Everything That You've Become

Chapter 1

A child, standing on their front porch in the rain, clothes torn and black hair drenched. Clutching an ocean blue blanket in his small fist. Red, sad eyes, hiccuping in between sobs, staring up at the black-haired girl standing over him. He reached his short, scarred arms out to her, wanting nothing more than an embrace full of love and protection. Raindrops pounded down, wind coming through the door blew the curtains up. Tears streamed down his face, his sea-green eyes so mesmerizing that even he started to feel the sadness radiating off of the child. His arms were held out for a while, sobs shaking his whole body, until his sister picked him up carefully and shut the door loudly. The child wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his face in her shoulder, still holding onto that dirty blue blanket. His sister treated him like her own, rubbing his back and shushing him quietly, trying to get him to calm down. He only gripped the back of her shirt tighter, crying and saying things he couldn't understand.

His sister called for their mother, then found Jason watching her from around the edge of the wall. She gave him a soft smile. "Come on, Jason, it's alright."

He stepped out and inched forward, carefully eyeing the boy in her arms, who still would not stop crying. He did not look up to greet Jason. He could only watch with curiosity and interest at the boy. Thalia tousled with his thick black hair and hummed a song she would sometimes sing to Jason when he couldn't sleep, when their parents were fighting.

His mother came into the hallway and gave a smile to Jason, in which he responded with confused wide eyes. She frowned, perplexed, until Jason turned back around to see if anything changed with the boy. His mother jumped and ran past Jason to interrogate why such a young child was wrapped up in Thalia's arms, crying. She immediately changed to her baby voice, a high-pitched tone that Jason was all-too familiar with, and gently grabbed the boy's arms to give Thalia a break. He didn't fight back, just let himself switch temporary mothers and re-buried his face into her shoulder. Halfway to his mother's arms, he dropped the blanket on the floor. Jason walked forward and picked it up, setting it in his mother's outstretched hand. She thanked him and hummed a different song, swayed him back and forth, cared for him. Jason watched in amazement as the loud sobbing got quieter; his mother was never that good for him.

As he calmed down, she placed her hand on the back of his head and leaned over to Thalia. They traded whispers, glares, and angry hand motions that Jason was very used to. Thalia didn't like her. They fought all the time. All of it was too quiet for Jason to hear, and they seemed to have forgotten he was standing there. They always did. But Thalia would be okay. She told him she was.

The boy finally moved, turning his face so his cheek rested on their mother's right shoulder. Jason was the only one who noticed because the arguing only got louder. He sniffled and looked at Jason with puffy eyes, once again holding onto that blanket for dear life. Jason didn't react, only stared back at him. They held their stare, both of them trying to read each other, both of them too young to do so.

Finally he averted his eyes to the floor and hiccuped, silencing both Thalia and their mother and bringing their attention to him. He watched his mother rub his back like Thalia, trying to get him to say something. She whispered something in his ear, to which he met Jason's eyes once again and nodded.

He sat up in her arms and rubbed his eyes with his tiny fists, sniffling. She smiled softly and pushed his hair out of his face. It still fell back down in his eyes.

"Hi, sweetie," his mother cooed, playing with his hair. "I'm Mrs. Grace. That other girl is Thalia. We really want to help you, okay? Can we start with your name?"

The sweet and caring voice she used made Jason feel a twinge of jealousy. She might've used it when he was even younger, but now she rarely even spent time with him. Thalia was more of a mother to him than she was.