~~~~~~~~~Third Person POV~~~~~~~~~

About three days had passed since then, and things hadn't really been all that great.

There was wrong between him and the Ciphers, that was all still a very comforting situation. His sisters were okay as well, and Dylan nor Ashley had caused any problems.

The problem was he was still unemployed.

He had tried searching around for any jobs nearby, but no luck. They were already running out of money too, and no way would Dylan give them any.

At the moment, he was in Sage's room, both of them on the ground finishing their homework. He had been quiet for a while now, and Sage was starting to get a little worried. "... okay, what's up."

"Huh..? What do you mean..?"

"You've been really quiet ever since you got here."

"I'm always quiet though, how can you tell..?"

"You've gotten more confident with speaking to us during our time, but now you're acting more like when we first met."

He stayed quiet for a while, and eventually let out a sigh. "I'm just a little stressed.. I've been trying to look for a job, but there aren't any available nearby.."

"Why do you need a job?"

"Mostly to have some money for the future." A half lie, most of it was for now, but if anything remained, he'd use it for his sisters' futures.

She thought for a while, and her eyes lit up at an idea. "What if you work for us?!"

"What..?"

"We've been looking for him in cleaning this maze of a place, And I guarantee you'll be paid well!"

"I-I dunno, Sage, I've already been enough trouble for your family.."

"You're not trouble, Aiden." She stood up and grabbed his arms, forcing him up and dragging him out of the room. "Besides, you're the one who said you needed a job!"

"W-well, yes, but-!"

"MOOOOOM!!!" Aiden tensed up as she yelled, still being dragged to the kitchen, where they found Iris making dinner. "Mom, can Aiden work here?"

"Work here?"

"He wants a job, but hadn't been able to find one, and since we've been having trouble cleaning ever since Ella stopped working here, I thought he could work here!"

"I- i-it's not n-necessary though.." Aiden tried to protest.

On the other hand, Iris brought a finger to her chin. "Actually, it's not a bad idea. It's not like my kids help in any way."

"Hey!"

"This is a big house though, but you're still in high school, so.. does fifty dollars a day sound okay?"

His eyes grew wide. "F- fifty dollars?! For cleaning?!"

"It's a huge place."

"I-I- wow, I- th-thank you! So much!"

Letting out a small laugh, Iris went back to cooking. "You can start tomorrow then, I'll let the others know."

"Alright, and.. th-thanks again.." With that, they both walked out of the kitchen. "And thank you too, Sage.."

"Don't mention it, it's the least I can do. At least now you can keep coming over!"

"I'll be working though.."

"We can still hang out."

"Yeah.. We should finish our homework now.."

She puffed her cheeks with a pout. "Aw man.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So you'd basically get two hundred and fifty dollars a week?! For cleaning?!" Iv asked as she sat on the edge of her bed.

Aiden gave a shrug. "They said it was a big place, which it is.. It should be enough for our own grocery, and maybe once we're eighteen, enough for a small apartment for us.."

"We could finally leave this shithole."

"Yeah.. What about you, any luck finding a job?"

She shook her head. "No, there's none available, but I did mention how I used to babysit to a few of my friends, so maybe something will come up."

"Hopefully, the more money we make, the sooner we can leave.."

Alyse jumped onto his bed, sitting beside him. "You won't overwork yourself though, will you..?"

"I'll try not to, but if there's any chance I can get a little more for us, I'm taking it.."

"We should head to bed then, it's already late." Iv mentioned as she untied her hair.

Getting Alyse ready for bed, the two of them then lied on their beds, drifting off to sleep.

Hopefully they could move out soon enough..

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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