doppelgänger

andy

"So, Dennis. What kind of music do you listen to on your iPod?" Andy asked as he made a left out of the orphanage parking lot towards home.

"It's Wolf," Dennis mumbled, turning his head to look out his side window.

"Oh. Okay. Wolf, what kind of music listen to on your iPod?"

"Artist-wise, you mean?" 'Wolf' looked at Andy, meeting eyes with him.

Andy nodded. "Sure."

Wolf averted his eyes from Andy and sighed. "Metallica. Eyes Set To Kill. Get Scared. Nirvana. Asking Alexandria. Black Veil Brides --"

"Black Veil Brides?" Andy asked, raising an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. I love them. Why?"

"Oh. Nothing."

Wolf sat staring out the front window, chewing on one of his lip piercings. "You don't have to hide it from me."

Andy's eyes went wide and he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel nervously. "Hide what?"

"I know who you are. You're Andy Sixx." Wolf smiled a little even, seemingly proud of himself for figuring it out. "It's not that hard to tell."

"I didn't mean for --"

"You don't have to explain it. We're going to go see Crow and Daredevil, right? And your guitar collection, and all --"

Andy laughed. "You're a lot more talkative than you acted at first, at least. I mean, I remember --" Andy stopped himself before he went too far. "And yes, you're right. You want to see my first guitar?" he asked as they pulled in his driveway.

"Yeah!"

Andy jerked his head toward the house. "Come on. First I gotta show you your room, though. And later I need to show you some old pictures."

Wolf smiled and nodded, following Andy up to the house.

As Andy unlocked the door and Daredevil ran out and jumped up in his arms, Wolf watched the entire time in amazement and disbelief. "I can't believe I'm at Andy Biersack's house! I'm gonna live here! You're gonna be my..." he met eyes with Andy. "My dad."

Andy glanced at him, the corner of his mouth turning up into a smile.

Right away Wolf was distracted by something else. "Wow, that TV on the wall is huge! I've never seen one so big!" He rushed over to the kitchen, but stopped abruptly, stepping back a little as if to back away from an invisible line that separated the kitchen from the front entrance-area. He looked at Andy. "Can I..." he trailed off, pointing into the kitchen.

Andy nodded. "Of course."

Wolf beamed and entered the kitchen, running his hands along the new appliances. It was understandable to be excited about a house that seemed so normal to Andy; Wolf had come from an orphanage that was falling apart.

Once Wolf had toured the downstairs alongside Andy, he stopped and looked up at Andy, his eyes bright. "Thank you for letting me stay here. I really appreciate it."

Andy smiled, his expression warm. "Of course."

Andy wasn't typically the kind of guy that someone would look at and say how friendly he looked or how sweet he seemed. Sure, he had a big heart, and he cared about other people, but the feeling he had inside for the kid... the fatherly feeling he had was different. A feeling he hadn't ever really had.