Chapter Text
Katie didn't last long in her first placement after the Watsons. The older lady, Patricia, had called Sam in a rage after only two weeks, after Katie had broken one too many antique vases by “accident”.
Katie had hoped that would show Sam that only the Watsons were right for her. But clearly, Sam did not understand that. Because she ended up in a small house at the end of a street with an extremely uptight couple. They were both men, and as much as Katie didn't want to say it, they were more stereotypical than the average gay man in TV shows.
They were obsessed with cleanliness, the interior of their house, and pretty colours. So they were not very happy when Katie accidentally exploded her ballpoint pen onto their vintage chic antique very important dining table. In her defence, she always bit whatever she was writing with when she studied. They should know better than to have a white dining table.
Sam was not happy when he came to pick up Katie after just a month.
And Katie was not happy when she was put in a house with three other kids. And she was even less happy when she found out she was sharing a room with a four year old. A fucking toddler.
As she put her backpack onto the bed in the corner, she noticed how the kid’s toys took up most of the room. A closet stood open, revealing about 90 percent of it filled to the brim with tiny princess dresses, plushies and other various toys. The other 10 percent was apparently Katie’s to use. It was a singular shelf. To hold every item of clothing Katie owned.
Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, and she sat down on the bed as she pulled it out. It was a notification from her group chat with Tubbo and Ranboo.
Ranboo
Katie you wont guess what tubbo did today
Tubbo
DONT BELEVE HER
I DINT DO ANYTHGIN
Ranboo
IM TELLING HER SHUT UP TUBBO
he threw his giant eraser thing at mrs thompsons head trying to hit purpled
Tubbo
NUH UH
Katie
jfc tubs 😭
ur so dumb helppp
Tubbo
☹️
Katie quickly stuffed her phone back into her pocket as she heard footsteps approaching. A short figure appeared in the door, staring at Katie with wide, brown eyes. The kid must’ve been around eight, with long brown hair which was standing up everywhere with knots and three tiny braids, all tied with hair ties that were wrapped around the strands way too many times.
“Hi,” the kid said.
Katie didn't reply. Taking a page out of Wilbur’s book, she always refused to speak with her foster placements for the first free weeks unless absolutely necessary.
The kid didn't seem to mind her silence, continuing to study her with those big brown eyes.
“I’m Lisa,” she said.
Katie nodded slowly. Lisa nodded too, and turned around, walking away. Her abrupt leaving reminded Katie of Techno, who’d also been prone to abrupt subject changes and similar things. Katie shook her head. She didn't want to think about them.
She took her bag and shoved it underneath her bed, and crawled onto the bed. She shoved her face into the pillows and groaned. She was tired. She didn't want to be where she was. She wanted to cry, and scream and yell at these people who forced her to be where she shouldn't be.
—---
It had only been a week, and despite Katie’s attempts to make them hate her, the foster parents had forced her to go to school. Apparently the teachers had been informed that she was a run risk, which she wasn't, and she would be closely monitored at all times.
The hallways were adorned with art of the school mascot, which Katie could not figure out what it was. However, the words “Hermits” and “Life” were plastered all around. A teacher was taking her to her first class, maths. Katie wanted to die. They reached a classroom and the teacher opened the door quite noisily, causing every set of eyes to fall on them. Katie wished she’d just die.
“Hi, miss Hart,” the other teacher said. “This is your new student, Katie Simons.”
“Hello, Katie,” the blonde woman by the teacher’s desk smiled sweetly at Katie.
Katie didn't reply.
After Miss Hart showed Katie her seat, and started the lesson, Katie pulled the hood of her hoodie over her head and leaned her head in her hands. She was nearly falling asleep when the kid next to her pricked her on the shoulder. Katie glared at them, being met with a brunette boy with unnaturally dark eyes. They were almost black, and looked almost soulless.
“Hi,” the kid said, and Katie was finally met with a British accent. This school overflowed with Americans and Katie felt out of place, but this kid had just cured that whole issue.
“I’m Grian.”
“Katie,” her voice cracked slightly, having not used it in days.
“Yeah, teacher introduced you.”
“Oh,”
“Anyways,” Grian smiled. “You’re new! So you probably don’t know your way around this place!”
Katie nodded slowly.
“Do you want help? I can look at your schedule and see if we have any other classes together.”
“Okay,” Katie reached into her bag and pulled out her schedule. A secretary had handed it to her, and Katie hadn't even looked at it before shoving it into her bag. It was crinkled and a corner had already ripped off. Grian took the paper and looked at it.
It took him a full minute before he looked up at Katie, grinning.
“We have almost every class together! Only I don’t have spanish!” he said.
Katie wanted to be upset about this. She didn't want friends that might make her want to stay where she was. She knew that if she moved back to Phil and Techno and Wilbur, she’d have to switch schools again.
“I can walk you to P.E?” Grian offered.
“Okay,” Katie replied. Grian grinned.
And when class was over, that was exactly what happened. And after P.E Grian went with her to English. And to History. And to Science. And then came lunch. And obviously, Grian took Katie to the cafeteria, where he sat her down at a table in the far right corner of the hall. It was a bit of a quieter corner, with the two closest tables only having two people reading a book each, and the other with a lone girl on her phone.
“My friends will be here soon, do you want me to grab you something from the cafeteria?” Grian asked. Katie shook her head.
She hadn't really eaten since arriving at this new house. She’d had a little bit of dinner, but nothing appealed to her. It all just felt like she was eating styrofoam, so she just opted to drinking water instead.
Grian nodded and disappeared briefly. Then he came back, joined by four other people. Katie was a bit taken aback, but they were talking amongst each other and not noticing her.
As they all sat down, the guy closest to Katie looked up and met eyes with her.
“Oh!” he said. “Hello.”
Another British accent, and Katie could kiss him. Okay, maybe not. Anyways.
“Guys this is Katie, she’s new.” Grian said.
“Hello!” The only girl at the table, with long brown hair, smiled kindly at her.
“This is Mumbo,” Grian gestured to the boy next to Katie. He had dark brown hair and also very dark eyes. “My brother.”
Oh, that’s why Grian and Mumbo had the same eyes.
“That’s Pearl,” he gestured to the girl, who gave a small wave.
“Mumbo’s older sister,” she grinned. She had what Katie assumed was an Australian accent, which was slightly weird but she brushed it off.
“By two minutes!” Mumbo protested.
“And this is Martyn,” Grian gestured to a blonde dude next to Pearl, with a black bandana around his head.
“Hello,” Martyn smiled. Another Brit, he looked a bit older than Grian, so Katie assumed he was in 8th grade.
“And last but not least,” Grian smiled, gesturing to the guy next to him. “This is Scar.”
“Great to meet you, Katie.” Scar grinned, reaching out a hand for Katie to shake. “I’m the most important person here. Grian’s husband, in the flesh.”
“Since when were you married?” Pearl asked.
“Since last week,” Grian frowned. “Honestly, you’d think as my older sister you’d be more involved in my life.”
“It’s not my fault that you and the ‘bad boys’ exclude us from everything!” Pearl protests.
“Joel even excludes Lizzie from the bad boys stuff,” Mumbo said. “Don’t be too upset about it.”
“I am upset about it!” Pearl frowned.
“Okay well Tim is slowly drifting away from us, in favour of the big dogs,” Grian said pointedly. “He hates us.” He put a hand over his heart, pretending to be shot. He fell onto Scar, who caught him, laughing. Katie noticed a big bunch of scars on Scar’s arm, almost looking like an explosion. It was actually kind of cool.
“Well, sorry for stealing him,” Martyn said, not sounding very sorry.
“Katie, why have you started here in the middle of the semester?” Pearl leaned over the table, meeting Katie's eyes.
“Uh, had to move. Family stuff,” she replied. She tried making her replies as short as possible, so she wouldn't have to reveal so much stuff about herself and her life.
“Oh,” Pearl said. “That’s kinda sad. Did you leave behind many friends?”
“A few,” Katie replied.
“Do you have no filter, Pearl?” Martyn asked.
“Nope.”
“That explains a lot,” Scar said with a grin. The guy never seemed to stop smiling. He was the only American by the table, which made him stand out. His appearance didn't differentiate him from the rest of them, he actually looked quite… normal?
He was wearing beige baggy jeans and a low v-neck t-shirt, with a black leather jacket. The jacket had the letter G embroidered on the front in red thread, and as he turned around to speak to Grian, Katie saw a design of three hearts on the back. One heart was green, the middle one yellow and the third was red. Under the hearts, in the very recognizable Minecraft font, was the word “Life”. On the cuff of the left sleeve, there was some writing in white lettering that Katie couldn't read.
“I like your jacket, Scar.” Katie said.
“Oh!” Scar seemed to grin wider. How his face didn't split apart was a mystery to Katie. “It’s not mine, but thanks!”
“Whose is it?”
“It’s mine,” Grian said.
“Which is why it’s so small on Scar.” Mumbo smiled.
“He’s not that much taller than me!” Grian protested.
“You wanna test that theory?” Scar said mischievously.
Grian scowled at him. Scar laughed loudly and proceeded to pull Grian out of his seat, standing up next to him. And that's when Katie realised what was different about Scar. Not only was he significantly taller than Grian, who barely even reached his shoulder with his head, but Scar also had a crutch. It was black, adorned with stickers and a charm hanging off the handle. Katie wondered how in the world she hadn't seen that before.
“Ooh, we forgot to tell new girl that he’s a cyborg!” Martyn giggled. Katie looked over at him, then back to Scar and Grian.
The shorter of the two was currently trying to smack Scar in the face, and failing miserably. It was even worse than Katie and Wilbur’s height difference.
“He’s not a cyborg, you moron,” Mumbo replied.
“But-”
“A crutch doesn't make him a cyborg!” Pearl laughed.
Martyn frowned. “Let me dream.”
“What’s this about me being a cyborg?” Scar had sat back down, next to a very upset Grian. He put his arm around the shorter boy’s shoulder, pulling him into a side hug, and Grian immediately melted, smiling fondly and leaning his head against Scar’s shoulder.
“Martyn thinks having a crutch makes you a cyborg,” Pearl explained.
“He’s not that far off…” Grian said.
“Shush,” Scar said. He turned his attention to Katie. “Sorry if that caught you off guard. I’m so used to it I forget to tell people.”
“It’s okay,” Katie said. “I’m just confused how I didn't see it before.”
She could not clearly see the crutch rested up against the table, right next to Scar’s hand. Scar giggled.
“It’s not easy to overlook,” he pointed out.
“Exactly!” Katie agreed.
When lunch neared its end, Grian switched spots with Scar to be next to Katie. He leaned in closer to her, nearly putting his elbow in his half eaten sandwich.
“Do you have plans after school?” he asked. Katie shook her head, and he lit up. “Would you like to come over?”
“Jeez, that’s quick,” Pearl said.
“Leave me alone,” Grian said. He turned his attention back to Katie. “Do you?”
“If I’m allowed. I’ll have to ask.”
“I’m sure your parents will be okay with it!” Scar grinned. “I’m coming too, and so is Joel and Scott.”
“I don’t know these names,” Katie said.
“It’s okay! We’ll introduce you!”
“Okay…”
Grian and Scar joined Katie in her computer science class, where she was introduced to yet another friend of theirs, BigB. Regrettably American, but very nice, he knew a worrying amount of stuff about computers and was able to help Katie through the work set for the class.
Grian and Scar walked Katie to her Spanish class, where they split up before regrouping two minutes before their elective class, which they all shared, and had to book it across the school, and somehow made it in time, despite Scar’s inability to run.
And then the final bell rang. Katie knew that her foster mother would pick her and the other kids up. Grian wanted to come with her to ask for permission, but Katie stopped him.
“I don't think she’d like that,” she explained. Grian looked confused but nodded.
“Hurry though, we gotta make the bus.” Katie nodded and walked quickly to the car she’d arrived in this morning. The two other kids that went to school were already sitting in their seats. Katie opened the door but didn't sit.
“Uhm,” she said, realising it was the first time she’d spoken since arriving. “Can I go to my friend’s house?”
“Be back before midnight,” her foster mother said. Katie barely even remembered her name. Mary? Marie? Maria? Something on M, for sure, right?
“Oh, okay.” Katie closed the car door and she sped off immediately. Katie turned back towards Grian, Scar, Mumbo and Pearl. She gave a thumbs up, and Mumbo, Scar and Pearl immediately started sprinting to the bus stop. Grian ran to Katie, grabbed her wrist and began sprinting after his siblings and Scar.
“Gotta catch the bus!” he said.
Katie sprinted after him, and she and Grian jumped onto the bus, to be met with a very grumpy bus driver and Scar, Mumbo and Pearl begging him to not drive away. Panting heavily, Katie and Grian thanked the bus driver, and followed Mumbo, Scar and Pearl further back in the bus. They sat down, Scar and Grian next to each other, Mumbo sat next to a blue haired guy, and Katie ended up next to Pearl.
And Pearl was sitting backwards in her seat, talking to a pink haired girl behind her.
“Oh, by the way, this is Katie,” Pearl said. “Katie, this is Lizzie! Our oldest sister!”
“Oh hi, nice to meet you!” Lizzie smiled.
“Hi,” Katie said, ever so shy.
“This is my boyfriend Joel,” Lizzie said, pointing to the guy next to her, who was leaning against the window, dead asleep. His hair was brown, accented with a green streak in his bangs.
“In front of you here is Jimmy,” Katie turned around and met eyes with a blonde dude. He was smiling, but seemed to have a slightly clueless expression.
“Hullo,” he said.
“Hi,” Katie replied. She felt pretty overwhelmed, meeting all these new people in the span of just a few hours. She felt like how she felt meeting Phil, Techno and Wilbur. Running a hand through her hair, she glanced out the window at the suburban houses. Probably filled with happy families, Katie unexpectedly found herself missing her parents. Her biological parents, who were decent before. Before they decided to lock her out that cold October night after she’d broken one too many of their bullshit rules.
“Katie?” Grian tapped her on the shoulder, and she looked up at his dark eyes.
“Huh?”
“We’re at our stop.”
“Oh!” Katie quickly got up, realising that everyone in the group but Grian and Scar was off the bus. “Sorry.”
“No worries,” Scar smiled.
Katie followed the two off the bus and the group started to head down the street. Now off the bus, Katie realised just how big the group was. A quick headcount came to eight people, nine counting Katie herself.
“Oh, by the way,” Grian softly nudged Katie. “That’s Scott.” He pointed at the blue haired guy, walking next to Lizzie and Joel. He was gesturing a bunch with his hands while talking, and Katie noticed he was wearing surprisingly light clothing for it being late October.
He had a pair of breezy light blue jeans with rips all down the legs, a white t-shirt and a blue hawaiian shirt. How he wasn't freezing his butt off was a mystery to Katie.
“He’s in Lizzie and Joel’s grade, and very good friends with Lizzie.” Grian was explaining friends and family lore, by the sounds of it, and Katie realised she had not been paying attention.
Grian gently nudged her to the right, and she realised they'd probably reached the house. She followed the group inside, and was met with a cosy looking house that smelled super homely. The nine of them all took their shoes off, and all filed further into the house.
“Mum!” Lizzie called, from the front of the group. “We’re home!”
“Ooh, that sounds like a lot of you!” a voice called from further inside.
“There are!” Jimmy replied.
“Can we get a list?” a voice from behind startled Katie, and she turned around to see a man with white hair and a bandana tied around his head. A black mask hung from his ear, and the man looked like he was in the middle of doing something important.
“Hey dad,” Pearl said. “We got Joel, Scott, Scar and Katie.”
“Who is-” The man looked around the group and met eyes with Katie. “You are, I guess!” He smiled and reached out a hand.
“Nice to meet you, Katie!” he said as Katie carefully shook his hand. “I’m Etho, you can just call me dad. If you want.”
“Hello,” Katie said shyly.
“Have you met Cleo?” Etho asked.
“We haven't gotten that far, dad.” Grian said.
“Well get to it!”
“Workin’ on it!” Mumbo cut in. “C’mon Katie, lets have you meet mum.”
Katie nodded, and followed Mumbo into the kitchen. By one of the counters stood a ginger woman in a purple dress, cooking some food that smelled absolutely delicious.
“It’s Thursday, so I guessed there’d be a lot of you, so I cooked a bit more food for you all.” she said as she turned around. Katie was at the front of the group now, and the first thing the woman saw.
“Oh, hello!” she said, breaking into a big smile.
“This is Katie, mum.” Mumbo said. “She’s in a bunch of Grian’s and Scar’s classes.”
“Well, it is lovely to meet you, Katie!” the woman said. “My name is Cleo, you can call me whatever you like.”
“Mum, can we use the basement today?” Lizzie asked, leaning over the kitchen island. Katie noticed just how long her hair was. It reached below her waist, and it was currently in two plaits, so Katie assumed it must reach to her hips.
“‘Course!” Cleo grinned. “As long as you leave it as you found it.”
“Always do,” Pearl said.
“You guys go ahead, I wanna show Katie around the house a bit,” Grian said.
“Ooh, can I come?” Scar asked.
“Always,” Grian grinned. Scar grinned back at him.
“Alright, don’t spend too long! We wanna watch the season finale of our show.”
“Yep, won’t take long.”
“Come on!” Scar urged Katie, and headed out of the kitchen. Katie followed him, and was led back into the hallway.
“First floor is just the kitchen, living room, Lizzie’s room and spare bedroom,” Grian said. “There’s a bathroom, but no one really uses it.”
“Upstairs and the basement has all the action,” Scar said.
“Right, let’s go up there!” Grian started heading up the stairs. Scar followed after, seeming to have a little trouble navigating the stairs with his crutch.
“You alright Scar?” Grian asked, looking over his shoulder.
“Sorry, yeah.” Scar mumbled.
“Don’t apologise,” Grian said. “I know the stairs are hard for you. Dad’s working on finding out how to make them more accessible for you.”
“You really don’t have to do that,” Scar replied.
“Tell Dad that, see what he says.” Grian chuckled lightly as he reached the landing.
“He’d have my head,”
“Exactly!”
Katie reached the landing, and found a surprisingly colourful hallway. There were six doors, each one a different colour with small details that all fit the theme of the background colour. The walls had a sort of gallery vibe, with tons of small paintings, pictures and posters in a sort of jumbled up clean mess.
The first door, right ahead, was light blue, with clouds and birds all at the top of the door.
“That’s the bathroom,” Grian pointed to the blue door.
“Lizzie and Cleo painted the doors,” Scar said quietly, so that only Katie could hear him.
“First door to the left here is me and Mumbo’s room!” Grian threw open a green door with an assortment of different flowers in bunches all across the surface. Katie noticed that all the doorknobs were different. The inside of this room was like any other teenage boy’s bedroom, but exceptionally nerdier.
They’d clearly gone the route of splitting the room in two identical halves, a clear change in aesthetics from one side of the room to the other. One side was darker colours, the bed with plain grey bed sheets, a plushie depicting a minecraft cat resting between the pillows. The desk next to the bed had a PC, a seemingly good setup with two monitors and what Katie assumed was a good quality microphone. This side of the room was neat and tidy, with minimal stuff on every surface. A tidy bookshelf filled to the brim with fiction, with only one shelf holding a few pictures and trinkets.
The other half was quite the opposite. The bed was filled with plushies, three of which being identical copies of each other, with dull red bed sheets. The walls were filled with posters, much like the hallway outside, and fairy lights hung from the ceiling in jumbled messes. The desk on this side also had a PC on it, but this one only had one monitor and there was no microphone. The PC however was covered in stickers, and so was the desk. The floor was covered in clothes, papers and books. A smaller bookshelf held a few books and an insane amount of trinkets and pictures. There was also a banner over the bed which read “Bad boys” in bold font, with the same hearts logo as on the jacket Scar was wearing, only with the green heart slightly bigger.
It was made clear whose side was who’s when Scar went over to the plushie filled bed, grabbed one of the three identical plushies, and stuffed it into the top of his shirt. Grian snorted and swiftly ushered Katie out of the room.
“Leave him with the Jellies,” he chuckled.
“What are the Jellies?” Katie asked.
“Jellie is his cat. He made plushies of her and gave me three.”
“That sounds…”
“Insane?”
Katie snorted, and stepped out of the room. They left Scar to his shenanigans and Grian led her further down the hall. There was only one door on the right side of the hallway, a purple one with stars and planets.
“This is Timmy’s room.” Grian said.
“Who?”
“Er, Jim. Sorry, I just call him Tim.”
“Oh, okay.”
Grian cleared his throat. “I dunno if we’re actually allowed in here, but you can just like- look at the room.”
He opened the door and Katie peeked inside.
It wasn't nearly as decorated as Grian and Mumbo’s room, but felt more homely. There was a wall filled with polaroids of what Katie thought were the same two people in every single one, a few minecraft posters, and a few strings of fairy lights. On the walls hung two banners, opposing each other. The one on the left was the same “bad boys” banner as Grian had, only with the red heart being bigger than the other two. The banner on the right just said “big dogs” and had a doodle of some dog ears. There was also a PC setup similar to Mumbo’s.
“He’s boring. Pearl’s room is better!” Grian said, gently closing the door before making his way to the third door.
This one was red, with nothing but a crown at the top. Grian opened the door, letting Katie step inside. This room was in an L-shape, seeming to wrap around whatever room may be next to it. The walls nearly matched the colour of the door, and the interior was quite unique. There seemed to be a bunch of art on the walls, from drawings to paintings to beaded artwork, you name it. There were insane amounts of differently shaped fairy lights covering almost every wall, accompanied by a LED light strip that stretched across the perimeter of the ceiling. The bed was messy, with too many pillows to count and a weird amount of dog plushies. There wasn't a PC setup like Mumbo, Grian and Jimmy, but there was a closed gaming laptop on the desk.
“Cool, right?” Grian grinned. Katie nodded.
“Are all these artworks hers?” she asked.
“Yup! Every last one of ‘em!”
“That’s so cool.”
“Let’s go get Scar, show you Lizzie’s room, and go downstairs!” Grian said.
Katie took one more look around the room before following Grian out, back to his own room, where they found Scar with the Jellie plushies. Katie watched them bicker softly about leaving the stuffed animals upstairs, and felt a weird sense of domestication.