Reflections Of Angels

Welcome

"Where the heck did you find him?" Dec said, filling up the kettle at the tap to make everyone a drink. The nervous energy was getting to him and he was bustling about the kitchen, finding a million and one things to do to keep himself occupied.

Mark, in contrast, had taken a lot of persuading to even get beyond the front door; in the end, it had taken Billy, lip wobbling, yanking on his arm to get him to come inside. Now he just stood awkwardly in their house, blinking in confusion as he looked around. "He was... up a tree."

"A tree? A tree?" Dec shook his head in exasperation. He jabbed the spoon in his hand at the stairs, where he spied Billy crouched,  peering between the bannister bars, a goofy grin spread across his face. "What were you doing up a tree?"

"Sleeping." Mark said quietly.

"Treehouse!" Billy chimed.

Declan looked back and forth between the two, decided not to question it and moved on. "Speaking of which," He zeroed back in on Billy, hanging off his bannister bars like a plaintive little prisoner in a cage. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for bed?"

" 'm not ti-yad."

"He runs away to sleep in a tree and he's not tired." Dec sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. 

Mark furrowed his brow. "Who are you talking to when you do that?"

"Huh? Oh- no one. Myself." Declan jabbed his spoon at Billy again. "You are so grounded."

"Yeah, yeah." Billy sassed.

"I mean it. Go get ready for bed- go on, scram."

Billy huffed loudly, but a moment later they heard the sound of his footsteps pounding up the stairs.

Dec let out a held-back laugh, shaking his head once more at the child's antics. Then he turned back to Mark. "So what-"

"-I'm not staying." The words came out hurried and he was already making his way towards the door. "I have to go."

"O-okay." Dec stuttered. "Well, you're... welcome back again. Billy was so glad to see you..." The door was open and Mark was gone. "... Goodbye." He said uselessly after.

Not a very long or plot-changing update, but I felt things needed wrapping up a little after the last chapter. Hope it's alright!