𝑨 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔. 𝑫𝒐𝒅𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓. 𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉. 𝑫𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒎.

𝑨 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒚. 𝑼𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇'𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒐.

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Jayden groans softly not ready to be awake, but opens his eyes anyways. Letting them adjust to the lights his little brother turned on. A soft giggle came from close by. He looks down to see Cato staring up at him with raised arms. A small chuckle slips past his lips as he lifts his brother onto the bed with him. Cato doesn't waste anymore time as he curls up to his brother's side.

It was moments like this that made Jayden cherish life. Always having at least his brother to look forward to. His parents tend to be very cold towards him. Sometimes he wonders what life will be like once he leaves. Will they forget him? Would they even miss him? But he can't leave, because he would never just abandon his little brother. Cato needs him. No matter how much hell he goes through Cato will always be his top priority. They lay there in silence just letting the time tick by. All to soon they're interrupted by the loud voice of their mom. It was time for breakfast.

Jayden sighs softly knowing they have to go eat. Otherwise, they might not get another chance until lunch or dinner. Their father can be a bit of a dick when it comes to eating outside of meal times. He leans up slightly trying not to squish his brother. Cato grumbles at this but gets up out of his brother's bed. "I know lil pup I don't want to get up either. But we havta or mom and dad will be pissed" says Jayden.

Another grumble comes from Cato but he nods his head. He watches his brother for a moment. Jayden sluggishly pulls himself out of bed and pulls on a shirt. A quick glance at his reflection in the mirror before leaving the room. They walk side by side all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Their mother gestures for them to wash their hands. Jayden holds back a groan and washes his hands like his mother wants. After washing his hands in the sink. He goes about setting the table. Making sure everyone each had a cup and plate. Cato always likes to help so he was tasked with getting the silverware and napkins. Their father was already seated at the table. A newspaper in one hand and coffee in the other. The table was already full of all different varieties of breakfast foods. There was even a pitcher of apple juice, orange juice, and a half gallon of milk on the table. Pretty soon they all sat around the table ready to eat. Jayden goes straight for the bacon. Taking a few pieces of bacon and placing it on his plate. He went for the scrambled eggs, and this went on for a good five minutes. Finally, he was satisfied with the amount of food he accumulated. They took a moment of silence to fully appreciate the meal in front of them. Cato was first to break the silence by digging into his food. That boy can only be so patient when it comes to food. A chorus of chuckles echoes around them adding to the ambiance of the room. The rest of the meal was quite uneventful. Jayden finishes first so he puts his dirty dishes up.

A quick glance at Cato before he leaves the dining room area. He's been planning on leaving for some time now. This just wasn't the place for him anymore. His parents make him feel like an outsider. That's just not something anyone should feel. All he needs to do is find a way to get Cato on board with this. Considering he wasn't about to go anywhere without his little brother. That boy was basically his pride and joy. He was only three years old, and already quite intelligent for his age. So just from the glance of his brother Cato knew something was up. He makes his way up to his bedroom. This had to be now before anyone can stop him. Pulling a duffle bag from his closet he starts stuffing it with essentials. His little brother bursts through the door while he's packing. Tears well up in his eyes knowing what this means. Before he could turn to run to his own room. Jayden lifts him up into his muscular arms and whispers that everything will be okay. A few moments pass by before the pup calms down. A gentle but steady hand smooths his unruly hair.

J: Before you say anything let me speak first pup

C: Fine

His brother gives him the cutesy pouty face. But this doesn't work on him at the moment. All he wants to do is make sure his little brother has a choice in the matter. Even though he can probably already pretty much guess what Cato will say.

J: I don't really belong here anymore. Our parents have never really treated be good. They look at me like I bring shame to the family. I'm tired of seeing that look. They ruin anything good for me. But don't chu worry lil pup. I wasn't planning on leaving until I could talk to you first because I kind of want you to come with me.

Silence hangs over them as his little brother takes in everything he was just told. A sparkle in his eyes calms his brother slightly but doesn't make his nervousness go away completely. Before he spoke again his brother speaks up.

C: I w-want to come with you Jay. Mom and dad will just have to tough it out. I don't want to be without my big brudder q.q

Jayden hugs his brother tightly not wanting to let go. This was about to be the beginning of their journey together. He was ecstatic to know his brother does want to come along. A couple more minutes pass before he puts his brother down. They both have a lot of packing to do so he ushers his brother out of the room. He goes back to packing his bag full of everything he'll need. Hopefully, they make it far enough away before anyone notices they're gone. That way they have a fair chance of getting far enough away to be tracked. He finishes up the rest of his packing and sits on the edge of his bed waiting for the pup. Jayden loves his parents dearly but he no longer belongs in his own home. He'll miss them a lot but his happiness should matter too. Thankfully though he has Cato to keep him company. With that thought in fresh in his mind, the lil pup enters his room once more. With a little bag dragging behind him. He chuckles softly at the sight of his little brother.

J: Are you ready?

C: Yes!! Let's go brudder

Nodding at his brother they slip downstairs knowing their parents aren't around right now. They're probably off to some fancy gala or whatever. Walking towards the door to freedom with wide smiles on their faces. Finally, they reach the door that leads outside. Jayden opens it widely letting his brother go out first. He follows behind him only seconds after. This was finally happening. Goodbye old memories hello new ones to come.

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