[Edited]

June 21st, 2011

Unknown POV

A beautiful day for a peaceful morning as birds chirping can be heard as a house comes into view. Inside the house within an unnamed room was a boy with brown hair who was currently asleep in his room, undisturbed by anything that could ruin this peaceful moment.

Then the boy could hear a sound from below the bedroom, the sound of falling of objects hitting the ground loud enough to wake the boy up and he looks towards the direction of the sound with a look of panic, and he runs out of his bedroom and what he saw shock the boy to his very core...Fire, there was fire everywhere all over the house. The boy could barely speak or even utter a word due to the shock at seeing his home burned.

The boy then felt his hand grabbed by another much bigger hand....and his wrist was pulled along, and when he looked up he saw a man older than him by many years, and he could hear the man curse "Damn it..The back door is closed off," the man said but to the boy..his voice was muffled as if the boy couldn't hear what the man just said.

The boy's body feels the shock still present in his body as the flames spread throughout the house, engulfing both of them as the man covers the boy with his own body as the boy watches as the fire covers them before everything goes black.

The boy opened his eyes with a start before falling out of the bed and looking around from the floor, seeing the room he was in still there. The boy then raised his hand to his forehead and felt sweat on his forehead, and he was shaking out of fear. Whatever he dreamed of was something he did not want to experience again.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," A teasing voice said, breaking the boy's trance as he looked up to see a fully dressed girl. This girl was Lilah. She had a slim build, dark brown hair, and equally dark brown eyes. Lilah looked down at the boy with a slight smile on her face. She was about the same age as the boy, but she was considered one of the older orphans in the group home and the only person the boy considered to be more of a big sister-like figure to him since the Madame and the Director took him in.

Lilah then extends a handout, and the boy takes it as Lilah pulls him up from the ground.

The boy lets out a yawn and rubs his eyes as he turns to look at Lilah, giving him a small smile. "Did you sleep well, Robbie?" She asked with a sincere tone as the boy now nicknamed Robbie gave her a slight nod in response.

"Yeah I did..why do you ask?" Robbie said as he finished rubbing his eyes and looked at Lilah, his brown eyes locking with Lilah's

"Well..most of the other kids are already awake downstairs, and so is the Director who sent me to wake you up," Lilah said, motioning to the clock on the bed stand near Robin's bed, and the clock read 8:30.

Robin looks at the clock, then back at Lila before giving the girl a slight nod before walking over to his closet and grabbing some clothes,  which consisted of a maroon hoodie, a tan t-shirt, and a pair of jeans and socks from his closet, but not before grabbing a brown leather bracelet and heads into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Once he was done with his shower and dressed into his outfit and the bracelet was around his wrist, he got out of the bathroom and saw Lilah sitting on his bed waiting to finish. Lilah then stood up from the bed, and she and Robin walked out of the bedroom and downstairs toward the kitchen.

When the two of them arrived at the kitchen, many children seated at the table turned to look at them as they came down the stairs and went to the dinner table until one of the bigger kids spoke up.

"About time that Little Red and Belle made their dramatic appearance. What took you so long?" The kid who spoke up was none other than Felix, the main bully of the group home. He constantly bullied Robin ever since The Director and the Madame first accepted the boy into their home. Still, every time he was met at the receiving end of Lilah's persuasive actions. 

The other bullies began to laugh and snicker, and Lilah gave each of them a glare while putting on a hand on Robin's shoulder as the boy in question put his hood up, but they were all quieted by a more stern voice.

"That's enough, Felix..it's too early in the morning for any of your nonsense," The voice said in a commanding tone. Everyone, including Robin and Lilah, turned to face the end of the table, and there sat the Director, or at least that's what everyone in the home calls him. Robin and Lilah walked to the table and sat down on the two open chairs.

"Sorry for being late, Mr.Lockhart, I kinda overslept," Robin said, looking towards the man in question as Lilah rolled her eyes at him, smiling at him."It's alright, Robin...Most of us are not morning people, and myself included" The Director..now known as Mr.Lockhart..chuckled as Robin gave the man a small smile.

"Oh Alexander, leave the boy alone..we both know that you are more of a night owl than anyone here," Another voice spoke from across the room..one more sincere than Alexander's.

Everyone at the table turned their heads to see a woman a few years younger than Alexander carrying ribs, and the amount was enough to feed their family of nine. Margaret Lockhart, Alexander's wife, was the woman, but all the kids call her Madame.

Margaret placed all the plates in front of the kids that were sitting down at the rectangular mahogany table, finishing up with placing plates full of ribs in front of Robin and Lilah and another girl, who sat beside Lilah, with blonde hair was Cassie, another one of Robin's friends that he has made in his time at the group home. However, he considers her more of a sister as he does Lilah.

After Margaret placed the last two plates in front of Alexander and herself, she took her seat next to her husband, and the nine of them began to eat casually.

Once they finished eating, Margaret and Cassie, and another girl took the plates back to the kitchen to wash while Alexander, the boys, and Lilah went outside to the back of the house for some relaxing activities. Robin went to his favorite tree in the backyard, pulled out a small brown leathery notebook underneath the tree, and started drawing in it.

Most of the drawings in his "sketchbook" were of the backyard, the house they were living in, and the first-night sky he stargazed with Alexander, but the last drawing drew his attention.

The picture, or more accurately the outline, was of a wolf, and Robin doesn't know why he thought of it. It just came to him one day, and he never really understood why but Robin never questioned it, so he decided to continue working on the outline and try to flesh out the drawing while he could.

"Well, well, look who we have here boys?" Robin heard a voice as he looked up from his drawing and saw Felix and his group of hooligans with him staring him down.

He also noted that Felix's face was red, most likely angry because Mr.Lockhart embarrassed him in front of everyone.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is with me Felix..but I'm sick and tired of you always bullying me whenever it pleases you," Robin said as he stood up from his spot, sketchbook in hand, and moved to walk past Felix and his gang. Still, the older boy had other plans as he grabbed Robin by his shoulder and shoved him back to his original place.

"See that's the problem..you being here..receiving all the attention..from everyone..from my parents..bothers me," Felix says, anger evident in his tone of voice, but Robin stood his ground.

"So what? It's not really my problem is it..now leave me alone...I got bigger things to do," He says as he walks past Felix only to get shoved down onto the ground by Felix. "What was that?!" Felix spat out, looking down at Robin as the latter stood back up and turned to face the bully, anger evident in his eyes.

"Are your ears clogged?! I said it's not my problem! You dumbass!" He felt anger rising in him, but it quickly diminished when the four pairs of eyes focused on him, and a chill ran down his spine when he looked at Felix, who was glaring at him.

"You little shit!" Felix yelled before throwing a punch at Robin, who dodged the oncoming blow before throwing a punch of his own and hitting Felix in the face. The bully stumbled back before glaring at Robin, then punched the younger, knocking the younger down to the ground, and Robin hit the ground with a thud.

Felix threw another punch at Robin, but Robin rolled out of the way before kicking Felix in the chest, making the bully back off, but before the bully could retaliate with another punch, he got his arm grabbed by a firm hand.

Felix then turned around to see Lilah holding his hand in a firm grip and was glaring at him.

"Back off, Felix..otherwise you will have bigger problems," Lilah said with a severe tone, but Felix didn't listen to her and swung his other fist in a punch. Still, Lilah dodged it with ease before releasing Felix's other hand from her grip but instead grabs the bully by the head and knees him in the face, then proceeds to kick him down on the ground, but before she could continue, the voice of the Madame rang out.

"Felix! Robin! Lilah!" Margaret yelled as she walked into the backyard, along with Cassie and the other two children, making the two boys stop, and Felix, along with his group, backed away in fear.

"What happened here?!" Margaret commanded, looking between the two boys as Lilah looked away from her and helped Robin up to his feet. "You okay?" She asked in a concerned tone as she pulled Robin up to his feet, and Robin looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I guess," He says, rubbing his cheek as it stung from Felix's punch, which caused Lilah to glare at Felix, but both got cut off by hand in front of Robin with a handkerchief. "Here..your nose is bleeding," Cassie said, holding out the cloth for Robin to take.

Robin looked at her for a second before taking the handkerchief and cleaning up his bloody nose.

Once he finished, the three of them looked in Margaret's direction as she spent talking to her son before walking over to where the trio was standing and looking at Robin before crossing her arms. "I heard my son's side of the story..now I want to hear your two out," Margaret said, looking between Lilah and Robin.

Robin decided to speak up for both of them. "I'm sorry Mrs.Lockhart...I was the one who started the fight..at first I was just minding my own business drawing in my sketchbook before Felix decided to come along with his posse and annoy me...I'm sorry I should have come to you instead of picking a fight..and Lilah was just trying to help..in her own way." He looks at Margaret before noticing Lilah raising a cocked eyebrow at him. The older woman let out a small sigh as she pinched her nose.

"We can discuss your punishments later...I need to go to treat my son's injured wrist. Stay out of trouble till then," Margaret says, the last part out of sarcasm as she walks back over to where Felix was standing yelling at his posse as said group left him. He was pulled back inside the house, and everyone else went back inside, leaving the trio outside by themselves.

Lilah then broke the awkward silence by playfully hitting Robin on his arm. "Ow! What was that for?" He asked, looking at Lilah with a shocked expression which the girl returned with a slight smirk.

"That was quite the right hook you threw..and that kick...I'm impressed," Lilah praised as Robin rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess..it's because all of the anger I had bottled up was finally let loose." He says, looking at Lilah as the brunette's smirk grew wider. "Or perhaps I'm a good teacher," She says as Robin rolls his eyes at her. "Yeah, not likely," He says as Cassie lets out a sigh that causes the other two teens to look in her direction.

"You two are idiots, I swear, but you both are my idiots," Cassie said, looking at them. "Whatever you say, Alice '" Lilah said, chuckling at the childhood nickname.

Robin tried to hold a small laugh of his own as Cassie let out a small scoff, but she had a slight smile before starting to walk towards the house, but before she went inside, she turned to look at her two friends.

"Are you guys coming or not?" She asked, and Robin and Lilah walked behind her, and the three of them went inside the house.

Once inside the house, the Madame instructed Robin and Lilah to clean the house, do the chores, and do other daily activities as punishment for the fight, and they had to share it with Felix, despite the bully's protests.

As they finished the last tasks, night fell, and everyone, including Cassie, went to bed. And as Robin and Lilah were on their way upstairs, they were stopped by a voice. "Robin, may I speak to you for a second?" Alexander asked, looking at Robin.

Robin looked at the older man before looking at Lilah which. The brunette motioned for him to go, "Go...I will talk to you tomorrow," Lilah said with a small smile as she patted her younger brother on his shoulder and headed upstairs and went into her room. 

Robin watched as Lilah went into her room before heading back downstairs towards the living room where Alexander was standing, and the older man motioned for them to sit down, and they both took a seat opposite each other.

After a few minutes passed, Robin decided to speak up.

"I know I messed up today..and I apologize for that...It's just...I couldn't take Felix's bullying anymore..and he says it's my fault..and in a way..it is...He is your son..and I'm..just someone you guys accepted into your family..a nobody." Robin said, letting out the things he wanted to say for the longest time, and when he looked up at the face of Alexander, he saw a smile on the older man's face, and Robin looked at him confused before Alexander spoke.

"Robin, you and I both know that is not true in the slightest, you are just as much of a son to me and Margaret as Felix is, so don't you dare say that you're a nobody..everyone is a somebody in this family, and that includes you as well," Alexander says looking at Robin with sadness that the boy they took in, educated, fed, and treated as one of their own would say such things.

The older man gets up and walks over to Robin and ruffles the boy's head with his hand, and Robin looks up at him before the older man continues to talk.

"My father once told me, "Home is where the heart is, and Family never stops at just blood, it is the friends you make along the way"..and I have followed his advice until now," Alexander says, looking at Robin.

Robin looked back down at the ground and gave Alexander a nod feeling guilty at what he had just told the man who raised him since he was ten years old.

He then looked back up at the man whose face had changed from sadness to contentment before patting the boy on the shoulder.

"Now go. I will see you in the morning," Alexander says before walking towards the main bedroom.

But he was stopped by a feeling of small arms around his waist and looked over his shoulder and saw Robin hugging him with sounds of slight sobbing, and in response, the older man turned around and hugged the boy back.

The two of them stay there for a couple of seconds before they pull away, and Alexander ushers Robin upstairs, and the boy nods and runs upstairs and into his room while Alexander does the same.

Once inside his room, Robin took a quick shower, and once he got out, he changed into a white t-shirt and blue and black shorts to go along with it. He then reached over to the lamp on his bed stand and turned off the light, but he silently made a wish before he closed his eyes.

"I wish tomorrow would be better." He whispered to himself as he finally closed his eyes, unbeknown to him. Lilah and Cassie made the same wish he did before they closed their eyes.

But little did the three know that this day was the last day they would ever spend with the ones they grew to call family.