(Uploaded the unedited chapters by mistake for 1-3. Just fixed them, highly suggest going back through them before reading this one :3) 

Rolland was in a daze for the next several days as he dragged himself about doing his chores and going to school. His mind only ever seemed to wake up when he stepped into his sixth period art class. It was his last class of the day but always the best. The teacher couldn't have been nicer and often brought him a new colored marker for his board or gave him spare sketchbook paper from her supplies to take home. It probably wasn't much to most kids, but each time he got a new color, he couldn't help but get excited. Half the time, he stayed up way too late drawing and got yelled at by Mrs. Spryfield. It was totally worth it, though, because the next day he came to school with his drawing and showed it to Ms. West. She always loved what he did, even if it was just basic outlines or playing around with the colors he had.

His smile stretched across his face for the first time in almost a week as he took his seat in the front of the class. Ms. West stepped out of the back room and smiled at him, waving as she made her way to the front of the room. There was a big white plastic bag in her left hand that she quickly tucked behind her desk before turning to the settling class.

"Alright, class, today we will be drawing your choice of a fantasy creature. It can be anything from an elf, to a dragon, to an alien. They are due at the end of the period so don't worry about backgrounds or a ton of detail, I just want to see the basics for this assignment. We will elaborate on them in the next class."

Everyone began working except for Rolland, who sat quietly until Ms. West walked over with a small dry erase board to let him know the assignment.

"Good afternoon, Rolland. Your assignment is to draw a fantasy creature. Anything that comes to mind is fine. There is no background for this assignment, and it can be a general outline. Whatever you get done by the end of class is fine."

He nodded and quickly got up to fetch himself a piece of sketch paper. When he returned to his seat, he got busy on the assignment, forgetting about everything else for the next hour. This was his time to just relax in school and have fun, and he intended to do just that. He had a thing for dragons so that's what he decided to draw. It was a huge one that was flying toward you through a thunderstorm. He knew she said a background wasn't necessary, but she always let him get away with stretching the assignment a little.

After about fifty minutes, Rolland noticed several students beginning to get up and turn in their drawings so they could pack up to go home. He was never in a rush to leave art, though, so he worked through the last ten minutes before finally putting his pencil away and getting up. By then most of the kids were gone, though he noticed a couple came in, he supposed to ask the teacher something, but since they were standing farther back, he assumed he was fine to go show Ms. West his work so he could leave.

With an excited smile, he nearly ran up to Ms. West's desk and offered her his drawing. She took it with a grin and held it out so she could see. The enthusiasm that lit up her face made Rolland giddy with excitement. He loved it when she liked his stuff. Mrs. Spryfield never bothered to comment besides the basic it's okay or good job, but Ms. West always gave him amazing critiques and ideas to get better. When she set his drawing down on her desk and grabbed her writing board, he anxiously waited for her to write.

"That was gorgeous, Rolland! The lighting was much better than your last try. Proportions for the head and front arms were great but be sure to check the back ones. Look up a reference if needed to double check the distance. Also, I have something for you."

Huh? For me?

He smiled again, bouncing on the balls of his feet slightly as he watched her turn around and grab that big bag she'd brought from the back room earlier. His gaze followed as she set it on her desk, then carefully pulled out something big and offered it to him.

Oh... my... god!

His eyes were like gigantic saucers as he looked up at her, then back to the giant canvas that had a gorgeous red ribbon tied around it. Shrink wrap secured a very nice looking set of paints and brushes together with the larger item. He had no idea what to say. When she nudged the big canvas into his hands, he quickly took it, then watched as she wrote on her white board and turned it to face him so that he could read.

"You're an amazing artist, and I hope this helps you along in your journey to get even better. Happy Birthday, Rolland."

Rolland reacted automatically, ignoring the obvious steps that should be taken to accept such a gift. Instead, he leaned the canvas against her desk and then fell into her arms with an ecstatic "Thank you!" This was the best gift he had ever been given, and he couldn't wait to use it as soon as he got back to the orphanage. When he finally leaned back and wiped at tears that had sneaked from his eyes, he watched Ms. West quickly write down something else for him to read.

"I'm really glad you like it, Rolland! I can't wait to see what you make. :)"

Rolland quickly pulled his board around and shakily wrote, "You'll be the first to see! Thank you so much!" She smiled and nodded before he gave her one last hug and hurried to get his bag, then grabbed his new art supplies and ran out the door.

I can't believe I got a canvas. And paint stuff!

He was definitely running straight home since the bus had likely already left, but he didn't care. He was just super eager to get started. Rushing into a painting was never a good idea, but he had his own painting supplies! His mind was so abuzz with everything he could put on the big canvas and all the colors he could make, he hadn't been paying much attention to where he was going or who he was getting too close to until he felt his backpack suddenly get yanked on, hard, forcing him to drop his art supplies and stumble backward.

"Well well, look who it is. Our little punching bag, the smart ass Rolly-Polly!"

Aw, darn it. Why did Ret and his friends have to be here right now?

Rolland tried to squirm out of Ret's clutches, but Ret easily got him around the waist and tossed him over his shoulder before heading toward the bathroom.

"No!" Rolland shouted, but was of course ignored. Ret threw him inside, then grabbed him as he tried to scramble to his feet and dragged him into the handicap stall.

"Remember this, Rolly-Polly? Our favorite pastime."

Rolland couldn't hear him at all, obviously, but he knew what he was saying was never a good thing. "No!" he tried again, but his shout was cut off as his head was promptly shoved into the toilet bowl several times, then Ret reached over and flushed it. He was fighting as hard as he could to get his head above water, but each time he felt himself starting to get a breath, he was promptly shoved back down into the swirling disgusting bowl.

He didn't need to hear anything to know that the boys were all laughing at him. What was so funny about nearly drowning someone in a toilet bowl, though? He didn't understand.

"Hey, can you guys move? I need to piss."

****

Dartanian sauntered into the bathroom with a bored expression clear on his face.

Ret whirled around, releasing Rolland before he walked over to the slightly taller male.

"What the hell? How did you get in here? The door was locked!"

Dart raised a brow, obviously not very impressed by Ret's shouting.

"No, it wasn't. Now will your group get out so I can piss, or do you want to watch?"

The group of four boys looked at each other, then all attention focused on Ret. He looked back into the stall where Rolland was lying, then growled before turning back around and storming out of the bathroom. His posse quickly followed after him while Dartanian glanced into the handicap stall.

"He inhaled some water," Bryce said as he stepped up beside his brother, eyeing the kid on the floor of the stall.

"Yeah, his face is slightly blue," Dartanian agreed. They both walked inside and squatted beside the unconscious kid, not quite sure what they wanted to do.

"He might live without CPR," Dart noted.

"Or we can just leave him here and not care either way," Bryce added. They were both silent for a long minute before sighing in unison.

"We can't leave him here," Dart grumbled under his breath before his brother finished his thought.

"If he dies, Ret will tell the principal that we were the ones here last."

Dartanian rolled his eyes and groaned. "Then we'll get expelled, and Mother will have a fit."

"Absolutely."

Bryce shook his head but leaned over, putting his hands on Rolland's chest, then carefully began to push. It was hard not to break ribs with his strength, but thankfully he had practiced touching humans quite a bit, so he managed it decently well. After ten or so reps, Dartanian reached over, grasping Rolland's wet chin, pinching his nose, and tilting his head toward himself before leaning down. His lips pressed gently to Rolland's as he calmly blew air into his mouth.

The two took turns throughout the next three minutes with Bryce pumping Rolland's chest and Dart blowing air into his mouth when his brother paused. They finally got a response as they were coming up on four minutes. It was a small cough but quickly grew into a painful sounding hack as water began to run over the edge of Rolland's mouth. Bryce quickly grabbed his torso and turned him right as the kid began to throw up.

"Oh lovely," he stated in a bland tone.

"Indeed."

As soon as Rolland was finished, he blacked out, making Bryce pull him back fast before he fell right into the nasty mess he'd just left on the floor.

"We should just leave him here now, he's not going to die," Dart suggested even as Bryce stood up, lifting Rolland into his arms so he could carry him more easily.

"We can't. Mom will smell him on us even if we shower."

"Dammit all, she'll know we lied if we say we took him back, but we left him on the floor."

"Yup."

"Alright. Let's just take him back to the orphanage. The person there shouldn't recognize us since we weren't home when they came to check the place out for the app to adopt and we never went to a meeting."

"Sounds good."

Both brothers headed out with Bryce holding Rolland, but when they got into the hallway, their brows went up slightly. There was paint everywhere, along with a broken canvas and brushes. Dart walked over and picked up Rolland's old backpack, but it, too, had been torn up. Thankfully the kid had left all of his text books at home or in his locker that day, so just a notebook was painted on. He contemplated just leaving it there but then figured Rolland would want it. The kid didn't have much and had just lost the present they had seen Ms. West give him.

"Come on, we can't erase his memory with him having almost drowned. It'll be too detrimental," Bryce said as he started toward the front of the school. Nodding, Dartanian stood up, holding the bag away from his body to keep his clothing from getting paint on it, and followed.

****

"Ouch..."

"Why did you just throw him over the fence? I thought we were going to take him inside."

"He was waking up. He didn't break anything... I think."

My head hurts so bad.

With a groan, Rolland forced himself to sit up. Something felt odd right away, though. Is there something on my face? He spat a few times, then rubbed his arm along his mouth.

Grass?

Wait a second... Looking around, he quickly noticed that he was back in the orphanage's yard. What the heck happened, though? He remembered getting a swirly by that idiot Ret, but then everything went black. Did they bring him back? He wouldn't think they would care in the least about his safety... but then what the heck happened?

"He looks so confused. Stupid human."

Rolland glanced around, feeling a good headache starting but altogether not terrible. He knew he needed to wash his hair and face, and brush his teeth, judging from the disgusting taste in his mouth, but at least he wasn't hurt like last time.

Giving a tired chuckle, he shrugged his shoulders. Best to keep looking up. A little bullying wasn't going to get him down.

"I swear this kid is an idiot. He's laughing after getting a swirly and blacking out."

Hang on a second... It feels like someone's watching me. His head tilted slightly when he didn't see anyone in the yard. The sky was clouding over so they likely went inside. Then maybe by the fence? People did often look in at them, most of the time in sympathy. He got himself to his feet, then turned. No one.

Odd.

Oh well. He reached down and grabbed his bag... then realized the paint all over the torn-up fabric.

"My paints..."

His lower lip began to tremble, but he bit it and ran inside. Crying wouldn't bring his present back.

Later that night, he lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to keep from remembering what had happened earlier in the day. Mrs. Spryfield forgot his birthday again, for the tenth time, even though she always remembered everyone else's. He wasn't bitter, though. Ms. West made his birthday amazing. Although he wouldn't be able to use the present she gave him, it was the thought that made him happy. He smiled at that and finally managed to relax into sleep a few minutes later.

A soft tap on his shoulder woke him up early the next morning. It took a moment to get his eyes to open, but when he saw a small white board in front of him, he shifted into a sitting position and read as his left hand rubbed at his eye.

"Rolland, someone left something for you downstairs. I thought you may want it now."

Left something for me? In the middle of the night?

He wasn't really sure what she was talking about, but he got up quickly and ran downstairs in his pajamas. His bare feet were cold on the worn wooden floor, but that didn't faze him in the least when he saw what was leaning against Mrs. Spryfield's desk.

"How?"

There was paint all over his backpack so the stuff Ms. West had given him had to have been opened, but this art set was sealed! He quickly turned to Mrs. Spryfield, but then realized he hadn't grabbed his dry erase board. She noticed what he was looking for and handed over her own small one, along with a marker. Rolland took the lid off and set it on her desk before scrawling along the board as fast as he could.

"Who brought this?"

She took the board back and replied, "I don't know. It was here with a card when I came in."

She handed the card to him, and he opened it, thinking there would be a lot of writing from Ms. West. Because surely she was the one who had brought it in. But the card only read simply,

For Rolland.

Weird. Ms. West would have let him know she had replaced it. He pursed his lips in thought but eventually just shrugged and wrote a quick thank you to Mrs. Spryfield. Then he handed her the board back and grabbed his art set before running back up to the room he shared with four other kids. When he stepped inside, however, his hands nearly let the wrapped canvas, paint, and brushes slip to the floor. There were four more canvases and an easel near his cot!

"Oh wow!"

He hopped up and down, his excited shouts waking the other boys in the room. They got out of bed and walked over, honestly surprised that he had presents. No one ever gave him presents. But he had such awesome stuff all of a sudden.

One of the boys, a red-haired kid who was a little taller than him and knew sign language, walked in front of him and asked, "Who gave you this stuff, Rolland?"

He was so giddy that it took him a moment to answer.

"I don't know, but I'm so happy."

The boy chuckled and then signed as the other boys came closer.

"We have something for you too, though it's not much."

Rolland's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at his roommates. They actually had something for him? But they hardly ever got anything, what could they possibly want to give him that they didn't need themselves? The red-haired boy smiled and reached over to take something from a smaller brown-haired boy, then offered it to him.

When he took it, the boy signed, "We found it outside in the yard, but since we often get presents, and Mrs. Spryfield is mean for not getting you anything during your birthdays, you take it."

Rolland looked down at the money in his hand, eyes widening when he saw that it was a twenty dollar bill.

Holy crap. It's so much money!

When his gaze rose to all the boys, they smiled and patted his head or shoulder before returning to their bunks. He couldn't help but be a bit giddy as he turned to the last boy still standing in front of him.

"Happy birthday, Rolland."

Rolland smiled and expected another pat on the head or a hug, but instead, the boy leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

Huh?