“Brother brother!”

*Holy shit Ellena, when did we become so close? You almost killed me!*

Once he heard the childish voice, Josh took a few more deep breaths, using the strawberry shampoo to overwhelm his senses and calm his racing heart.

“Thank you so much! You're the best brother ever!”

*....Huh? Thank you? What the hell Ellena. Why are you thanking me? Based on what Officer Dan said, you should be pissed*

Josh removed the hair from his face. Once he did and looked down, he saw a childish but slightly manly face rubbing his chest

“Jared?? What are you doing?? Where's everyone else?”

Right when he asked this, he felt something else attack him from behind, holding his neck in a tight grip.

“Boshie!.....Sniff. I’m so glad that you're okay. Why did you leave me??....Sniff. I was so scared when you disappeared!”

Josh attempts to tilts his head to the side, trying his best to not suffocate

*Holy shit Ellena, why did you grab my neck of all places? If you weren't crying, I would think you were trying to kill me!*

With a ton of effort, he was able to at least pry her off his neck. Though having his head attack instead wasn't the best alternative either. His brown hair slowly getting wet. As he looks back down at Jared, in one of his little hands holds a kickball. When he looks up, In Ellenas hand, a stuff lion

*Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on? Ellena hugging me makes sense I guess. But what the fuck did I do to Jared to act like this? We never got along growing up!*

With questions forming at a rapid rate, he heard a mixture of sounds. A laugh, sigh, slight whistling, and footsteps.

“Well well well. So this is the little man who whipped out my prize booth? He looks a lot more childish than what he was told!”

A males voice says with a slight laugh

“Ara ara, I knew right away that he was a kind person! Shielding cutie Ellena from strangers. He’s a good kid, Dad. Besides, we all know you don’t mind about the prizes. We were giving it away for free after all.”

A voice he remembers hearing about 40 minutes ago soon talks afterword's

“I know you said that before, but to think this little shi- Ouch! Sorry my love, I mean shitester could act like a proper older sibling is still shocking me. To think that earlier today he was the most immature kid I had.”

His father’s young's voice rings out

“Watch your language! One more slip up and you're sleeping on the couch tonight! And be nice to the little hero, HUSBAND. You know what they say, experience can make ones blossom! Remember when I had to ask YOU out back then?”

His mothers sharp words ring out. Even though she is trying to hide it. He can easily tell that she is currently pissed! After a few more moments, a group of 5 walk in front of him.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Good Job officer Dan. You may go back to your post”

“Yes mam!”

Officer Dan looks over, waves Josh goodbye, then proceeds to go towards the parking lot. A few New’s vans refused to follow the police request and are still here. Trying their best to get the scoop before their competitors get the upper hand. Once Officer Dan leaves, Josh turns his sight over to the group.

“I assume Officer Dan already told you how we feel about what you did today, I won't repeat ourselves. The owner would like to have a chat with you real fast before we escort you out of here.”

Officer Jessica informed Josh with a slightly cold voice. The same voice that sent the “wrath of god” to that criminals now non-existent head. Once his parents got closer, they gently separated his two siblings off him.

“Can you please take these two to the car?”

His father’s gentle whispers to his mother.

*Now that I think about it, those two got really quiet*

Josh glances at his two adorable siblings. Both of them are passed out. Too much excitement for one, the other, too many emotions.

“Of course my love, please don’t be to long”

With a whisper in return, she plants a light, slow kiss on her husband and walks away.

“I will go with her to make sure she arrives there safely.”

Officer Jessica says lightly and follows Josh’s mother to the parking lot. Once they are out of ear shot, the remaining 4 continue the conversation

“I’ll cut to the chase if you three don’t mind. But what happened? I couldn’t find Jared or you mam.”

Josh looks at the female worker

“I looked at every corner of that maze and no one had seen you”

The worker has a slight smile on her lips, before it curls up into a dark grin

“Well, when you're taking care of trash in a place like this, you need to do it with no witnesses. Afterall, nobody likes to see garbage.”

*....What the fuck? If I take those words at face value, it sounds logical, even to some adults…..but that smile. There’s been a few times I've seen that smile. And each time had horrible consequences. Either to me or someone else*

“As for your brother”

Josh’s dad soon follows

“That was just your Mother overreacting. Yes he went into the maze, but did she really think I would have left him alone? I silently followed him, haha. We left the maze almost as soon as we entered”

*Oh, wow….that makes way to much fucking sense. Now that I think about it. I didn’t see him with mother….so that’s the weird feeling I got at that time! I forgot about dad! I almost…no I do feel stupid now! I overreacted!*

Josh’s face gets slightly red

“So that’s what happened”

“Yes, thorough what you did is quite amazing! I may have lost out on some useless toys, but in return, those toys were able to bring families together faster and they helped the police out. That, my good friend, is totally worth it!”

The owner says in a pleasant voice.

“Now allow me to state on why I’m really here”

The owner then knee’s down to Josh’s height

“I would like to know if it would be alright with you if my daughter took over your achievements for what you did today. I know that this will probably make no sense. But for your safety, we want to have my daughter take over your position as the hero today. The reporters will want to interview you and your family for what happened. I have talked with both Officer Jessica and your parents. We think that having you take the spotlight could possibly bring danger to your family.”

Right when the owner was about to take a deep breath and continue to explain his reasoning, Josh politely cuts him off

“I understand. Thank you for looking after me and my family. I owe you a lot. Not only have you given my siblings the toys they wanted, you also backed up my lie. I would completely understand if you were to get angry with me, but instead you're even willing to take all the attention away from me so that my siblings don't get involved. They are too young to understand what happened today. Thank you so much for everything”

Josh bows deeply to the owner and his daughter. Slight shock spreads across both the owner and Josh’s fathers face

“See dad? I told you he was a good older brother! I just knew he would understand!”

The young daughter’s voice echo's out with slight happiness

“Wow son. You really have matured from this experience. It’s like you're a completely new person…I must say that I’m almost grateful for this horrible thing that has happened today.”

He looks at Josh with proudness leaking out of his smile. Josh couldn't help but stare at his fathers smile. A smile he never once saw him make for him.

*Is dad….proud of me?….I….Don’t think he ever looked at me like that before…*

Before he realized it, tears formed in his eyes. Once they overwhelmed his dam and started to stream down his face, nothing could stop it from continuing

“I…thanks dad….”

A huge smile forming on his slightly manly, but average face