Dean

One thing about Christopher that I hadn't know a few weeks before, he snored like a chainsaw. Louder than this old car's engine and then some. He would just sit in the back seat, crawled up like a kitten and snoring like a train.

In fact, the first night, I had thought that something was wrong with the car and pulled over to fix it with my limited mechanical knowledge, but as the car stopped Chris woke up.

"W'd we stop?" He had mumbled, half of his face red with lines in it from the leather seat. I stared at him, and he stared back. We sat in silence for a moment before I realized where the noise had come from. I laughed for a minute and then turned back around and started the car again, pulling back onto the road.

"Nevermind," I said. "Go back to sleep." So he did, and my theory was confirmed.

The next day, we were both sleep deprived and running on sandwiches from the gas station, but we made our way anyways.

California was the current goal, I had noticed the California plates on the suburban, so it was all we had.

We took mostly back roads and two-lane roads through forests and valleys.

Chris kept going on about the sights, ranting about how the valleys were formed and why each tree was growing where. I half listened and half completely and totally ignored him. Chris was always the brightest student in the class when it came to books and numbers, but I never really could understand how he could do it.

I drove silently, for the most part, just letting my mind guide me. I had taken these roads plenty of times, going to visit my Aunt Hanna in Santa Rosa.

"And that's why the octothorpe is severely underappreciated." Chris said from beside me. I turned to look at him, eyes blank.

"What?" I asked, completely lost.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Dean, weren't you listening at all? I was telling you all about the octothorpe, and- well. Nevermind. What were you thinking about?"

I turned my eyes back to the road, squeezing the wheel."My aunt Hanna. The fact that I might not know this road as well as it seems."

Chris nodded and put his hand on my thigh, no doubt trying to comfort me in his own odd way. "Don't worry, Dean. We're going to find Erin. She's going to be perfectly fine."

I nodded. "Right. Thank you, Chris."

He sighed and pulled away. "Yeah, no problem." He looked out the window with his shoulders slumped, and I knew I had hurt his feelings.

"Chris," I sighed. "What were you saying about octo-whatever?"

Chris turned to me, beaming. "Octothorpe," he corrected. "It's also known as the pound symbol.."

He continued to launch into a surprisingly long explanation on the pound symbol and it's importance in society, though I had no real idea how that was even a thing.

Slowly but surely, my mind once again drifted off. But this time to the chance of not saving Erin. California is a large place, with thousands of places to hide a girl of Erin's size. And who's to say he even went to California? I was just running on a hunch.

886 miles later, we made it to my Aunt Hanna's House. Not that I even knew if this was still her house, it had been years since I had been in California. Now I usually spent my summers traveling New York, or swimming with turtles in Hawaii, or exploring Rome. So honestly, when I knocked on the door, I wouldn't have been surprised if someone I didn't know answered the door.

But, as the door creaked open I saw the misty grey locks of my Aunt Hanna, my Dad's oldest sister. Soon, piercing blue eyes peeked out and then she closed the door, unlocking the deadbolt so she could open it wide.

She looked at me with a slight frown and I raised my eyebrows, a little confused.

"I'm not buying anything," She muttered. "So you might as well leave."

I coughed out a laugh, trying and failing to hide the fact that I was offended. "Well, I would offer to sell you something. But I just so happen to just be here because I'm your nephew and I wanted to see you while I was in town."

Her face lit up and she opened the door even wider. "Kenneth! Is that you?" She asked, beaming.

I stared at her. "No. Guess again."

She bit her lip and adjusted her apron. "Matthew?"

"No!" I gasped, staring at her as I wondered if this woman was actually, in fact, my aunt.

"Oh, I give up." She huffed, crossing her arms. "Who are you?"

"I'm Dean. Dean Black. You know. I spent the summer here every year for the first eight years of my life."

Slowly, recognition dawned on her face. "Dean!" She wrapped her arms around me in a spine-shattering hug, I wheezed as I almost threw up my kidney, which was being forced much higher than it should ever, ever go.

She pulled away and looked me up and down. "Well look at you! So big!" She glanced behind me at the car, which Chris was still dozing in. "And you drove here yourself! How old are you now sweetie, fifteen?"

"No, seventeen." I explained.

"Oh my! You really are big!" She laughed. "I'm sorry, Dean. My memory is not what it used to be."

"Clearly," I muttered under my breath.

"Well, honey, why don't you come inside? Terri, Yolanda, and Willie are all inside, you should come see them before you set off!"

I glanced back at the car, worrying that Chris would be freaked out being left alone, but then shrugged it off. Sure he was a coward sometimes, but who would hurt him right now, really? His snore alone could scare them off.

"Yeah, sure." I said with a smile.

Hanna opened the door wide and let me in.

The house was just like I remembered it, messy and cluttered, but somehow comforting. Colors clashed and the air smelled of dust and cookies. I smiled at just that. Now hopefully my cousins would recognize me, we used to be so close.

"Ugh! Gag, me with a spoon, I know!" I heard. I stopped dead in my tracks and almost left right there. The last thing I needed right now was a valley girl, we were much too far from Los Angeles for a valley girl.

So with a sigh, I stepped into the kitchen.

Terri was sitting at the table, twirling her gum as she held a phone to her arm. She laughed loudly and adjusted her mini skirt. Yolanda was leaning against the wall, fixing her lipstick and adjusting her blonde hair at the same time. Willie seemed to be a combination of both of his sisters, he had Terri's loud gum-chewing, and Yolanda's big, long blonde hair. He threw a tennis ball to a tiny dog, who would stumble over itself to get it and then bring it back to him.

I leaned against the door frame, suddenly remembering exactly why I had vowed to never come back here. Because I had seen the beginnings of this... this. Almost ten years ago.

"Yo-yo! Terri! Wallie! Get over here." Shrieked Hanna, so loud I wondered for half a moment if she was a siren come to kill us all.

Well, at least I'd be free of these "popular kids."

I stood watching as all their heads whipped around. Terri's eyes widened and she hissed something into the phone before slamming it back onto the hook.

They all lined up in front of their mother, eyeing me like I was fresh meat and they were starving.

Hanna smiled wide. "Children, I'm sure you remember your cousin Dean." She said, gesturing to me.

They all looked at me, and I straightened my back, almost subconsciously. "Hey," I muttered, giving a slight wave of my wrist.

Yolanda stared at me. "That's Dean?" She gasped. "No way! He was such an ugly kid!"

I chuckled. "Easy for you to say, bellbottoms." I smirked as she blushed. We all knew that Yolanda had an extreme obsession with bell bottoms back in the day.

Hanna clicked her tongue. "Now kids. Don't fight. It's been an entire decade since you've seen each other! Why don't you catch up? I have to take care of Emmy."

I sighed and made my way to the table, sitting where Wallie had been sitting only moments before.

"Alright, kids. How've you been?" I asked.

Wallie narrowed his eyes. "I think that was my seat, dirtbag." He growled, slinking forward.

Wow. He looked just like he did all those summers ago, whining that I took his favorite toy and then trying to take it from me, only to have me accidentally elbow him in the face and break his nose.

I smirked and stood. So there was a difference, Wallie - who had always bragged about being the tallest of us all - now was covered completely by my shadow. "Say that again, Wallie?

He swallowed, and then seemed to regain his confidence. "I told you to get bent, Freak."

I laughed and grabbed his collar, shoving him up against the wall. "How much effort do you think it will take for me to break your nose again? For real this time, too."

Wallie's eyes widened. "Whoa. Dean, I was just joking. I wasn't being serious-"

Behind me, Yolanda and Terri whispered back and forth, giggling. What nice sisters they were.

I looked Wallie in the eyes and reached my arm back, relishing the sound of the leather jacket on my shoulders stretching. As I was about to swing my arm forward, however, I heard the door open.

I dropped Wallie immediately, and much to my happiness, he shrieked as he went down.

Terri squealed and ran for the door, a gigantic smile on her face. Into the house burst another girl with her hair tied up into a high ponytail with a pink scrunchie. I watched, on the border of confused and terrified as they jumped up and down together, their arms still wrapped around each other.

Eventually, Terri pulled away and looked at the other girl, who looked to be about five feet of bubbling energy.

"Diana!" She shrieked. "How long has it been?"

Diana laughed. "About an hour. We have last period together, remember?"

Terri shook her head and wrapped her arms around her friend. "It feels like so much longer!" Then she stopped and looked at me "Now Diana, you remember Dean."

Diana squealed and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tight. "Dean!" She cried, beaming. "It's been so long!"

I stared at Terri, sending a silent cry for help. I had always been closer to her than any of her to her siblings, but in this instance, it didn't seem to matter. She shook her head and made kissy faces at me.

I looked at Diana and chuckled nervously, gently detangling her from me. "Diana. Hi."

Diana smiled widely. "So good to see you," she enthused. "I knew that I would see you again! You promised." She leaned up to kiss my cheek, but I just stared at her. So instead she caught my shoulder and kissed it.

I leaned away from her and to Terri, who rolled her eyes and started to give little signs of who she was.

Diana, or DInna, as she had liked to be called back when I came around here. She was one hundred percent convinced we were supposed to get married someday, and it didn't seem that that had changed in the slightest bit.

"Wow. Diana. How have you been?" I asked, pulling on my fakest smile.

Diana blushed and combed her fingers through her hair. "Good. I've been in high school with Terr, and it's been so much fun!" She cleared her throat to hide the fact that she had just spoken an octave too high for humans to hear. "And how have you been, Darling?" She said it like I wouldn't catch the fact that she called me darling, but I definitely did.

I laughed, a little nervous, "Awful. Actually. I came here looking for my sister, Erin, you remember? She was.. well, kidnapped last week." And the comment had just the reaction I had hoped for.

Everyone in the room gasped. "Are you Serious?" Asked Wallie. i shot him a look to say yes before I remembered that words even existed.

"Of course. How could i lie about that? She was taken while we were on our way to school. Some guy pulled up next to us and pushed us over to the side of the road. My motorcycle slid and he took her while I tried to remember how to breathe. And when I finally came to I chased after them for a little and then walked home, I only found out afterward that the reason I was in so much pain was because I did, in fact, have two sprained ankles."

They were all silent. Until Wallie spoke again. "There's no way. That has to be made up. You can't walk on sprained ankles."

I glared at him. "Just because something hurts doesn't mean you can't do it. Take you for example. it physically hurts you if you keep your trap closed for more than one minute, but you can not talk." He opened his mouth as if to speak, and then closed his mouth. His brain worked over the insult as I moved on.

"Anyways. I came here because the guy who took her has California license plates. With no ransom, it's all we've got. So I left home and was on my way to Los Angeles to see if I could find anything when I stopped here to see you guys, I thought I might ask for a place to sleep, depending on the time of the day. But now that I think about I would much rather sleep in the car." I slipped out of Diana's arms and to the door, ducking out of it.

They all drifted after me, looking lost and curious. I looked at them, all standing aimlessly on the front porch like they had no other reason to exist. I chuckled at that thought,

"Yeah, listen. I'm really feeling like this is a one-sided conversation, and I need to get going anyways. Chris will be waking up soon and he'll freak out if he finds out I left him all alone."

"Wait, Chris? You have a son?" Diana cried, sounding distraught.

I stared at her. "I'm seventeen, Diana. I'm still a child. I don't have a kid. He's my friend from back home." I opened the car door and got into the car.

To my surprise they didn't follow me, they just stared as I started the engine of my car. I looked out the window. "Hey, Yolana!"

Yolanda stared at me, knowing she was the least biased. She neither like me or hated me. "Yeah?" She called back.

"Tell your mom i said it was great to see her! and that I'll come and check in more often so she doesn't forget who I am!" I rolled up the window and back out of the drive before getting back onto the dirt street.

I hummed to myself, tapping my foot to the music that was coming through the static from the radio. I thought for a moment of all the summers I had spent at that house, and just how much fun I used to have. That was back before my dad bought the company he worked for and moved us a state away, hoping for a little freedom from his overbearing family. Anf that's just what he got. A break from family. '

I sighed, remembering what he was like before we moved - before he was a big businessman. When we would play catch like all fathers dreamed about doing with their son's. But now, I barely even saw the man.

I stared off into silence. Listening to nothing, the radio reception crappy beyond belief.

Behind me, I heard a groan. Leather squeaked and Chris appeared in my rearview mirror, rubbing his eyes.

"We 'n Cali yet?" He muttered.

"Yes." I whispered, smiling. "You sure missed a lot, kid. You shoulda stayed up."

Chris sighed and stretched his arms over his head. "Nah. You had fun. I had fun. I wouldn't have missed that nap in the world. I could've slept through 'n earthquake."

I laughed, "Can't you always? Usually, you're the one who sounds like the earthquake!"

He scowled and smacked the back of my head, to which I laughed loudly. "I do not snore." He grumbled. "You... you're the one who... snores."

I chuckled, "Good comeback, Einstein." His dark eyes glared at the back of my head while I revved the engine and continued on, my hands tightly holding the leather wheel.