dan.

"catch, dan!"

dan spun ninety degrees and his hands flew up on impulse, just in time to wrap his slender fingers around a little red ball, indented with a patchwork of lines. he grinned, turning it over in his hand.

"this for me?"

the boy who had thrown it laughed from across the alley, the tinkling sound flooding dan's ears. "no! you're supposed to throw it back!"

dan hummed, tossing the ball between his hands, making a soft thumping sound when it hit his gloved palm. "i don't know, e. this is a pretty nice ball."

earl sneered at him. "what're you gonna do with it? you're too old for toys."

dan raised his eyebrows, tossing the ball again. "what did you just say, toddler?"

earl huffed and stomped his foot against the parched concrete, only further proving dan's point. "i'm nine."

"cool, i'm twenty."

he grinned when his response clearly only increased earl's frustration. he laughed, dropping the ball and striding to him, scooping him up. earl screamed and kicked, his mustard hair flopping in his eyes, but dan just grinned widely, holding him under his arm as if he was a football.

the kid was fairly light, and dan could feel his ribs when he held him like that, all of his baby fat unfortunately long gone. not that dan was all that weighty either, but he had muscles, however scrawny.

dan carried him over to the door - well, piece of cardboard - that made up a sort of separation between the small fort-esque hut they had made out of found curtains and bedposts. after they had gotten kicked out of the last shelter they had put up shop here, in an alley near main street, their sleeping bags tucked into a crook against chipped red brick, beside the dumpsters.

sure, it kind of sucked, but there was hardly ever actually trash in them, and dan had been around worse company than the rats that occasionally came and went. it was definitely livable.

he knocked jokingly before pushing it aside, revealing a young woman brushing an old women's hair with a comb missing quite a few prongs, her frail fingers dragging through the particularity stubborn tangles. she smiled wide when she saw dan and her wavy auburn hair tumbled over her shoulders when she turned to look at him.

"hello ladies," dan said with a giggle as earl poked at his side.

the younger auburn haired girl, katrina, smiled at him. "hey. you have a prisoner?"

"oh yeah," dan replied, squirming away from earl's attacks to his rib cage. "found him outside, scoping out the fort."

katrina smirked and mock-gasped, scooting back from the old woman. "give him here, i'll show him what we do to spies."

earl shrieked and bolted as soon as dan set him down, and katrina scrambled to her feet to chase him. dan laughed, stepping aside and watching them go.

he looked back toward the older woman when her hand moved, motioning him over. he smiled, stepping into the shelter, sitting cross legged on one of the sleeping bags.

"hi, nina. how was your day?"

she smiled, making it apparent how many teeth she was missing. curly and tangled locks of grey hair fell as far as her elbows.

"it was alright, honey. how was yours?" it took her a moment to get out each word, perpetually tired. dan sighed.

"it was okay," dan mumbled, letting his gaze fall, playing with a loose string attached to his dirty jeans, not wanting to disappoint her. he could feel her eyes on him.

"you don't have to lie to me. i'm old, not stupid."

a smile spread on dan's features and he chuckled, shaking his head. "you're too smart for me."

"i'm too smart for anyone, my dear." she smiled. "now tell me what's on your mind. how did it go?"

dan sighed, rubbing his neck stressfully. "i didn't get much today. mostly cents and dirty looks."

nina nodded knowingly. dan was usually the one sent out to beg, although he hated calling it that. on desperate days earl and nina would come, but that took more energy than they usually had to give. but the main reason dan went was because of his guitar.

"did you play?" she asked softly, touching his hand reassuringly. dan shook his head.

"no... wanted to give my fingers a break. apparently i should have, though."

she nodded slowly. "you've got a talent, dan. you need to use it any chance you've got."

dan shrugged half heartedly, sighing again. he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "i guess."

"people like it when you play." her piercing blue eyes were locked on his face. "they give you more in return for it."

dan nodded, quiet. he chewed on his already split lip, the taste of copper exploding on his tongue.

"i'll take it out tomorrow."

nina pulled all of her hair in one bundle and started braiding it. "good."

dan hoped he didn't sound too snappy. he really was grateful for any bit of advice or input she could give him, any of them. they were his family. he may not have a home but they were the closest thing he had found in a long time.

two years ago, when dan's actual family had rejected him, he had felt so hopeless. he felt like nothing was ever going to get better, this was it. before that he had thought there was no way a family could just spit their son out like chewed up gum, as if he was worthless and not a life form they had spent eighteen years and nine months of their lives caring for, but he had been wrong. his eyes had been opened to the nastiness in the world, even if he hadn't wanted them to be quite yet.

he had been miserable when katrina had found him, he had absolutely given up, but she took him in despite how little she already had. she had been kicked out for getting pregnant too early and refused to get rid of the baby, she had just turned sixteen at the time, but her family had taken the child from her and left her on the street with nothing to her name. it made dan mad just thinking about it.

dan figured that was why she cared about earl so much. he had already been with her when they found dan, and she treated him like her own child. earl had run away from home, but they figured that if his family really hadn't even looked for him, it wasn't worth taking him home or calling the police. he didn't really like talking about it.

they had come across nina not long after. her medical bills had been too much for her grandchildren, apparently.

thinking about anyone hurting any of them sent a fiery spark of anger through everywhere in dan's body. he hated it- they didn't deserve that, they were the sweetest people dan had ever met, they deserved the best. so, as if they really were his family, he would do anything to give them that.

earl pushed the cardboard aside as he barged in, giggling and collapsing on one of the sleeping bags, his chest heaving. katrina came in after him, grinning.

"have you learned your lesson?" she teased, pushing her messy hair back as she tried to catch her breath.

"oh, yeah," he said loudly, laying on his back. "never try to play with dan."

katrina smiled and shrugged at dan teasingly, grabbing earl's scrawny body and dragging him into her lap.

"time for bed, e."

the little boy whined, but his eyes were already half closed and he was stifling yawns. "no, wanna stay up with you guys..."

dan smiled, carding his fingers through his own curls in an attempt to fix them. "i'll put him to bed, kat."

she looked up. "are you sure? i can do it."

"yeah, i'm sure. you've done it the past two nights."

she nodded hesitantly after a moment, smiling back at him. "okay."

dan stood up and pulled the sleepy child with him to the small blanket fort right beside the bigger one; he liked sleeping alone, it made him feel grown up.

"wait," earl said, stopping in place and tugging on dan's hand. "will you get your guitar?"

dan smiled at him and nodded, ducking back in to grab the dark brown guitar that leaned against the wall.

earl climbed into his bundle of blankets, pulling them up to his chin and looking at dan expectantly. dan sighed, shaking his head. he sat down across from him, balancing the guitar in his lap.

dan knew what song he wanted to hear. it was one of the first ones dan had ever personally written, and his favorite. he strummed experimentally to tune a bit before beginning, his fingers dancing practiced between the strings.

he glanced up every few seconds to check on earl, whose eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling rhythmically with his breathing.

a moment later dan's soft and careful voice joined the music leaving the instrument, and he played and sang until he could hear the child snoring quietly.

an alright ending to another awful day.