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Sparrow stood in his doorway, the fourteen year old staring up at his adoptive father Troy. Troy had messy black hair and a beard that could be braided if he wanted it to be, not to mention he was mentally abusive and drank a ton. When he was decently sober he spent his time yelling at the older twin to no end. This time, Sparrow had asked the man if he could bring his friend over.
"If your so gay that you want to bring someone over to my home then how about you go ahead and kiss your brother for me! Go ahead!" The man points at Auburn who was sitting with headphone over his ears. Troy lightly pushed Sparrow toward his brother but Sparrow got the message and moves back toward Auburn.
"Kiss him. Show me that I can leave you with a boy!" Troy said, his anger rising. In reality Sparrow never mentioned anything other than bringing Braxton over. Sparrow just wanted to play a board game or show his friend his book collections.
Troy ripped the headphones off the Amber haired boy and he cries out, reaching for them with eyes that were tearing up. Sparrow shook his head.
"No. I'm not kissing him! I'm not like that!" Sparrow yelled." I'm not like that!"
~~/#\~~
"Hey, Braxton." Sparrow says, bringing a bloodied hand up to his best friends face. Braxton was sobbing, holding Sparrow's dying body against his chest." Puffer. Look at me. I'm-" Sparrow coughed, blood coming up."not dead."
"Birdy. Your dying." Braxton sobs out, pushing a hand on the wound." Auburn! Call 911! Hurry!"
"Puffer. I-" Sparrow coughs again, his hand pulling Braxton's face closer." I loved you." Sparrow's hand falls suddenly after he coughs once more and Braxton breaks out into full on sobs, putting his forehead against Sparrow's. Auburn walks in with the phone pressed to his ear and he sucks in a breath, trying to talk without breaking into tears to the operator on the other end.
"H-he's dead. Oh my Fall he's dead. Can you please hurry." Auburn says to the operator and it was the last thing Braxton actually made out before he could feel the realness of this situation came crashing down on him and all he could hear was the sound of white noise, the static of a TV when it can't find a connection.
It was blurry afterward and the first time Braxton felt like he wasn't completely numb was almost a month after this. Auburn must've hurt way worse than Braxton did, his twin and best friend had died.
On May 17th Braxton and Auburn were forced out of their houses by Clement and Jeremiah to attend Sparrow's funeral. Braxton cried again, Jeremiah hugging the boy Sparrow called "Puffer" for years and years.
Auburn didn't cry though. It was surprising. The entire funeral service the orange haired boy didn't cry. When he cried it was in the car on the way home, Auburn cried himself into hysterics, bumbling things that even Braxton couldn't make out.
~~/#\~~
It's June 18th, The twin's birthday. Auburn is crying while basically devouring his birthday cake(which is the only thing he had eaten that entire day) and Braxton was silent, curled up on the couch, hugging himself. He really wished Sparrow was there. He wished he was there so much that he could basically hear the deceased 21 year old calling him 'Puffer' while whispering words of comfort.
Clement trailed around Braxton the whole day while Jeremiah trailed next to the blubbering mess that was Auburn. Nobody could blame the two though for being this way, it hurt them more than it hurt either if the other two friends of Sparrow, even if it did hurt them some.
Braxton looked up at the sound of Sparrow's actual voice or at least a recording. It was a video that was 8 years old. It was teenage Sparrow talking to Braxton, saying Braxton's name and laughing at an inside joke the two had long forgotten as they had gotten older. This in fact, caused Braxton to cry.
That night Auburn knocked on Braxton's door and the green/brown eyed boy almost said 'Come in Birdy' out of complete habit but stopped himself.
"Come in." Braxton's voice was scratchy and rough from Misuse. Auburn walked in holding what Braxton automatically could describe as Sparrow's phone.
"I found something on his phone that he wanted you to hear..." Auburn said, his voice equally as scratchy. The auburn haired boy handed Braxton the phone, taking a step back. Braxton took the phone and pushed play on the audio file labeled 'For Braxton.'
The audio recording started with some rustling and a wet sniffle Braxton could only describe as Sparrow crying as he recorded this.
"Hey Puffer." Sparrow starts, his voice cracking." If your listening to this I guess something bad happened to me... Or your going to die. Anyway, um..." There was a pause where Sparrow let out a nervous, sad laugh." I never told you this before cause well... I didn't want you to think I was weird. I thought I loved you when I was younger. Now I realize I did... Do love you, As a brother. I love you just as much as much I love Auburn. You two were my brothers, whether we looked different or not." Sparrow's voice cracked again at that last part, a broken sob leaving his mouth that Braxton could feel tear at his heart even if it was just a recording.
Auburn was in complete tears next to the door and Braxton was on the verge of them.
"So um... Puffer... Whether I'm gone or your leaving me... Just know, you were one of my best friends ever. I can't thank you or Auburn enough." Sparrow starts sobbing and then the recording cuts off. Braxton can't help but start crying as well, a cry that's just as broken as the sobs the blue and pink haired boy heard from Sparrow.