Living Dolls

19Kyle

"Ca... Can the rest of you guys go back inside, now?"

As Julien was trying to fend off Carmen, Ernest, and Irene, I just kept trying to keep comfortable in this new wheelchair. Before, I would always turn down any other fancy wheelchairs this brat would get me. Such as that power wheelchair he got me two years back, it was just harder to maneuver inside the house, too much of a hassle. I felt like this one, I had to deal with since there really wasn't another option. Oh, well, at least I can move it on my own.

It was a lot more comfortable, I'm not gonna lie. It was more cushioned, and even had a head rest, so that way, my neck wouldn't be in so much pain with all my constant sleeping spells. Still, it would make it hard for Heide to hug me like she usually does, so that was sort of a bummer, I had to embarrassingly admit.

Irene and the rest came out to help me up onto this thing, but even still, they didn't leave, and it seemed to really get under Julien's skin. Just standing close by, Ernest wouldn't even sit down, and Carmen and Irene leaned back against the wall of the house, frowning. I guess they were more than serious when they said they wouldn't leave me alone with this, as Carmen put it, "moronic little bitch of a boy". It's only been a day since she's opened up her colorful vocabulary, and I was already getting ill.

The entire time since I was brought out, I avoided looking at Julien's face. My body was still screaming in absolute piercing pain, the bruises gaining their full colors of black, blue, and purple, and the last thing I wanted was to let him think it was just a misunderstanding and nothing else.

"Where's Heide?" He asked, and I just kept sitting back, letting my head fall upon the headrest, and I closed my eyes with a satisfied sigh. "She's staying in there? And you guys are out here? What's wrong?"

Ernest answered, sounding none too pleased, "She wants to rest in her room today."

I heard Julien sit back in his seat, and cautiously, I opened my eyes. With a deep frown, he looked at the highest window of the dollhouse, the one by Heide's room. His eyes narrowed more, as he leaned over, and tapped on the window with the back of his finger, over and over, seemingly for no other reason than to bother her. I glowered, and when he sat back again, I was sure to close my eyes.

"Seriously, though. You guys. I want to talk to Kyle alone. I mean, okay, you guys helped him out here, made him comfortable, he looks all nice and cozy in his new wheelchair..." I twitched in annoyance. "You guys can go in now."

"Nice and cozy, huh?" Hearing Carmen's annoyed voice made me choke a bit. Okay, I wanted her to speak up, but not to him. "Those bruises don't look so comfy to me."

There was a second or two of a pause, and I heard Julien's heavy, tense exhale. Nervous, I opened my eyes, looking at the girl, who kept a straight face up towards him. I was holding my breath, and almost choked out again when Julien responded, tone dripping with venom, "You should just mind your business and worry about yourself, Carm."

She furrowed a brow, and even beside her, Ernest and Irene were starting to narrow their eyes. "I thought you wanted me to get along with them?"

Carmen! Stop, stop, stop!

"... God, you're annoying." He muttered, and I waited, in absolute fear of anything else happening. Nothing. At least, nothing that indicated something was happening to Carmen. I heard Julien moving forward, and then his breath washed right down at me, making me shiver with my clenched teeth. "... Kyle?" He asked, voice but a fragile whisper. I just kept my eyes closed, though I'm sure he noticed my grimacing shudder. "Kyle, come on, look at me."

"Julien?" Ernest called, surprisingly calm and polite, "He doesn't want to."

Irene went on, "You hurt him, he's mad at you."

"But, I..."

Ernest again, voice gaining just a bit of his usual irritation, "He's mad, Julien."

"He should be mad at you." Julien's voice lost all that sick concern and softness, instead being a menacing growl, "That was all your fault-"

"Stop." I spoke, voice dying just as it started in fear, and I opened my eyes. Julien was leaning over towards the other three, but directed right back to me when I spoke, and although my eyes were kept open, I still refused to look at him. I kept my eyes down, and I held my breath when he hovered closer.

"Kyle." He muttered, hand falling in front of me, and I looked to the side. "Look at me."

I didn't.

"... God," He sat back just a bit, sighing, "Kyle, I just want to clear stuff up with you. I mean... " Another sigh, much louder. "You're making this difficult." I kept my frown and my eyes in the same direction, even when I heard him move forward again.

Until I heard Carmen's cry.

My eyes narrowed and snapped over to where the others were, and I wasn't even given enough time to process what was starting to happen before it escalated. Once Julien pinched Carmen by her shoulder, he pulled her closer to the middle of the table, and she cried out on the way.

There were quick pounds in my heart. My face and chest burned, and just as Julien was beginning to lift her up off her feet and her frantic, panicked cries got louder and more crazed, I rose my hands and called out, "Okay, okay! Julien! It's okay, I'm listening, I'm...!"

Carmen was still pinched painfully between his fingers, about fifteen feet in the air to us, and she was already going red and panicking and wheezing out. Just as I spoke, though, he looked back down at me, and at those silver eyes, my heart skipped a solid beat, and my vision went dark for just a second.

A smile came over his face, "Just as I thought." He only lowered his hand a bit before letting go of the young girl, and I winced when she fell right on her side on the floor with a hard thump. "You're really too sweet, Kyle."

He loomed closer and closer, and I willed myself to keep staring him back, and it was absolutely killing me. His eyes tried to focus right on me, at every part of me, and I just held my breath, trying to keep my horrid shaking at bay.

I flinched in panic when his hand came over, finger going behind my back and forcing me to sit up much more, while his thumb was over my shoulder. That alone was enough to spark the pain in my bruises, and even more to make me shake in fear from the familiarity.

"Sorry, my little Kyle." He pouted a bit, "But these three just don't want to leave us alone."

"Do-Don't-!" Carmen was just starting to try getting up off the floor from her wheezing fit, and her voice was still choked up from all that, "Don't touch h-him, you s-son of a-!"

I didn't get to buckle myself in.

His finger and thumb constricted tight over me, and I felt my heart tighten up. I already felt like I was suffocating, especially as I was much too quickly risen up into his loosely gripped palm.

My thoughts and heart were in an absolute hurricane, but I could still make out the muffled sounds of Carmen's screech, "PUT HIM DOWN, YOU-!"

"Son of a bitch, psychopath, fucker... Yeah yeah, I get it, Carm." Julien muttered with disinterest as he brought me closer, but by then, my vision was such a blur from the panic that I couldn't figure much out. My ears were getting plugged just as I heard the sound of the closet door getting closed shut, and during that entire thing, there was the faint sound of Carmen yelling, probably cursing her lungs out. I could barely do anything but blink my glossed over eyes as the senses kept lowering and lowering in the usual deterioration.

There was spinning, spinning, spinning, so much spinning. So many shifts of movements and little tics of noise around me, but it seemed so far away, like I was in a closed off room. I didn't even know what was going on, I could barely think, until I was placed down on a soft surface, and right away, from my broken senses, I just fell right to my back, staring up.

I kept blinking up above me, over and over, trying to bring the world back to me. What was that? The ceiling? Probably. A darker cream color, that was his room... I was still here.

With my arms lifted at the sides of my face, I left them, still trying to gain control. Why? It's not like there was a point.

... Wait...

Huh. Weird. As I was blinking, I felt a little tickle in my eyes, and right then and there, as I realized they were pooling tears, it all came rushing back to me.

Why?

Noises and sensations pooling back into me, I remained lying there, as Julien crawled up closer. His arms on either side of me, face right above me, he stared down, eyebrows furrowed in concern and confusion, and everything else was dark from his gargantuan shadow. Him. He was just filling my teary vision.

Why am I like this?

"Kyle?" He trembled, focusing in on me, looking me up and down, "W-What's wrong, are you o-okay?" I wasn't even sure if he was addressing my confusing tears. I flinched when his right hand moved, finger brushing up over my throbbing arm. "K-Kyle, I'm not m-mad at you, I didn't br-bring you out here to h-hurt you, or y-yell at you, I'm not m-mad, I-I-I..."

I just kept blinking, technically looking up at him, but everything was all spaced out.

"Pl-Please..." His voice was shaky, "I-I, please, I d-didn't mean a-all of that yesterday, I-I was just..." Just... "D-Don't worry about all that, pl-please... Don't worry, I s-still love you a-and... I d-don't hate you, you're perfect, you're my p-perfect little Kyle, and I-I'm so sorry that I h-hurt you yesterday! I-I just... I j-just..."

Just-?

From my mental dissociation and general spaciness in that moment, I guess I didn't notice. I should have, from his shaking that reached under me on the bed, and from his quivering and choked up voice. I didn't notice, but I should have, didn't matter, because those tears fell and dropped right down to my chest, soaking up most of my sweater.

Okay, now I was most definitely awake.

I let out a little crying, panicked hiss of discomfort from the feeling, and just as I did, Julien hunched over even more, making everything much darker. The arms that were beside me rose up, and he rubbed his face.

"Oh, my God, why am I like this?" He groaned, his hair moving over me. "I've just b-been crying since forever, and r-right away with you, I can't h-help myself..."

Yeah, I heard, and really hoped that it wouldn't happen with me. Alas, though, it did, and just like he said, right away. So, yes, good question, why are you like this?

"I-I just... Really, Kyle, really." He leaned back away, eyes still blinking with tears, and I flinched away just a bit, "I... I'm so sorry, I j-just, I got mad, and you didn't deserve that, at all. All the stuff I did, and the stuff I said, I..."

Nothing came from me. I mean, what was I supposed to say to all this crap?

"I'm awful." You are. "I hurt you so bad." You did. "You didn't deserve it."

... Not too sure.

I wasn't too sure, and it made me start to panic a little again.

"You didn't." He leaned closer, and I flinched back again. "Kyle, I need to know that you understand that, I need to know right now. I just need you to listen and talk back to me so I know we're on the same page and-"

"We're not on the same page."

He flinched at my talking, and kept blinking down at me with those teary eyes. I willed myself to keep looking up at him with my frown.

"We'll never be on the same page."

"... Oh... Okay." He nodded, voice frail, as he moved back away just a bit. "I... Um... Thank you for talking, Kyle, but... We do have to be on the same page." At my glare, he stammered, "About some things! Like, what I did, I'm sorry and you didn't deserve it at all, I'm awful, but I knowthat, so...!"

"You don't." I shook my head. "You don't know that."

His eyes narrowed, and my breath hitched in my throat. "Yes, I do!"

"That's what you said before. When you shot me with that thing." I spat, and he was looking more hurt by the second, but I didn't care. I kept going. "You said you were sorry, you said you'd never hurt me again, but what did you do?"

More tears were building in his eyes as he shook his head, "Kyle, that was an accident!"

"Was shrinking me an accident?" I hissed, and he stammered. "Even if doing this to me was an accident, you still decided to hurt me on purpose."

"Because I thought-!"

"Didn't matter."

"What about you, huh?" He was shaking, body and voice, and I felt it rippling under me. "Why did you say it was you?"

"I didn't. All I said was-"

"You knew what you were doing, Kyle! Y-You knew, I a-asked, and..."

"But, you didn't-"

"Were you trying to get me to kill you-!?"

"Shut up!" Pretend, pretend, that's what Heide said, but I couldn't do it, rage was just bubbling all up inside me. "You didn't let me defend myself!"

He sputtered again, and after a lot of that, hung his head like before, bringing total darkness around me. I just winced as his breathing rushed around me, the bridge of his nose right over me. "I said I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Kyle, I r-really am, a-and..." I heard it and saw it, the shifting around me, the slit of light entering, but still, when his hand moved under me, I was ready to burst from anger. "God, I don't know what else to say, I j-just...!"

"There's nothing to say." I sneered, "Now, get your hand away from me-!"

He wasn't listening, "I'll do anything for you. Anything!"

"Anything?" I frowned, "Then, please, bring us back to size and let us go-!"

His teary eyes narrowed down at me, and my heart pounded in what felt like fear.

Again with the fear.

Maybe Heide was right. Maybe I should have pretended-

His eyes darted over to his front door, and straight away, with his right hand still under me, he lifted me up, and I held my breath as he hurried to sit up. He whispered quick and urgently, "Mess around and I'll be juggling Carmen later." And before I could say anything, he lifted up his grey sweater, pulling me under the fabric and dropping me, before retreating his hand, leaving me between his sweater and blouse.

Lying on my side in this bundle of cloth and darkness, I groaned loudly in aggravation, and was just about to start thrashing when I remembered his threat, but honestly, that just made me want to scream louder.

The door opened, and I held my breath as Julien shifted back and forth, surely trying to get into a better sitting position.

I already heard about what happened last night, and Miruna's entry just awhile ago. I was getting ready to hear either of his parent's voices, getting ready for the hell that would be restraining myself from screaming and going insane for help.

"Julien."

My heart and face fell from the familiar voice.

"What?" Julien scoffed. It was a little hard to hear from the fabric around me, and I felt the rumble shivering above me from when he spoke.

My uncle's voice, too, it was a little muffled. Still, the same gruff voice I knew. So indifferent to a teenager's bullshit. "You're still crying."

Julien groaned, sniffling, and from the way the cloth above me moved, he had to have been wiping at his face. "Still? So, my Mom told you, huh? Of course. I knew she would have gone ranting to you." And then I remembered how he was sure to completely close the closet door earlier. "Now what?"

I remember always asking that stupid question. He knew I was upset, and I tried to be a smart ass. Now what?

Alan didn't answer right away, which I'm sure infuriated Julien, because he groaned it out again, "Now what? What did my Mom want you to do? She should know by now that you can't fix everything-"

"Your Mother didn't send me here."

"... Ewald, then?"

"No, of course not, and don't call him that."

"Why not?" Julien scoffed, "I mean, I'm not a real Anzo after all, so now he's definitely not my Dad."

"Then-"

Before Alan could speak further, Julien cried out, "Okay, enough!" And I clenched my teeth, holding my breath in shock as I was pushed closer to his stomach by his hand. "What do you want then, if neither of them sent you? I mean, you already admitted that my Mom told you what happened earlier..."

"I don't want anything, I just want..." To talk. That wasn't his thing.

"To talk..." I heard Julien snickering, but it couldn't have been good natured. "That's not really your thing."

Silence, and my blood was boiling. Again, how much I wanted to thrash and scream, but I'd be silenced instantly, and it'd only end with Carmen getting hurt, and not a single thing worth Alan's attention or suspicion.

"I don't even want to talk, anyway. I mean, Mom came in here earlier so we could talk, and that turned into an absolute shitshow."

"She did admit, she got a little carried away."

"... Good-"

"But, so did you."

Julien groaned, "Oh, give me a break-!"

Alan's tone remained the absolute same, calm and steady. "So, I promise I won't go out of my way. I'm just going to let you talk-"

"I'd like you to talk back, too!"

"Okay, I'll respond, but only when you want me to." This was all too familiar, and it was honestly making me a little sick. "Otherwise, I'll ask just a few questions, and you can go on all you'd like about what you think."

Julien was quiet for a minute, and he leaned back a bit, "Why?"

"I just want to understand. I heard your Dad's-"

"Ewald's."

"I heard Ewald's side, I heard your Mother's side, now it's time for yours."

Julien's breathing slowed, "... Will I hear your side?"

"Maybe, maybe not." He muttered, and Julien leaned back more, groaning. "I haven't even heard all sides, so I shouldn't form my own quite yet."

"Of course you couldn't... What exactly do you want to hear? I mean, it should be obvious, I'm pissed the hell off."

"Your Mother said you didn't think it was fair."

Julien quickly leaned forward, and I held my breath as I was slumped down lower. I squinted, beginning to try pulling my arm out from the bottom of his sweater, but I couldn't locate it from all the folds. "It's not fair! It's not fair, and you should be able to see that, too! I've been doing everything he told me to do! Everything! And it's not enough? If I was never gonna be accepted no matter what I did, then why am I even here?"

"What do you mean by that, why am I even here?"

I flinched from the shout that rumbled around me, "That should be obvious!"

"Afraid it's not." I heard only a couple of footsteps, but they didn't get all that close. The hand that was over on the other side of me began to shake rapidly, and I heard and felt Julien's uneasy breathing. "Well?" His trembling fingers were beginning to curl, taking away my space, washing down sparks onto my bruises, and it took every bit of me to restrain from yelling. "What exactly are you referring to-?"

"What does it matter?" He let me go, but his shaky hand was still on the other side. His voice was shaking just as much, and I was already seeing his stupid angry smile in my mind. "Especially to you? I mean, you've never been too helpful."

Still calm. "Julien-"

"You just want to know, so you could tell Ewald, right? So you both could use my feelings to his advantage, huh? That's all that ever happens when I tell you anything."

"I will not, I promise that. I just want to know why you're upset with them-"

This little monster just would not let my uncle speak, and it infuriated me. "You know, I'm not just angry with Mom and Ewald, I'm pissed with you, too! You've never done anything to help me, either! And I would always try to get your attention and everything and, you..! You'd say... Y-You'd s-say..."

I'm not trying to be your father, Kyle.

Alan answered for the brittle voice teen, "I'm not your father, Julien."

"Th-That! That's what y-you'd say!" Julien cried, "So, Ewald's not my Dad, you're not my Dad, s-so, th-then..." Ernest, I thought with a sickening feeling of worry for that man. "A-And you expect me to th-think you care about me? When you'd a-always blow me off like that?"

"Julien." Alan snapped just a bit, and Julien flinched back. Alan paused, letting Julien take a breath and think, "Am I your father?" Another pause. "No. I'm not."

The teen was shivering, "And neither is Ewald..." To which Alan sighed. "St-Still, you c-could have... You're the one who a-always showed up and d-didn't leave, you're the one w-who-"

"Do you know what I told your father when he put me in charge of you all those years ago?" Alan's voice was starting to head on annoyed, and I'm sure Julien sensed that, because he shut up. "I can't even take care of my nephew." My heart stopped. "I already had custody of Kyle, and that wasn't working out. You know why? Because he wasn't my son, and I wasn't his father, we both knew that."

Julien and I, we were quiet.

"Tell me, Julien, why would you be any different?"

It took awhile of nervous stammers for Julien to answer, "I-I... D-Didn't want you to t-treat me better than K-Kyle... That's not what I m-meant..."

It's not my fault you spend more time with the Anzos than with me.

"I-It's just... All you ever did was t-talk about how good he was, how s-smart and nice a-and talented, th-that you hoped I would be like that. S-So, I thought, if I could, th-then I... You..."

"This is the thing, Julien. He would do what you're doing right now, too, when he was your age." Alan retorted, and Julien sniffed. "Whining. He never thought he was enough either, he was angry with everything going on, too. He wasn't just... that. I would never tell you that, because his moodiness, that was short-lived, that wasn't him, and that's why I don't intend on using what you say when you're in this kind of mood, because it doesn't define you."

I could feel that Julien was trying to keep breathing, in and out, and honestly, I was doing the same thing. I hated this. I hated hearing him talk about me. It was torture, and a part of me wanted my systems to fade away. Sleep, dammit, sleep.

"My son is not here, and I don't intend to replace him with anyone, not you, or my nephew. There will be no such replacement." At the mere mention of his son that never was, my heart stopped.

"I-I just... Th-Thought that..." His hand was getting closer. "You still l-loved Kyle..."

"I do love Kyle." Love, not loved. "He's my nephew."

Julien sniffed, turning just a bit, and his hand was close to cradling me through his sweater. "If you did love him, you would have grown a spine."

What?

Though I'm filled with confusion by such a cold statement, I'm still getting some floods of absolute anger. I clench my hands hard, and then they grow numb.

Alan didn't answer back for awhile, and in the midst of my seething anger, I hear his sigh. Frustrated, saddened, tired? I couldn't tell. He began stepping over, and Julien scooted back on his bed, hand continuing to cup close to me. Alan's footsteps got closer and closer, and then there was creaking on the bed in front of Julien. I heard Alan going through his pockets, and then it seemed like he pulled something out.

"... What's that?" Julien asked, voice still shaking.

"Even if there's no replacement..." Alan didn't answer the question, but knowing him, he was probably getting some stuff off his chest before closing all of this. "Kyle was my second chance." He said, and the tears were starting to flood in my rapidly blinking eyes. "And you were my third." They slipped. "You two never had any idea how it felt like, to be looked up by such small and bright eyes."

Julien was starting to sniffle again, "W-Wha...?"

"I never wanted to do any more than I was supposed to, because I didn't want to break your hearts. Always, I should have done this, I should have said that. You two were always much too clever and sensitive, and it always upset me. My boy's not here, here you two are, and you both..."

Left behind.

"Kyle... His presence was indeed a burden for me. It made me wonder why I couldn't have my boy. But, at the same time, that burden kept me from being swept away. You, too..."

Julien and I's breathing got irregular, heaving in an emotional panic.

"... I know that you can find his work numbers and accounts if you look hard online, but that's too difficult to actually get to him. After what I heard last night, I worked to get his personal phone number, and no, I didn't consult your mother or Ewald about this. I want to let you have some control over what happens to you."

After a pause, slowly, Julien moved forward, and his hand left me, letting me slump right back down in the dark. I heard the sound of a thick paper being rubbed between Julien's fingers.

"So, here it is. Samuel's personal phone number. Keep this a secret from Miruna and Ewald, would you?"

Who? Samuel? I kept blinking, trying to clear my tears, and bring the feeling back into my hands and arms. Who was that? I thought we knew well enough who Julien talked to.

Julien was silent, surely looking this piece of paper and number over. "Why?"

Because, Kyle, I wish for you to be happy.

The bed creaked, and Alan's shoes hit the floor, "Because, Julien, I wish for you to be happy."

Just like that, Alan got down the platform around Julien's bed and towards the door. Just as he was reaching it, Julien called out, "Uncle Alan - I-I mean...!" His footsteps stopped. "U-Um... Alan... I... Yeah, I c-can't talk about that st-stuff... Right now." His hand came back to me, flinching me from my crying fit. "But... I w-want to... With you, a-and Mom..."

"I can set something up for us."

"Thank you."

His footsteps started up again, and the door was closing, "Now stop crying, it's not good for you. Rest, Julien."

And the door closed.

Julien remained sitting down, taking deep breaths, in and out, and I tried ever so desperately to mimic that. In, out, in, out.

Breathe in, hold breath, breathe out, just like Alan taught me...

Just like Alan taught me...

The both of us were still quietly breathing in and out, I was in the middle of breathing out when Julien's hand came over under his sweater, pulling at the bottom and easily letting my fall from the folds of fabric and into the palm of his hand.

Dizzy and dazed from the light after being in darkness so long, I flopped onto my back and shook my head as Julien rose me closer to his face. When I opened my eyes, I found they were still flooded with tears, and so, the image of an also teary Julien was a blur.

"Were you awake for all of that?" He whispered, and I nodded. "That's what I thought... That's why I didn't want Alan talking so much. I'm so sorry, Kyle..."

My fingers twitched.

"... You were always special to me. Even before I met you that day. When I heard the news I was... I was so excited." He said softly, and it did nothing to soothe my mood. "Kyle is so smart, Kyle is so nice, Kyle is so talented... And, he was right." His left hand came over, thumb brushing my hair, "I... I always wanted an older brother, and you're... You're perfect."

No. Why?

"I already knew you were perfect way before that day, but impossibly, you became more so. You didn't just follow me because I wanted to show you something, you stuck with me the entire night."

"B-Because..." I didn't intend on speaking these thoughts, but it just came out, and Julien perked up. "I knew what it felt like. W-We held similar parties when I was a kid, connections everywhere. Debra got tired of watching over me, she wanted to meet these people, so she'd leave, and the same happened to Ezekiel soon after, and I was alone." Alone, vulnerable to all the stares and callous remarks from the grown ups. "And, y-you..."

"I was the exact same." He muttered, and I held my breath. His thumb brushed over my face, wiping away the tears sloppily, and I grimaced. "See? You're too sweet... And, I... I hurt you." His eyes focused in on my legs, and the blood was rushing to my face in anger. "You didn't deserve it. You didn't deserve any of that."

His thumb kept brushing my hair, rubbing along my shoulder, but I never numbed down, I was tortured, forced to stay awake through all this.

"Your parents, your siblings, they should have taken care of you, they should never have left you. You should never have gotten beat in that alley. You should never have gotten paralyzed. You should never have gotten hurt for something you didn't do. You're better than that, you're the perfect person and I absolutely love you to hell and back, and..."

And...

"You deserved better, your family, the world, they wronged you. But here, I promise, we won't do that. We did that yesterday, and I swear, I will not let that happen again. Never again. You're too perfect for all of us... Like Alan said, the world had their chance with you. It's my turn now, and you know what? There won't ever be anyone else. You're not a burden, you're amazing, so perfect for me, and completely mine, so I'll take care of you."

Why was he crying again?

Vulnerable and shaking, I stared up at his face. Though he was grinning, tears flooded his eyes, those eyes that were so entranced, soaking every bit of me in. The tears slipped, and fortunately, didn't land on me like earlier.

"My poor, perfect little Kyle..." He brought me closer, and I held my breath. "I will never leave you or hurt you, not again. You're mine, and I need to take care of what's mine. The world had their chance, you're mine now, and I'll do better."

In a panic, I closed my eyes and let out a crying hiss when his fingers curled around me, and I was brought over near his throat. I just tried to remain still and quiet as I was pressed against his thumping throat, especially as his finger stroked along my hair.

"Poor little Kyle... I'm so... S-So sorry..." He kept breathing heavy, his throat tightening over and over. "I love you so much, and from now on, I really will do anything to prove it, every day. All the love I gave you before? Not enough, I'll give you more, because you deserve it."

Disgusting.

As he kept muttering apologies and sickening declarations of love and stroking at me, I thought back to the day my life was ruined.

I hope you get along well with Julien.

There's no way I could do that. He's ruined my life, disabling me like this. He's hurt the others, he's ruined their lives as well.

But, that's exactly why I'll get along. I'll pretend. Only for the others.

And so, I say, just loud enough for the blubbering monster of a teen to hear:

"Thank you, Julien."

---

When I got back inside the dollhouse, I was so much happier to breathe in and out, surrounded by the others. Heide was still upstairs, though, which was upsetting. After so much talk from this teen surrounded by money and neglect, I wanted another option, and that was her. Less murdery. Still, Ernest said she wanted to think and rest, and that's all that poor girl needed. I was just so desperately wanting to see her and talk to her, I missed her hugs.

Carmen was still fuming when I got dropped back off. A lot of anger and questioning if Julien hurt me, ranting and raving about wanting to completely beat Julien up, all of that. It was a little stressing to see her so angry, but hey, if it made her feel better.

Ernest just got his bandages replaced again, and was groveling and groaning on the couch. Irene went off in the kitchen area, chatting a little with Carmen. I watched those two, still trying to get used to sitting in this wheelchair. Seeing them talk so calmly made me close my eyes with a content sigh.

"Hey, Kyle," Ernest called me, and I opened my eyes, looking over at him. He was on the couch closest to me, turned over slightly as to look at me. He looked me up and down, "How you feelin'?" His voice was much quieter than normal, so I kept mine low too.

"Good. Well... I mean... Better than you."

He grinned, "Well, then I'm fucked, aren't I?" I just nodded sheepishly, and he glanced over at the other two in the kitchen, before motioning me to come closer. Curious, I wheeled myself closer to the couch, and he leaned up closer to me, groaning a bit from the pain as he did so. "Kyle, I just..." He looked back and forth, before back at me, "I... I really am sorry. For not stepping up for you-"

"You did step up."

"Not soon enough, though. Man, look at you, I've never seen you so bruised up. I've never even seen Heide this bruised up!" He choked, "Plus, you never should have gotten in that situation in the first place. I should have-"

"I get it. You were scared. That... That's why I tried to keep it going, too, you know? Because, I thought, well, if Julien was mad with me, then, you..."

"Kyle, you're too sweet." He said, and I found myself shaking from those words. "It's not just that, because, I... It's not the only time I completely fucked you over, and-"

"None of that was too bad." I found myself snickering, shaking my head. "I mean, you always try too hard to mess with me and I do take it personally sometimes, but that's-"

He grimaces, "N-Not that..."

My face falls, "What?" I'm genuinely confused as to what he's referring to.

Clenching his teeth, he looked down, shuddering. "I... I mean... I kn-knew who I was messing with... A-And then you came..." He looked up at me, and I only blinked back. "B-Before all this, I..."

"... Hated rich kids?"

Eyes widening, he blinked up at me, and before I knew it, he started laughing. Hanging his head, he wiped at his eyes, snickering and shuddering. Confused, I just nervously smiled. I already knew he hated rich kids, he told me that plenty of times, knowing I was one. Or, was it something else? I didn't know.

"Oh my God." He snickered, reaching over and patting me on the arm, "You're too much. You know what? I'll tell you, we can talk about it when we get outta here." When. "And then you could hit me and throw bottles at me and hate me all you want."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Well, you should. But, just so you know, even if you do hate me, we're still gonna be friends. You know that, right? I won't let you go, you brat."

Seeing him talk about the future with a smile made me happier than I could say.

"I swear, I won't let you have time with your family, I'm gonna be your priority, got it? Ooh, man, sorry Ezekiel, sorry Debra, but, y'know, think I deserve this. I mean, I'll try getting along with 'em, too! Just like I'll try getting along with Irene, Carmen's, and Heide's family! We can go out and - oh! Carmen told me about godparents while you were gone, you could be our kid's godparent! I mean, you'll already be Uncle Kyle, because you're the little brother I never wanted. And you'll bake their birthday cakes! And if Irene and I do get married, which trust me, I'll work on it, you'll be best man! And you better play good music and cook good food! You know I like music and love to eat. And-! Huh?" His smile fell, "Kyle, what's wrong?"

Oh, I'm crying.

The others noticed too, and as they and Ernest started questioning what was wrong, I just smiled and wiped the tedious tears away.

It's strange. My life was ruined, yes, but never have I felt complete until I met these people, and I just wanted to return the favor.