“So,” Hyde began softly, “you went to an orphanage after?”

Rune nodded against his shoulder.

“Didn’t you have any other family to take you in?”

“My grandpa tried, but social services wouldn’t let him take all three of us in.”

“Three?”

“Yeah, I have two little sisters, they’re twins.”

Rune sat up, he rubbed his eyes dry. He gave Hyde a little smile. Hyde smiled back.

“Why wouldn’t they let your grandpa take you?”

“He’s crippled in his right knee, so they argued he couldn’t care for two five-year-olds and a thirteen-year-old by himself.”

“Is he in a wheelchair or something?”

“No, he can walk fine. But he can’t put more pressure on his knee than that. So, he can’t do stuff like running or carrying children.”

“Right.”

Rune hugged himself and stared down.

Hyde frowned. He hummed as he thought of something. Rune seemed to appreciate physical contact for comfort a lot. Last night, that was the way he comforted Hyde, too.

So, maybe, “You know, if you want to—I don’t know—snuggle up to me a little for comfort, then that’s okay.”

Rune perked up in surprise. “Oh, I didn’t want to”—he rubbed the back of his neck—“cross a line or something.”

“No, it’s fine. Come here.” Hyde waved him over. Rune breathed out a chuckle and sat next to him, leaving no space between them.

“It’s nice to snuggle while trauma sharing,” Hyde said with a grin.

Rune laughed.

“So, now that you’re away, are your sisters staying with your grandpa or are they still at the orphanage?”

“Neither. They’re staying at our old house where we lived with our parents, with a friend from the orphanage.”

Hyde raised his eyebrow. “A friend?”

“Yeah. She had lived at the orphanage her whole life. When we got there, she guided us through the orphanage life. And then, when I was old enough to leave, she moved in with us. She was also my girlfriend for a couple years.”

“Girlfriend, even? What’s her name?”

“Lullaby.”

“Why did you break up?”

Rune snorted. “You want the gossip?”

Hyde shrugged. “What? I’m just taking an interest in your life.”

Rune laughed again. “Alright, then you better tell me more about yours too, later.”

Hyde sighed. “Fine.”

“Great, well”—Rune tilted his head towards Hyde—“we broke up, because I didn’t want her to be stuck with me while we couldn’t see or speak to each other for who-knows how long.”

“What if you go home and she’s still single?”

Rune raised a curious eyebrow. “Are you asking if I’d want her back?”

“I guess so.”

Rune leaned closer with a teasing smirk. “Why? Are you interested?”

Hyde leaned away. “Just taking an interest.”

“Mhm, right.” Rune got out of his face. “Well, no, I wouldn’t want her back. I mean, I still love her, she’s my best friend. But that’s where it ends for me now.”

Hyde nodded. “Okay.”

“Relieved?”

“Shut up.”

Rune snickered.

“What about you? Do you have any exes?” Rune wondered.

Hyde looked down and fidgeted with his fingers. “No.”

Rune hummed.

“What are your sisters’ names? What are they like?”

“Oh.” Rune was caught off guard by the sudden subject change. “Their names are Moon and Night. Or actually Moonlight and Midnight, but we never call them that. I’m not sure what they’ll be like now, because they were eleven when I last saw them and they’re sixteen, now. And that’s quite the period of change. But Moon was always more social while Night was more reserved.”

Hyde nodded and hummed.

“What’s your sister’s name?”

“Huh—did I tell you I have a sister?”

“Yeah, while you were freaking out.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Oh, right. Her name’s Tayen.”

“Who’s older?”

“She is, by three years.”

“Is she nice?”

“Eh.” Hyde tilted his head. “Most of the time.”

Rune chuckled. “What about your parents?”

“My parents,” Hyde repeated. “They’re like the classic grumpy and sunshine combo. My mom is chatty and cheerful, and my dad is reserved and acts more like her shadow in public places.” Hyde looked at Rune. “Not that he’s mean or anything, he’s really sweet and caring, but he’s quiet about it.”

Rune nodded.

“What about your grandpa?”

Rune smiled. “He’s the most caring person I know. He’s been through a lot and you can tell, but he doesn’t let it ruin his current life. And it takes a lot to get him to lose his temper, but when he does”—Rune’s eyes widened as he took a deep breath—“prepare for a storm of sass.”

Hyde laughed. “A sassy grandpa, I love that.”

Rune laughed too. “He doesn’t look like a grandpa yet, but he definitely acts like it.”

“Huh?”

“Remember the vampire aging thing? He’s seventy five but looks thirty seven.”

“Oh, right.” Hyde got a disturbed look on his face. “Oh my god, your grandpa looks younger than my parents.”

Rune laughed again.

“Hey,” Hyde started in a serious tone.

Rune raised his eyebrow. “Hm?”

“When are you going home?”

“Uhh, I don’t know.” Rune frowned.

“Shouldn’t you get it over with? Seems like you’re stalling, now.”

“That’s a bit hypocritical, isn’t it?”

Hyde tensed his shoulders and furrowed his brows. “May I remind you how different our situations are? You don’t have to worry about your family hating you for what you did.”

Rune tilted his head. “Well—”

“I don’t get what you’d be so afraid of. You miss them, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, but it’s not that simple. I hurt them a lot by leaving and not keeping in touch, they’re going to be mad at least a little bit.”

“Why didn’t you keep in touch?”

Rune sighed. “When you do the work I did, you create a lot of enemies. I was afraid if I wrote them letters, that one of those would intercept it and find out where my family lives and do who-knows-what to them.”

“If you tell them you didn’t keep in touch to keep them safe, surely they won’t be mad?”

Rune shrugged. “Hopefully.”

“You know, if you’re afraid to go alone, then I could come with you.”

Rune turned to him in surprise. “Would you, really?”

Hyde smiled. “Yeah. It’d get lonely again otherwise, if you go alone.”

Rune smiled too. “Well, if you’re coming with me for moral support, then how could I still refuse?”

Hyde chuckled.

“When do you want to go?”

Hyde shrugged. “We could go today, before you let your anxiety change your mind again.” Hyde nudged him with his shoulder.

“Oh—okay.” Rune nodded, considering it. “Alright, let’s do it. It’s a three day travel anyway.”

Hyde’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Oh, yeah. Enath is very far from here.”

Hyde stared at him in disbelief.

“Still want to go?” Rune chuckled.

“Uh. Yeah, fuck it, let’s go.”

“Right now?”

“I should probably tell Selene and Raven I’m leaving, first.”

Rune nodded. “Okay, I’ll get ready in the meantime.”

----------------------------------------

Hyde stood in front of Selene’s door. She would probably be annoyed at him interrupting her again. Would she even care that he was leaving? He doubted it. She might even be happy about it.

He knocked.

“Come in!” he heard, surprising him.

He opened the door and walked in. He found her in her study. “Hey,” he greeted.

Selene turned her desk chair to him. “Hey. What is it?”

“I wanted to let you know I’m leaving for a while.”

“Oh? Where to?”

“Rune’s hometown, to see his family.”

“Why are you coming with?”

Hyde shrugged. “He needs some moral support.”

She smirked at him and snickered.

“What?”

“Afraid you’ll be lonely without your boyfriend?”

Hyde twitched his head with a raised brow. “Wha- boyfriend?”

Selene laughed. “I’m just teasing.” She turned back to her desk and waved him off. “Have fun.”

He gaped at her, confused, then stepped away to leave.

Hyde stared at Raven’s door with a feeling of dread in his stomach. She wouldn’t react well. Should he tell her at all? Yeah, that was the nice thing to do. She was always nice to him, annoyingly so. Not to Rune, though. She always glared at him as if she wanted to stab him.

Anyway, let’s get this over with.

He knocked on her door. It opened and Hyde was greeted with a big smile.

“Hey! Nice to see you here, wanna come in?” she gestured for him to walk in.

He shook his head. “No, I just wanted to tell you something.”

Raven’s smile faded. “Oh. What is it?”

“I’m leaving for a while today.”

“What, where? How long?”

“Not sure how long. I’m going to Rune’s hometown with him.”

All the remnants of joy on her face were washed away, replaced with anger and confusion. “Why?”

Hyde took a step back, ready to leave. “He needs some support.”

Raven groaned. “Why—why is he so important to you?! You’ve known him for a month and all he’s done is break in and steal!”

“He’s done a lot more than that, more than you and Selene have done for me in six years! I actually feel a connection with him and like being around him.”

Raven scoffed. “Unlike me?”

Hyde sighed. He nodded. “Yeah.”

Tears came to Raven’s eyes. “Fine. Leave, then.” She slammed her door.

Hyde took a deep breath and headed back home.

Well, that went as expected.

He walked into the house. He entered the living area where he expected to see Rune, but it was empty. He raised his eyebrow and looked around. He took a step back into the hallway. “Rune?” he called out.

“Yeah?” he heard from one of the rooms.

“Where are you?”

“Your room.”

Hyde found Rune, searching through his closet. “What are you doing?”

“Looking if you have any warm clothes, which it doesn’t seem like you do.”

“Why would I? The only warm thing I have is the hoodie I gave you.”

Rune glanced down at the hoodie tied around his waist. “Oh. I guess I’ll have to lend you some of my clothes in Enath.”

Hyde shrugged. “You can return the favour, then.”

Rune chuckled.

He sat down on Hyde’s bed. “I’ve been thinking of something,” he began.

“Are you already starting to freak out again?”

“No—well… no. It’s about you.”

Hyde took a seat next to him, confused. “What?”

“I think you should at least send a letter to your family, to let them know you’re okay.”

Hyde flinched back and tensed up. “Uh, I don’t know.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not ready to talk to them yet.”

“It’s just a letter, you don’t have to put a return address on it.” Rune leaned closer to him. “I’m sure they’d appreciate knowing you’re, you know, alive.”

Hyde sighed and shook his head. “What would I even say?”

“Even if it’s something as short as, Hey, I’m alive. Love, Hyde. It’s better than leaving them in the dark.”

Hyde thought about it. Should he? Wouldn’t that confuse them more? Make them wonder why he hasn’t come home all this time? Hurt them more? But they did deserve to know. And if he was planning on going home relatively soon, it would be good to prepare them. He took a deep breath. “Fine.”

Rune smiled. “Okay, we’ll go to the train station afterwards, then.”

Hyde nodded.

Rune stood up. “I’ll leave you to it.” He left the room.

Hyde sat on his bed with a pen and a notepad. He chewed on the pen as he thought of what to write. Who should he address it to? How should he start?

He moved the pen away from his teeth and wrote the first words.

Hey Mom,

I wanted to let you all know I’m alive. In case you weren’t sure.

It’s been a long time, I’m sorry.

I don’t know if Dad told you what happened, but I’m sorry for that, too. I never wanted to hurt him. Is he okay? I hope I didn’t do any permanent damage, or worse. I guess that’s why I haven’t come back. I’m afraid of finding out how badly I hurt him. And of facing what I did.

I don’t remember anything from the fight. I woke up in an entirely different part of the forest. But I know I bit him somewhere at least. Tell him I’m sorry.

It may not seem like it, considering how long I’ve been gone, but I miss you. But I’ve been too afraid to come back. I tried to forget about it, it’s haunted me all this time.

I’m planning on coming home sometime soon, though. I’m not sure when. But I am, at least if my friend has anything to say about it.

I love you, all of you.

Hyde