It's really him

Coming home

Matts POV

It was 3pm yet still freezing. Matt shivered in the clothes he's worn for 3 years. He was almost there, almost home. His clothes were ripped and filthy. He had been running from his kidnappers for the last 4 months. Now it's time to see his family. Time to see the person he loved most. He wanted his sister in his arms.

Matt shivered as he sat on a bench near his house. He didn't have a phone, or any technology. He looked at his shirt, one he got for Christmas back in 2012. The design had faded. At this point he didn't know what day, month or year it was. He didn't even know how old he was. He had been gone for so long...

Matt got up, still shivering. He walked slowly to his house, he still had the key after all this time. He got to his house and took the key out of his pocket. One of the keychains had a family photo on it that he cherished. He unlocked the door and walked in to the warm house. He saw all the shoes side by side, his were still there after all this time. He immediately started crying. He stood in the hallway. "I-I'm... I'm home... Katie? Mom? Dad?" He said as he took a shaky breath.

Katie/Pidge's POV

Katie was in her room, the door locked shut and the lights dimmed. The only light was the glow of her computer screen, illuminating her tired and worn features. When her brother went missing, it was like a fire was ignited inside of her, and she was willing to do anything to try and find him. And anything includes some things she's not very proud of, but she knew she had to. When her brother was pronounced dead, it was like a bucket of ice cold water was dumped straight on to that fire. Her world turned black and white. She didn't want to believe it, but everything pointed to it being true. And so she had pretty much been convinced it was.

But something inside of her still fought back. Something kept telling her that he was still out there. Her brother, the one that would spend all day with her when she was little and her parents were too caught up with work to give her attention. The one that carried her all the way home when she fell off her bike and scraped her knee. The one that helped her build her first computer when she was eight and told her that she had done it all by herself. He was still out there. She just had to keep looking.

And that's exactly what she was doing at the moment, going through files and documents that should not be gone through. The moment when she heard the faint sound of the door opening, her first thought being that her dad had come home early from work. That was what she thought, until a quiet voice filled her ears. A voice she had longed to hear for years. Her first instinct was to ignore it. This was some sort of sick joke, it couldn't be real. But that voice. She pressed her eyes shut and stood up from her chair, unlocking the door slowly and stepping out into the hallway to peer down the stairs. She spotted a hint of that familiar honey-colored hair and she wanted to burst into tears.

She rushed down the stairs and stopped dead in front of him, taking a slight step back. It was him. His clothes were worn and his body looked thin and underfed, but it was him. "N-no, no no no, you're- how? You can't- no," her voice was wavering and cracking a million miles a minute, but she didn't care. She needed answers, and she needed them fast. But more importantly, she needed her brother. And he was here, only a few steps away from her. But she couldn't move. It seemed like everything had frozen around her, there was no noise, only the fast beating of her heart.

Matts POV

Matt wrapped his arms around his sister. His heart was beating out of his chest, he finally saw his sister again. After 3 years of dreaming, 3 years of sleeping outside, 3 years of praying to go home, 3 years of missing his sister's voice. 3 long years. But now he didn't care. He had his younger sister In his arms. He held her as tightly as he could and cried loudly. "Oh my god... Katie..." He took many shaky breaths and he wouldn't let go. He didn't want to ever let go. He missed his sister. He missed so much. He missed her birthday, he missed Christmas, he missed so many things. He sniffed and sighed as he pulled away to loom at her face. It had changed, but also stayed the same. He wiped his eyes as he smiled softly. He felt like he was dreaming.

Matt felt like he was going to wake up in that dark room again. He felt like more cuts and bruises were going to be made all over his body. But he knew that this was all real, he knew that he wasn't dreaming. His sister was right in front of him and no longer just a picture he kept in his pocket. He put his bony hand on her cheek as his smile grew wider. This is what made him carry on. This is what made him want to go home more than ever. His sister. His sister made him stronger. His sister made him smarter. His sister made everything better for him...

Katie/Pidge POV

Katie hiccuped and leaned into her brother, wrapping her arms tightly around him and burying her face in his chest as she sobbed. It was really him. The fact that she could feel his spine from just touching his back made her want to scream at the world, and on the outside it made her want to cry even harder, and she did. She didn't care about anything else in the world, she was in her brother's arms and that was all that mattered. Her world was full of color again, and the fire had been reignited, calmer and more pleasant this time, more of a source of comfort than a weapon. When her eyes were brought to meet his and she saw so many things going on inside of them, she couldn't help but let out another choked sob. She had missed those eyes so much, she had missed that voice, that face. And it was all hers again, right within her reach. "T-they said y-you were d-dead.." she blurted out, taking heavy and shaky breaths.

Matts POV

Matt sniffed and smiled softly. "Why would I be dead?" He asked. His heart felt like it was going to explode. He felt like everything that has happened to him was just a dream. He was so happy to see his sister again. He didn't care about asking for anyone else. His sister was the most important person to him. Katie was his world. He grew up with her, he protected her, he loved her so much. He pulled her close again, not caring if he looked ugly or made a fool of himself. He was shaking from pure shock, that he saw his little sister again.

Matt took a deep breath and pulled away again, he couldn't stop staring at his sister. Her face was glowing, he was glad she was healthy. Matt's pale face cracked a smile. He was much skinnier than 3 years ago. Tears rolled down his face and he took one more shaky breath. "I'm home... I'm finally home, and I promise you... I'm staying forever..." He wiped his eyes one last time, it was like he ran out of tears. Matt was still shaking. It all felt unreal, but he knew it was real. All that could be heard was Katie's sobbing and the grandfather clock ticking from the living room. He looked around the hallway. From what he saw, nothing had changed.

Katie/Pidge POV

Katie looked into his eyes for a moment longer, unable to find words to say, before she leaned back into him and continued to sob into his shoulder, intertwining his hair in between her fingers. It was so matted and greasy, it hurt for her to imagine what he had gone through. "I-I missed you.. so much.." her voice was slightly muddled as she spoke into the fabric of his tattered and dirty shirt, that she had realized was the same one he had worn the day he went out for groceries and never came back. The memory of that day seemed like a million years ago, and thinking of it made her more lightheaded than she already was. She felt like she was floating, only hearing static around her besides her beating heart and her vision blurry from tears.

She pulled back slightly to look at him, sniffing and breathing heavily. "I-" she wiped her nose with her sleeve and weakly wiped her eyes, hiccuping again and her chest heaving up and down. "I.. I-I can't believe i-it's really y-you...It's... it's been s-so...long.." she choked, still holding onto him as if it was a reminder to her. It was really him.