Am I Harry Potter yet?

Dylan had been so antsy for the past two days, knowing Alec was on his way back from California. While it was nice to have a break from his brother and have the room to himself for awhile, he had never been away from Alec for that long all at once; it was crazy how much he missed him.

Another good part, though, was Dylan getting close to Ryder. They were now closer than they’d ever been, and Dylan was glad. He’d been wanting to get close to his newest foster sibling, but it seemed that Alec had beat him to it first.

Although, there was a bit of guilt in the back of Dylan’s mind, knowing that Ryder knew about Scarlett’s pregnancy and Alec didn’t. It was eating away at Dylan from the moment Ryder accidentally found out, and Dylan knew he’d have to tell Alec the moment he saw him again.

And now, it was finally time.

He was prepared to run out the moment Alec pulled up in his old, dinged up truck. Dylan hated that truck- he thought it smelled bad, and that it looked like it belonged to a redneck, but Alec loved it like a child.

His mind and heart were racing as Dylan sprinted out the door and up to Alec to give him the tightest hug possible- it was probably the most exercise he’d had in ages. Seeing Alec in person again felt like a dream come true, though, and Dylan didn’t release from the hug at all as he let out a sigh of relief.

And he knew, it was time to rip the bandage off.

“Thank god you’re home,” Dylan spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve been meaning to tell you that I got Scarlett pregnant but you’ve been gone for so long and I needed to tell you in person and I ended up telling Ryder before you and I’m sorry.” He was speaking pretty fast, but his voice still soft, in case their parents were to come out. He didn’t think they even knew he was here yet, though.

“Oh god, I love you,” he spoke as he squeezed him a little tighter.

Dylan squeezed him very tightly, making it evident that he had missed Alec without even having to say anything. Alec smiled to himself; he missed Dylan, too. So much. He squeezed him back just as tight.

He furrowed his brows as Dylan began to whisper, finding that a bit strange. They were the only ones outside, there was no need to whisper. But then Dylan dropped a bomb.

An atomic bomb. He said something that made Alec’s eyes grow wide, and his jaw drop.

Dylan had gotten Scarlett pregnant.

Alec was shocked. He heard Dlyan say he loved him, but it was kind of muffled. He still felt his arms around him, but it almost didn’t feel real. Scarlett was pregnant. With Dylan’s baby. There was a few beats of silence, before Alec finally grasped the situation at hand.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He whispered, still hugging Dylan. He felt a burst of anger, and pulled back to look at his brother.

“Dylan, do you understand how hard this is going to be? That baby is a human who is gonna scream and poop and pee and cry and need your undivided attention. How are you two gonna handle school and a baby? I’m...” Alec said, sounding stern and angry until his voice drifted off.

A human. A human baby. His brother’s baby...

His niece or nephew.

Alec was gonna be an uncle.

In that moment, when he realized that, all the anger dissipated, and a smile broke out on Alec’s face. 

“I’m gonna be an uncle.” He whispered, looking at Dylan. “I’m gonna be an uncle!” He whisper shouted, doing a little dance in his place. “Okay, not mad anymore. I’m so happy for you, Dill Pickle,” He said, pulling his brother into another tight hug.

“Do mom and dad know?” He asked, worry lacing his words. He had no idea how they would react. Well, he actually did. His mom would probably cry for hours and his dad would want to burn the house down. But he wouldn’t think about that.

She mumbled a simple, “Sorry,” as she continued through the house, dragging her two suitcases behind her with one hand. The house wasn’t too big- it had three bedrooms and two and a half baths, and it was only one story. Autumn’s instincts had her go straight to her old bedroom, her door wide open and almost welcoming.

Entering the bedroom made her cringe slightly, for the walls were decked out in emo band posters and other embarrassing things. There were even some pictures hung up from when she was younger, pictures of her, Drew and Adam included.

“Welcome back to 2011,” Autumn spoke as she let out a breath of air, practically trying to brighten her own mood. The room didn’t have a lot of furniture- a full sized bed, a dresser and an old desk.

She led him to what seemed like her old bedroom, and when she turned on the lights, Alec let out a snort of laughter. “Holy shit, this is badass!” He said, looking around at all the posters hung up on the wall.

“Look! Pete Wentz has eyeliner in this one!” He said, pointing to one of her many Fall Out Boy posters. He looked to her dresser, and picked up a picture frame. It was a picture of Autumn, Drew, and Adam, sitting on the beach.

“This is a good look for you,” Alec said, holding up the photo. Autumn’s hair was in two little pigtails, and it was too adorable. As he set the picture frame down, Autumn suggested going to sleep, and he didn’t even think about shooting down that idea.

“Sleep sounds awesome. I’m fuckin’ beat.” He said, flopping down onto Autumn’s bed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and saw that Dylan had tagged him in a photo on Instagram. He went to look at it, and gasped when he saw what it was.

It was irrational, but it was making Autumn’s stomach churn. Everything about her aunt was irrational, anyway; she probably wouldn’t even be surprised if that fear were true.

He stepped in first, and Autumn felt like she were safer now, as if they were in a haunted house and Alec was the brave soul to lead the way. She followed in behind him, her hand brushing the wall next to the door to find the light switch, and she flipped the lights on, standing in the door frame as she allowed herself to take in her surroundings.

Nothing had changed; not one thing had been moved since she left. All the furniture was collecting dust because of how abandoned the home was. It really was a haunted house.

He didn’t like it.

He went to move further into the abandoned home, but stopped when he heard Autumn struggling to control her breathing. He turned back to her, she was still in the doorway. Her eyes were fixated on a certain spot in the room.

Alec thought for a moment, and when he realized why she was looking there, a chill ran up his spine.

No one should ever have to see something like that.

Ever.

“Alright,” she breathed out, nodding her head a few times, “I’m ready.”

Letting go of Alec’s hand, she unbuckled her seat-belt and exited Alec’s truck, looking at the house that she lived in for ten years. For a moment, she froze, almost forgetting why she was there, almost forgetting she was no longer apart of the trauma of her past. For a moment, she felt like she was fourteen again, coming home after school fearing how her aunt would be feeling that day.

But, managed to shake herself out of it.

She grabbed her suitcases from the back of the truck, leaving Alec to grab his own, then she slowly walked toward the front door, each step she took seeming to echo inside her head.

She pulled the key that her father gave her out of her pocket as she reached the door, Alec following behind her, and with shaking hands, she unlocked the door. Once she put the key back in her pocket, though, she didn’t open the door. Instead, she looked up at Alec and gulped.

He grabbed his own suitcases from the back, and closed the hatch. He watched Autumn from the truck for a moment. He watched her take each step slowly, as if she was rethinking the whole trip, like she was remembering every single bad thing that ever happened to her here.

Alec felt awful; he felt like there was nothing he could do.

He quickly followed after her to the door, and stood behind her. He watched her take the key out of her pocket with shaky hands, and he wanted to was hold them in his own.

She unlocked the door, but didn’t open it. She asked Alec to.

He would’ve done the same.

The closer they got to Los Angeles, the quieter Autumn seemed to get during the trip.

They had a ton of fun- singing and dancing like idiots, stopping in random cities and taking dumb pictures of each other. It was the best trip Autumn could have asked for, but the thought of getting to her aunt’s house made it harder to have fun as they got closer to their destination, and she knew Alec could tell, too.

Once they were closer to Los Angeles, they didn’t need to use the GPS anymore, since Autumn knew the area pretty well. She used to wander the city constantly in order to get away, and as they drove through the busy streets, Autumn had a feeling of nostalgia. Her past was horrible, but she still missed some of the little things. Sometimes, she even missed her aunt, but she never admitted that.

“Here’s the neighborhood,” Autumn spoke, pointing in front of them. “Turn left up here.”

Her heart was racing, and she had to force herself to take slow

, deep breaths. She had to keep telling herself that after everything was packed up, she’d never have to see the house full of nightmares again.

Sure, the drive wasn’t that great, but her just being there, and joining in on all his ridiculousness, made it 10 times better. But, he still couldn’t shake the second hand anxiety he felt for Autumn. He knew this must be terrifying for her. Having to go back to a place that gives you nightmares, and holds terrible memories.

But, he would give her the strength she needed to get through this. She was strong already, but he hoped he would be able to ease her of some of her worries somehow.

As they drove through Los Angeles, Alec marveled at all the sights. The tall buildings, the weird people on the streets, all the bright lights. It was new to him. He had never been outside of Toronto.

Autumn pointed out the neighborhood to him, telling him to turn left. He nodded, and did as she said. It was a small neighborhood, lines of houses on each sides, like something out of a film.

He quickly spotted the yellow house up ahead, a parked his dingy truck in front of it. He could hear Autumn trying to control her breathing next to him, so he reached out and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers, and giving her hand a soft, reassuring squeeze.

“Don’t worry, I saved it. That video is getting played at your funeral,” she spoke as she added it to her story, smiling.

When she asked when it would be her turn to drive, Alec gave her a long side eye, and shook his head. “Uh, never? I’m the only one allowed to drive my baby, you know that.”

“Yeah, I guess I couldn’t lift your fat butt up there. Maybe if you lost some weight,” she responded, shrugging playfully.

Alec’s over-dramatic gasp as she turned the radio down was actually suspected, and she rolled her eyes. “Alec Matthew Turner, on this trip, your radio rules do not apply. Otherwise, I will be driven mad.”

The radio was turned up, once again, and Autumn let out a heavy sigh, giving Alec an ‘Are you fucking kidding me’ look as he began to scream the lyrics. Although, she had to admit, she liked this song, too. His singing was terrible, though, and ruined the song a bit. He was still cute, though.

“Whatever, fine by me.” As the hook started, he noticed Autumn had her phone out, recording him on Snapchat probably. “YOU’RE NOT THAT SNEAKY, TORRES!” He cried, just before the chorus started.

Alec started his truck and pulled away from her house, and Autumn let out a heavy sigh, relaxing in her seat. For now, she could at least relax a bit and try not to worry about arriving to her aunt’s house, but she knew she wouldn’t relax as much as she was hoping.

Alec knew the two of them would try to make the drive as easy as they could, try and make it relaxing. It would be hard, but he knew they would both try. They would play stupid games, and sing stupid songs. It will be nice.

He gasped loudly when Autumn turned down the volume of the radio. “I can’t believe this, did you, the passenger, just touch my radio?” He said, one hand on his chest, acting appalled. “I’m disappointed in you, You should know better.” He said shaking his head.