Chapter Text
Terry had been expecting it for a while now. He just hadn't been expecting it after coming back from wrestling practice on a random Thursday at 4:30 pm, a month after Matt turned 6 and three months after he himself turned 14, while dinner was cooking on the stove.
But there he was; sitting on the old green couch with various stains in the living room, Matt next to him, his mom on the other end of the couch, and his dad standing behind her.
"We're getting a divorce." His mom said — unsurprising to Terry but shocking to Matt because they'd always hidden their struggles from the younger boy.
Though Terry certainly wasn't expecting the next part.
"Terry, you will live with your father. Matt, you are staying with me." His mother said, looking at each of them directly when saying their names.
He remembers Matt throwing a fit, crying about how that isn't fair.
He remembers his parents saying it was already decided and they wouldn't keep the two separated, they could visit each other, but it was best this way.
He remembers the next few months of court hearings and having to pick up Matt from school while dad was out looking for apartments and mom was packing away his stuff.
He remembers moving out between Halloween and Thanksgiving. (He wore a costume and went trick or treating with Matt even though he hadn't dressed up for Halloween since he was 12.)
He remembers his dad working all the time and having to take care of himself.
He remembers learning that being able to care for himself is the exact reason why he went with his dad; so his dad could work more without having to worry about taking care of him.
He remembers the fights his parents had about his dad's work; he worked too much, he isn't active as a father to sons, he never puts them first.
He remembers his dad promising to do better, but then a promotion would be promised and his dad would go back to working all the time.
He remembers his dad drunkenly admitting that he works all the time because he doesn't know how to talk to him or Matt, how his mom is so much better at connecting with people.
He remembers his dad showing up for wrestling matches even though Terry almost never won.
He remembers his dad picking up Matt a few times so they could watch one of his matches then get ice cream after, then dropping Matt back off at mom's.
He remembers how bad his mom looked.
He remembers Matt telling him she wasn't doing too well after he and his dad left, but things were getting better and she got a promotion at work.
He remembers getting a call one night from his friends asking to go to a party and going even though he knew it would go past his curfew.
He remembers having a great time and meeting a new group of people that his friends warned him about.
He remembers getting back and his dad being mad at him for being out so late.
He remembers doing it again the next week, twice again the following, three times the week after that, and so on.
He remembers getting close with those people.
He remembers fighting with his dad more about going out so late.
He remembers getting back one night after going out when his dad told him not to and finding police in the apartment.
He remembers the way his heart dropped and the look on his mom's face when she stepped away from one of the cops.
He remembers trying to get into the apartment and his mom pulling him away, making him get into he car and Matt crying on the way back to her place.
He remembers the boxes stacked in the corner and the unbuilt furniture.
He remembers not talking to his friends and skipping school.
He remembers his mom dragging him off the mattress that had been still been laying on the floor and making him take a shower.
He remembers going back to school and having a lot of work to make up.
He remembers the pitying looks he got from teachers and classmates, though some people mocked him instead.
He remembers his old friends not knowing how to talk to him.
He remembers the group of people he'd met at the party pulling him into the bathroom.
He remembers eating a purple gummy they gave him and told him that it would help 'loosen' him up.
He remembers sneaking out to meet with them later that week.
He remembers smoking for the first time.
He remembers expecting this.
Expecting his mom to finally stop brushing his behavior off and say something.
So here they are, in the living room sitting on a new gray couch that's yet to be stained. It's Tuesday at 10 am, Terry should be in school, in Mr. William's class, but he's skipping again. Nothing interesting ever happens and when it does it's in the juniors' bathroom, or the old orchestra classroom that had a building layer of dust settling over everything, or under the bleachers near the baseball field.
"Terry, I understand that you've been having a hard time recently." His mom starts calmly. "But you need to start focusing and getting your grades up."
Terry looks at her, her brown hair and brown eyes and thinks about how much Matt looks like her.
"You're not going to be held back at this rate." She continues when he doesn't respond. "Your teachers and the principal have been very understanding about the circumstances of your situation. We had a meeting and they've agreed that if you can pass this semester, they'll pass you for the school year."
"And what if I don't want to go school? I'm almost 16, mom. I'm can drop out after my birthday." He doesn't mean to say it, but it's what he's been thinking recently. It's what his friends have been telling him, anyway.
No one at school likes him, except for his friends, and he has so much make up work it doesn't feel worth it. Just because his teachers will pass him for the year if he passes this semester doesn't mean they'll just let him not turn in assignments from last semester.
His mom doesn't seem to like that response though.
"No." She shakes her head simply.
Terry gives her a confused look. "No?"
"No," she confirms, "You're not dropping out."
He remembers not expecting the next part.
"It's school or you're not living in the house."
"…what?" He could hear how his voice cracked when he spoke but he didn't care right now.
"School or get out. I can't support you, Terry. I've tried. I-I've tried to give you space but it's been… it's been six months. I don't know how to do this anymore. I've barely been making ends meet, a-and if you're not doing school, I'm not going to be supporting you."
He remembers his mom saying that as tears flooded her brown eyes.
He remembers getting angry and storming to his room.
He remembers packing a bag with a few clothes, his dad's old camera, and a pocket knife he got from one his old friends.
He remembers his mom holding her head in her hands as he passed by the living room.
He remembers taking a twenty from her purse before walking out the door for the last time.
He remembers going to Matt's school and waiting for it to let out before telling his little brother that he wouldn't be around anymore, that he was leaving.
He remembers crying with him.
He remembers taking him to McDonald's and sharing one last meal with his brother.
He remembers Matt begging him not to go.
He remembers apologizing and leaving Matt at the steps of his mom's apartment complex.
He remembers wondering if he should tell his friends, if they'd let him crash with them, but they've always been flaky and the last time he went to one of their houses it looked worse than the homeless shelter a mile away (where he also wouldn't go, he didn't want to take a spot when he decided to walk out of his home).
He remembers walking through the city that night until he got to the subway and falling asleep almost as soon as he sat down.
He remembers waking up to someone shaking his shoulder, then leaving and climbing into the backs of trucks and trailers until he ended up in a new city; then again the next day; and again the day after.
He remembers walking into a city with a million neon signs, despite being filled with rough looking people.
The bright lights from the signs seemed to paint every building a mirage of colors. He let his eyes drift to the quick paced people, then over at the cars that dipped and weaved through lanes like laws didn't exist.
A newspaper crinkled under his feet as he hopped out the back of the now parked truck that he'd hitched a ride in (without the driver's knowledge).
'Top 10 Best Restaurants In Blüdhaven' the paper read.
Terry knew very little of Blüdhaven, and the little he knew was simple. Blüdhaven, sister city to Gotham, and home to a vigilante called Nightwing.
He only knows this because when he was 13 he had to do a report about the Justice League and he learned Batman's home city is Gotham and sometimes Nightwing from Blüdhaven helps him out.
"Never thought I'd end up in Jersey…" He mumbles to himself and starts walking with the continuous crowd of people.
His stomach rumbled and he desperately wanted to eat something, he'd spent the twenty bucks he stole from his mom to pay for his and Matt's meal then a ticket on the subway. The rest of the time he's just been eating what he can find, stealing when he couldn't find anything.
The hard truth is that he had started going dumpster diving, it's just something he really doesn't want to do. But if it's that, starve, or try to steal something from a store in a city where the people look like they're waiting for a reason to punch you, he would choose that any day.
Though he always tries to choose the least dirty and most appealing dumpster he can — "appealing" should never be used to describe a dumpster.
But he finds one — he's pretty sure it was not one of the top 10 restaurants listed on the newspaper, but it looked new and the dumpster seemed clean (for a dumpster) and it didn't real of rotten food. After some hesitation, he opens climbs up and steps in. The bags aren't tied very tight, loose enough so he can open them with little struggle and shift through the food. He grabs a few different things, half eaten burgers, over cooked streaks that got tossed — really anything that could be hand-held and hopefully wouldn't give him a sickness of some kind.
Thankfully there was a relatively clean takeout bag that he was able to use to carry the food. Though after climbing out the dumpster his eyes meet with a thin girl's eyes, fear laced the hazel of her irises. She might be two or three years younger than him, it's hard to tell with how sunken in her face is.
She needed the food more than he did. Even if his belly had been empty for almost a full day, the girl's entire being seemed to have been empty for months. Slowly he set the bag of food down and backed away with his hands up in a placating manner, he could just get food at the next town after hitching a ride whatever truck he manages to find with an open bed. But, of course, that plan was immediately spoiled when a siren started blaring through the city.
Terry leapt about a foot off the ground at the piercing wail that sliced through the air, the girl startled but didn't look surprised — even as the sounds of windows shutting and doors slamming could be heard throughout the buildings near the alley. In fact she looked at him as if he was the odd one.
"You're not from around here, are you?" She asked, voice loud enough to be heard over the sirens but still weak sounding, like she'd just gotten over a cold.
"Uh, no… I'm not planning on staying, either. I just have to find another truck or something to hitch a ride from." Terry responded, looking at the exit to the alley. "Speaking of, I should probably go do that-"
"You're not going to find anyone driving now. No one goes out when there's a breakout happening, and the city won't allow anyone to come in or out until they get all the people who are loose locked back up." The interrupted him, taking a few steps towards the bag he dropped earlier and picking it up with her long, skinny fingers. "Follow me, I know a safe place to wait it out at."
She turned and started walking before he had a chance to respond, expecting him to follow. Considering he had no idea what any of what she said had meant — except that the city was essentially holding people hostage and therefore he would be stuck here longer than just a quick food grab — he followed, not wanting to figure out the hard way.
They dipped into other allies and out onto walkways and over fences before they came to a tall abandoned building. The girl stepped up first, knocking against the rusted metal door, then it opened form the inside and she motioned him to follow.
There were kids of different sizes, mostly younger than him but all seeming to have been on the streets for a while. The girl (He really should find out her name) put the bag of food down and started handing it out, it seemed like she was going youngest to oldest. Once everyone had gotten something she turned to him and held out one of the charred steaks, keeping another for herself.
"Thanks," he murmured and accepted it, the meat was tough from being overcooked but the flavor was nice if you ignored the burntness.
"You're the one who got all of it in the first place," she responded and took a bite of her own food. "Why were you dumpster diving anyway? You look… well fed."
"I… was, I guess. But I don't have money and the adults here don't exactly look open to being stolen from."
She snorts at that comment. "Do they anywhere?"
"Well, no, but the adults here especially look against it."
That got a smile out of her, however small it was.
He remembers learning that the kids call her Sniffles later that night because she's near constantly sick and always gets a runny nose.