Troubled Soul (manxman) *Completed*

Ten: Noah

His apartment was dark and cold, clothes lying on the ground and a bowl of chips still on the coffee table. I ran my fingers over his self help books and quickly noticed they were covered in dust. I stopped when my eyes landed on a frame, basically the only thing not covered in dust. I picked up the picture frame and gently smiled, feeling tears in my eyes.

The picture was easily recognized, seeing as how it was one of my absolute favorites. The picture was taken last year at Christmas when we all traveled to New York City. Greg was mushed up against my face, both of us laughing as heavy snow was sticking to our faces. Our noses were red, Greg's hat was starting to fall off his head and we were having the time of our lives.

We were, I guess I'll have to start referring to my brother in past tense now. I'll never be able to hear his voice again or hug him. And I'll never be able to apologize to him. The very last conversation I had with him was me being mad at him, I never even got to say goodbye to him.

When I saw something fall onto the frame, I realized it was a tear. I held the frame closer to my body as all the tears I've been holding in released. When arms were suddenly wrapping around my body, I didn't even look up. I simply rested my chin against the top of the picture frame as more tears escaped.

"I don't know what we're going to do with all this stuff," I heard my mom's voice say somewhere in the apartment. "Wes, did you already move that large trunk?"

"I did," Wes' deep voice said above me.

I looked up to see my parents moving around the apartment, my mom picking up clothes as she walked around. It had bothered me when I never saw her cry, until my dad said she had been crying for days. He had said she was simply trying to remain strong for everyone else.

"Hank, don't try and lift that on your own," Wes was suddenly saying before he quickly kissed my head and running over to my dad.

"Oh Wes its fine."

"Don't argue with him Hank," my mom scolded as Wes started to help my dad move a large box.

When they left the apartment, my eyes wandered over to my mom to see her currently cleaning up the kitchen. Keeping the frame close to my body I wandered into the kitchen before leaning against the wall. "Are you okay Mom?"

Her eyes were suddenly looking up at me, worry crossing her face. "I'm fine honey."

"Mom, its okay if you're not. I'm not a little kid; you can talk to me like an adult."

She finally stopped moving and sighed, making me realize just how tired she looked. It also wasn't like her to not be wearing anything sparkly or with tie dye. She was wearing a navy sweatshirt with simple black pants and there were dark circles under her eyes. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the oven with a heavy sigh.

"No parent should ever have to bury their child." She looked at the ground with a frown before looking back up. "I knew Greg had an issue with alcohol, but I really thought he could beat it. We may have been hard on him at times, but honestly I thought we were doing what was right. I guess I'm trying not to stop and really think about it, because I don't want to think about one of my children being gone."

When she started crying, I instantly walked over and wrapped my arms around her after putting the frame down. We were quietly wrapped in each other's arms until she pulled back to place her hands onto my cheeks. She sadly smiled as her thumbs moved over my skin as I whispered,

"I'm sorry I'm always going to remind you of him."

She was already shaking her head before I finished talking. "Don't apologize for being a twin. Having twins was the best feeling in my life, and I'll always be grateful for you two. I'm not going to lie it might be a little difficult at times, but I'll be okay. Looking at you will always make me think of Greg, and I love you both so much." She continued to stare at me with a smile before pulling back to wipe her eyes. She then noticed the picture frame that I had placed down earlier. I watched as she picked it up and smiled, her fingers touching our faces. "This is one of my favorite pictures of you two."