author note: hell yeah. in every chapter i will include whatever song i was listening to while writing this, however unrelated it may be owo bc why not

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"You know," Tyler huffs, sitting on the bench besides Brock, "You know this Ryan guy's probably a mess, right? Who is this late to picking up their kids?"

Tyler's backpack hits the ground by Brock's feet, Tyler himself turning to face Brock with an exaggerated glare on his face. Brock finds himself smiling fondly at his brother, shrugging at his statement and looking away.

It's not so bad, he decides. Brock remembers plenty of foster parents that were hours late, if they even showed up at all. He's almost positive they can wait a few more minutes.

Offering a warm smile, Brock shrugs. "I can wait."

Tyler seems put off by this, but gives no real remark besides a muttered "I sure as fuck can't" from under his breath. It's a statement clearly not meant for Brock to hear, but he does and laughs to himself anyways.

"Of course you can't," Brock chides playfully. It only makes sense that his brother has the total opposite personality than him. While Brock was content with waiting for people for hours (literally), Tyler would get impatient after the first fifteen minutes.

Sometimes, differences like these make Brock wonder who their parents are, and how they stayed together long enough to produce a couple of... twins? Brock now realizes that he has zero clue whether him and Tyler are actual twins, or whether they were just given the same birthday by the orphanage they grew up at.

It's like a big guard dog is sitting next to him, Brock thinks to himself. He's never been good with that metaphorical stuff, but if he had to compare Tyler to any animal it would surely be a big dog, maybe an oversized pitbull or something right out of a cartoon- those dogs that are generally seen as threatening by the public but are actually really nice and sweet and cuddly in nature and angry at the world for-

"Oh." A single drop of rain hits Brock's head. He glances over at Tyler, who is already making a disgusted face as he grabs his things.

Brock moves to copy him. He grabs his backpack from the ground and his favorite jacket from where it had been hanging over the side of the bench, and together the two of them make a small dash to find some sort of cover from the rain.

He's not too sure if they wait there for ten minutes, or for fifty. He just knows that at some point a simple black car drives up in front of them, a man in scrubs steps out and waves his hands in a comical manner.

"Hey!" He calls out to them as he begins to jog towards them, Brock noticing two umbrellas in his hand. "You.. you guys are Brock and Tyler, right?"

Brock smiles and nods at the same time Tyler gives some snappy, sarcastic remark. Now that he's closer, Brock can't help but notice how tired he looks. There are faint dark rings around his eyes, and the faraway look in his eyes makes him look like a guy who could use a good hundred year nap.

The nametag on his shirt simply reads "Ryan" in sparkly pink letters.

Ryan seems mildly concerned. "Why are you two out in the rain?"

"The ladies at the front kicked us out because we were 'a nuisance,'" Tyler says with a scoff. "I don't think she likes us."

"...Huh. I'll... I'll have to talk to her later," Ryan murmurs, opening an umbrella. "Anyways, I'm sorry for running late. My boss wouldn't let me go, there was a rescue dog that came in with an entire nail through his foot. Can you believe that?"

Brock listens intently to Ryan's ramble, which consists of a brief explanation of his job (some kind of veterinarian), a vivid description of a surgery (kinda gross), and a bunch of excited gushing about how happy he was to finally meet them (which is really sweet in Brock's opinion). They walk back to the car, Tyler getting in the front while Brock sits in the backseat with what little belongings they have.

Tyler is wary around Ryan. Brock can smell the distrust from a mile away. Though it's nothing new, Brock does hope that Tyler can tone it down for once. Last time they had been pulled into a foster home, it hadn't ended well for anyone, especially Tyler. For all Brock loves his brother, that big mouth of his really makes him wonder how Brock manages to do so.

Regardless... Brock feels happy. There's something about being sent to a new place that excites him.

He can't help but smile to himself. He's excited for whatever awaits him. Though he's a little nervous, Brock has a good feeling about this. It's gonna be great and he knows it.