'I kept quiet, every day, every night…'

'I understood your constant absence from home…'

'I've been waiting for the day you come back home with the medicine we've dreamed of for a long time…'

'I remained silent every time you left through the same door every morning…'

'I remained silent even though I knew you would be late to return as usual…'

'I remained silent even when I started thinking…'

"This time… will you disappear forever… if you close that door?"

'Would it have been better to cry and tell you my fears…?'

Little Elois waved silently at his smiling father, staring at the door slowly closing behind his father’s retreating back.

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The Red Flower

Chapter. 22

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A low, cluttering sound of keys was heard in the silent house; the door opened slowly right after, followed by a sigh. The man closed the door with a soft click and locked it before checking the empty living room. From the look of the dimly lit place, he knew everyone was asleep; it was past midnight, after all. He took off his shoes and stepped into his house; he stopped when he found one door kept ajar, and a faint light was coming from the room… his brother's room. He slowly walked to the door to take a look inside.

He carefully pushed the door to see his twin brother sitting on the bed, with the two kids sleeping on his lap. Alvin noticed his brother and smiled gently; he whispered, "Welcome home."

Alvis smiled back tiredly and walked into the room; he left his bag and coat on the floor and sat beside the bed, resting his head on his palm to look fondly at his sleeping kids. "Were they waiting again…?"

Alvin turned his head to his left to look at something on the bedside table. Alvis turned to look as well; he didn’t expect to find a drawing of two kids with their father, a "Happy birthday!" written above the drawing, and a cute little flower lying on top of the paper…

"That's…"

"They wanted to surprise you when you come back," Alvin said with a soft chuckle while gently patting the two kids.

Alvis threw his head on the warm blanket to hide his face. "Ugh! Now I feel so bad…"

"Elois suggested to wait here in my room, knowing you'd check on me first thing when you come home," he looked at the two cute kids sleeping soundly. "In the end, they fell asleep," he patted Owin's tiny back. "Owin was ready to cry and complain, but Elois scolded him, saying that they can't complain when you're doing your best at work…"

Alvis slowly raised his head to look sadly at Elois. "Elois did…?" he sighed.

"You always joke about how you feel Elois hates you because he never sticks to you the way he does with his mother…" Alvin gently stroked the older kid’s fluffy hair. "But after observing him carefully, he avoids you because he just isn't good at expressing himself. To him, you're the kindest person in the whole world, the best father, a man to be fully respected."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Alvis blinked and lifted his head a bit more away from the blanket, widening his eyes at his brother the more he talked about his distant kid.

"But he isn't sure how to show his love to you other than silently understand and support you…" Alvin looked sad for a moment. "He follows Ashely and tries to make her smile in your absence… in short, he's just trying to support and help every one of us in his own way." he turned to look at his brother with a gentle smile. "It's hard for your son to speak of his feelings and fears… so please pay attention to him, Alvis."

Alvis sat alone in his room and on the bed, staring sadly but fondly at the small family picture in his hand, a picture of him and his twin brother and two lovely kids. He softly sighed with a small smile, "…you were right, Alvin."

.

.

"Hm~? Brother~?" Ellmer said teasingly as he smiled at the boy; he relaxed his body on the bed, laying on his side with his palm supporting his head, "I thought you'd never believe we're brothers."

Davante tilted his head to the side innocently. "…should I doubt you…?"

"‘Why do you care so much about me if we're not related?’ Is what you want to ask?" Ellmer asked with a smirk.

"Uhm…" Davante stared silently at his observing brother, troubled at being read so easily.

"Because you're my cute little brother, indeed~" the older brother chuckled at the lost look of his little brother. "Thank you for believing me," he closed his eyes with a warm smile. Davante still looked troubled, unable to react to this side of Ellmer. It was clear to Ellmer that the boy still found it difficult to keep up with him. Ellmer saved him the trouble again. "But I think it's unfair that you know nothing about me when I've seen and known much about you already, don’t you think so?"

Davante looked at his hands on his lap. "I can't… ask you to tell me everything about you…"

"Hmm, you can. Not a happy life, though, so don't expect much." Ellmer turned on his back to look at the white ceiling, starting casually without waiting for an answer. "I grew up in a… corrupted orphanage. They never really cared about the kids. They just wanted money, so they made the kids work around the streets. But I never listened to or worked for them, so they beat me almost daily. Slowly, I got so tired of their beating and gave up. However, on my way to work, I accidentally found a beautiful place, a forest that separates the city from a peaceful village. And so it became my secret shelter," he paused, contemplating something before he continued, "One day, I helped two lost twins find their mother. When we found her, she got concerned after noticing the injuries all over my face and body and asked me about it. Eventually, the mother and her husband decided to adopt me. I never felt… at home. A stranger, no matter what they did."

He shrugged, "The peaceful days didn't last for long. I was out with the mother shopping for groceries. When we were crossing the street… some food fell from me, I was going to grab them quickly, but the mother suddenly pushed me away from a speeding car, and… she died." Despite the indifferent tone, his eyes looked somewhat… apologetic? Davante wondered if his brother had felt guilty till now.

"The father was too shocked by the news, and from then on, he started beating me every time he looked at me, reminding me that I was the cause of her death. He kept abusing me until, one day, I was finally about to die from his beating. I was sent to a hospital, and the doctor interrogated the father. They were going to put him in jail, but for some reason, an old man offered to help him out if he sold me, so the father sold me to the man so easily. He took the money to buy drugs or whatever, and the old man took me to Anfinrud organization… that was how I found myself forced to work for them."

Davante noticed Ellmer’s face frowning slightly.

"The twins, though, never left my side. They still refuse to leave me. They even left their father like it was nothing… you remember them? Kito and Kyle."

"Ah, yes…"

"I can't see them as my brothers… just two kids I need to take care of. Say it's cold of me, but I can't force myself to accept them as my brothers.” The frown was gone in an instant, “Then I found out about you and my whole family… I learned that my mother left me by the orphanage without any word, and my father… well, he worked with Anfinrud and ruined kids like me before he disappeared, so what do I expect?" He closed his eyes with a casual smirk as if he had just talked about a silly children’s story. "That almost sums up my whole life story until now."

Davante remained silent for a short while, looking down. "Do you… forgive my— our mother?"

Ellmer looked deep in thought before turning to lay on his side and answering, observing the teen’s face with sharp crimson eyes, "Do I have to?"

Davante hesitated for a moment. "It's just… she always treated me like an unwanted child, like a freak…" he noticed how the other stiffened at that, but he decided to continue, "…I think it's hard to live on with nothing but hatred towards a certain someone… so..."

"You think I'd get exhausted if I detest her all my life?"

He calmly looked to the side, "It's not easy to forgive… of course, my situation is nothing like yours, I know… but…"

Ellmer let out a huge sigh and suddenly threw his head on his brother's lap, startling Davante, who said nothing even though he wanted so much to yelp out loud.

"Has anyone ever told you you're too compassionate?" the older brother asked with a soft smile, eyes closed, looking so comfortable as he rested his head on the blanket above the teen’s lap.

Davante widened his eyes, looking taken aback and troubled again, "…I don't think… so?"

There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two brothers. Davante stared silently at his brother’s smile, slowly dropping away as he calmly looked at the window.

"I simply don't care about her… she never gave me a chance to know her, I wanted to know at least if she was a decent mother to my little brother, but you can't stop me from judging her now after knowing how she treated you."

Davante decided to say nothing to that; he himself didn’t know what to think of his mother. He stared in silence; his brother was… huge compared to him. His lap was rather so tiny to fit Ellmer's head alone. He couldn’t help but feel… that the big guy looked so small at that moment, vulnerable maybe. Slowly, he brought his hand to rest on silky dark-red hair. He started to gently pat the other's head in a slow, calming way.

'This… is so familiar…'

He was reminded of moments of his childhood with his father. Tiny hands were fluffing light blond hair in silence.

'Oh… father used to do this whenever he was stressed or back from work… he found comfort in me… before he…' his eyes turning cold and lifeless for a second, 'changed…'

"I want to protect this peacefulness…"

Davante was brought back to the present by the calm voice of his brother. He stopped his hand when the other slowly pushed himself up to face him with a serious look.

"I admit my intention of meeting you was ill in a way, but after watching you, knowing you… I want to keep you safe. And I can't do that if Anfinrud is still around… so we need to know everything, every little thing about what we're dealing with… and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks of bringing that organization down. That’s why…" his face hardened as his gaze turned sharp at his brother, “I need you to tell me everything you know, Davante."

.

.

Two knocks at the door interrupted Elois' thoughts, breaking the room’s heavy silence. He forced his body to move grumpily from the bed to the door. He grabbed the knob and twisted it without much thought.

"How come we never see each other nowadays when we're literally living in the same place, son?"

Elois stilled in place, stopping his hand from pulling the door close at the gentle voice of the man standing before him. He gulped, a massive lump in his throat… lips were trembling as he tried to stop himself from letting out any sound…

Wide, glistening eyes with unshed tears stared at the kindest eyes he had been running away from for so long. Alvis' eyes softened, and he smiled warmly at the look on his oldest son’s face, who looked nothing but a child trying hard to stop himself from crying any moment.

"Can I come in, Elois?"

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The End of CH. 22