After the first time dancing he wanted to do it again, so he practiced dancing in the corner just trying to remember the steps. He went out often with others to Run some Errands and came back with a chocolate bar and a small bag of candy. He’d go to his room and stash it, the Murphy family still a bit weary of him.

“It’s not good to isolate yourself from the rest.” He wrote on the notepad.

“What can we do? No one here likes us.”

“They don’t know you, the only way to get to know someone is by talking to them.”

“Then why don’t you talk?”

“I can’t. I got sick and it ruined my voice.” Clicks touched his throat thoughtfully.

“Oh... guess you can’t win them all,” he wondered what he could have meant by that but shrugged it off.

“Garfield!”

“It’s ok, my big brother took care of me. But now that he’s gone I’ve had to do things on my own.” He didn’t mind sharing some of his life with them, he hoped that he would heard their story soon.

“Did they find you, like you found us?”

“No, they came to me for help. I was fixing this place up alone before they came along asking for a place to stay.”

“And you just let them?”

“I’ve been lonely.” Clicks sunk into himself for a moment but straightened again.

“How old are you?”

“Probably 17 now? 18? I’ve been on my own for a year. Found this place in a wreck and just started cleaning it up.” He settled more comfortably on his makeshift bed of sleeping bags and a small overhanging tarp. He set his bag where he would lay down and slipped off his shoes, putting them to the corner.

“A whole year alone?” he nodded.

“They walked right in as I was fixing the windows. I was lucky that I cleared out an escape route near by.”

“Sounds like you don’t trust them.”

“At first I didn’t, this room has an escape route as well.” He didn’t want to bother explaining that it was for his friends, in case they trapped him in.

“What made you trust them?” He thought for a moment then started writing for a bit, trying to keep it short and simple as much of it as he can at least.

“I tied up some dead guys in chairs in the office up there. They got loose and nearly hurt a girl. They came up after and took them out, after I started dragging them out and cleaning up. That’s when they decided to help me after watching me for a few days.”

“Some people,” Clicks tried to hide a chuckle but the kid still caught it and also smiled.

“Not all of them are bad, they had tough lives as well. I can share them with you if you want to listen.”

“Listen? You can’t talk.” Clicks pulled out his voice recorder and put in his favorite, it was nothing but bed time stories. He played it and they all listened to the old woman talk.

Dr. Murphy came in later after checking everyone and seen that his family was crowded around Clicks sleeping. Chuckling to himself he threw a blanket on them and laid down to rest. He woke up to Clicks trying to squeeze himself out of the pile, he chuckled.

“You might as well face it, your their new Teddy Bear.”

“Sss,” he relaxed more comfortably and went back to sleep, or tried to.

“Do you like your life so far?”

“Mn,” Clicks sounded and made a noise “Mm?”

“Yes, I have my family, we are well looked after. Even if others are not welcoming us, at least I know that there are some that do.” He looked the young boy over, he still wore his black zip up hoodie with the skeletal print on it. A skeletal fabric mask, dark jeans, his black hair had seen better days. He also looked tired if those drooping brown eyes were anything to go by.

He pulled himself up a bit to grab his voice recorder and switched the SD card, he put in a new one and pressed play. The boys hands were rough looking, no doubt that he put a lot of work into this place. On the voice recorder was chatter and laughter, he turned it down and listened to it until he fell back to sleep.

“Clicks doesn’t like to be alone,” he heard his son speak up. He wondered if Clicks knew all along which is why he kept silent.

“No one likes to be alone,” Dr. Murphy said and adjusted himself so that he was facing towards his son. He felt exhausted from looking the people over, they were stubborn at first but with Clicks’ help it went a bit more smoothly.

“He was alone for a whole year, just himself. It’s no wonder that he hasn’t gone crazy after all that time to himself.” He most certainly looked as if he’s been alone for a long time, if the messy self cut hair was anything to go by.

“He has us now, he has them.”

“For how long, Dad? What if something happens and he loses everyone.” That is a possibility, and its rare for his son to take such an interest in someone else’s well being likes this.

“He’ll lose some along the way but from the looks of it, he’ll not take them for granted. If this voice recorder is anything to go by, he has their voices, telling him of their day, stories, songs, it might hurt for a while. But now we know that he’ll remember us. He’ll share that with anyone who would listen so that they will take from it what they will.”

“I don’t think I can do it.” Clicks sure gave his son a lot to think about, what could this poor boy gone through to be this wise and make others question their own life until now?

“He can’t either, but he has help. What can you do so that you won’t forget the ones you love?” He decided to steer the thoughts to something a little more productive, give his son something else to think about rather then the negative.

“I’ll, figure that out. Are we really staying here?”

“Yes, they need us and we need them. But Clicks, he’s the only one that Wants us. Why do you think he’s more close with us than anyone else?” He sounded so judgmental about staying here, he better remind him of who wants him here.

“I thought he was close to everyone,” So Clicks hasn’t told him much about how he lived until now, well he did say that I can share what he told me if I needed to. So I will, if for my son to understand.

“This big of a group can scare anyone, but they are sleeping together. He’s in here with us, how many nights in here alone did he spend before us?” He pointed out, he figured that his son never even thought about something like this. Clicks had his own routine before going to bed, he continued it but only adding talking to his family into the mix.

“Probably a lot. Do you think he still feels lonely? Even with all these people.” His son still didn’t get that even with so many people around some can still be lonely.

“Yes, because he doesn’t know them. They are mostly interested in each other he’s the odd one out. No matter how hard he tries to fit in, he just can’t.”

“I feel bad for treating him so-”

“Don’t son, you didn’t know. Just like how we are talking now, he talked with me about how he felt. He knows that you were only looking out for your mom and sisters. He knows that you would do anything to protect them, and he wants to do the same but for everyone under his roof.” He thought of something that would help his son understand more.

“Why? They might betray him.”

“Son, draw a circle. Put the names of people you would have in your circle. Was he an addition?”

“Yes, I would never leave him out.”

“Now think of the other circles that everyone drew and the names they put in it. Do you think he’s a name among them?”

“I don’t know.”

“Alright, think about his circle. How many names are in it? With the information I gave you, do you think he left anyone out? What about the people that were here but are now gone. Are they still there?”

“Yes. He has such a big circle, I don’t know how big it is.” His son finally gets it, he sees Clicks.

“Each of those people have their own circles, and he’s not in them. Yet he still puts them in his, your name is in there somewhere. Same with mine, your mother and sisters. He’s not easily won over, but once he trusts you at least a little bit he’ll protect you with everything he has. For a lot of people, that circle is too big. It might even be too big for him, but he still tries.”

“He doesn’t care where we come from, does he?”

“No, Son. He doesn’t, he told me that when we first met he wasn’t thinking about our color. He was thinking about Dustin and how he’ll react with new people being brought in.” More specifically how they were all strays to him. Amusing thought really.

“Why did he bring us in?” There were lots of reasons why he brought them in, or brought anyone in.

“Why do you think?” he decided to ask his thought what he thinks. What could be the driving factor of Clicks.

“Lonely?” That’s one, but there might be another reason.

“He has a lot of people around him now, with time they’ll come to find him as family. He’ll wait for that day to come, if it doesn’t then at least they’ll know they won’t be forgotten.”

“Under different settings, would he still be the same?” his son must be getting tired now, good they all need rest.

“Life has a way of changing someone, he’s probably never even thought about it. He could have been different, or he’s still the same as he ever was. Get some sleep, Son.”