Markus looked all around the place but couldn’t find Leo anywhere. He knows he saw him at practice. Or at least, he thought he did, he was there, right? He shook the thought out of his mind and looked everywhere. The bathroom, the lions cages, his snake cage, his room, their room, they were nowhere. He sighed and slumped against a wall. The ringmaster came a few moments later.

“Why do you look so glum?” He asked, kneeling down.

“I can’t find Leo or Sam.” He huffed, crossing his arms. The ringmaster chuckled.

“Why do you need to find them?”

“Because, Leo said we could play today and now he isn’t here.” He pouted and slid further down the wall.

“Hate to break it to you Markus but” He exhaled, “Samurai and Leo went for a while, I have no idea when they’ll be back.” Markus groaned and stood up, dusting off his clothes. He thanked the ringmaster and went back to his room. He flopped onto his bed, sighing loudly into his pillow. All his snakes were sleeping at this time so he couldn’t talk to them and everyone else was busy at this time. So he was alone, again. This definitely has to stop. Maybe if he ran away again they’d notice? Nah, that sounded too cliché, even for him. He sighed louder and looked up at the ceiling, wondering what Sam and Leo were doing right now. Probably something adulty. And gross. Definitely something gross. He wrapped himself into his covers, he grabbed his teddy bear and held it close to his chest.

He woke up to something touching his head, he slowly opened his eyes and looked up. It was Leo.

“Hey cutie.” He whispered. “I’m sorry about today, I forgot all about our plans.” He moved hair from his face and kissed his temple. Markus stretched and sat up.

“Can we hang out tomorrow?” He asked groggily. Leo nodded and hugged him.

“Just make sure you remind me, I don’t want to forget and make other plans.” Markus nodded and hugged Leo tightly. Leo laid him bac down and tucked him in.

“Now that I think about it,” Leo started, “We’re packing up tomorrow. So we can’t play.” Markus sat up. “We can't leave!” He protested, “I still have to find my parents!”

“I’ll make some calls, but until then you’ll have to stop.” Markus was about to protest again but Leo’s parental glare told him to think again. Markus huffed as he laid back down, on his bed.

“That isn’t fair.” He grumbled, “I’ve barely even started my search.”

“If they wanted to be found Markus they would have left a trail.” He kissed his cheek and stood up, “Goodnight Markus, Sam and I will help out in the morning.” He slowly closed the door as he left.

Markus had barely touched his breakfast. He later regretted the decision when he had to pack up his snakes, it took a few hours or so to wrangle them all up and put them in their homes. He was so tired that he almost fell over while helping Sophia with the lions. He felt bad for her because she had to catch him on more than one occasion. She soon gave up and just let him fall into one of the large piles of hay, hopefully she wouldn’t forget about him while he napped in there.

Samurai POV

“Where do you want me to put Markus’s stuff?” Sam asked as he picked up Markus’s suitcases.

“In the way back of the trailer.” Leo commanded, “Make sure you leave his bear out or he’ll be pissed.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it. A kid his age shouldn’t still have to sleep with a bear, he hangs out with snakes for heaven's sake.” Leo rolled his eyes and picked up some boxes, handing them to Sam. He sat down on a crate. Leo looked at him

“Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” He asked Leo. “I feel like we’re doing something wrong by leaving here so soon.”

“We’re not leaving so soon.” Leo answered as he placed the last box into the trailer, “He’s had months to-”

“But you never told him about his parents till this last month.”

“And? There were so many different ways he could’ve figured it out.”

“Like what Leo?” He snapped, “That he goes through our stuff? Dig and poke around? You know you’ve told him on countless occasions to keep his nose out of things.”

“Maybe I didn’t want him to know then!” Leo yelled back.

“Why wouldn’t you want him to know?” He asked, confused. Leo sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Look, let’s just drop it.”

“No, this isn’t over and you’re going to answer my question!” He yelled. Leo frowned and started to walk off. Samurai ran after him, he was going to get his questions answered. Whether Leo liked it or not. He grabbed Leo’s arm and twisted him around. Leo struggled and pushed him off. He staggered back and charged at him, pinning him to the wall by his wrists. Leo struggled, kicking and flailing.

“Let me go!” He cried.

“Not until you tell me what you meant.” Leo continued to struggle.

“I don’t have to tell you a damn thing” Leo spat, “My business is my business, it’s not yours and it never will be.” He sighed and let him go, glaring at him. He couldn’t believe Leo was doing thing to him. He had told him everything before, so why should this be any different. He didn’t really make him tell anything, he knew of Leo’s morbid background and didn’t want to press anything. Still, this was important, why didn’t he want Markus to know about his parents? What his future could’ve been. Was he scared he was going to lose him? That his real parents were going to want him back? He rubbed his temples, sighing in defeat. He’ll come up with more theories later, until then, he had to find Markus and get with the rest of the caravan before they left.

He held the sleepy, hay covered Markus as they went on their journey to the next city. He held Markus very close to his chest, feeling his little heart beat against him and hearing his soft breaths. He kissed the top of his head and looked towards Leo. He hadn’t said a word to him for quite some time. He thought it best to make the first move.

“Leo” He started, Leo looked up from his book. “I’m very sorry for the way I acted I today, I shouldn’t have pressed you for answers.” Leo smiled and opened his mouth to reply.

 “But” Samurai interrupted, “You know I care for him, and it’s hurts to know that you don’t trust me enough to tell me what you meant and how you feel on the whole situation.”

Leo sighed and closed his book, staring down. “I know they’ll want him back.” He said quietly. “They said they’d comeback for him when they had money and if they have money then they’ll take him from us.” Leo reached out and carefully patted Markus’s head. “I love him too much to let him go.”

Samurai took Leo’s hand and placed a small kiss on it. “I believe we should talk to his parents about it. But it’s all up to Markus if he wants to go with them.” Leo sighed and pulled his hand away, reclining back into his seat. He stared out of the window.

“I just can’t let him go Sam, I’ve loved him too much and for too long to give him up.”

“I know Leo, but it he has the right to know and you can’t keep it from him forever. “ Leo looked at him, his eyes full of sadness.

“Just a for a while longer? After this last show we’ll tell him and go back.”

 Sam nodded, “But you have to tell him afterwards, if you don’t I will him tell him and I won’t let you say goodbye.” Leo looked at him with wide eyes. Most likely shocked to think that Sam could do something so cruel. But Leo nodded and agreed before going back to his book. Samurai leaned back into his seat, sighing loudly. Markus stirred and yawned, his eyes slowly creeping open. He started to look around as he stretched.

“Are we there yet?” He asked groggily, hiding his face into Samurai’s chest.

“Not even close.” He chuckled, petting him softly. Markus nodded and soon fell back asleep, not caring to stay up and talk. Samurai chuckled even more