saline solution

one

no tw's

——
wilbur's pov
i bolted upright. "fuck," i whisper to myself. it had been another eerie nightmare.

sweat running down my face, i took a quick look around the small room. it was dark and rickety, lightly swaying in the wind. the pastel green wallpaper was peeling off the wall, leaving aged wood exposed.

like most other kids at the orphanage, i shared a room with two other boys around my age. both were fast asleep.

i glanced at the old alarm clock on the shared nightstand, only to see the time; 4:00 am. great.

the last thing i wanted to do right now was sleep, so instead i reached under my bed and took out a damaged book labelled 'flowers from 1970' which followed the love story of two men in different timelines. it was cheesy and i'd read it at least a dozen times, but something about the book brought me comfort. i had stolen it from an old foster home, along with a scratched torch (flashlight) to help me read during the night.

i took the torch and book, and went under the covers to drown out the brightness of the light from the rest of the room.

time skip - 9:00am

"-lbur,wake up!" a distant voice became clearer. "what?" i asked in a sleepy tone, opening my eyes. "someone's here to meet you today, don't you remember?!" a familiar face i recognised as james said in an irritated tone.

it seemed i had fallen asleep in the process of reading. my suspicions were confirmed when i looked down and saw my book and torch lying on my lap.

"okay, okay," i stated getting out of bed, hands raised in a defeated fashion.

i got dressed and watched as my roommates, james and ash headed downstairs for breakfast

while i waited, i did some basic homework the orphanage was forced to give to all the children.

the head woman of the orphanage, mrs winerva, let herself in our room and informed me there would be a family of three here to meet me in about 20 minutes.

———————

"oh c'mon will, it can't be that bad!" ash told me in an encouraging tone from his bed. they had returned from breakfast, and i had packed away my homework.
"ash, how can you say that! you know i hate being fostered." i said, anger lingering in my tone.

james and ash looked between each other seemingly trying to find a way to convince me it was a good idea.

"look. i know you don't like it, but maybe this family's the one! besides, it's not really like you have a choice. mrs. winerva would do anything to get us three out of the orphanage," james added with a light smile.
"fine, you win." i grumpily said.

a few minutes passed before i reluctantly trudged down the stairs to the main office where i would meet mrs. winerva, and the new family.

————
just a short chapter for you guys to see wilbur's current orphanage life, and to meet his roommates.
the rest of lovejoy will be coming later btw! :)