Identity

chapter two

Welcome back :) this chapter might be a little boring, but stick with it, it gets more exciting after this

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Despite his hopes of temporarily escaping reality, his dreams turned into nightmares focusing on just that; the harsh reality. He felt even more sluggish the next morning, even after getting ten hours of sleep.

Only after sitting on the bed for fifteen minutes did he get up and get dressed. He looked in the mirror and was met with the sight of someone who looked like himself, but worse. He had slight bags under his eyes, unkempt hair, and his mouth tilted down ever so slightly. He didn't remember looking so sad.

After he got dressed, he fell back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. His mind battled with conflicting thoughts and feelings. May couldn't be dead. It couldn't possibly be true. Soon, she would walk through those doors and get him and prove to everyone that it wasn't true.

Yet somewhere in his mind, he knew she was dead. He couldn't deny it, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise. It was easier to pretend it wasn't true.

At some point, Emma came back and picked him up. It could've been twenty minutes or an hour later–he had no idea. But alas, she did. That meant that today he would be going into an orphanage.

She led him out of the police station and into her car. It was a pretty small Toyota, but it was comfortable. It reminded him of May's car.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Emma spoke up. "You know, I'm supposed to take you straight to the orphanage, but how does breakfast sound?"

"Good." He wasn't very hungry though.

"Alright, do you like McDonald's?"

He nodded, and she changed course towards the fast-food restaurant instead. Out the window, he saw a family sitting outside at a restaurant, smiling. There was a dad and his son playing at the park. A laughing couple walking down the street.

It was just another Friday. Their lives continued as normal. They couldn't tell that his life was falling apart. That it seemed like the sun had stopped shining. That it was anything but just another Friday.

They pulled into one of many empty spaces and walked inside. He was here just a week ago with May. She always said how they shouldn't have Mcdonald's; it was super unhealthy, but they'd go anyway. They'd sit at the same table in the back corner every time.

He ordered his food, and despite him objecting, Emma paid for them both. She told him to go sit down while she waited for the food. His eyes darted to the table in the back, but he steered away from it.

Deciding on a random booth, he sat down and checked his phone. There was an email from work, saying he could take time off. Good; work was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

He also got a text from Spencer asking about where he was. Without replying, he turned his phone back off and shoved it in his pocket.

How would he even explain what happened? His vocabulary wasn't large enough to describe how he really felt, and there was no way he'd be satisfied with a text that simply read "May died".

Soon enough, Emma came back with the food. After the first bite of his pancakes, he realized how hungry he actually was.

"You look a lot like your uncle," Emma commented, looking at him in a sincere way. It caught him off guard–she knew Uncle Ben?

Upon seeing his confusion, she continued, "We used to work together. He helped me out for my first few years. You just remind me of him a lot."

For a second, he just looked down and sighed. "His death anniversary was yesterday. May and I were supposed to go visit him," he replied quietly, still not looking up.