The Brothers

4 - {Patience Is Key}

~Third Person POV~

"He'll be fine, just leave him. If he falls, he falls." Liam told his little brother. They left their older brother, Chance, up in the tree on a high enough branch to stay away from people's sights. Unless they were strange creatures that can see through things. Despite the whining from the young boy, Theo eventually gave up complaining and safely followed his brother's steps off of the tree.

A fairly tall woman, at least to them, walked towards the boys. She was wearing a floral dress down to her feet and short, wavy brown hair right above the neck. "What are two precious boys doing out here all by themselves?" she asked, looking like the stereotypical woman to have twins and say she loves them both, but secretly favorites one over the other. Liam's protective mode kicked in and stood in front of his brother, practically shielding him from the stranger.

"None of your business," Liam expressed his brotherly instincts in the tone he was using against the lady. That is, until the younger of the two stepped out from behind the safety of the older one. "Theo? What are you- Stay away from her," he tried to sound commanding like their father or mother, or even Chance. Much less to his surprise, Theo did not stop.

For Liam, it felt odd seeing his brother hug a complete stranger, especially someone that can easily kidnap the boys or boil them up in a cauldron like the witches in fairy-tales. Chance used to read them plenty of fairytale stories when they were way younger, and when Theo cried at the sad or sinister parts, Liam would quickly assume their older brother was trying to hurt the boy's heart and mind. He hated those kinds of stories ever since, only seeing the awful sides of them if he ever reads one. For some reason as a toddler, he only saw flaws in the eldest boy instead of a fair share between the three. Of course, he saw his own flaws, but he seemed to always think of Chance negatively, a little more than their parents.

Theo's eyes looked a little brighter, almost a lemonade-yellow kind of color. Liam shrugged it off and thought it was because he was in the sunlight, or the colors of the woman's dress were shining as a reflection in the boy's eyes, something along those lines at least. Something was off about the woman he was hugging though, but Liam paid no mind to the new, weird detail. Their brother was their literal guardian angel, so he wasn't going to immediately judge someone because they looked or acted differently than seconds before.

She bowed politely and apologized for bothering them, saying it will never happen again and quickly ran off in another direction. Liam turned to the other. "What was that all about?"

Being the ray of sunshine he was, he shrugged with a small smile. He was the purest out of his brothers, mostly because he was never put in a situation where he was held responsible as a brother or guardian to Liam or Chance. He did complain about how unfair it was to be the one Liam and Chance had to worry about, even if it wasn't constantly like that. Though he didn't find it fair, he didn't go into great depths when he complained about it, it wasn't like he wanted to feel what it's like to watch over someone he cared about and loved from the bottom of his heart.

"No idea," he returned to his spot by the tree, sitting down against it. He motioned for Liam to do the same. "Liam," Theo's voice went rather soft saying the other boy's name, his grey hues meeting his brother's singular green one. "do you believe in the devil?"

For Liam, it was a kind of very uncharacteristic thing to say or ask, especially from someone like Theo. Those negative thoughts filled his head again, thinking the young boy learned about it from Chance or his partners. He tried to shake the eerie feeling and forced a half-hearted smile, the same smile he always pulled when he was trying to be nice. "I don't know where you heard about that, Theo, but no. I don't believe in him, and neither should you. Okay?"

Theo looked at the ground to think about his brother's words, still maintaining his small but simple expression. "Okay, Liam. I trust you."