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Margo jumped at the sound of a door slamming, more yelling quickly followed. Echoing down the halls of the house and into her room.
She felt her little brother tense beside her with a frown. “Mommy and Daddy are fighting again,” Malcolm whimpered, hugging his blue cat plushie to his chest. His fingers tugging on the ears.
“Try not to listen to them,” Margo soothed, pushing the anger towards their parents that rose in her chest. There would be a time for those feelings later, right now she needed to focus on Malcolm. Setting aside her tablet, Margo sat up in bed and reached towards her little brother.
Immediately, he tucked himself against her side. Nuzzling his head against her shoulder, Margo covered his other ear with her hand. Trying to shield him from the sounds of the loud argument. “They'll probably be finished soon.”
That's what Margo was hoping for, but thirty minutes later and the yelling was still going. ‘Don’t those two ever get tired?’ She thought crossly, feeling Malcolm tremble in her lap. He was getting more and more stressed out, he looked up at her with tears in the corners of his eyes and Margo felt her heart break.
She needed to get him out of this damn apartment, take her little brother anywhere but here. Even if It was just for a few hours.
“Hey Mal,” Margo forced a cheerful note into her voice, “How does a trip to the mall sound?” He perked up at that, excitement making his eyes light up. “Really?” The six year old asked.
“Yeah, maybe we can even find you a friend for Raspberry.” She suggested, giving the stuffed animal's head a pat.
“Her name's Blueberry,” Malcolm corrected with a pout, making Margo chuckle. “Don’t call her the wrong name.” He lifted the plush so it was now face level with Margo. “Say sorry.”
“I'm very sorry Miss. Blueberry,” She said with an exaggerated remorseful tone. “I swear it’ll never happen again.” Malcolm studied Blueberry’s blank expression for a few seconds before nodding in satisfaction. “She accepts your apology.”
“Oh thank goodness,” Margo sighed, standing up from her bed and lifting Malcolm on her hip. “I wouldn't want her to be mad at me.” She carried him to his room and helped him into his favorite green dinosaur shirt and a pair of blue shorts.
They were closer to where their parents were fighting and could hear more of their argument now. Malcolm gave her a fearful look and Margo offered a tight smile as she slipped her own shoes on before grabbing her bag.
Margo rushed Malcolm to the door, barely remembering to send a quick text to their mother that they were going out. Even though she would probably be too busy drinking after the fight with their dad to read it.
*******
“Ok Malcolm,” Margo huffed as she carried the six year old through the automatic doors into the bustling mall, “ We're here, time to get down.” She lowered herself to the floor and Malcolm reluctantly climbed off her back, she let out a quiet sigh of relief as the extra weight eased off her back.
“Can I have another piggy back ride on the way home?” Malcolm asked as Margo stood back up to take hold of his hand. “Sure, Mal.” She said with a smile, even though her sore shoulders protested.
She took his hand in a firm grip on his hand as they walked deeper into the mall. “Stay with me at all times, it's very crowded today.”
He seemed to be listening with half an ear, more focused on the food court. “Can we get cookies later?” Margo rolled her eyes with a fond smile, she guessed she couldn't expect younger kids to always listen very well.
“Sure,” She responded, leading him towards the escalator. “We’ll circle back around after we find some stores that sell plushies.”
Walking into a shop filled to the brim with colorful toys of all kinds, Malcolm bounced up and down in excitement, darting in the direction of a display of stuffed animals.
Margo followed closely, beaming to herself. This was a good way to take his mind off things. “See anything good?” She asked, bending down to his level.
Malcolm nodded, holding up a plush bunny that was a similar shade of blue to his cat plush. “I found a little brother for Blueberry!” He handed it to Margo and her fingers practically sank into the soft, furry material. “Think she'll be a good older sister?”
“She’ll be the best one,” She said softly, the memory of meeting a newly born Malcolm in the hospital flashed through Margo's mind.
At first she wasn't very excited; it was no secret to her that their parents had decided to have another child in a poor attempt to salvage what was left of their failing marriage. She couldn't help but to feel resentful for them bringing another kid into their crumbling family.
But all the dread she felt had slowly melted away when she first held the tiny bundle in her arms, leaving only love and protectiveness in its place.
“I'm sorry you had to be born into this family,” Margo had whispered safely out earshot from her parents. “But I promise to do whatever I can to give you the best life possible.”
“Margo?” Malcolm softly called, snapping her out of her haze of memories. She blinked, looking down to see her brother looking up at her with concern.
“Sorry, I spaced for a second,” Margo took hold of his hand again and led him towards the cash register. “Let's go check out and walk around the mall a bit more.”
They had barely gotten two steps out of the store before Malcolm started tugging on the pink plastic bag hanging on Margo's arm for his new plush. “We gotta get him out before he suffocates!” Malcolm said with an urgency that made Margo laugh as she pulled out the plush bunny and handed it to him. “Did you think of a name yet?”
Malcolm tapped his chin in thought, “How about-” He was cut off as an older woman bumped into Margo and made her lose her hold on his hand. “Watch it!” The woman snapped, barely sparing them as she kept marching down the mall.
“Excuse you too.” Margo huffed as she turned to take Malcolm’s hand again, only to find he wasn't standing next to her anymore. Not only that, he also was nowhere to be seen within eyesight.
“Malcolm?” Fear rose in her chest as she swung her head around, her eyes frantically trying to find her little brother in the crowd of people. “Malcolm!” She called again, her voice rising to a near hysterical pitch.
Oh God! She only looked away for a second! How far could he have possibly gotten away in a second?!
Margo's legs started moving before she even realized it, running down into random stores that Malcolm might have wandered in and up to random people that might have seen him. Her heart beating so hard she could hear it ringing in her ears.
“He-he was wearing a green shirt and blue shorts,” She quickly described to the tenth or maybe thirteenth person? Whatever, numbers didn't matter, only finding her little brother did.
“About as tall as my knee?” The man shrugged, “Haven't seen him.” Margo could only watch him walk away defeated, the tears she had been fighting so hard to keep back welling up in her eyes as she slumped against a nearby wall and crumbled to the floor.
Sobs racked Margo’s body as she buried her face against her knees, uncaring of the judgemental looks she was probably getting from people walking by. Just what she deserves for being the worst older sister in the world.
“Um, excuse me?” A voice said from above her, Margo reluctantly lifted her head and her mouth dropped open in shock when her wet eyes opened to see Malcolm standing in front of her. Unharmed and still holding on to his new plush bunny.
“Mal!” Margo cried, lunging forward to haul him into a tight hug. Malcolm wrapped his arms around her neck and pressed his face against her shoulder. “I was so scared,” He whimpered, “I thought I would never find you!”
“I was scared too,” Margo admitted softly, pressing a soft kiss on top of his head. “But it's ok now, I'm here.” Pulling back to give Malcolm a comforting smile, she finally remembered the voice that had gotten her attention. It must have been the person that had found Malcolm.
“I can't thank you enough for- '' She trailed off as she looked up to see Miles Morales, the guy from school she’s been secretly crushing on since freshman year. Standing in front of her with a little girl that looked to be around Malcolm's age, a small smile playing over his lips at the emotional reunion.
“M-Miles!” Margo fought back the urge to wince at how rough her voice sounded, suddenly feeling extremely self conscious of her puffy red eyes and tear-stained cheeks.
She always took great care to look as well-put together as possible around Miles, he probably thought she was a mess right now.
“Hey Margo,” He greeted warmly, reaching out to offer his hand. “How about we get you two off the ground?” Margo hesitated a little before taking his hand, still holding onto Malcolm as he pulled her to her feet and offered her a small packet of tissues that she gratefully accepted.
“Thanks,” She croaked out, wiping her damp eyes as Malcolm wrapped his arms around her leg. Margo couldn't blame him for wanting to be as close to her as possible after getting separated. “And thank you for finding Malcolm, I promise I don't have a habit of losing him in malls.”
“Try not to beat yourself up over it,” Miles responded gently, surprising Margo. As another older sibling, she was so sure he would have thought she was irresponsible and careless.
“Your little brother is ok, and thankfully I had my little sister Billie here to help me find him.”
He gave the little girl a small pat of the head and she looked up at Miles with a smile. She looked adorable in her purple tutu and unicorn shirt. Her eyes were the same light brown as Miles and held the same warmth as his.
“Thank you very much as well, Billie.” Margo said, bending down to her level. But instead of accepting the thanks, Billie looked her up and down and blurted out, “I can see why my brother thinks you're pretty.”
Miles coughed awkwardly as he pulled his little sister against his side, Margo’s face flushed with heat. Her mind scrambled to think of a response, and of course that's when Malcolm decided to chime in.
“He's right!” He beamed, squeezing Margo's leg even tighter. “I have the prettiest older sister in the world!” And just when she thought she was going to die of embarrassment, Miles laughed and gave Malcolm a nod.
“You sure do, little man.” Margo felt her heart skip a beat as Miles looked right at her as he spoke. Was she dreaming? This had to be a dream, right?
Malcolm started tugging on her shirt to get her attention. “Can we get cookies now?” She let out a tired laugh. “Right,” Margo sighed as she rested a hand on his head. “I promised someone we'd get cookies.”
She pushed down the nerves rising in her stomach as she offered, “Would you two like to join us? My treat as a thank you for finding Malcolm.”
“We'd love to!” Billie answered before Miles could say anything, he chuckled at her enthusiasm before nodding. “That'd be great, thanks.”
After they got and finished their treats, Margo and Miles brought the kids to the mall play area and watched them run around and play with the other kids there.
Malcolm didn't usually interact with other kids at playgrounds, usually choosing play by himself or with Margo. But thankfully Billie’s outgoingness seems to be rubbing off on him a bit.
“Are you feeling better?” Miles asked, leaning back against the bench they were sitting on. “I know losing Malcolm must have been stressful.”
“Yeah I'm fine now,” Margo responded, touched by his gentle concern. “Sorry for breaking down like that, I was just really worried something bad had happened to him.”
“No need to apologize for that.” Miles shifted a bit closer to brush his shoulder comfortingly against hers. “I almost lost my shit on a security guard that was taking too long to help me find Billie when we accidentally got separated in an amusement park.”
Margo blinked in surprise, Miles seemed far from the type of older brother to lose his little sister anywhere.
“What I'm trying to say is, older siblings are going to make mistakes sometimes. But at the end of the day what matters is that we learn from them and that our little siblings are ok.”
“You're right, It's just-” A lump appeared in Margo’s throat, suddenly making it hard to speak. Tears formed in the careers of her eyes again. God can she go five minutes without crying today? “Things are kinda rough at home right now and I just wanted Malcolm to have a nice day out but-”
Margo cut herself off in surprise when Miles gently placed a hand on the side of her head and gently rested it against his shoulder. “M-Miles?” Margo stammered in surprise, her face heating up again.
“Just lean on me for a second,” He murmured, she was close enough to feel the vibrations in his chest the words made. “It seems like you need it.”
Closing her eyes with a small sign, Margo allowed herself to be soothed by Miles' warmth and firmness. The stress and worries of the day suddenly seemed to not matter as much as they did before.
“Thank you.” She whispered, placing a hand on his knee. “Of course, Margo.” Miles responded softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
****
Over at the play area, the kids watched their older siblings embrace from the swings with wide smiles. “You think they're gonna start dating?” Billie asked Malcolm, playing with the long ears of his bunny plush.
“I don't know but they should,” He replied, swinging back and forth lightly. “They would be the cutest couple in the world!”
Billie nodded in agreement, not missing the way Miles smiled at Margo when she moved a bit closer to him. “Plus if they did, we could play together all the time!” She added with an excited little wiggle, already picturing her new-found friend coming over to play with her collection of stuffed animals.
“That would be awesome!” Malcolm cheered, hopping off to grab Billie's hand so they could run over to where their older siblings were sitting.
They pulled apart as the kids came over, Billie climbed onto Margo’s lap and Malcolm took a seat on Miles’. “Did you guys have fun?” Margo asked, wrapping her arms around Billie.
“You two went down that big side a bunch of times!” Miles bounced Malcolm lightly in his lap, making him squeal with laughter.
“We think you guys should start dating!” Billie exclaimed, figuring getting straight to the point would be the best. Malcolm hummed in agreement, “You two would make a great couple!”
Miles chuckled, “Well when you two put it like that, Margo would you do me the honor of going out with me this Friday?”
Billie and Malcolm looked at Margo expectantly as she smiled at all three of them and nodded. “I’d love to.” The kids high-fived each other with excited cheers.
“And a playdate for me and Mal?” Billie added hopefully, Malcolm nodded eagerly. Miles and Margo glanced at each other with a smile. “That can be arranged too.”