Work Text:
Sean turned seventeen quietly in the port town of Puerto Lobos. Where no one remembered him, or recognized them. And right now? He thought that was the best thing.
The only person who even knew was his own brother. God, his brother. There had been many ups and downs during their pilgrimage here, but they’re here, and alive, alive, something he didn’t expect to be at this point. He rubbed circles into a newly healed scar on his forearm. His little brother was barely 10(well, has been ten for 6 months, but whatever), so he honestly didn’t expect a gift from him, given the fact Sean had only recently been able to find a job. So Sean expected a quiet birthday all around.
Sean woke up on his birthday to his little brother jumping on his stomach, screaming “Happy birthday!” Sean groaned, flinging a pillow at him. “Get up Sean!” Sean huffed. “Fiiine.” he grumbled. “Give me a second.” It was his birthday, and he still had to wake up early. Fun. Daniel closed the door behind them as Sean trudged slowly to the kitchen. “Don’t use your powers in the house,” he reminded, as Daniel had been in front of him the whole time. Daniel pouted. “I’m soorrry, ” He said unapologetically. “Sure,” Sean yawned, and they made their way into the small kitchen that they had.
Sean was surprised at the sight. “I made you breakfast!” Daniel cheered, the smell of coffee wafting. Sean smiled slightly at his younger brother, then sat at the table.
There was a bowl of cereal in front of him, and a piece of toast with a candle in it, freshly lit. Candle wax dripped onto the toast, but whatever. “ Feliz cumpleaños! ” Daniel had honestly, even in his own opinion, never been great with Spanish, but with the circumstance, he certainly adapted well. Sean smiled. “ Gracias, enano, ” He said, as he blew out the candle, and removed it to get to the bread underneath. Sean checked the time; he had plenty of time before he had to get ready, thank god. He chowed down, while Daniel sat across from him, chattering away.
Suddenly, Daniel jumped up. “Oooooh! Hold on!” Daniel ran to their shared room— the house their father had was a simple one bed one bath— and came back with something in his hands. “I got you a present,” He said, holding it proudly to his face. Sean smiled, tears rising in his eyes.
It was a small, faux leather sketchbook. “I know you don’t like your old one,” Daniel said, “So I got you a new one! So you don’t have to use your work one anymore!” Sean took it from his grasp, looking it over. The back cracked when he opened it, and all the pages were blank, besides a tiny little doodle on the last page:
:P
Daniel was here!
Sean smiled, and hugged his little brother. “Thank you, Daniel. How did you get this?” He asked, putting it next to the near empty bowl of cereal. “I helped some old lady in town out and she gave me some money!” Daniel cheered.
“I really like it, Daniel, thank you.” He smiled, not letting go of him. Daniel rolled his eyes, and pushed away from him. “Yeah, yeah. Can I have the TV tonight, then? There’s a special I want to watch tonight!” He begged.
“I see, you were just trying to bribe me, huh?” He joked, and messed up his brother’s hair, as he whined. “If you wash the dishes tonight, then maybe. ” Daniel jumped up. “Deal!” Daniel began to be a hurricane of energy. “Take that outside,” He laughed, “We don’t need you knocking over more glasses!” Daniel huffed. “That was one time!” He whined “And fine. I’ll be outside playing with Mushroom!” Daniel put on his shoes. “Don’t forget, tomorrow we have that thing with the principal of the school tomorrow,” Sean said, “So we can get you enrolled.” Daniel groaned, “Yeah, fine, whatever. See you!” The door slammed shut behind him.
Sean rubbed his face. He felt so fucking old. This time last year… God, this time last year, he was still in Seattle, bitching over beginning junior year. The worst he was expecting from the next year is college rejections and part time jobs. Amazingly, what he got was a low paying full time job with a mural painting side job, and a whole ass kid to take care of. Yeah. He felt way older than seventeen.
Sean put away the plates he had eaten from, looking back at the sketchbook. Besides for concept art for commissions he got, he hadn’t really drawn much since they got here. Not much time, and not much to draw with. In his old notebook, he had some spare pages(more like one or two) but… He couldn’t bare to really even look at it. It held too many memories. It hurt.
But for some reason, today he felt… Brave. Brave enough to merely look inside of it. Look through its contents. He rummaged, and found it (it wasn’t like they owned much stuff). He felt the roughened skin of it, and held his breath as he opened it. His dad’s messy handwriting brought tears to his eyes, threatening to spill over as he turned the pages to see his life before everything. It felt… impossible to even imagine it now. As he reached the beginning of the mess that occurred, his hands began to shake. Brody’s letter, his grandmother’s note, anything major to him had been taped in there. Sketches of landscapes and Daniel adorned the pages. Tears finally fell onto some of the final pages, drawings that depicted… Fear, and distress, at the fear of losing his little brother, his last anchor to sanity. The last page was blank. Sean bit his lip.
He grabbed a pen, deciding to do something. He was going to write a letter. He didn’t really know who until he finished. He closed the book, wiping clear his eyes, and placed it on the windowsill.
He should probably get to work. He left the room, closing the door behind him.
I’m doing alright. We made it to Puerto Lobos , impossibly. I did have some usage out of this sketchbook, it kept me sane, haha. You know, I… I miss everything. I miss Seattle, I miss Lyla, I miss Dad, I miss… I miss being a kid. But it’s alright. Because we’re going to be okay. I’m happy that Daniel’s okay, and I’m okay with that. We’ll be fine. Even if it feels hopeless, keep going on. Siempre. Because it will get better. It has, it will, it is.