The first thing I noticed after entering the home of my very first foster family was a cute grey parrot, asking for berries. The second thing I noticed was how fit and handsome the oldest son was. He offered us drinks with an innocent smile on his angelic face but seeing how his younger brother whipped out his phone and keeping in mind Stoyan's warning, I was hesitant to have a taste.

"No, thank you," I politely declined.

His smile instantly dropped.

Stoyan took my example and passed up on the drink as well. It had a greenish colour, probably supposed to look like mint. What was actually there, I had no idea.

"You're no fun!" The younger boy whined. His hair was blond, most likely dyed, while the older one was sporting a short brown haircut.

"Well, come along, fresh meat! Honey boy! Let me show you the room!" The smile on the brunette's face returned as he put the drinks down on the kitchen counter. This time it didn't seem so angelic though. There was something definitely sinister in the way he trailed his eyes down my body.

"My name is Radomir, by the way," I introduced myself.

"Meh, who cares!" The brunette exclaimed, waving me off. "You'll be gone in a week anyway!"

I followed him, somewhat surprised by his behaviour. The polite thing to do would be to say his name back, wouldn't it? But I guess he thought otherwise.

He showed me the closed door to what I presumed was my bedroom for the week. I was expecting him to open the door for me but... he didn't. He just stood there with a creepy smile on his face. Another prank I guess. Maybe when I opened the door some sticky liquid would fall upon my head.

I glanced at Stoyan. "Rock, paper, scissors?" I so did not want to get covered in sticky liquid!

We did the moves, my paper beating his rock.

"Two out of three?" He asked with hope in his beautiful green eyes.

"Nah, suck it up!" I threw him under the bus with a content smile while the oldest son observed us with growing interest.

Stoyan took a deep breath and reached to open the harmless-looking door...

Balloons! The whole room was filled to the brim with balloons! A few of them escaping the confinements of the room when the door was opened.

I let out a relieved laugh. "Man, I don't want to give you ideas or anything but I solid though you would have some bucket of sticky liquid falling on our heads!"

"Nah, we did that last year," the boy with the phone piped in.

"Have fun settling in!" The older one said, his creepy smile back on his face.

And the two of them just stood next to the door and watched as we made our way through a sea of colourful balloons.

"They're starting us off easy this year," Stoyan noted.

"They don't seem that bad!" I said, stepping on a yellow balloon that popped with a bang. I jumped, Stoyan jumped, even the camera man jumped, while the brunette let out an amused laugh.

"We'll have so much fun with you two!"

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At lunch no one had their phone out so that gave me the courage required to try on the glazed ham we had on our plates. I understood right away what Stoyan meant when he said the food was good. It was more than good. It was divine! Probably not enough to put up with getting pranked all day long but still... It literally melted on my tongue!

There were also some kind of crackers, shaped in the form of candy and filled with cream cheese and cucumbers.

"It's really delicious!" I complemented the lady that took us in. She was sitting at the head of the table with a far-off expression. I wasn't sure if she even heard me.

"Mom gets like that sometimes," the blond boy said after seeing my confusion.

"Yeah, we overdid it with a scare prank once," the older one piped in. "She often spaces out since then."

"Yeah, we're definitely done with scare pranks," the blond one added, taking a bite of ham.

So these two devils were so bad they broke their mother.

I'm scared! Would I be able to last a whole week of this? Their first prank wasn't that bad! Plus, Stoyan has been here before and I didn't see him running for the door... Maybe... Maybe I would be ok? I sure hope so!

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The older boy offered us cookies for dessert. I had my guard down already, after the delicious meal, so I didn't notice when the blond whipped out his phone and I took a bite without putting that much thought into it. The thing is, they didn't taste like cookies. They tasted like fire. It was like my tongue was engulfed in flames. I frantically searched for a glass of water but what was handed to me instead was the same green drink I refused earlier. I took a big gulp before spitting it all over the brunette's face, turning his smile into a frown.

His younger brother was shaking with laughter while my throat was still very much burning, now spiced up with a hint of mouthwash. It was Stoyan that saved the day, with a glass of very safe to drink clear water. I gulped down half of its contents before letting out a meek "Thank you!".

"Hot sauce... does not... go on cookies!" I breathed out, my eyes tearing up.

The oldest son slowly wiped his face with his hand, while his younger brother forgot all about shooting that video and was literally rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Always. Always! Keep your guard up!" Stoyan grumbled in my ear.

"I'll... try... to remember that!" I gulped down the rest of the water. "What... was that?" I turned to the brunette.

"Sriracha," the boy answered with a proud smile.

"I hate you!"

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!" He winked at me, heading for the bathroom, I presume to clean the mouthwash off his face. I can't believe I actually considered him attractive!

"They keep the worst ones for the morning," Stoyan bothered to inform me.

"So what? We take turns sleeping?"

"That's actually a good idea," he agreed with me.

And mind you, through all of this, the boys' mother was, believe it or not, in the room with us, just gaping dumbly at her children's antics. She reminded me so much of my mother! But unlike mine, there was something broken in her. It showed she wasn't in the right state of mind. While mine was just lazy and disinterested, this woman straight out gave up on life. Or in making something out of her children. It was like she's tried for years to get some sense into their heads and simply gave up at the end. I felt sorry for her.

•~°•♤•°~•

We both drew scissors and tried again, eventually his rock breaking my scissors. Why did I draw scissors for the second time? I should've picked paper!

"So I'm taking first shift," Stoyan said with a smirk. "I'll wake you up at 2 am." He winked at me and started stripping. "They usually wait around midnight if they plan to do something stupid, so past that I would say we're safe," he kept talking, taking his sweatshirt off. It was a black one, with a weird-looking llama print, a size too small even for his lean frame.

I followed his example, taking off the V-neck sweater that used to be a part of my old school's uniform, now the only warm item of clothing that I had. My jeans followed next and I felt shivers run down my legs, hurrying to get under the covers.

"Wait!" Stoyan stopped me mid-movement.

I froze as he slowly and cautiously lifted the covers, peeking in. He inspected the bed throughly, including the pillows, before giving me a 'go ahead' with a nod of his head.

"They really are going easy on us this year," he mumbled lying next to me.

The bed was soft and fluffy, his green eyes — calm and reassuring, and I've found myself drifting away into dreamland.

I dreamed of green oak trees, their branches embracing my shoulders with gentle kindness. It was the most peaceful I've felt in years!

•~°•♤•°~•

I woke up first, Stoyan's arms securely wrapped around me. I guess at some point during the night he dozed off without waking me up. We were lucky that our hosts didn't take advantage of it.

I nuzzled into his neck, closing my eyes again. I wondered if our foster family had breakfast early in the morning or tended to sleep till noon.

Not long after, I've heard faint whispers from the hallway outside, a barely distinguishable "Be patient!". What kind of prank did they have in store for us this morning?

I wiggled away from my friend's warm embrace and whispered in his ear. "Stoyan! Stoyan, wake up!"

I somehow felt safer with him around to protect me.

He hummed, his eyes still closed, the blissful expression on his face — hard to break.

I shook his shoulder lightly, careful not to make too much noise.

"We should've done the toothpaste prank." I clearly heard someone grumble.

"We did that the year before," was the reply.

Knowing what awaited me outside, I wasn't in a hurry to leave the room. But my bladder had other ideas. The tension in my groin was still bearable but I had to man up eventually and face whatever they had in store for me this morning.

"Stoyan!" I hissed at him again, shaking his shoulders.

"What?" He grumbled annoyed.

"Prank boys, remember?"

That was fast to wake him up. He jerked up, prepared for a fight.

"They're waiting at the door," I informed him, still trying to keep my voice low.

He looked around the room, wiped the sleep from his eyes, then looked at me. There was determination in his green eyes I haven't seen before.

We simultaneously slipped from under the covers and got dressed in complete silence.

"You think they're awake?" A familiar voice asked from the other side of our bedroom door just to be hushed by his brother.

Stoyan ran his hand through his messy blond hair and raised his fist. It took me a second to realise what was expected of me.

Scissors cut paper. I won.

I silently jumped in the air while Stoyan facepalmed himself with a groan. I almost felt sorry for him. Nah, I was too selfish for that.

He sat on the bed, checked the slippers provided by them, I presume for spiders or random colouring substances, and slipped them on. "Here goes another lovely morning," he grumbled, getting up. He stretched his back, took slow calculated steps towards the door, bravely placed his hand on the door handle... and slung the door open in one swift move.

There, all dressed up with phones in hands, were our foster brothers. "Good morning!" They both greeted in unison with creepy smiles on their faces.

"You honestly thought this would pass?" Stoyan almost laughed. And only then did I notice the tin foil that covered the bottom part of the door.

Stoyan just jumped over it and greeted the brothers with an equally creepy smile. "Good morning, boys!" 

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