Stickman High - an AvA/AvM fanfic

Chapter 22 - Bonding time.

TCO's POV

It was Saturday. I woke up, rubbing the sleepiness off my eyes. I looked at the time. It was 9 am.

One of Second's friends recently attempted an overdose and I notised that Second was pretty sad for the last week. I was hoping I could talk Dark into doing something with him to cheer him up.

As I got out of my room, I heard some yelling coming from downstairs.

'I swear to God if they're arguing already...' I thought.

The yelling was coming from the living room. I peeked inside of the room. I couldn't belive my eyes!

Second and Dark were play fighting! They were playfully punching eachother, hitting eachother with pillows and calling eachother silly names while laughing cheerfully. I couldn't help but smile.

I leaned against the door frame and watched them. Seeing them mess around like this reminded me of how I used to play around with Dark when we were younger.

Soon, I got pulled out of my thoughts by getting hit with a pillow.

"Hey!" I said.

"Morning Chosen!" Said Second.

"You're up already?" Asked Dark.

"Yeah, I got woken up by your screams." I rolled my eyes playfully.

"Sorry, we were just... playing around I suppose." Second mumbled.

"Yeah, I've notised. Yet, I gotta admit that I'm very proud of you two. You guys made huge progress every since dad left." I smiled.

"You really think so?" Dark asked.

"Yep. I'm very happy with you two."

"You wanna... uhm... y'know... play around with us? Like when we were kids?" Dark asked sheepishly.

One of the things I always found amusing in Dark, was how shy he would get when asking for attencion of affection.

"I mean, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. But I think I'm a lill too old for that now."

"Then how about we just talk?" Second asked.

"We could do that." I smiled. "You good with that Darky?" I elbowed Dark.

"I told you to not call me that!" He gave me a slight glare.

We sat down on the couch. After a few moments of silence, I decided to say something.

"Dad will be back in two weeks." I sighed.

"What? How is that possible?" Second asked in disbeleaf.

"I know right? Time flies so fast..." I said.

"Well, are we gonna go back to... y'know, whatever we had going on before dad left?" Dark asked.

"I don't wanna go back to that." I said.

"Me neither." Second added.

"Me three. I suppose I... Kinda got attached to Second by now, so I'm not planning to bother you anymore kid." He said quietly.

"Awwe, you got attached to me?" Second asked with a smile.

"Shut up. And what if I did. You got a problem with that?" Dark murmured.

"No? I'm happy about it. I got pretty close with both of you and I don't want to go back to what we had in the past." Second said softly.

"Y'know what? Even if dad will want us to go back to that shit, we shouldn't let that set us apart again. We're siblings after all, we gotta stick together!" I said.

"I don't want dad to come back yet. I liked it when he was gone. I didn't get yelled at all the time. I actually felt wanted." Dark mumbled.

"What do you mean you felt 'wanted'? Did you feel unwanted when dad was around?" I asked, suddenly feeling very concerned.

"Kinda. I mean, dad would yell at me no matter what I did. And you were just kinda bossing me around. So, y'know..." He mumbled.

I knew this was one of those rare moments when Dark decides to become vulnerable. I was a bit suprised he was doing it in front of Second though.

"You felt like we didn't love you or something?" Second asked.

"A lill bit..." Dark mumbled, looking down. "You have no idea how much being the middle child sucks."

"But I'm a middle too." I said.

"Well, yeah, but whenever Victim left you kinda became the oldest. I was stuck being a middle. As I said, it sucks. You're not the perfect oldest child or the sweet youngest child. You're just a useless middle." He sighed.

I wrapped my arm around him.

"You know that you're not useless, right?" I asked.

Dark pushed me away.

"Stop pushing it Chosen. I don't want your pity.

"Dark..." I sighed.

Dark crossed his arms and kept his head down. I knew that he often did that whenever he was trying not to cry.

I sighed deeply. I wrapped my arm around him again, pulling him closer to me.

"Dark, whenever you wanna hear it or not, you gotta remember that you're not useless. You've shown great progress. You became a way better big brother for Second that I could ever imagine you to be."

"B- but... But I get in trouble so much at school... And I say such rude shit to you a- and-"

"Dark, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you're our brother and we love you no matter what. Right Second?"

"Heck yeah!" Second exclaimed.

Dark, who started tearing up a lill bit, wiped his face with his sleeve.

"I'm sorry for being such a mess. I just can't control my emotions sometimes." He mumbled.

"It's okay." I gave him a pat on the back. "You want a hug lill bro?" I asked.

"...yes." He mumbled.

I hugged him close to me. Second joined into the hug too. Dark hugged back. We sat like this for a long while before pulling away.

That little moment brought us even closer together. I really wasn't ready for dad's return... none of us were...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

something bad is 'bout to happen to me

I don't know it, but I feel it coming

"Dark Red" by Steve Lacy.

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HellooOOOooo!!! Another chapter! Yay :>

I dunno why I like writing sibling bonding moments so much. Maybe because I'm an only child? I dunno.

Today's lyrics are more of a preview of what's gonna be happening soon. I can't wait to write all that!! (The whole mess is gonna start in the next chapter)

Words: 1045

Stay safe guys and I will see you in the next chapter :3