You Better Bring an Umbrella, Vol. 1

Chapter 6: Oh, For the Drama!

 "'Morning, Five," I called out to the hallway as I slid my legs over the edge of the bed, stretching in an attempt to crack whatever was hurting. Strangely enough, I didn't get a response, and was greeted only by the sounds of the city rushing by outside the windows. Carefully, I stood up and made my way out into my living room, thinking maybe he was still asleep. The poor kid needed it, after all that time sleeping among the ruins.

Unfortunately, I didn't find my brother at all. In fact, the couch looked the same as it had when I set things out for him.

Dammit. I shouldn't have fallen for that.

I tried to keep my panic down as I reached for my phone, dialing the number for my studio and waiting for the answering machine to pick up.

"Hey, it's Mina Hargreeves. I wanted to let you know some... extenuating circumstances have come up, involving my family. I'm going to have to take the rest of the season off, unfortunately. Everything's gonna be fine, probably, I just need to help figure things out."

Once I set the phone down on the receiver, I rushed to change and ran out the door, starting up my car as fast as I could. The best place to look would be the house. Maybe he just missed his own room? I couldn't explain Five sometimes, but I knew him well enough that I should've realized he had other plans. After last night, when he came in with that cut... what the hell was he getting up to?

My parking job wasn't the best, but that really didn't matter to me at the moment. I threw open the doors, hurrying up the stairs to the room that had gone untouched for ages.

"Five? Are you upstairs? Five?"

Thankfully, I found a boy standing by the window, looking down at the alleyway below.

"Oh, thank god." I let out a sigh, making my way over to him. "I was worried sick about you."

"Sorry I left without saying goodbye." He sounded far off, like his mind had gone to its own little world, yet to come back from whatever escape he needed.

I was prepared to chew him out, scold him about sneaking off and how I didn't want him to disappear again, but the moment he turned and looked at me, I just was happy he was still here... and definitely regretful that I had just brushed him aside last night. I'm sure that only made him feel worse about all of this. All the tension from our bickering could be put aside.

"No, look, I'm the one that should be sorry. Yeah, I was dismissive, and... Like I said, I didn't know how to process what you were saying. I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything. I'm worried about you, in all honesty."

"Maybe you were right to be dismissive," he scoffed. "Maybe it wasn't real after all." He turned away, wandering over to his desk and pushing an old toy cement truck along. "It felt real. Well... like you said, the old man did say time travel could contaminate the mind." He sounded hurt, causing my stomach to drop a little.

"No, no, I wasn't. I've just been dealing with a lot. I mean, you came back covered in blood last night. Whatever's going on, because I know there's more than you just going to the future, I want to help you. When you disappeared, I was mad, and it all just kind of came back last night, after all of the events. I missed you a lot, Five."

That brought a smile to his face, and I pulled him into a hug.

"I'm here for you, kid, whatever you're dealing with."

"Thanks, but... I think I'm just gonna get some rest. It's been a long time since I've had a good sleep."

That, right there, that was it. At least this time I knew he was lying. I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow at him.