- - - - past; 7 years old. - - - - “And this will be your room,” the woman said, giving David a kind smile as he brushed past her and into his new bedroom. Even though he didn’t show it, he was excited that he finally had his own room for the first time since… well, ever. “Well… goodnight, David. I’ll see you in the morning.” He glanced back around, watching as the woman, who had introduced herself as Miranda, walked away. Miranda and her husband both seemed nice, but David still couldn’t help but to miss his mom.. his real mom. It had been two years since the last time he saw her, but there hadn’t been a day that went by where he didn’t want to go and find her, but he didn’t know where she was. She’d find him though, wouldn’t she? Sleep wasn’t something that came easily to the boy that night. It never did in a new place.  Instead, the seven year old stared up at the ceiling, his mind attempting to come up with all the ways this house and these people sucked. It was something that he and Bryce had done a lot after getting taken from their mom, they’d find the things they hated about wherever they were. In a way, it gave him comfort; he was used to it. But, this time, it failed. He couldn’t think of anything bad about this place. His own room, the biggest house he had ever been in, good cooking, a pool, a dog that belonged to the family named Morley. Even the young couple had been generous to them all day. As much as he loved that, a small part of him hated it. He hated that someone could be generous and loving enough to replace his real mom… the mom who had stopped caring about him and Bryce along the way, no matter how much David tried to fight that fact. Getting out of bed, David quietly left his room, tiptoeing down the hallway where Bryce’s room was. He knocked on the door, but without waiting for an answer, he entered the room. He didn’t need to ask if she was sleeping to know she wasn’t. David wasn’t sure it was the twin telepathy thing they had or not, but he knew it was never wrong. “I can’t think of a single thing I hate…” David whispered, knowing she’d know what he was talking about. - - - - past; 16 years old. - - - - For months, David Adkins had longed to be back home. The home that had never been a home to him, where he was constantly arguing with his dad and being reminded that he was a disappointment and a f*** up. It hadn’t always been that way. When Bryce and him had first been adopted by the Adkins, they had been loving and warming, encouraging, understanding, patient. That was the home that David had longed for the last eight months. But things hadn’t been that way in years, and David was stupid to think that maybe things would go back that way when he finally came home. Still, though, seeing his sister and his friends were the only thing that kept David going whenever he wanted to give up. Now that he was home once again, he wondered why he wanted to come back. His foster dad had been more of a d*ck to him than usual, greeting him with a “Well, I hope you learned your lesson and do what I say from now on.” His mom, on the other hand, showed concern but quickly dismissed it whenever her husband walked into the room. Bryce, though, acted cold toward him. When he first came home, she barely even looked at him, and whenever he tried to talk to her, she pretended like she was in her own little world. Maybe she was, but David wouldn’t know. He wasn’t part of that world. Not that he could blame him, because if the roles were reversed and Bryce had spent the last seven months denying his visitations, he probably would just as hurt and cold as she is now. But, she didn’t know how hard it was to look at her. To know that, despite their parents being assholes, she had it good. Way better than what he had, night after night. He wouldn’t tell her though. No. He’d just have to learn to accept her newfound attitude toward him. His friends? Well… he didn’t have any anymore. Rhys had almost two years ago, and the crowd he found himself hanging out with afterwards all ended up in jail after the incident that had happened. David was alone, completely and utterly alone. Their parents left not too long ago for some meeting that David didn’t care much to ask about, leaving him and his twin sister alone. He hated that they weren’t on speaking terms right now. Silence wasn’t something he liked very much, especially when it came from his other half. Forcing himself to shut his laptop closed, he pushed himself away from his computer desk and made his way to the same room that she had slept in for the nine years since they got adopted by the Adkins. He knocked on the door, and it wasn’t surprising that he was met with a deadly silence. The teen knocked a couple more times, and he was just about to give up when he decided that he wasn’t going to. He was going to get her to talk to him, about anything. He didn’t even care if the topic was the weather or about math homework. He walked right into her room, and for the first time since he came back home, he saw that there was actually something different about her. She looked almost the same as she did the last time he saw her before being sent away, but there was something off about her, he just couldn’t place his finger on it. “Bryoda… what’s going on with you? You’re different,” he stated matter-of-factly, though he knew she’d reply with something along the lines of “yeah, so didn’t you.” Because he had changed. He wasn’t the same David he had been eight months ago, and as much as he tried to act like he didn’t need anyone in his life, the truth was, he needed Bryce. He just needed to talk to her, to know that she’s okay and she needed to know that he was okay, even if he wasn’t actually okay. - - - - present; 25 years old. - - - - It was a big day for the twenty-five year old, who had just won his very first case since being employed at Miller & Harrison Law Firm. David beamed as he walked through the law firm, people congratulating him on the win. Being a lawyer wasn’t something that he had planned on doing when he was younger. Sure, he had heard that he would make a fine lawyer some day, with his stubborn attitude, argumentative side, and his ability to never give up, but it hadn’t been until he was seventeen that he realized that’s what he needed to be. Almost like it was what he was supposed to do in life. He never knew it would feel this great though to win a case. He wanted to celebrate it. While he had wanted to spend the night with the three people who meant the most to him in the world, Bryce, Rhys, and Aurora, two of those options were busy that night. Rhys was on a date with his girlfriend, and David knew he wouldn’t home until the morning, and the girl he was sort of seeing was at home with her son. Which left David and Bryce alone, not that he minded. He actually looked forward to spending time alone with his sister, since it had been a while since they did that. Even Tuesdays, they seemed to be busy during the early hours of the day, and they were only left a few hours at night to catch up on their television shows. A little over thirty minutes later, David arrived at his sister’s place. Carrying in a large pizza and other side ideas he had ordered from their favorite pizza place, he walked right on in without even knocking. “Bryoda!” He announced, setting the pizza up in the kitchen. “Guess who won the case? Come celebrate with me, I bought pizza, cheese bread, and chicken wings.” He was in the middle of filling his plate up, when he saw the quick flash of disgust cross over her face, causing him to pause. Just as quickly it was there, it was gone. “What? Did you suddenly get allergic to pizza or something?” He half joked, a chuckle falling from his lips, though he had a feeling this was no joking matter.
