"'Yup,'" Julian smiled, "'would you like me to take you home?'"

Mathetio's face lit up again at Julian's question, realization of what his words meant finally sinking in.

"'REALLY?!'" Matheio screamed, leaping up from the ground excitedly and hugging Julian, "'YOU'LL TAKE ME HOME?!'"

Julian looked down at the boy. He had said he was going to take him home as some way to rea.s.sure him, but now it seemed he was going to have to hold to those words. A smile crept onto his stoic face, giving in to the bright energy Matheio was releasing.

"'You bet I will,'" Julian grinned. He laughed at Matheio for a couple of seconds as Matheio jumped around, fully rejuvenated with excitement before stopping when a thought that had been picking at him finally breached through his current thoughts about Matheio.

Julian looked at the grey walls, some with cracks in the corners and others seemingly new but the scars of time were wallpapered over, visible only after precise observation. His eyes crawled to the clock on the wall, taking their time to slow down time a bit and spend at least one more second in the same room with a bright beacon of light like Matheio, but they eventually reached the edges of the clock.

"'12pm…'" Julian thought to himself, "'one more hour…'"

He turned back to Matheio who was still jumping around, his eyes lit up when he realized a way to spend at least 30 minutes more with him.

"'Matheio,'" Julian called out, stopping Matheio in the middle of his jump.

"'Yes?'" Matheio replied, trembling a bit. The only times the workers called out his name was when he did something wrong, had he done something wrong again?

Julian squatted in front of Matheio, his eyebrows rising in confusion when he noticed the boy trembling.

"'Why are you shaking? Did something hurt you?'" Julian asked worriedly, his eyes scanning Matheio.

Matheio looked up at Julian innocently, his eyes showing such determination and courage, like he was ready to be thrown off the planet. He wasn't planning to be screamed out without knowing what he did wrong this time but… it was starting to look like leaving the orphanage would be the same as staying in it.

"'Did I do something wrong?'" Matheio asked, standing a few feet away from Julian when he asked. He had experienced enough hits in the time of his being at the orphanage when he asked that question that he had learned to instinctively back away.

"'Something wrong?'" Julian echoed, trying to recall the moments with Matheio to see if there was anyone in which he had offended him in any way. "'No… Why do you ask?'"

"'You called me by my name,'" Matheio replied.

"'What?'"

"'You called me by my name,'" Matheio repeated, taking another step backward as the unreadable 'what' Julian had said scared him. "'I only ever get called by my name by the workers if I do something wrong. Did I do something wrong?'"

"'Oh…'" Julian muttered, taking a moment to comprehend Matheio's words. 'He's never been called his name except when he does something wrong?' Julian thought to himself, 'what type of bullsh*t is that?'

"'Who gave you this name?'" Julian asked.

Matheio took another step backward, the anger in Julian's eyes setting him on edge, "'T-they said I c-came with it…'"

Julian clenched his jaw as he watched Matheio step back again and stood up from his squat, approaching Matheio before he had the chance to run away.

He held Matheio firmly by the shoulders and looking in his eyes, pressed his forehead against Matheio's.

"'Did some people hold you by the shoulders as hard as I just did?'" Julian asked harshly

Matheio tried to look away but his eyes were immediately drawn to Julian's drowning in the deep blue sea of his eyes.

"'Y-yes…'" Matheio stuttered, '"are you mad?'"

Julian stared at Matheio's chubby face with dirt at some areas and remnants of bread on his lips. 'It was like they didn't even expect him to get adopted.. So they left him here… alone,' Julian thought to himself, his jaw clenching even harder.

"'Yes,'" Julian replied, "'I'm p.i.s.sed off'"

Matheio's eyes widened in fear and his trembling doubled as he feared his life in Julian's arms.

Julian raised his hand and Matheio tightly closed his eyes, bracing the hit.

Pat.

Matheio opened one eye and peeked at what Julian was doing, his heart skipping a bit when he realized that he hadn't felt a huge blow to his waist or any other area. In fact… he was completely scratch-free.

Pat.

Julian's hands ruffled Matheio's hair calmly, using the soft locks of the kid as an anger outlet.

"'I'm mad, but not at you,'" Julian sighed, covering Matheio's eyes with his hair, "'I'm mad at the people who kept you here.'��

"'The people...who kept me here?'" Matheio c.o.c.ked his head in confusion.

Julian glanced at the clock on the wall, flinching when he realized he had wasted time again. He looked back down to Matheio and squatted in front of him, then put his arm under little's armpits and lifted him up.

"'Wanna leave this room together? I have to go sign some papers outside, wanna come with me?'" Julian asked, turning to little Matheio in his arms.

Matheio looked down, the height from his position to the ground was a long way. If he fell… he snuggled into Julian's shoulder, tightly shutting his eyes.

Julian chuckled, finding Mathio's behavior cute, "'are you scared of heights?'"

Matheio kept his head in Julian's shoulder, refusing to look down and nodded.

Julian laughed, "'Don't worry, I won't drop you.'"

"'Really?'" Matheio trembled.

"'Yup, so you can look down, cuz you won't be falling down,'" Julian smiled, patting Matheio's back.

Matheio peeked at the ground, leaning slightly away from Julian's shoulder. He flinched again, pulling himself closer to Julian, the height still scaring him.

"'Haha,'" Julian chuckled, "'You scaredy cat.'"

Julian held Matheio tightly as they walked out of the room, practically glued to each other.