Chapter 2 : Going Home*

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Time flies in slow motion for Adrianne. He stared at Kevin looking anxious and hesitant. He turns to glance at the digital clock on the bedside table, then at his older brother again.

Seeing the young man still sitting at the bed unmoving, with no reaction whatsoever, Adrianne unconsciously began playing with the ring in his finger.

If Kevin were to see this, he will know how nervous his brother is, as he just sat there beside him.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Adrianne didn't know how to cope up with his older brother's change. His brother was always gentle and considerate, that he didn't need to think about how to start a conversation at all.

Before, his brother only needs one glance and he will immediately let out an affectionate smile, followed by his voice calling out to him like a gentle breeze soothing his bad mood.

His older brother will ask his day and can easily follow through every topic he threw at him. Strongly supporting his decisions and sometimes correcting his mistakes.

Now...

Adrianne looked at the clock again and couldn't help but think how large the difference is.

He's been sitting here for three hours, and his older brother just sat there all the time. For three hours!

Adrianne was already frightened by his brother's change. It turned his understanding of his brother completely 180°. Now, looking at his brother that refuses to move...

Just being here, he felt crazy too. He did not know what to do, making him want to immediately drag that Psychiatrist right before his older brother right at this moment.

Then he remembered what Randall had said. He thought of the things that might have triggered Kevin's depression.

But no matter how much Adrianne pondered about it, he can't think of anything that might cause his older brother to change.

Well, except for that family...

He even gave up his visit yesterday just to ponder about this problem, and he recalled that they were still talking normally and were as close as ever, before the accident happened.

Yesterday, when Adrianne called Liza and asked for her help. Liza also considerably arranged for him to talk directly to that Professor. And he surprisingly learned a lot.

Depression is a chronic disorder. It is episodic, it will come back and disappear any time.

Kevin's symptoms already persisted over two weeks. But without any proper assessment, Randall didn't have a right to declare Kevin as a person with Depression.

But what alarmed Adrianne from all of the Professor's preaching, is that there is a high probability of Kevin having a depression for a very long time now. And he did not even know about it.

He did not notice anything amiss from his older brother's behavior before. He still acted the same smiling person he knew.

Although Kevin acts friendly almost to everyone, Adrianne knew how his brother always wanted to be alone. You can even count how many people he considered friends with just one hand.

And the Professor said, introverted people always like to keep everything for themselves. They looked serene when they were alone but in fact, inside their minds were very chaotic.

This actually made Adrianne doubt if he truly knew his brother well.

'His older brother was enduring something for so long and I didn't even notice anything.'

Adrianne sighed. He can't help but think that all this time, he actually acted kind of selfish.

He did though, he always wanted his brother's attention, his older brother to always look at him.

But he knew he can't, ever since that ugly girl came, he always has to fight for his brother's attention.

'F*ck! Recalling that ugly girl makes my teeth itch! Speaking off, I haven't seen that girl since then. I wonder what happened... Anyway..."

Adrianne seeks out the clock again. It has already passed half an hour, thinking really makes time faster. But they really need to go.

Randall already processed Kevin's discharged application, and Adrianne really doesn't need to worry about that.

What he was most anxious about was how to talk to his brother.

'Arrrggg! No! I need to keep calm and act normal. Act normal. Act normal. Act normal.'

After chanting the same phrase over and over, Adrianne was finally determined to speak out.

With his thick face and shameful ways, this simple act did not matter at all.

So, with his eyes burning with fire of resolution. He stood up and let out a beam of smile.

"Older brother, aren't you tired? Why don't you drink some water." He said as he fetched a glass of water and brought it towards Kevin.

After a minute and a half, Adrianne did not receive any reaction from his brother and that was not enough to make him discouraged.

He fought with that ugly girl for so many years, of course he won't be beaten by his brother's non- reaction.

"Older brother, turn this way. Look at me."

Adrianne thought his brother would ignore him again but to his surprise, Kevin hands under his sleeves twitched then he slowly turned his head and stared blankly at Adrianne.

...

For a moment, Kevin mistakenly thought that he was back at the rooftop again.

When he heard his brother called out to him, his memory somehow merged with the one he experienced at that rooftop.

Unconsciously, before he even thinks of it, his head already turned to look at Adrianne. Doubt flashed across his eyes but it was just for a second and Adrianne did not manage to detect it.

He was confused at first but when he saw what Adrianne looked like, he suddenly felt like he was pulled by something and forced to face reality.

Adrianne still looks young, and within this time they are only in high school. Kevin is 17 years old, while Adrianne is 16.

Kevin stared at his brother in a nostalgic manner, but his face still remains the same.

His younger brother looks like his mother. From Kevin's memory, his mother always appeared cold and apathetic. Not once did he receive a look that belongs to a mother from her.

At first, because Adrianne looks like their mother, he focused all his attention on him, to feed himself that was deprived of motherly love.

That he did not realize it.

His mother had wavy red colored hair, but his brother has caramel straight hair. And his mother's eyes were brown and looked black without light, while Adrianne's were amber.

The only thing that resembles them were their appearances.

"Older brother, you know, Ran- Dr. Fields already done with your discharged procedure. We could go home now. What do you think?"

A voice sounding like a sweet cello, deep and mellow. A hint of childishness in it, and his emotions were completely transmitted with the tone of his voice.

He was careful, a little hesitant but was very determined to speak out.

Very unlikely of Adrianne from that last life.

This was his brother. His brother was still innocent and still carried naive thoughts, yet still strong, quick witted and very cunning.

"...mn..." Nodding his head in response to Adrianne's questions, Kevin pulled out his mind from thinking about his past.

The past only he knew...

...

The heavy and thick black clouds in his head, rumbling steadily and silently just a moment ago suddenly turned darker.

The rumbling stopped, and the cloud somewhat turned serene. But the color slowly changed and turned darker and darker by the minute.

Kevin did not know what it was.

He thought that maybe his mind already can't take his heavy emotions and dark memories that he became schizophrenic.

Having one more mental disorder did not bother him one bit.

But he wonders that instead of this big black cloud, he wanted to have a hallucination of that person.

Nevertheless, since his brain did not even grant his tiny wish, then he did not bother with it anymore.

Though, he still felt a bit disappointed.

...

While Kevin ignored the changing clouds in his head, Adrianne was instead feeling happy, finally receiving his brother's response.

He already forgot his earlier dilemma, and became bolder.

He patted his butt, and straightened his clothes. He arranged his collar, adjusted the knot of his tie that was under his hoodie jacket, then slightly flapped his black jacket.

Although it was already spring, Adrianne still wore three-piece clothing. He was sensitive to cold and he always catches cold when he wears so little. So, even in summer he always wears many that will make others hot just by looking at him.

So, right now, he was wearing a white shirt, a red necktie, a yellow hoodie and a black jacket.

Of course, this arrangement style is for him to flaunt away his coolness, while looking like an intelligent guy.

He did all that as he waited for his older brother who was in the bathroom changing his clothes.

Adrianne was styling his hair when Kevin came out of the bathroom, wearing a white-collar shirt and a black sweater.

The moment Kevin appeared, Adrianne already stopped his movement and rush directly at him.

"Let's go?" Gazing at his brother expectantly, Adrianne eagerly went closer to Kevin.

Kevin did not mind the closeness and just nodded his head. Adrianne immediately grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the hospital.

After talking to Kevin a few more times, Adrianne already gasped a way to make his older brother respond to him.

Somehow, he felt warm in his heart. And he thought in his heart, 'this kind of older brother is not bad. Makes me feel like I want to protect him from everything. Is this how his older brother feels every time? The feeling of satisfaction is different.'

It was actually very addicting...

...

...

...

A black Cadillac was waiting for them outside of the hospital. When Mr. Rich saw them, he immediately went out of the car and greeted the two young masters.

He opened the door at the back, and watched as the younger pulled the older inside.

Closing the car door, Mr. Rich stared confusedly at his two young masters. Did he miss something? Why did he feel like something's change between those two?

He drives the car expressionlessly, not to letting his emotions be exposed in his face.

But he made sure to talk to his wife about this later.

More so, since it was about their two young masters. He can't help but shake his head, he feels that everything is about to change.

...

On the way home, Kevin just sat there absentmindedly, while Adrianne kept talking the whole way.

He told Kevin all events that happened when he was still at the hospital. Because he was confined for half a month, their scum father exploded in anger and almost killed his precious bastard son that pushed Kevin hard to the ground.

Adrianne was laughing very hard, recalling that scum's hideous face while not forgetting to utter little bad things that flash in his mind about that scum father.

It was a fruitful ride. Even for Kevin, after hearing all that, he feel a little satiated. After all, this event did not happen at all from his past three lives.

Because he was always thinking of his responsibility and of course his revenge and the future, he quickly went out of the hospital the day he woke up.

A week just passed by then and the chaos Adrianne said did not happen as he already worked it out and solved all the problems before it became bigger.

That's why he felt a slight happiness inside.

...

Walking inside the familiar mansion, Kevin can't stop but looks around.

This is one of the secret houses they have. They have many scattered all over Canada and the United States. And this one was one of Kevin's favorites.

It was a luxurious white Mediterranean style mansion with a red roof. It was only two stories but it was very long and wide. Kevin not only liked the exterior design of the mansion; the interior too was quite extravagant. Especially the rose garden and the medieval style road way outside.

As they went in, they were welcomed by Mrs. Rich and the twins- the smiling Ronald and scowling Rebecca. And there's a delicious smell coming from the dining hall, that was spreading all over the mansion.

Even with Kevin's condition he still greeted them politely and went towards the dining hall with Adrianne's insistence, Mrs. Rich followed behind to serve them as they eat. While Mr. Rich after giving an eye signal to his wife saying that 'they need to talk later', walked with his son towards the kitchen to wait for his wife. On the other hand, the always bad mood Rebecca, already disappeared from who knows where, without telling anyone.

Anyway, she just came here to welcome their family's employer back. She impatiently strode out of the mansion, making a tap, tap, tap, sound with her high heels. She is ready to compromise with her mother, and Rebecca doesn't have any obligation to serve those two young masters. More so, she is busy as hell. Unlike her twin brother, who could work from home, she on the contrary has to travel back and forth from different places to another.

...

It was supposed to be a happy meal. There was a table full of hot dishes, all of which was Kevin's favorite. But the person who served the food was not really that interested in them.

He eats slowly, without any reaction nor change of expression. All his action and movements were monotonous, like he was just eating because it was needed, not because the food was delicious and tasty.

Mrs. Rich was shocked to see this. This is her young master, though she is now old, she still watched these two grow up. Mrs. Rich now finally has an inkling as to why his husband wanted to talk to her.

Then Mrs. Rich met Adrianne's eyes, and she nodded. Making sure that everything is carefully taken care of and that they do not require her assistance anymore, Mrs. Rich went out and kindly closed the door.

...

With only the two of them left at the dining hall, Adrianne put down his utensils and turned towards his brother and slowly said in placating manner, afraid to scare his brother away.

"Older brother, you know that I'm always here for you. Can you tell me what is bothering you?"

As if there was no Adrianne in sight, Kevin just continues holding his cutlery, using a knife to slice off the meat with the fork holding it in place, then with the use of fort to place the sliced meat to his mouth.

Seeing his brother slowly chewing his food, and does not have any intention to pay him any attention, Adrianne looked helpless.

He now knows how it truly feels like to care for someone. How it feels to protect someone desperately.

He wanted to give everything to his brother, he wanted him to be peaceful and comfortable, protect him from that family.

He wanted him to get better instantly. Or at least give him some reassurance.

However, as long as he did not know what the problem was. All his plans will not be complete.

So, with the final push, Adrianne told Kevin his situation. About his disorder and the Psychiatrist that will arrive three days later. He carefully picked his words so that it will not appear too offensive towards his older brother.

Contrary to what he expected, Kevin did not say much and just agreed and did not really care much about it.

This makes Adrianne worry more. Did he make a mistake? He thought his brother at least would react towards his own condition.

Kevin, however did.

Not about his circumstances but with the Psychiatrist.

This brother of his managed to invite a Psychiatrist to come and assess him. His 16 years old brother, from what he remembers, still doesn't know how to do many things, and doesn't have that kind of wide range connection. Kevin thought, when Adrianne talked about his disorder, he would convince him to go to a clinic or hospital, not the other way around.

So, where did this stupid brother of his get that kind of resources to invite someone to their house. There's only one answer to that.

Taking this opportunity, he dropped a bomb.

"...you, don't have to care about me...or that family anymore..."

...

...

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