Smiley and Sunshine

45.

😇

A lopsided grin slipped onto Dakota's lips as he pulled into the driveway, sticking Baker's truck behind his own car.

And scene.

He just about had a heart attack the whole ride home, but he fucking did it.

And damn, if he wasn't proud.

He parked the car, turned it off, then hopped out, being considerate enough to not slam the door shut as his copilot had fallen asleep on the job.

His sister was such a slacker.

By the time he rounded the front of the car and was opening up the passenger door, Hayes was somewhat aware of her surroundings, but Dakota didn't want to waste anymore time outside.

"Hop on," Dakota said, turning around so she could climb on his back for a piggyback ride. He heard the familiar click of the buckle being released and then the seatbelt leather zooming back to its original hook.

Then little hands touched his shoulder before more confidently wrapping around his neck. Hayes leaned her weight against Dakota before fully trusting him and anchoring her legs to his side. She laid her head on his shoulder, the tip of her nose touching his skin.

Dakota reached back and supported her by linking his arms together underneath her butt so then her legs could just dangle freely. Deciding to just grab her backpack later, he strolled up to the front door and was able to successfully single-handedly unlock the door in 0.73 seconds.

"Where do you want to go?" Dakota asked, standing aimlessly in the foyer. He happened to glance down and took the initiative to kick the hazardous pile of shoes towards the wall. The memo never seemed to stick with any of them that the sneakers belonged inside the shoe-bin, not beside it.

"Glen," Hayes instantly answered, the word tickled against his neck.

Duh, he should of expected that.

Taking a wild guess that his little brother was still holed up in his bedroom, Dakota carefully climbed up the stairs two at a time.

Didn't want his little sister to fall off his back or anything.

Dakota rounded the banister at the top and veered to the left. This time his destination was the second door on the right.

He gently eased the bedroom door open with his knee, a smirk forming when he remembered how Hayes gave the door a hearty kick this morning.

The smirk quickly disappeared when he replayed the rest of the morning's events.

The room was still considerably dark without the fan light on, though he was able to see fine with the sunlight that managed to filter in through the window blinds.

Both beds were empty, but there were signs that Glen had definitely been here from the laptop left open on top of his comforter and the phone abandoned next to his pillow.

But where was the boy?

Dakota glanced around, his sight catching the bathroom door that was ajar.

"Smiley?" He called out as he strolled over to the kid's bed. Dakota turned around, depositing Hayes safely onto the mattress. "You okay?"

There was a coughing fit in response before the brother could verbally answer. "Hold on," Glen replied weakly.

That was a good sign, his brother was still alive.

In the bathroom, Glen picked his head up from where he had been resting it against the ledge of the tub. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there but it was probably a while. He had to use the bathroom earlier and got dizzy, never making it back to his bed.