Thank God for Wendy.

Despite Sophia having sent Andy to his room when they had gotten home, a well earned punishment on his part, the moment Wendy came through the door he had come running down the steps to greet her. It had only been a little over a year since Wendy left for college but it had felt like forever. Especially when she didn't come home for summer and instead went to travel Europe as an educational trip the school offered to students in the form of a prize for winning a writing contest, which Wendy won of course. Collin also decided to come home with her which only made things better. Now the two boys could do more than just mop around the house missing the one person they both loved.

Collin and Wendy had been together practically since they were eight, but they only really started to date in middle school. Wendy had told Collin during rescue that she wasn't going to wait around for him to ask her to be his girlfriend and if he didn't right at that second she was going to find a guy that would. Collin's response was, "I didn't ask because I thought we were already together. I'm sorry." And then proceeded to ask her on a proper date that took place that night in his tree house just next door.

That was the first time Andy wasn't allowed to play in the tree house with them. He understood now why, but he refused to speak to Wendy till she apologized for taking Collin all for herself for about a week back then. She apologized but never gave Collin back to equal playing grounds. At least Andy could still look. That was one privilege Wendy couldn't take away, and boy was Collin something to look at. Sandy blond hair and dark eyes, and the body of a football player. He was an American golden boy, too bad he was Canadian.

When the two came through the front door Andy hug tackled Wendy right into Collin who braised himself against the door frame to keep them all from toppling over. Even if they had fallen to the ground it would have been worth it. They were here, Wendy was here.

Looking at Wendy he saw the same brown waves for hair and blue eyes they had shared with Mom. Even the same batch of freckles that danced along their noses to their round cheeks. The only difference was the height, and gender obviously. Wendy somehow had become the taller out of the two. Only by a few inches but it was enough to be annoying and for her to use Andy as an armrest from time to time.

Those things only made Mathew look even more odd in their family. Unlike them Mathew had taken after Dad with brown eyes that were hard to find his pupils in and strawberry blond hair Mom had insisted he had gotten from her even though she had never been a strawberry blond herself. Despite being two years younger than Andy he also had gotten the tall gene as well, already surpassing Wendy. It was unfair to say the least.

"Need. Air." Wendy choked out giving Andy his indication that he needed to let go now. He did and stepped back so they could fix themselves up.

Straightening herself and making sure Collin was okay, Wendy then made her way to Andy pulling him into another life squeezing hug. She smelled of vanilla and apples, Andy missed that smell. "I missed you too, Nutcase." She whispered.

The two had always been close. She was only two years old but she had always had a way of seeming way older than even that. Any problem Andy had he always went to Wendy for help. She was the first he had told about the Dream, back then they had felt more like nightmares. He'd wake up in tears running to her room crying for help. She'd pull him into bed promising to make it all go away. Wendy had always been protective and tried her best to help. She had been convinced that if only she could get into his head she'd be able to stop it. To fight off any monsters who dared to make him cry.

Wendy was his real life superhero.

As they got older they had learned no matter how hard she tried Wendy couldn't chase off those monsters. Not the ones caused by the Sleeping Sickness or the ones that showed themselves in the waking world when they learned someone had it. Though she was good at chasing off the bullies in real life temporarily. She always had been. It was a talent both her and Sophia had.

"We need to talk." Andy mumbled into her hair.

Wendy pulled back, keeping her grip on his shoulders letting her eyes wander his face. "Clearly. You were in a fight, again. You won, right?"

"Wendy." Collin chid taking off his coat. Always the responsible one.

"What? If he's getting into fights again I want him to at least win one of them." Wendy told Collin placing her hands on her hips to add that extra bit of sass to her words. "Can't I be proud of a win?"

"You shouldn't be encouraging fighting at all." Collin returned with a heavy sigh.

"Says the football player."

Collin shook his head. "I don't purposefully get into fights, or tolerate them even on the field."

It was as if nothing had changed. Andy smiled brightly ignoring the pain the cut on his lip and the bruises brought by doing so.

Wendy kissed Collin on the cheek. "Yes, and that is why you are my gentle giant teddy bear. My gentle giant teddy bear, that is going to be a good distraction for the rest of the family well I talk to Andy."

Collin rolled his eyes as he smiled back at her. "Do I have a choice?"

Wendy pretended to think about it. "Nope."

"Then you better get going upstairs. The others in the kitchen?" Collin asked, already moving in that direction.

Andy nodded. "Sophia's cooking and Mathew is glued to a game.”

Collin nodded. "Then if you need me I'll be helping with dinner.”

"Alright, just make sure not to burn anything." Wendy called as she grabbed Andy's hand and raced upstairs. Collin had called something at them but they were both too busy giggling to know exactly what he said. It really was starting to feel like home again.

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Wendy's room was a safe haven. Even when she was gone Andy would sometimes go in just to feel as if she were there. Mathew was all for it since the nights Andy spent in Wendy's room made it so he had his own.

Her room was warm with each wall painted either bright orange or neon pink. The selves around the room were cluttered, as well as her desk, and so were the walls with posters from all the things she grew up loving. She never took down a picture or poster once hung. That included the Jones Brothers poster middle school Wendy had pinned to the ceiling above her bed. Either out of laziness or nostalgia she kept everything. There were even elementary art projects still hanging up. Wendy was a collector and enjoyed capturing every moment. Her Instagram was digital proof of that, her childhood room was the physical. You never had to wonder what Wendy was up to, all you had to do was scroll through her page and you'd find it.

Flopping down onto her bed she patted the empty side next to her. Out of habit Andy crawled onto the mattress laying down next to her looking up to the post. For the first time all day he could breathe. There was no salt water pushing its way into his lungs, no squealing flowers, there wasn't even a sign of Emmilia at this moment. It was a peaceful silence that Andy would enjoy for as long as it was possible.

"Alright, spill it. What is it you wanted to talk about?" And there was the end of the silence. To be fair he had asked for it. "Is it an explanation for your busted lip?"

Andy shrugged as he mumbled. "Yes.”

Wendy sat up at that moment. Pulling a pillow into her lap she crossed her legs. "Goodie. So who did you get into a fight with?"

"Who said it was a fight?" Andy questioned defensively.

"Andy." Was all she needed to say.

Andy pulled at his sweater sleeves. He was trying to find the right words to use to explain what had happened. "McDonale."

There was a moment of complete silence. Turning to look at Wendy to see her reaction Andy was met with a pillow in the face. "What was that for?" He questioned sitting right up.

"You got in a fight with a McDonale? You little shit." Wendy stated with a mix of glee and questioning which flowers he'd like at his funeral, as if her actions weren't obvious enough to that. "An actual McDonale. Please tell me you broke that pretty boy's nose of his."

There was the reaction Andy was hoping for. Wendy hated Shane more than he did. It had a lot to do with Shane trying to break up Collin and Wendy. Obviously it didn't work but she had hated the guy ever since.

The McDonale's and Madden's had history. History Dad tried very hard not to bring up well at work. It was a good thing most of the problems were with the children and not the adults, well besides Sophia. Till now they had also been none physical, kinda. All Andy's fights that involved fists being thrown had been with the goons well Shane laughed in delight on the side lines. That had changed.

"I didn't break his nose." Andy stated picking at the pillow. "It just happened to bleed a lot, and then he just had to keep the bloody tissues there for sympathy points long after the bleeding had stopped."

"Shame, but you won, right?" Wendy asked far too eagerly.

Andy shrugged. "In a way, yes."

Her dark browns frowned, leaning closer. "What do you mean in a way?"

"Well I guess I won the fight, or would have before we were pulled apart. There's also the fact that I kinda technically was the one who started it." He admitted as he visibly grew smaller. Pulling in his legs close to his chest and shoulders rising to his ears as his back hunched.

"You started the fight? Since when do you start fights?" Wendy questioned, concern in her voice. If she asked anyone else in their small town they would have answered with always, but Wendy knew Andy better than that.

Andy shrugged again. "I didn't mean to start it. His face just happened to be there when I swung. He was also bullying some ninth grader and I had asked him to stop nicely."

"But?" Because there was always a but.

"But he didn't and decided to remind the school just how much of a freak I am." He mumbled into the pillow as he sunk his face into it. "So much so that there were witnesses that claimed they saw me use Magic against Shane."

"Did you?"

"Of course not. I can't use Magic!" Andy raised his head in disbelief that she’d even ask that. If Andy could use Magic Wendy would have been the first to know.

Wendy sighed. "Dad's not going to like this."

"It gets worse." He admitted shoving his head back into the pillow.

"Worse?!" Wendy's eyes popped wide. "How does this get worse?"

Hesitancy grew. He could hear the trickling of water hitting Wendy's carpeted floor. It was beginning to fill the room as panic rose inside of him. The last thing he wanted. "I got expelled."

Another moment of silence. "Shit, Dad's going to have a cow when he finds out."

"More like the whole barn." Dad was going to flip even if Sophia were the one to explain what happened. There was no getting around it either. Andy had to talk to Dad about what happened today. He'd have to tell him that they were going to have to look into another school. Andy knew that the possibility of that new school being the Academy was ever growing.

The water was getting closer to the top of the mattress. It was filling the room too quickly. The salt burned at his nostrils as he held the pillow tighter.

"I don't want to go to the Academy." There was a pleading in Andy's voice that not even he could hide.

He didn't want to go there. The first time Dr. Hamish had suggested the place Andy had put his foot down about it. Dad at the time had said not to worry because they wouldn't be able to afford it in a million years. The Academy wanted people like Andy though. They wanted people who had the Sleeping Sickness so they could learn more about it. It was the whole point of the Academy after all. The Academy themselves had even reached out offering full boarding with not a cent coming from the Maddens pocket. They had begun handing the offer out to many more families as well after the mace Sleeping Coma a few years back.

Andy had still refused, though Dad seemed more tempted by the offer. It was understandable. The offer was a school that could help Andy get better well also learning what exactly it was that was wrong. It was becoming a specialty of theirs to deal with those affected by the Sleeping Sickness and the symptoms that came with it. The idea of having the Sleeping Sickness alone was one Andy hated, let alone being trapped in a school filled with others just like him.

Gently yet firmly Wendy wrapped her arms around Andy holding him tight. The water had reached them but the scent of vanilla and apples was stronger than salt. "I know. I'm sure there are other options."

Sophia's words from the car came back to him.

They were running out of options, and they all knew that.