"WHERE'S MYRON?" Roderigo's gruff voice was the first to greet Noel as he walked through the door despondently. Esmeralda joined Roderigo, her wrinkled face twisted in worry.

"Um, he's at the t-t-treehouse."

"You left him by himself!" Esmeralda screeched, her large eyes widened in fear. "Roderigo, you know today is the anniversary and he's by himself, I don't even think his parents know he came today!"

"I-I don't know what you guys mean." Noel stumbled out an unwarranted comment, he could sense something was awry when he had first arrived at Wood Acre, especially in the surprised greeting Myron's grandparents gave him.

"Did Myron tell you about his sisters." Esmeralda spoke quietly, her voice merely a troubled whisper, Roderigo had rose from the couch he was sitting on and had went to wrap his arms around her gently, stroking her hair while mumbling words in Spanish that Noel couldn't comprehend.

"Yeah...some time ago, he said he had twin sisters, Mira and Ashley I think, that's all he said about them though."

"Myron told you he had twin sisters." Roderigo had since removed his arms from Esmeralda, his gaze was piercing and prickling as he stared Noel out. "You do the math."

"Enough standing around! We must go find him!" Esmerelda screeched once more, before slipping on her shoes and coat. "Let's go!" Noel followed after Roderigo and Esmerelda's retreating frames, the sky had since turned a dark and ugly grey, it's murky clouds distributing fat, fresh raindrops that seeped into Noel's curls and ran down his face with no mercy.

Myron's grandparents were undeterred by this, with Esmerelda screeching Myron's name manically. As soon as they got to the treehouse, Noel noticed almost immediately that Myron wasn't there anymore.

"I don't, I don't know where he would have gone." Noel choked out, he grabbed at fistfuls of his curls in desperation, the pull was starting to hurt his scalp before his fingers eventually loosened due to the torrential rain. Roderigo pulled Noel into a fierce hug. "It's not your fault, it'll be okay, we'll find him." Esmeralda joined Noel on the other side, enveloping him in a warm hug. "I know Myron will be fine, we'll just think of all the places he could have gone too and we'll search from there."

Noel let his mind blank out properly, he tried to forget the rain and the treehouse and the incident at the grocery store and thought right back to when they had both arrived at Wood Acre, right before Noel saw the sign for the first time.

Anytime things got difficult, I used to stay with him. I used to stay with him. Him.

"Do you guys both know where Mr. Adams house is?"

"Mr Adams?" Roderigo furrowed his brows in confusion. "Who's that?"

Esmeralda elbowed Roderigo with a playful smile, despite the intensity of the situation Noel couldn't deny the chemistry between them, it was admirable.

"You know Mr. Adams, the man with the cute son and lovely wife, they live just outside Wood Acre, in the cottage."

"Oh! Yes! Yes! Let's go."

And with that the three of them began to walk swiftly through the rain, yet Noel couldn't displace the churning that was creeping through his stomach, he felt as if he was going to throw up and faint at the same time, that he pressed his fingers into his palm as an attempt to calm himself down. Esmeralda witnessed Noel's pained expression and began to sing quietly into the sky, Roderigo adding quiet adlibs and deep humming as she sang.

" Ay, ay, ay, ay,
Canta y no llores,
Porque cantando se alegran,
cielito lindo, los corazones.

Ay, ay, ay, ay,
Sing and don't cry,
Because by singing our hearts are happy, lovely heaven.

A bird that abandons,
its first nest, lovely heaven,
If he finds it occupied,
lovely heaven, it will be well deserved."

And the clench that had developed in Noel's stomach subsided, his hands returning to their typical position, yet the sky remained dark and brooding, the rain drowning out the sweet song of the birds and drenching Noel's shoe and socks, but Roderigo and Esmeralda were happy as there song carried them all the way to the cottage.

___________________

Noel was among the quaint cottage again, yet it no longer had the picturesque feel that it had once acquired on Noel's first visit, this time the rain had pelted down on the roof heavily, this then resulting in the front yard to look damp, wet and mossy, it stunk like cow poo mixed in with the mud that was seeping into his trainers, and all Noel could think about was how much he wanted to be with his mom, it's been a long time since, without Ron's frequent menacing appearance. He missed when they used to talk about their day at dinner time, when his mom would tell him stories about growing up in Japan and her comforting words whenever Noel had a bad day, for some reason these disjointed memories were flooding into his brain, rendering his body motionless as he stood their stagnant.

Both Esmeralda and Roderigo had knocked on Mr Adams door with feverish knuckles, their minds too hazy to notice Noel's withdrawing state, the door had then opened quickly to reveal a small woman with dark red hair curled neatly against her shoulders, her lips were painted the same red as her hair and were currently stretched into a tight smile. "Oh hu-lloooo" her voice was shockingly British, as well as being light and breezy, yet her posture looked weird and uncomfortable from Noel's point of view, as if all she wanted to do was slam the door shut in their faces.

"Is Mr Adams here?" Roderigo was the first one to speak, his hands going to wrap around Esmeralda's frail ones.

"Yesssssss."

"With a teenage boy?"

"How did you know?"

"That's our grandson, is it okay if we go and see him?"

"He seems rather upset, I don't think-"

"Did I not mention that he was my grandson?" Roderigo's voice began to rise, Noel was almost one hundred percent sure he wanted to push the woman out of the way and find Myron, yet much to Noel's chagrin, he only let out a strangled breath before a new voice cut straight into the air.

"Maisie, love who's at the door?" The voice sounded vaguely familiar to Noel, it was loud without being commanding or too direct.

"The boy's grandparents I believe." Maisie called back to the voice, she had now began to chew at her bottom lip vigorously, her white teeth now becoming stained with a slurred red.

"Well let them come in, I bet they can't stand the rain!" The voice then let out a deep rolling chuckle that circled around Noel's head like a stark warning sign. He followed Myron's grandparents into the house despondently, his feet dragging against the wooden floors, he was tempted to take off his shoes and leave them at the door as he was used to, but nothing was feeling right, and that British lady with the stained teeth smile seemed snide and sinister, so he decided to leave his shoes on, ignoring the muddy footprint trail he was leaving until they all entered the room where Noel deduced the voice originated from.

Myron was sitting on a wooden chair with his legs crossed casually, his eyes were slightly stained red and his black hair in a foreign unruly mess, yet his fingers were wrapped round a mug which he was taking a series of measured sips from before putting it leisurely on the matching wooden table before him.

Roderigo and Esmeralda were the first to rush over to Myron, engulfing him in such a warm and safe hug, Noel could physically feel a sharp pain hit him in his chest.

In what felt like seven years they finally released him, before spitting out a jumble of angry curses in Spanish. Myron only smiled softly back, his eyes slowly finding their way to Noel's recently adopted, meek frame.

"Hey soulmate." Myron's voice was surprisingly hoarse, his tone scratchy and thick, yet it was filled with so much unfiltered emotion, his lips turning up at the corners ever so slightly, Noel however, couldn't even manage a smile back.

"Where's Mr. Adams?" Esmeralda spoke up, her hand was latched onto Myron's arm as if he was going to disappear from her very eyes.

"In the kitchen." Maisie's voice cut through the air abruptly and for some unexplainable reason it sounded undoubtedly perfunctory. "Danny! Come out of the kitchen dear!"

As if on cue a large tree trunk of a man came sauntering out of the kitchen with a seemingly relaxed gait. He was clothed in monochrome plaid, brown slacks and holey worn out socks, the color of his socks matching with his brown curly hair that touched the emerging wrinkles embedded gracefully into his face. His nose was large and square, like that of a curled oak tree branch, yet his bright easy going smile balanced this out. Although what was the most compelling feature of this man was his eyes, they were an unusual blue-green, the irises speckled so carefully an uncanny valley effect could otherwise be insinuated. There bright unique sparkle couldn't be replicated by cheap copy-color contacts on shifty websites online, but could only be repeated by true blood. He had a smell to him, like wet earth, tea and freshly cut wood. Yet he also smelt like hot cocoa, cheesy pizza and two thick scarves tainted with sweat from pure unfiltered happiness.

With that Noel felt a sudden emergence of angry uncontrolled emotions that had been building up and stewing away for a long time break free, his pale fingers curled up into bone breaking fists, his eyes began to water slightly, Noel could feel his throat close up and open abruptly with the inconsistent air he was breathing in. He felt itchy all over, suddenly becoming painfully aware of his surroundings, the cramped living room with pictures and pictures dotted across the wall, most of them were slightly skewed and that bothered Noel, the living room was all Scandinavian recycled furniture and dated wallpaper, small toys scattered across the floor subtly, he returned his attention back to the tree trunk, his eyes widening in shock and disbelief, his frazzled brain sending signals to his trembling lips, he parted them ever so slowly, desperately trying to block out Myron and Esmeralda and Roderigo and Maisie with his newly obtained blurred vision before finally letting out a stuttered, utterly painful sound.

"D-d-dad?"