny guy, Henry, you truly are."

~lll~

They had a problem.

So whenever the Afton crew, or the Afton crew plus Clara or the Emily's, went on the ferry for business trips (or fun trips when The Divorce hadn't happened), Michael had never paid any attention to the actual paying of tickets and all the other paperwork for the trip. Why would he? It wasn't like he was needed for them other than listing his name or age. The adults took care of that while the kids played with each other or, in Michael's case, played Tetris on their phones.

However, Michael was starting to regret all those useless games of Tetris now, because he was faced with a small line of people buying tickets for the ferry, while he had zero idea on how to pay.

Then it struck him: would they even allow a twelve-year-old to buy ferry tickets?

"Hey. Nerdworm. Psst." Michael nudged his brother, who had been busy learning a playground handshake from Elizabeth. "You see that billboard over there?" He pointed to a large brown billboard covered with flyers.

Evan nodded. "Yeah?"

"Grab me the blue one with the ferry information. I need to know some stuff." Michael ordered. Evan nodded again, running across the crunchy gravel to the board.

Elizabeth, who's strawberry-blonde hair had been whipping around her face from the sea air, frowned, scrunching up her nose. "It smells like fish."

"That's because we're by the ocean, dumbass." Michael scoffed. Sometimes his sister could be such an idiot! "Honestly, are you mental or something?"

Elizabeth shrugged cluelessly. "Dunno. I like salmon burgers. Can we make the fish into salmon burgers?" One of her pigtails flew into her face and she giggled, spitting out the hair that had gotten into her mouth.

Michael wrinkled his nose at that. His dark hair was medium long, just touching his shoulders, but at least he kept it in a ponytail, away from his face. He honestly had a lot of respect for girls - how did they keep it in windy conditions? Of course, they didn't look too good with short hair.

And finally Evan returned, clutching the paper tightly in his grip. He passed it to Michael, who scanned it over.

"Okay…it says that for children 5-11, it's…eugh, seven dollars? And then for my age group, it's nine. But I can't even say I'm eleven to save money, because you can't travel without someone who's twelve or older without an ID, which I didn't bring." Michael groaned. He read a little further ahead, then suddenly gasped. "Oo! For ages 0-4, it's free!"

He turned around to analyze his siblings. Elizabeth could easily pass as four, despite having an early birthday. She was tiny, especially compared to other kids her age. And same thing with Evan, but considering Evan was three years older than the maximum, it probably wouldn't fly with the officials.

Michael turned to Evan, scanning him like he was a credit card. Small, chubby-cheeked, and scrawny, but not enough to look younger than six, maybe five if they stretched it. But a whole extra seven dollars to pay…

Michael had brought seventy dollars, and if he did the math (correction: if he forced Evan to do the math) then it would be around twenty-eight dollars and six cents to go on the ferry, double that to get back to Hurricane. But without Evan there, it would only be twenty-one dollars!

Now. Michael might have some irrational ideas, but he wasn't crazy. He knew he couldn't leave Evan here on the dock for two, maybe even three hours on his own. Evan would go ballistic, cry himself into a coma, and then get kidnapped by some greasy old dudes in a van. Then Michael's parents would be pissed at him and not Evan for being a sad little loser who couldn't help but get himself kidnapped.

However! What if, instead of leaving him here and risking Evan getting himself massacred, Michael just hid him in the backseat of the car!

"That's insane!" Evan cried after Michael explained the idea to him. "What, you just want me to just stuff myself under the seats?"

"Precisely!" At least that was one good thing about Evan: he had great deductive skills when it came to Michael's plans.

"I'll suffocate! Paul is going to steal all the oxygen in the car! I'll have to squeeze into a tight space, and hold my breath, and - Mike, I can't swim! You know that, right?"

"You're asking if I know that you're a little baby who can't suck it up and do a basic task that Elizabeth could do? Yeah. I know that. But just for once, I'm gonna need you to change into your big boy pants and get under the seat so that I don't waste all my money and we get stranded at Saffron. Does that sound like a simple enough task for cwingey wittle Evan?" Michael mocked in a babyish voice, crouching down with his hands on his knees as if speaking to a toddler.

Evan's chin trembled, but he grit his teeth and kept calm. "Fine. I'll do it. But you don't have to be so mean about it."

Michael grinned wolfishly. "Go cry about it."

Evan wisely chose not to respond.

After some struggling with the various compartments, they finally managed to squeeze Evan into the space underneath the cushions of the seats. See, the Afton family car had a cool feature where you could lift up the backseat and reveal a large hollow space for storing things. Usually the family just used it for drinks or backpacks, but it was spacious enough for a small child to fit in. It was still a tight fit, sort of like sleeping in a low-budget coffin, but Evan didn't complain. Out loud, at least.

"Hey." Michael walked up to the small booth where a brunet wearing an obnoxiously tacky yellow uniform and visor stood, writing some notes down on his clipboard. Michael rapped on the glass a few times with his knuckle, which finally got the guy to look at him.

"Hello young man." The man greeted him with a customer-service smile. "Tickets to Saffron?"

"Yeah. For me and my sister." Michael said, gesturing to the pair of hands stretched up to meet the counter.

Elizabeth bounced back a few steps so that the man could see her. "I'm his sister!"

The man smiled. "So I've heard. What's your name?"

"Elizabeth. I like ice cream, Barbie dolls, and Terminator 2: Judgement Day." Elizabeth listed cheerily, swinging her arms back and forth.

The man gave a short bark of laughter. "Izzat so? Haven't met many little girls who are big Terminator fans."

"She watches a lot of TV," Michael hurriedly tried to explain, not wanting the guy to assume anything about their family. "She sneaks out of her room at night. It's not anyone's fault but her own."

The man grinned. "So, she's a bit of a spy. Tell me, Elizabeth, what's your favourite part?"

"My favourite part is when the robots come and pew-pew-pew everyone to pieces! And then everyone's all silly and screaming for their lives!" Elizabeth explained gleefully.

"Yeah, no kidding." The man gave Michael a gruff nod. "Cute kid."

"Yeah, not so cute when you have to live with her." Michael sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"And then there's all these blood splatters and stomachs and people's intestines going everywhere!" She made a bunch of explosion noises to emphasize. "We're learning about the digestive system in class. That's how I know about all the intestines going-"

"Yeah, I think I get the gist of it." The man stopped her, looking rather green. He turned to Michael instead. "So, uh, what's your name? And how old are you two?"

"I'm Michael. I'm sixteen, and she's four, and we're bringing my car." He'd decided to be sixteen on account of bringing the car on board. Michael had debated leaving it in a parking lot, but there had been a lot of talk about car thieves on the news lately, and Michael didn't want to take any chances. Plus, Michael was quite tall, he could probably pass as sixteen if he wanted to. He'd certainly done it before…

The man squinted at him. "Bit skinny for sixteen."

Michael raised his eyebrows, placing his hands on his hips. "Gee, thanks. Not like I don't get enough of that at school, now I've gotta be bullied by literal adults too? Great, just great." Michael snapped with a pointed glare. "You know, we came on this trip to see our cousins - maybe I'll finally make some friends for once in my life. They're the only ones that don't tease me for my body, which includes the teachers!"

"Oh-" The man looked stunned. "I'm…so sorry, sir. I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that we get a lot of kids trying to sneak stuff on board, and I've gotta be careful who we let on board."

Michael sighed heavily, as if a huge boulder had been placed on his shoulders. "That's alright…anyways, I guess I'll fill out the paperwork for you."

The man handed him a slip of paper and Michael wrote out their names, ages, and car type. He used the last name Schmidt instead of Afton, since their family was rather famous and he really didn't care for the man realizing he was only twelve.

"Thank you," The man took the paper from Michael and turned to his computer, punching in a few numbers and letters. A small machine on the side spat out two yellow tickets and Elizabeth watched in fascination as he pulled out a pad of ink and a stamp.

"Would you two like a stamp?" He asked. Michael shook his head no, but Elizabeth nodded enthusiastically. Michael lifted her up from the ground and held her up with little difficulty (it was like holding air). She stuck her hand out, and the man pressed the cold ink stamp to the back of her hand. Elizabeth squealed in excitement, admiring the little red boat sailing on the hand.

"You two can go get your car now. Just follow the people in the neon jackets," He instructed, pointing further down the dock where three cars waited.

"Thank you," Michael said, and set Elizabeth back on the ground. The two of them ran across crunchy gravel and soft green grass to their burgundy car, Michael hopping in the front seat, and Elizabeth hopping in the back-

"HEY! GET OFF ME!" Evan screamed, pounding furiously on the seat from inside. Paul began to honk in a startled manner, pink feathers going everywhere. Elizabeth leaped out of the car in a single bound, like a cat who'd just witnessed a cucumber, shaking and pointing with a shivering finger into the car.

"M-mikey! There's a GHOST in the car!" She cried in terror, squeezing her eyes shut.

Evan popped out of the seat, frantically looking around. "A GHOST?!" His blue eyes were glassy, face blotchy and red. His breath was fast and off-kilter, as if he'd just run a marathon.

Seriously? "Are you two schizophrenic?! Ghosts aren't real! And Elizabeth, it's just Evan under the seat, remember?"

"Ohhhh." Clarity dawned on her face as she realized. "I remember now."

Michael facepalmed. Was he this dumb when he was her age? Probably not. "Look, just- get in the car, both of you."

After the children had been loaded, seatbelts had been buckled, and engines had been started, Michael drove them steadily onto the dock and onto the ferry, guided by people in neon jackets. Saffron Bay, here we come!

~lll~

"What the hell is a tub-spuh?!"

William asked in utter confusion as he scanned the instructions. Beside him, Henry was wheezing with laughter, bent over with his arms crossed against his stomach.

"Have you *wheeze* never cooked before?!" Henry laughed, blinking rapidly and staring at him in disbelief.

"I'll have you know I can make a bloody good boxed spaghetti." William huffed, tossing the recipe to the side. It fluttered to the ground like leaves in autumn. Henry rolled his eyes and bent down to pick it up.

"Come on, Will. You took Home Ec in twelfth grade, you know what a tablespoon is." Henry chided.

"No, actually, I didn't. Home Ec is stupid."

"It's not that bad."

"I would rather saw off each of my limbs with a rusty cheese grater."

"That's a little dramatic, don't you think?"

"I would rather stab myself in the eyes with a random needle I found in an alleyway."

"Okay, let's just-"

"No, no, I'm on a roll here." William grinned. "I would rather stitch my lips together with a dull knitting needle and barbed wire. Oo! I would rather go to my mother's little tea parties she keeps emailing me about. Or - wait, I would rather-"

"Alright, alright! Let's just start already!" Henry said, holding his hands up. "But I swear you were in Home Ec with me."

"Nah, that was that depressed junkie Nate Bradley," William corrected, rummaging through the cupboards and pulling out a large yellow bag of flour. "He totally copied my hairstyle. I can't believe you'd mistake me for him!"

Henry shrugged, eyes clouding with reminiscence. "He did have your hair. And similar eyes. I wonder what happened to him?"

"I heard he died from an overdose," William said with a devilish grin, scooping cups of flour from the bag. "He was always kind of an idiot. Probably did it by accident." He smirked. "Or on purpose. Maybe he finally realized how freaking weird he was."

Henry, who had been cracking eggs into the bowl, was now staring at him with an expression of horror across his face. "Jesus, William, that's…dark."

William shrugged. "Whatever. Good riddance, if I'm being honest. He was always kind of creepy. Caught him staring at me on multiple occasions with his…stalker-y eyes." William squinted, moving his eyes back and forth in a shifty way, then gave a little laugh. The shift in tone didn't seem to bother him.

But Henry didn't laugh, and instead set the egg back in the carton. "That's kind of a messed up thing to say, don't you think? You shouldn't say stuff like that."

"I know," William said brightly. "But it's just the two of us, and we don't have any reason to be offended."

Henry shook his head, not meeting his gaze. "Maybe so, but just…please don't talk like that, it makes me feel really uncomfortable."

William muttered something colourful under his breath, but returned to swirling a spoon around baking soda and warm water together in a little cup. They mixed and poured in silence for several minutes, with Henry focused on cracking the eggs and avoiding his friends' gaze.

"I'll chop the bananas." William offered. Henry gave him a small nod in return. He reached for the knife in the block and pulled it out. It was a small one, about the length of his outstretched hand and perfect for chopping bananas. William turned to Henry, about to make a stupid egg pun, when he realized that Henry was paying to attention to him! Glancing once again at the knife, he grinned with mischief.

"Hey, Will? Can you pass me the- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

William's grin grew wider as he tossed the spinning knife in the air again, catching it in-between his index and middle finger. "I'm doing yoga." He laughed sarcastically, "What does it look like I'm doing? Playing Catch The Knife!"

Henry's brown eyes were wide with horror. "Stop- stop that! You might hurt yourself!"

"I know, right? That's the fun of it!" William tossed it into the air again. "Wheeeee!"

Gathering all of his focus, Henry leaped forward with an outstretched arm and caught the knife square in the middle of his fist. William, though displeased, clapped for his friend.

"Well done! See, you're pretty good at this game too! Ooh, wait, what if we played a game where we toss the knife to each oth-"

"NO!" Henry shouted. "No knife games! Listen, maybe I should cut the bananas-"

William rolled his blue-gray eyes in an exaggerated manner. "It's not like I'm a mental patient, I can hold a knife without going stir-crazy."

Henry frowned doubtingly. "Okay. Just…be careful."

"Sure thing, Mum." William scoffed. He peeled the skin off the banana, laying it flat against the cutting board and chopping neatly.

"Hey, curl your fingers!" Henry scolded. "You're going to hurt yourself!"

William turned his head to glare at him fiercely, still chopping. "Listen, I don't need you constantly sticking your nose in my business! It's not your job to fuss over me, so stop it!"

"Um, William?"

"No! I'm sick of this! You always do this, and it's so annoying! I hate it when you-"

"WILLIAM! LOOK AT YOUR FINGERS!"

William turned back with annoyance to his hand, and - oh. A scarlet line of blood was welling up across his left fingers, horizontally and thin as a paper cut.

Henry grabbed William's hand, tracing the line with a calloused finger. William flinched, sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth. Thin cuts were the worst. They bled a ton and stung like hell.

"Are you okay? Should I go get a Band-Aid, or some gauze or something?" Henry fretted.

William ignored him. He paused for a second, then yanked his hand away from Henry's, licking a long stripe across the cut. He licked his lips, making a show out of it and winking teasingly.

Henry recoiled, scrunching up his face. "Ewwww! What are you, a vampire? We're baking here, that's so unsanitary!"

"Mmmm," William taunted, smacking his lips obnoxiously. "Yummy."

"You're so gross," Henry laughed as he opened the drawer and took out a whisk, whisking the eggs, milk, and baking soda-water together in the large blue bowl.

"Et tu, darling." William trilled, scrubbing his hands with a sopping, soapy sponge. Grinning evilly, he flicked his wrists beside Henry's face, spraying soapy water all over him.

Henry laughed in surprise, shoving him away and chuckling. "How are we even friends?"

"Twenty-four years, and I still have no idea." William replied with a dry laugh. He went to grab a towel, but then noticed the yellow sticky note stuck to the oven.

At gas staton w frieinds. Be back soon. Soz abuot dinner we will mak it up 2 u

-Michael+Evan+Liz

William showed the note to Henry, who beamed. "That's good. Now we know where they are, and they should be back soon." Henry took the note and stuck it back on the oven. "It's really nice of Michael to make the dinners for you guys, he must be wanting to be a chef when he gets older. I know when I was his age I would've hated that." Henry complimented.

"Uh, yeah. He volunteered to do it a while back." William mumbled, hanging up the red-and-white grid towel back on the hanger. "Speaking of food, let's get back to these muffins, I'm hungry."

~lll~

Elizabeth was hungry.

Sure, the staff at the birds center had given her a hot dog and some pop from the snack shack, and sure Michael had taken great care in remembering granola bars for everyone…but Elizabeth couldn't stand them! They were dry and tasteless, and they had yucky raisins which felt like she was biting into someone's ear.

Elizabeth sighed heavily, kicking her legs on the bench, hoping Michael would hear and take notice of her. But no, he kept on listening to whatever was playing on his headphones. Elizabeth frowned in frustration, turning to stare at the deep bluey-green ocean and gray skies in front of her. After parking their car down in the garage, the three kids were allowed up on deck, where they'd been sitting for the past five minutes.

So, when Elizabeth caught a smell of something great on the wind, something fantastic, she immediately started to spam-poke Michael.

"City's breaking down on the- hey!" Michael yelped, inturupted mid-song. "Wha-

ugh, what is it Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth beamed as brightly as she could, giving him her best school-pictute grin. "Can I go get chips? I can smell them."

Michael's eyebrows creased. "How can you smell them?"

"I dunno, I just can. Can I go get some? Pleeeeease?" She pleaded, filling her eyes with as much sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows as she possibly could.

Michael sighed, pulling the backpack onto his lap and rummaging around, pulling out five dollars. "Fine. Only a small bag, and Evan has to go with you."

"What? Why me?!" Evan whined. He'd been having so much fun watching the seagulls dip up and down, grazing the waves with their wingtips and bathing in the salty sea spray.

"Because you're older than her. Plus, I'm getting to the good part in my song. Go!" He shooed the two of them away with a flick of his wrist.

And while Evan wished he could keep watching the birds, he did admit that exploring the ship would be kind of exciting. Whenever they went on business-slash-fun trips, they had to stay strictly in the lower quarters of the ferry, no ifs, ands, or buts.

"So, which way are the chips?" Evan asked, trying to slow his pace. He was the babysitter now, and babysitters didn't run along like little kids.

Elizabeth, however, kept at her lightning-fast pace. "I'm a doggy, I'm following my nose."

Evan blinked. "Oh. Okay."

They walked a few steps more before Elizabeth started to get frustrated. "Come on, Evvy, move faster!" She latched onto his arm with a death grip, tugging him down the white stairs and inside the ship's lower quarters.

"Yaay! Chips!" Elizabeth screamed, making everyone by the food stand turn to stare at her. Evan's face flushed red with humiliation and he averted his eyes, turning his back to the line of people and instead looking at the large food stand.

It was rectangular and candy cane-striped, with silver counters and a bubbling deep-fried, where a hairnet-donned man swathed in white sanitary clothes lowered sliced potatoes into the boiling yellow grease. A menu was taped to the front, a few customers bending over to read it.

But what was especially odd about this stand was the lack of chips of any kind. No BBQ, no Sour Cream and Onion, no Salt & Vinegar - not even a measly bag of ketchup chips! How did Elizabeth smell them if they weren't even here?

The line dwindled as people and couples took their order of fries or pop and left, until the line started with them.

"What can I get you two?" A woman with a freckled face and her orange braid wrapped up into a hairnet asked them cheerily.

Evan sighed. Well, maybe we could get some pop. Not chips, but still tasty. Hmm, maybe I'll get some Orange Cr-

"I want chips!" Elizabeth chirped at the lady, giving her a big, toothy grin. The woman's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, and Evan glared at his sister.

"There aren't any chips, Liz! You can't-"

"Ohhh!" The woman laughed in realization. "You two are British! I see! One large fries, coming right up."

Evan blinked. "What?"

Elizabeth frowned, turning to him. "Chips, Evvy. We're getting chips."

"That's not what they're called! Those are fries! Chips are the thin potato thingys that come in bags and Michael eats them. Like Lay's, or Old Dutch!" Evan objected.

"No, those are called crisps. That's how Daddy says them." Elizabeth huffed, crossing her arms and turning up her nose.

Evan glowered at her. "No, they aren't!"

"Yes, they are!"

"No they-"

"One large…chips!" The lady sing-songed, holding up a steaming cardboard container of salty FRIES. Elizabeth threw her five-dollar-bill into the air, and the lady quickly caught it with a smile. Elizabeth bounced up with her arms outstretched, snatching the FRIES and picking one up gingerly. She stuffed it in her mouth and immediately spat it back out, gagging.

"Owwww! Its hot!" She screeched, retching and spitting and making a scene. Evan threw his head back and groaned, everyone was staring at them! He took Elizabeth's hand and dragged her out of the room.

"Stop making a scene! You're embarrassing me!" Evan scolded, tightening his grip on her wrist. His short, grubby nails dug in and she cried out.

"Lemme go! Lemme go!" She wailed, tugging and trying to pull away. Evan ignored her and dragged her up the stairs and to the bench where Michael was typing away on his phone, which he held high above his head in the air.

"Whyre you texting like that?" Evan asked.

Michael groaned. "There's no service on this stupid boat." He stood up on top of the bench, waving his phone around to try and catch a…cell service? Evan wasn't exactly sure how phones worked. He wasn't allowed one until middle school.

When he felt short, sharp nails scratched at his arm, he realized he was still holding onto Elizabeth and he hastily let go of her. Elizabeth rubbed her sore wrist, frowning, but quickly bounced back.

"I got chips!" She crowed, holding the golden brown sliced potatoes in the air as if it was a first-place trophy.

"Fries," Evan said witheringly.

Michael looked a bit confused, but gave her a thumbs up. "Nice. Do you want to go look at the seagulls or something?" He said, a bit awkwardly. While he was used to being in charge, it was usually around the house, never out in public places.

"Okie!" Elizabeth chirped, clutching the fries close to her chest as if they were a prized treasure made of gold as she ran, peeking through the bars that protected people from falling into the deep sea, white foamy waves emerging from under the boat.

Suddenly, a V-shaped flock of about six seagulls swooped by, gray wings spread out, gliding on the breeze.

Elizabeth whined in annoyance. "Up-up!" She ordered. Michael mumbled something under his breath, but hoisted her up into the air, above the bars to let her see.

"Lookit them!" Elizabeth giggled, reaching her arm out to point at them. Unfortunately, the little cardboard box of golden fries spilled from her hands, plummeting down towards the thunderous waves…

And right into the seagulls grasp.

Elizabeth giggled nervously at her brothers's exasperated faces. "Oops."

~lll~

Finally, after twenty-eight minutes of mixing, pouring, and baking, the golden brown banana muffins sat on a cooling rack, hot steam swirling up into the air.

"I think this is the best moment of my life," Henry declared proudly, hands on his hips.

"It's not the best moment of my life. Once, I found £10 in my coat pocket - that was pretty great." William deadpanned, arms crossed.

Henry gave him a friendly shove. "C'mon, don't be a grumpy-pants."

"I'm going to maim you."

"You're in a bit of a silly mood today, aren't you?" Henry observed, grabbing two muffins and falling down onto the couch with William sitting beside him, crossing his legs and taking a large bite out of the crumbly muffin. He offered one to William, who practically clawed at it, gobbling it to pieces as if he had just been rescued from a desert island.

"I was hungry," William mumbled around a mouthful of pastry. "I guess I get…silly when I'm hungry."

"Yeah. Turning into a vampire is just a little bit silly." Henry teased, taking the wrapper off and discarding it on the coffee table.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" William deadpanned.

"Nope." Henry laughed, swallowing and finishing the muffin. They sat in silence for a moment, slipping into their thoughts, before Henry dug around in his flannel pocket and pulled out a stained pack of cigarettes. He took two out and glanced at William. "Wanna smoke?"

William blinked, surprised. "Sure." He took the white cigarette from Henry and held it between his middle and index finger. "I didn't know you smoked."

Henry laughed in disbelief, pulling out a blue lighter printed with little white clouds. "Seriously? I've been smoking for a while. I guess I just try not to do it around Charlie or your kids." He flicked open the top and lit the end of the cigarette, handing it over to William, who copied him.

Thick gray smoke plumed into the air, the sickly sweet smell of nicotine settling in the room. William sucked in another breath and let calm flow through his veins. This was nice.

"So, Katy called today." Henry said casually, shattering William in his sense of pure relaxation.

William coughed a little, sitting up straight and grimacing. "Ew, that slut. Why the hell did she call now?"

Henry frowned. "I know you're not the biggest fan of her, Will, but-"

"Henry, she literally cheated on you! Four times! And one of them was with me!" William yelled in exasperation.

Pause. Okay, that might sound bad if you don't have the context. What William meant was, Katy tried to cheat on Henry with him, something about his voice? But William, like a good best friend, had shoved her off (maybe a little too violently, but whatever), and told Henry, who broke it off with her. So no, William did not consent to the cheating. That interaction had left William with a large amount of distaste for Katy. Play.

Henry trailed his gaze to the floor. "Yeah…I know."

William took a long drag from his cigarette, then exhaled. "So, what did she want, anyway?"

"Oh…she was just calling to check in, you know." Henry mumbled, fingers interlaced in his lap.

William raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't know. Hen, she hasn't called since the day after you guys broke it off and she wanted her weird creepy art back."

Henry sighed. "Okay, fine. Apparently she had a chat with Clara, and Clara mentioned Charlie, and one thing led to another…and now she wants to come see Charlie."

Apparently, Henry saw the murder in William's eyes, because he quickly backtracked. "It's not Clara's fault, I mean, it probably slipped out! And it's not her problem! I mean, those two have been best friends for years, you can't blame Clara for this!" Henry knew he was rambling, but he seriously didn't want William to get angry with Clara. Henry hated drama, always had, and he especially didn't want to start any now.

"Hmm." William still didn't look convinced, but he seemed to put it off. "You told her no, right? I mean, she's probably just going to take up space and bitch and moan about how much her life has gone to rubbish, and that can't be a good influence on Charlie."

Henry didn't answer.

"You told her no, right, Henry?" William growled.

Henry looked up, his eyes apologetic and full of remorse. "Look, I'm sorry, I just…I'll call her back. But she's just…having a tough time. Living paycheck to paycheck in motels and stuff." He saw the disbelief on William's face and quickly stammered, "l'll cancel. I swear."

"Good!" William was appalled. "I can't believe you're still letting her manipulate you like that! You're such a doormat!"

"I know." Henry mumbled. Then he smirked. "She called you Burty, by the way."

William rolled his eyes, slumping back on the couch. When he'd first met Katy, she thought his name was Will, short for Wilburt, and it had become an inside joke in their group that everyone found funny except for William.

He changed the subject. "But seriously, Hen, you need to stop being such a pushover. You never get mad about anything, it's almost sort of creepy."

Henry huffed. "I'm sorry. But I am meaner to other people."

William raised his eyebrows. "Why not me?" He batted his eyelashes. "Am I special?"

Henry laughed. "Shut up."

"Come on, just say it." William urged. "I wanna know."

"Oh, I don't know. I just feel like…" Henry trailed off. "Never mind. I don't think you'd want to know."

"No, what? Tell me!" William snapped, suddenly grabbing onto Henry's wrist. "I'm not some weak little garden flower, you know. You don't need to protect me!"

Henry glared at him, attempting to pull his friend's hand off of his wrist. But it didn't work, and Henry groaned in frustration, his heart quickening. "I just feel like you wouldn't react well, okay?! If I got mad at you, you'd either be furious or horribly depressed, and I don't want either of those for you, or me!"

William blinked. Wow, he was not expecting that. "Oh."

"Yeah." Henry mumbled, bringing his knees to his chin and wrapping his arms around them. "I'm sor-"

"I swear to God Henry, if you say sorry one more time I'm going to ship you off to Canada." William teased, his tone (thank God) light-hearted and playful. "It's fine, honestly. I get that you just wanted to, um, protect me. But you really don't need to. I'm a big kid now, I think I can handle a little outburst every once and a while." He gave him a dry smirk. "Especially when I'm joking about suicide. You're allowed to be angry at me then."

Henry gave him a wavering smile. "Okay. Thank you for letting me know." He shot him a Look. "And seriously, don't- don't do that. That's like, really screwed up."

William yawned, stretching his arms high above his head and resting his head on one of the arms of the chair. "Mhm, yep, totally. Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?"

Henry stood up, clapping his hands together. They needed something to do, something that would clear the tension in the room. He scanned the room for something to do, and his eyes landed on a shelf lined with glossy movies, organized alphabetically. "Do you want to watch a movie? You've got a bunch here."

William snapped up, eyes bright. "Can we watch Terminator 2? That's like, my favourite movie ever."

Henry wrinkled his nose hesitantly. "That one's so gory though…"

"I know, right? It's the best!" William replied cheerfully. "Play it!"

"Fi-ne. But if the kids don't come back soon, then I wanna watch something good."

"You're going to pick like a dumb chick flick or something."

"Actually, I wasn't. But I will now just to spite you."

"I actually hate you. I'm not even joking."

"Aw, love you too."

~lll~

The security guard sent a few quick messages to her friends, tucking her phone back into her sweatpants pocket. She took her keys off the chain on her pants and stepped out the door, locking it behind her.

The door wobbled for a few seconds, and then a hand shoved it open. Pink gum stuck to the inside of the lock, holding the door unlocked, stretched to the breaking point. The hand, tan and calloused, picked the gum off, popping it back into their mouth.

Evan screwed up his face in disgust. "Ew."

"Ew yourself," Michael retorted, blowing a bubble and popping it snappily. "Come on, we haven't got much time. Liz, you've got Paul in your bag?"

"Mhm." Elizabeth affirmed, patting her brightly coloured Dora the Explorer backpack cheerfully. From inside the bag, a muffled HONK rang out. Evan normally would have questioned how Paul fit in there, but after Elizabeth's slightly horrifying demonstration of how Paul could bend in there, Evan now believed her that Paul was a contortionist.

His gaze wandered the Birds Center in wonder. He'd been there two years ago, for his kindergarten field trip, but he'd never seen it at night before. Sure, it wasn't as bright and noisy as daytime, but Evan liked it a lot better this way. Silent except for the occasional squawk or chirp, black except for the dim lights above. Much better than the cornucopia of sensory overload that had sent five-year-old Evan into a tearful mess, one that earned him a brutal mocking from his older brother. Plus, there was something about being there with nobody else there that was both peaceful and thrilling - an oxymoron, Evan realized.

Michael clapped his hands for attention. "Alright! Elizabeth, do you remember where Paul belongs?"

"Yeah…" Elizabeth mumbled. She started off to a corridor down the right labelled 'Sea Birds', dragging her feet with her shoulders slumped.

Michael frowned, rushing forward and placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Elizabeth turned to look up at him with big, glittery eyes. "I don't want Paul to go! He's so pretty, and we had so much fun together…

Michael gave her a half smile. "You had him for five hours, Liz, that's not long enough to get emotionally attached yet."

Elizabeth's lower lip trembled and Michael inwardly sighed.

"Hey, it's okay. C'mon, you can visit him here any time!" He coaxed. "And he'll always remember you."

Elizabeth sniffled, clutching her backpack tighter. "Promise?"

"I promise. Now hurry up, we don't have long before the ferry departs!"

The three kids dashed through the hallways, sneakers squeaking on the linoleum floor. They ran and ran until they reached a large red door. Out a small rectangular window, Evan could spot the night sea, a large net keeping the birds enclosed. Michael turned the handle, but it wouldn't budge.

"It needs a passcode," Elizabeth piped up. And sure it did, because a small keypad was at eye's length beside the door.

Michael groaned. "Great, just great. How are we supposed to figure this out?"

"Um." Evan said. "I think I know the code."

Michael frowned in confusion, but shrugged, stepping aside and letting Evan try.

Evan let his gaze rake over the number keys. Each one was shiny and clean, untouched. Except for the number 1, which was coated in fingerprints and chipping away. Evan punched in the code 111111 - and the keypad blinked green with a subtle click.

Michael turned the handle and opened the door. He blinked in surprise. "Wow. I was not expecting it to be that easy. Uh, nice job, Ev."

Evan beamed, pride spreading from the tips of his toes all the way to the roots of his hair. Michael congratulated me!

They entered the exhibition, stepping onto a small wooden plank balcony that was about eight feet above the inky black sea. The dark sky was cloudy, with the bright half moon and stars hidden behind gray puffs of air. If Evan squinted, he could see two white pelicans, one big and one small, huddled close on a long, thick branch right over the water.

"Okay, Lizzy. It's time to let Paul go." Michael said, looking down at her gently. Elizabeth nodded sorrowfully, unzipping her bag and coaxing Paul out. The lanky magenta pelican crawled out, stretching his rosy, long legs. He turned to the side, gazing out at the sea with longing, then turned back to Elizabeth. With a final honk, he flapped his wings and with a shower of pink feathers, he was gone.

And with minimal tears from Elizabeth, the three kids made their way back to the docks, ready to get on the boat and-

Oh no.

Ohhh no.

"Oh my God. The ferry's gone." Michael said in horror. He could feel his heart pounding in his stomach. This couldn't be happening. He'd checked the next boat, and it was coming out at eleven. He couldn't do this, he just couldn't. And they couldn't drive back, the car was low on gas and wouldn't make it in time.

There was only one thing left to do.

Michael sighed a deep, dramatic sigh, and pulled out his phone to call his father.

~lll~

When William arrived in Henry's car and heard what they'd done, he was not pleased. That was the nice way of putting it.

"While I was slaving away at home making myself dinner and for the longest time thinking that you three had been murdered," William spat, Henry standing awkwardly beside him, wringing his hands. "You three were up in Saffron, eating chips, saving birds from domestication, and having a gay old time while I'm working my ass off at my job, which by the way pays for everything you know and love. Great fucking job at keeping these two in check, Michael, I'm so pleased."

Henry shot him a worried look. "Will, maybe you shouldn't-"

"Or what? You gonna beat me or something?" Michael jeered, crossing his arms with a cocky smirk.

"Keep running your mouth like that and I might." William snarled. "Now get in the goddamn car before it gets to come true. I expect that you three know your punishments."

Evan knew his father wasn't saying the punishments out loud for Henry's sake. But Evan knew all right. He could tell from his father's voice: No food for two days, no screen time for…ever, maybe, and no friends over. He sighed heavily, he was really looking forward to dinner that night after a long school day! And because it was a Thursday, Michael would've made freezer pizza, Evan's favourite.

Michael's school had a cafeteria, so he at least would get to eat in secret. Maybe Michael would sneak him and Liz some food tomorrow at school. Evan sure hoped so.

The three kids slumped to the car. Evan picked up Henry's and Williams' conversation with his sharp hearing.

"Will, come on. You can't just threaten to beat your kid. That's something that can really mess someone up in life, you know."

"He's already messed up. Doesn't need any help from me in that department."

There was silence from Henry's end.

"Come on, Hen, it's not that big of a deal. If Charlie had done all this and then been an arrogant little prick about it, wouldn't you have done the same? Or would you just coddle her like she's some little pure angelic little newborn, like you already do?"

Yikes. Mean.

When Henry spoke again, his tone was flat and even. "You can drive your own car. I'll take mine back home."

"Oh, should I let Michael drive? Cause it seems he's pretty good at that! I bet you'd let Charlie drive!" His father yelled, a hint of desperation in his voice. Evan turned his head up to look at the two.

"Bye, William. See you tomorrow." Henry replied, walking away and towards his own dark orange truck.

William had a look of utter disbelief on his face. "What the hell, Henry?! You're just going to leave me?! What is wrong with you? Are you even listening to me?! Turn around!"

Henry didn't look back.

A/N

William: stop coddling me omg I can handle you getting angry at me sheesh gosh jeez omg

Henry: *gets angry at him*

William: *surprised Pikachu face*

Like ok William. Sure. Whatever you say. Henry literally knows him better than he knows himself LMAO

Also, wondering why Evan and Elizabeth are so small when their parents are either average or freakishly tall? malnutrition! So fun. Great parenting, William. You're always there to cook meals and keep your kids healthy.

And if you check back to…the first Steve chapter, if I'm not wrong? Then you'll see Katy (labelled as Kate) in a photo of the Emily's. It…kind of messes with the timeline? Because Charlie doesn't remember her, let alone know what a mother is? But whatever, let's ignore that. I might change it later though.

Question/Challenge: What is your favourite kind of weather? For some reason I've always liked cloudy weather, it makes me feel really energetic.

Have an amazing day/night!

~ghost