That night, Damien arrived home late. With his feet aching and his body covered in a faint dusk, he collapsed onto his bed. The next day he was so exhausted that he chose not to go to school. Missing one day of school wouldn't hurt. He thought as he sank deeper into the bed. Hours passed and eventually the sound of an alarm could be heard. He sluggishly turned off the alarm, got up and left for work.

The second day, Damien attempted to go to school. Yet before he could take a step out the door, he felt himself falling. With a thud he fell upon the dingy carpet of his apartment; too tired to move a muscle. His eyes landed upon the picture of his late mother. Her eyes unmoving, her smile frozen in time. Damien laughed to himself.

       “By missing school… I am valuing myself.” A smile graced Damien’s face, yet for some reason he could not meet his mother’s eyes.

Rinse and repeat, work then sleep. This was his cycle... No this was now Damien’s way of life. He had to work. He had to keep pushing himself, since if he did not who would? Damien knew well that no one could help them out of this situation. His late mother held no relatives and his Dad never talked about his folks. He had Ava by his side, but already Damien knew that he was asking too much out of her. So… he could only depend on himself. With hard work, everything was bound to work out right? And before he knew it, two weeks had passed.

“Damiiiiiii!!!” He could feel hands pounding on his back, “Come on! Wake up!”

“No.” said Damien as he dug deeper into the comfortable sheets of his bed, hoping upon hope that the sheets would hide him from Dakota’s prying eyes. He was wrong.

Suddenly a huge weight was applied to his back, “Not ‘no’ Get! Up!” 

With a grimace Damien's eyes met his little brother’s. “Did you just jump on me?”

“Well you wouldn’t wake up Dami!”

Damien smiled as he brought Dakota into a headlock, applying a hard noogie onto the young boy’s head. “Does this count as awake? Hmm?” Dakota cried out in pain. 

“Dakota… Damien, breakfast’s ready” called Ava from the kitchen.

Both boys stopped their roughhousing as they shared a smile.

“You hungry?” 

Dakota nodded, “Yep!”

They both rose from the bed, Dakota in front while Damien behind him. Yet before Damien could get a proper foot off the bed, the world spun around him. He gripped the bed, to steady himself. Dakota, who noticed that his brother was no longer behind him, turned around. “Dami? You're coming right?”

Damien smiled, “Yeah, I'm fine. Got up too quickly.”

Dakota smiled at Damien. “That happens to me too! But be sure to get up slowly next time kay? We don't want you getting hurt.”

Now it was Damien’s turn to smile at his brother, “Got it.” He pushed his brother down and shot a grin at him. “Hurry up or I’ll eat your food.”

“Nooooo!!!”

The two boys raced to the kitchen.

……

“Once again, thanks for this Ava.” he attempted to hand her a wet plate.

Ava raised an eyebrow as she took the plate, “Why are you thanking me? As I already told you, what I’m doing doesn't deserve a “thank you”. I’m just a girl helping her friend out. Nothing more nothing less!” She dried the plate off placing it into a nearby cabinet, “Plus hearing you being all grateful sounds weird to me. Where's my usual deadpanned Damien? I miss him.”

Damien laughed, “Guess you’ll be missing him then. Since I plan to sing my gratitude for as long as you're here.”

“Ava's eyes widen, “Don’t you dare!”

Damien laughed at her cute response. He had to admit, he missed hanging out with her. Before his Dad’s disappearances, Ava would often frequent his home. Bringing over delicacies, a board game or simply bringing herself. It was fun to Damien. So now, with the two of them both laughing in his kitchen, he could not help but feel happy. It was as if in this moment he could forget that his dad had left them.

“Damien” are you done washing that plate yet? Do you need help?” 

Damien shook his head, “No… I was just distracted. Here.” He proceeded to hand her the plate, yet it merely slipped from his hands, shattering upon the ground.

 “Shit. Sorry about that.”

Ava gave a knowing smile, “It's fine, it happens to all of us.” they both reached for the shards of glass, their hands brushing past each other in the process. A faint red glow appeared on Ava’s face at the initial brush, but on the second and then the third, a frown had slowly taken up her expression.

“Damien.” She grabbed his hand, “You're burning up.”

Damien’s eyes widened at the sudden contact. “Am I?” he touched his hand then jerked it back at the hotness. “Dang I am.”

Ava’s frown deepened, “Yeah, you're not going to school today.”

“Why? I'm fine.” Damien got up to prove it, yet only started to stumble forward.

“Hey Dami!”

“Damien!” two sets of arms prevented Damien from falling, Ava from the front and Dakota from behind. 

Dakota grimaced as he attempted to right his brother up, “What wrong Dami? Get a hold of yourself!”

“Sorry about that, just lost my footing.”

Ava shook her head, “Nice excuse Damien, but I’m not believing that. You're definitely sick. Back to bed with you!” 

The two attempted to push Damien, yet due to his great size, they could hardly move him. It was as if two ants were trying to move a giraffe. Damien sighed at their attempt, “It's nice that you two want me to go to bed, but I already missed too many days of school. Anymore would probably get me kicked out.” 

Dakota pouted as he tried to push his brother once more, “Well you should have thought about that before missing all of those days of school! School wasn’t important then, so it's not important now. So, sleep Dami!”

Ava nodded her head, “Well… I may not agree with everything that Dakota is saying, but he is right about your rest. So please Damien, rest and let us take care of you.”

Damien looked down at the two, who stared up at him with bug wet eyes. He sighed, “Okay.”   

“Yay!” they both jumped and shouted with glee. I swear these two are too similar. He thought as he allowed the two to navigate him back to bed. Dakota tucked Damien in, while Ava pressed a wet towel against Damien’s head.

Damien grimaced, “Is all of this really necessary?”

“Dami shut up!”

“Yep, shut up Damien.” added Ava as she turned to Dakota, “Dakota, make sure to put a cup of water near Damien alright? I'll get a bowl just in case he throws up.” Dakota nodded and with some diligent teamwork, the two managed to surround Damien with various drinks and commodities to help him feel better.

Damien mustered a glance at them. At Ava, the girl who barely reached his shoulder. Then at Dakota, his little brother who grinned back in return. 

“Hey… you two should be heading to school though. It's getting a little too late for comfort.” Panic instantly filled both Ava’s and Dakota’s expressions and with a few goodbyes, they both started to leave. Yet, before Ava could leave, she turned around. “Hey Damien.” 

“Hmm?”

“Don’t go to work today, okay?” She smiled and then left. 

Damien's eyes widened as his face broke out into a grin, laughter soon taking hold of him. “Heh, gotta love Ava. Always sees right through me.” his laughter started to die down as other sounds began to fill the small apartment. The humming of the refrigerator, the occasional drip of water from the facet and the burst of footsteps and conversation from his neighbors. Damien allowed these sounds to enter him. He breathed in as he rosed both arms up, ignoring how much they trembled in the lightless apartment. Damien sighed, “Sorry Ava… but I need to get better.” He closed his eyes, his words practically a whisper, “I have to get better.”

…

“Damien! DAMIEN!” someone shook Damien’s shoulder, knocking him from his daze. You okay boy?”

Damien blinked as he turned his glaze to a small white woman. She wore an old flowery dress with white hair tied tightly in a bun. She was his new boss. “You’re applying bleach to the windows again! How many times do I have to tell you! Glass cleaner is used for the windows not the bleach!”

Damien scratched his head, “Sorry, I won't make this mistake again.”

“Damien.” she stuck a finger into his face, “What’s wrong with you today? That's your fifth time telling me that shit. Don't think you can just do whatever you want just cause you're all big and bad. I’ve met kids like you before, so don't test me. if you're going to keep on doing this I’m going to fire your ass.” The women walked off in a huff, shoving her way through the dusty shelves and tables that stood in her way. Damien shook his head at his boss. For a small old woman, she sure cussed a lot. Damien sighed, his eyes taking in his surroundings. Dusty shelves filled with various knicknacks, worn tables adorned with random items. And dust, dust, dust. When Damien was first hired he had wondered why he had received the job so easily, but the more time he spent here, the more he understood why. The job was indeed crappy. Long work hours, dusty useless items that would never sell and an owner who screamed at him for every mistake he made. 

Well, it's not like he had much of a choice in the decision. He needed work, and this was the only job that hired him immediately. No real interview, no real screenings just a “You’re hire.” 

He stopped his wiping and turned around to get another rag, yet the rag quickly turned into two as his vision swam before him. He stumbled a little and righted himself up by holding onto a nearby table.

“Damn… I’m still sick?” he murmured, “Probably I should have listened to Ava. Missing a day here wouldn’t have been so bad.”

His manager peeked around the corner, a scowl already present on her face. “Boy! I am not paying you to sit around! Get back to work.”

Damien sighed and went back to work. Yet for the rest of the day, he did poorly as mistakes were made and insults were thrown his way. It got so bad that his manager even yelled at him for an hour. Still, he persisted and eventually it was closing time.

He took a look at his phone that read 12:01. I hope Dakota ate well tonight. Ava should be there so he should be covered. But… He thought about the two sitting at their small table eating whatever dish Ava had made. Smiles gracing their faces, laughter floating in the air and an empty seat taking up space between them. His seat. A seat that is missing him. 

He shook his head of such negative thoughts as he stepped outside, noticing that rain had started to fall. He stepped into the rain, enjoying how the water soaked him thoroughly. The rain was so warm to Damien. Oh, so warm that he was crying. Hot tears slid down his face, tears that Damien thought were the rain. He ignored these tears and the rain that made his body warm that made him lose his balance. Before he knew it, Damien was on the ground. It was warm, oh so very warm. The rain continued to soak him as he laid on the ground. He tried to get up but could not. His arms felt like jelly, his legs like useless steel rods and finally his mind which swam with nothingness. Damien could not move and for some reason he was fine with that. He looked in the sky for his usual stars but could only find darkness. Darkness, so wide and vast that Damien trembled.