☆

Rain seems to be pondering, but he nodded nonetheless. “Okay po.” 

Taking care of Dwayne in the ways that he can— River has been on the job since what, probably since they were thirteen? Probably, because River has no recollection of when he started protecting his brother. All he remembers is the sound of Dwayne’s cries inside a room. How it stopped for a minute, then going back to small cries.. becoming smaller every passing second as if it would be the end of the world if he makes a single noise.

What happened inside the room remains as a mystery, buried deep underground with only his mother and Dwayne knowing. He can’t bring himself to ask Dwayne, either. 

But River is aware… 

What happened inside that room is something that changed his brother. 

The other half walks down the stairs, and when it comes to the last step, he turns his head to double-check if someone’s following. River lets out a sigh, although assured that Rain isn’t. 

He grabs a broom and a dustpan before dragging himself to the living room, looking at the random things scattered around. His eyebrows arose, “Oh.” 

He leaves the materials near a wall so he could focus on organizing the dunnages. He starts with his father’s folders on the coffee table, then he goes to get Rain’s empty tumbler, drawing books, his mother’s jewelry, her vitamins, woman’s perfume, and his very own bag. River thanks God he left it in the living room. 

River indifferently brings his bag to the staircase.

Once it’s all set, no more things scattered around and the house finally looks normal in his eyes– he starts sweeping the floor. From the screen he looks like he’s casually sweeping, but River’s movements were big. He’s trying to fasten up the pace so he can return to Rain… 

And do what he usually does. 

He returns the cleaning materials back to where he took it, a shaky breath escaping his lips. River sits on the fifth stair tread, looking up once again to look out for his younger brother. It would be bad if Rain sees him doing this.. 

River unzips his bag open to get his laptop. He plugs his password, then drags the cursor to the most opened software. 

Account: spycamojica

Password: Rain@64gzUqfA7M_dR

He hits the enter button with no guilt. 

To that end, the clips of Dwayne leaving were demolished from the face of the earth. Permanently deleted, with no way to bring it back. 

He’s probably their mother’s most trusted— her treasure and her pride. The favorite, apparently the kindest and the sweetest. 

Keyword— apparently. 

“Aww. Coffee and sandwiches?” Their mom hugged the middle child tightly and planted a kiss on his cheek, “Ang sweet naman ng anak ko, thank you River!” 

River glanced at his twin who was hiding behind the door, only to see Dwayne smiling at him with raised eyebrows and a thumbs up. Weird. 

“Bakit ako pa inutusan mong magbigay ng kape? Eh ayoko nga kay Mama. Inaaway ka niya. Tsaka, ikaw naman gumawa no’n ah. Dapat ikaw din magbigay.” Were the words that left River’s lips when he left his mother’s room. Dwayne followed him downstairs, “Tinutulungan lang kita, ang pangit kasi ng ugali mo eh.” 

He’s only who he is right now because of Dwayne. So if there comes a time and he learns their mother is making Dwayne question his whole purpose on earth again, River will, without a doubt drop everything he’s doing. 

If Dwayne just shuts his mouth while his mother is literally spewing out heartless and unnecessary obloquy, River won’t put up with that. He doesn’t know if it’s the heaven’s doing or his mother’s, but in all instances, he’s always late to save the day. 

Kaian just somehow never catches his mom doing that to his brother. He always comes to the scene where his mother is already on her desk working, and Dwayne is already thinking of ways to sabotage himself. What a nice brother, letting his twin endure all the suffering. 

Him and Dwayne are practically one. So does it have to be only Dwayne?