Together Till.

Twelve

Today was the day, it was the day that parents were coming and picking up their kids. Gwen greeted, goodbye-d, and hugged the kids that were leaving but by the end of the day only two stayed.

Max and Harrison sat on the pier talking to each other, both of them were talking about their Home life.

"So your parents are terrified of you?" Max asked.

"Yeah. I didn't mean to make my little brother disappear. It was an accident but they couldn't get that through."

Max hummed in response, remembering his family and squeezing his sleeves in his hand.

"What about you, Max? What's your family like?"

Max was quiet for a while before speaking up. "They're horrible. My entire family is the same. They hated me. Just because my dad isn't my biological dad."

"What?"

"My mom had an affair. She got pregnant. After she had me, dad treated her like shit, resulting in her treating me like shit, and dad hated me to begin with so yeah. My family hates me..."

"Because your mom had an affair."

Max nodded and laid down, holding tightly onto his hoodie. Harrison held Max's hand and smiled.

"Hey. Maybe while we're here we can treat each other like family. I'd love to have a little brother again!"

"Will you make me disappear?"

"What?! No!" Harrison laughed.

Max smiled a bit and laughed lightly.

"What're you two talking about?" Gwen asked as she walked up.

"Just a few things." Harrison said.

It was then that they noticed the two people following behind Gwen. There was a man and a woman, both wearing suits and carrying clipboards. They looked somewhat upset as they examined their clipboards, Gwen looked a little upset too.

"Who're they?" Max asked as he sat up.

Gwen huffed out a breath and looked down.

"We're from social services. We came to get a boy named, Harrison?" The woman said.

It was quiet until Harrison jumped up and spoke.

"Social services?" Harrison exclaimed. "Why me?! I'm just waiting on my parents to come get me!"

The man sighed and adjusted his tie. "Your parents signed you up for adoption. We're sorry," He walked up and knelt down to Harrison's height. "But don't worry. We'll make sure to find you a nice home, with a nice family."

Harrison stammered out a noise as he cried. His shoulders shook as he covered his face to quiet the cries that came from him. The man took Harrison into a hug and pat Harrison on the back, shushing him and saying, "It's going to be alright."

Gwen sniffled and walked up to the woman, who dried her teary eyes quickly. "I want to talk to you about Max." The woman nodded giving Gwen a sign she was listening. "I've been trying to get into contact with his parents but they won't pick up their phones. I was wondering if you could take him with you."

"Do you not have the family's address?" Gwen shook her head. "Alright then. We'll take him and see if we can contact them."

"Thank you." Gwen said. "Max, Harrison. Go get your things together."

Max jumped up and pointed at Gwen. "Why the fuck do I need to pack my shit!?"

"You're going with them. I can't contact your parents and your family didn't list an address or any other way to contact them. These guys will have better luck at that."

Max screamed at Gwen, at everyone, and everything. He refused to go. He screamed for an hour or so before his voice became hoarse. That was when he gave up and gave in.

Max and Harrison walked to their tents and gathered their things together. Max held tightly onto his bear and got into the car, sitting beside Harrison.

He examined the clean, tan seats, that were stained somewhat with what looked to be tear drops. He listened to the man and woman close the trunk and buckle the two in before they got in themselves.

"There's tissues in the passenger back seat pocket, and blankets in the pocket behind my seat." The man said as he started the car.

Max and Harrison looked out the back window and waved to Gwen as they drove away. Gwen slowly waved back at the two before she dropped to her knees.