Emmett looked at the rain with no hint of amusement. Benjamin and Michelle had offered to give him a ride but he declined, he couldn’t just leave his bike here it’d be a shame. So instead Benjamin shoved a raincoat into his arms and Nathaniel gave him a Skittle for good luck. He kicked the stand up and settled down on the bike a sigh escaping his lips. He flipped the hood over his head and prayed it wouldn’t mess his hair up.

He despised that he decided today would be a good one to wear a thin long sleeved shirt and skinny jeans that would surely be very uncomfortable when damp. Nonetheless he took off, pedaling down the street with a Skittle dissolving on the tip of his tongue.

He was unsure why he didn’t ask for a ride now, his house was a ways away from Benjamin’s nice neighborhood. He lived in a small, but homey house on a huge acre of land. It was on the outskirts of town not that he minded it. The rent was cheap and Emmett didn’t mind the quiet.

Of course it was unfortunate that everyone and everything was a mile or two away. In this case probably five. He biked as fast as he could until like he had figured, his jeans started to get uncomfortable. He biked slower and took the shortcut through the main road leading to his house in the forest area. The trees gave him cover which was a blessing and the silence was very much welcomed.

That was until the boy appeared. He was a skinny thing, with no meat on his bones and very, very pale He was small and the spandex suit he wore was rolled up slightly at his ankles. Emmett stopped when he was a few feet away and sat there. The rain pounding in his ears along with his heart in some sick song, his fingers gripping the handle bar as tightly as he could. His knuckles ached and his throat felt dry.

The boy turned around slowly and eerily. Emmett’s stomach lurched when he realized it was just a kid. No older than ten, quite possibly nine. His hair hung in his eyes and was an unnerving shade of white. As white as snow and falling into his striking blue eyes the color of ice. Emmett looked him over and frowned when he realized he was not wearing any shoes. His feet were bright red. What in the world happened to this kid?

He didn’t know how long they looked at each other. Seconds maybe minutes. The boy took a step forward. Emmett’s heart pounded and he contemplated if he should bike away or help him. Surely he was abandoned and not just bait for someone to quite possibly harm Emmett right? He had to do something at least. It was cold and the kid could die if left out here, if he brought him home Caleb would most definitely help.

“Bad?” The boy asked as he approached, squinting at him. His voice thick and very Russian. This only confused Emmett more. Could the boy not understand or speak English well? He looked tense at the moment, body stiff and eyes alert. Emmett wondered if the boy had been harmed in any way. Neglected even, it would explain how bony he was.

Emmett shook his head in response. The boy stopped before him, eyes looking the bicycle over. He then looked him right in the eyes, Emmett swallowed thickly. “No… No hurt?” He whispered. Emmett shook his head once more.

“No hurt,” he responded carefully. The boy visibly relaxed, then became tense once more.

“Where?” he asked. Emmett frowned. This was all too weird.

“Do you need help?” He asked instead of answering. The boy stared at him and nodded once. He gripped the bike handle and looked towards the woods. He did not appear cold at all and seemed perfectly fine in his tight, bodysuit.

“Yes,” he said. Emmett noted his voice was terribly small and gentle. He spoke slowly as if uncertain with each word that left his mouth. As if one word would mess this up. “They’re coming.”

Emmett did not ask who they was and was sure it was for the best. He simply shrugged off his coat, the cold already nipping at his skin. His body screamed desperately for the warmth of the jacket. The boy stared at it when Emmett held it out for him. “Put it on,” Emmett said.

The boy grabbed it and slipped his arms through the sleeves. The coat hung loose around his knees, but would successfully keep him warm. He sniffed at it and made a face. Emmett wondered if he smelt bad. “Where’s your mom and dad?”

The boy didn’t reply. Emmett decided this was going to be a lot more confusing than he thought. He looked at his bike and frowned. He didn’t have any room for the boy and got off, kicking the stand up. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket and looked at the boy. “What’s your name?”

The boy thought for a moment. “Jer-Jermija.” Emmett nodded and dialed up Caleb.

“What’s up little bro?” he asked. The boy stared at the phone with curious eyes.

“Uh hey,” Emmett murmured, running a hand through his soaked hair. “I uh, kinda need you to pick me up.”

Caleb rubbed a hand over his face as they stood before the sleeping boy on the couch. Emmett stood beside him quietly. “So you found him on the side of the road?” The older one of the Newsberrys asked. Emmett nodded in response a cup of tea in his hands. “In a full body of spandex and no injuries?”

“Looks like it,” Emmett replied. He sipped the tea. “He’s really thin.”

Caleb nodded and rolled up the cuffs of his button up shirt. “Looks like it,” he said. Emmett snorted as he finished his tea, setting the cup down gingerly. He wore a sweater now. After they had gotten home Caleb sent him to the bathroom for a shower and let him borrow on of his famous fluffy sweaters.

“His name is Jermija,” The younger boy said. Caleb hummed and knelt down to study the sleeping child.

“Last name?” Emmett shrugged. The taller male straightened and sighed. For a twenty five year old he looked tired. He was constantly up till Emmett left for school writing, drawing, editing. He often times forgot to eat. If it wasn’t for his younger brother he wouldn’t get sleep at all.

Nonetheless Caleb was good guardian, sometimes better than Emmett’s strict mother and hard working father. Of course he knew his parents loved him, Caleb just loved him more. “Makes it harder to know who he is and get the help we need doesn’t it?” Emmett nodded in response. He eyed the pen marks on his hands and made his way to the kitchen.

Caleb childishly slid in behind him. “Good thing you didn’t leave him,” Caleb continued.

“Be a shame if I did,” Emmett replied. He opened the fridge and looked through it for leftovers. “He’s a kid.”

“A weird one,” Caleb said. Emmett shot him a look. “He has white hair Emmett, he’s scrawny and he’s wearing spandex. There’s spaghetti in a container by the way.” Emmet retrieved the spaghetti from the fridge and piled some onto a plate. Caleb nodded when he looked over his shoulder that yes, he did indeed want some spaghetti as well.

“You’re awfully interested in the spandex thing,” Emmett said. He piled some pasta onto another plate, putting Caleb’s in the microwave first before turning around. He hopped onto the counter and patiently waited for the minute thirty to be over so he can eat. “Why is it so strange to you?”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “He’s a little kid in a full body of spandex the looks like one a surf boarder would wear,” he said. He arched a perfect eyebrow he had inherited from their mother. “We live in a town far, far away from the nearest body of water.”

Emmett shrugged. “Perhaps he enjoys wearing it.”

“He’d be a mad man, it’s forty degrees Emmett!”

Emmett was about the comment on how Caleb had an odd obsession of button up shirts and black slacks even in their agonizing summers, but decided the jab was unneeded. “Then perhaps his family deems it suitable for this kind of weather.”

“That’s child abuse.”

“No, mother forcing us to wear five coats the second it began to rain every winter is child abuse,” Emmett said. “What he is wearing is just weird.”

“I believe it’s child abuse,” Caleb said. Emmett was not in the mood to bicker. The beeping of the microwave filled the empty kitchen and Emmett retrieved the plate of warm pasta. Caleb took it and sat at the table, Emmett placed his plate in the microwave.

Emmett looked out in the living room as he pressed in the numbers, gnawing on his bottom lip in thought. “What do we do with him?” he asked.

“See if he has records perhaps, find his parents?” Caleb listed. “Ask mom and dad for help?”

Emmett watched the plate spin in the microwave. “I like the first two the most, our parents will be called if you fail to do your adult duties.”

“I highly doubt any adult is prepared to find the parents or guardians of a boy wearing spandex, in the rain, no shoes and sporting white hair,” Caleb said. “That’s just unheard of.”

This time Emmett didn’t comment on how he was still weirdly obsessed with the spandex thing, instead he nodded. It was unheard of, very much so.