Brothers H.S M.S.

Chapter 3

When Harry had been sent away to Juvie, Marcel had cried himself to sleep for over three weeks. He hated the fact that his brother wasn't there to protect him at school, or to explain to their mother when Marcel had trouble expressing his feelings.

And after a month without Harry, Marcel had become a different boy. He simply wouldn't respond to questions, and had severe trouble sleeping.

Since his diagnoses nearly a year ago, Anne knew how to treat Marcel so that he could cope with certain situations a little better, but no matter how much research she did on autism and no matter how much Marcel's therapist told her, she still didn't understand him perfectly like someone else did. Like Harry did.

Since birth, Harry had always seemed to be in sync with Marcel's feelings and emotions and no one could really describe it. Harry could tell by Marcel's walk in the mornings which position he'd slept in, he could tell if Marcel didn't understand something by the look in his eyes, and Harry could also tell how Marcel was feeling without Marcel even telling him. The two boys could just read each other by subtle things no one else noticed.

But no matter how well Harry understood his brother, he couldn't cure him. He couldn't take the autism away from his twin.

And it was the same for Marcel to Harry. He couldn't cure Harry. He couldn't keep him calm when he was angry, and he couldn't make him understand that hurting people wouldn't make them a better person.

They both have their problems and the other does what they can to help the other one with theirs.

But with Harry back home now, Marcel was slowly becoming the same boy he was before his twin had been sent away. He would talk more and he was more comfortable in more situations. And he just more happy in general. He had someone who truly understood him again. But he also had his crazy brother back.

And make no mistake, Harry was crazy. He would always do something different and unexpected with his brother when the latter least expected it.

So when Marcel woke up and wandered into the kitchen and saw that instead of breakfast, a cake sat on the kitchen table. He probably shouldn't be as surprised as he was.

Harry appeared moments later, running his hands through his hair before pushing it out of his face and making eye contact with his brother.

"Oh, you're up. Surprise?" Marcel laughed, though he didn't even understand what was funny in the situation, but that's just how he worked.

"What're we celebrating?" Marcel asked as he sat at the table, closely examining the cake that was clearly homemade.

"Well, first mom had to leave early for work, so I thought I'd fix breakfast. But then I remembered something and decided we should celebrate instead." Harry didn't-really-answer Marcey's question.

"But what are we celebrating?" Marcel hated to repeat his questions, it was like going back to being 14 when he had an episode of OCD when he had to repeat himself over and over until he himself was driven crazy.

"One year ago today you were diagnosed with autism and I was thrown in prison!" Harry smiled and sat next to his brother.

"That's not something to celebrate." Marcel muttered, looking down at his hands in his lap.

"No, like, I mean...it's over. You know? I'm back and you're getting better, because of those things. So basically it's a cake to celebrate us telling the cruel world to just f-ck off." Harry was smiling and putting his arm around his glasses-wearing brother, and yes, Marcel smiled. Because as weird as it was in the current situation, he had Harry, and Harry was happy. So he was.

And after "breakfast", Harry had to drop his brother off at school again. As much as he hated it.

He didn't look for jobs, but instead went straight home and took a nap. When he woke up, he checked if he had a fever, because it was so weird. He was so tired, and he really hasn't done anything to wear him out. But there was nothing off, he just felt tired and maybe a little weak, but he'd never admit to that.

He was again the first in line at school to pick his brother up, and when Marcel wandered out of the school, Harry felt more anger coursing through his veins. Marcel's face was bruised and his shirt had a tear in it.

Before Harry even knew what he was doing, he got out of his car and headed up the steps of the school, planning on killing whoever had hurt his brother. Again.

But he felt a familiar hand in his arm, attempting to pull him back away from the doors and he turned to see Marcel nearly in tears.

"D-don't! Harry, you'll g-get in trouble! They-they'll send you away again!" And Harry honestly didn't know what to do. Go in and beat up whoever had hurt his twin and possibly get sent back to juvie, or let the bully/bullies go and listen to Marcel.

He settled for punching the brick wall of the school, the pain numbing his hand before turning back and getting in the car, bringing Marcel home. But once in the car, Marcel started to cry. He was nearly gasping for air, hands brining his knees up to his chest and he cried into his knees, his entire body shaking as he did so.

"Marcey, don't- you're making me feel bad. I just wanted to...f-ck! This isn't how this is supposed to be. I'm supposed to keep you safe and now I'm the reason you're in tears." Guilt always made Harry angry instead of sad, and he was trying really hard to control it in front of Marcey.

"N-no. It's n-not your-your fault! I was just scared you'd-that they'd see you and send you away again." Marcel explained through his tears, wiping his face before putting his glasses back on.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds coming from the car, before Harry decided to talk again.

"I'll never leave again."

Marcel stared at his brother as he kept his eyes on the road. And he really thought about what Harry had said. He'd never leave again. Would he be there if Marcel ever had trouble communicating again? Would he be there if Marcel ever met someone and wanted to marry that person? Would Harry be there at his wedding? Would Harry stand up for him no matter what?

"Promise?" Marcel's voice shook, but he wanted to know.

"I promise. I'll always be here for you."