Downtime does NOT equal alone time: At the end of it all, it's just you and me

Hello everyone! Just wanted to say there is a brief mention of a scar and I wasn't sure if I should use the mild body horror tag since it isn't super descriptive, but I decided to, just in case. Also, I am human, please tell me of any spelling or grammar mistakes. Anyways, onto the story!

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Ferris let out a sigh as he plopped down onto a wooden rocking chair in a corner of the living room. He had a very tiring day, trying to take care of all of his sisters. Trying to get enough food to feed all of them was not easy, especially since he was technically a wanted criminal. A petty thief who stole what he could from people who happened to get lost in the forest, or travelers who had stopped to take a rest. It was such a relief when he finally was able to get them all something to eat before getting them all to sleep for the night.

Now, Ferris wasn't actually related to any of his younger sisters. He just happen to find them wandering the forest when he was a bit younger. He was currently 17, so he was basically a child taking care of other children. But he felt like he had to. He knew that children shouldn't be wandering the forest by themselves without their parents around. But he also knew that parents shouldn't leave their kids alone in the forest. He knew that firsthand. So, he took it upon himself to take care of them the best he knew how.

He leaned his head back against the chair, giving himself a moment to catch his breath. The wooden chair let out a creak as it slowly rocked back and forth. A soothing motion that Ferris often relied on when things got too stressful, which they often did. He felt exhaustion wash over him, his eyes heavy, struggling to stay open for much longer. Maybe a tiny nap wouldn't be so bad. Afterall, he needed one desperately...

Maybe an hour had passed, maybe twenty minutes. It didn't matter. What did matter was that he was suddenly and abruptly woken up from his slumber. He jumped in his seat when he felt something tap his leg. He glanced around, squinting in the darkness for what had disturbed him, only to find one of his sisters. It was sister number four, or just Four. None of the sisters had any real names, and even if they did at one point, they would have surely forgotten them at this point. They've been with Ferris for most of their lives. He was the one who took care of them and renamed them. They had no reason not to accept the new names he had given them.

Four was one of the sisters who was on the younger side. She was around 5 years old, pretty naive of her situation. She didn't understand the severity of being left alone in the woods before Ferris found her. And she didn't understand that Ferris shouldn't be taking care of her. That her real parents should be the ones who were looking after her. That a child shouldn't have to take care of other children. And yet, here she was, trying to get her self-appointed big brother's attention.

Ferris raised an eyebrow. What could she possibly want right now?

"Four, what do you--" He cut himself off when he heard a sniffle. He took a closer look at Four. and noticed the tears that slowly crept down her face. His expression softened. "What's wrong?" He muttered quietly, as to not scare her.

Four let out another sniffle, wiping away her stray tears. "I had a really b-bad dream..."

Ferris let out a sigh. This was not how he thought he would be spending his night. He felt Four tug at his left arm, causing a bit of pain in his shoulder. There was quiet a large burn scar across most of his shoulder and shoulder blade. Being struck by lighting wasn't a fun experience. How he survived at all was beyond him. And even though it was fully healed, even small, unassuming movements like that did cause a small reoccurrence of pain.

"What do you need, Four?" He asked her, feeling the grip on his arm soften once he adressed her. She looked up at him with her big, watery eyes.

"Could you tell me a bedtime story?" She sniffled, her voice sounding strained. Ferris let out a sigh and nodded.

"Yes, I can do that." He muttered, a hint of annoyance laced throughout, although it was missed by Four. As much as Ferris loved his younger sister, he needed sleep as well and this was just another bump in the road. He stood up out of his rocking chair, stretching his legs, feeling his bones pop. He then took his little sisters hand in his, noting how tiny her hands were compared to his. He brought her back into the room where all of his sisters slept.

The room didn't have much in it except for a pretty small bed, which the sisters took turns sharing. It was currently being occupied by Six, who was snoring loudly. There were eight of them and only one bed. They couldn't all fit on it. The rest of them slept together as a pile on the cold, hardwood floor, keeping eachother warm. Ferris usually just slept in a different room altogether most of the time. Though, it was rare exceptions like this that brought him into this room.

He brought Four over to the sleeping pile, and she sat down, leaning back against another sister. Ferris crouched down, getting to his sisters level. He noticed that there were still some stray tears that stuck to her face. So, he slowly reached his hand up to her face and slowly wiped them away with his thumb.

"Alright," He started, keeping his voice down to not wake up any of his other sisters. "So, you want me to tell you a bedtime story, right? Well, I'm only telling one because I've got important things to do." By important things, he just meant getting back to sleep.

"Ok!" Four said excitedly, her voice getting a little bit too loud before Ferris shushed her.

Ferris held up a finger to his mouth. "We have to be quiet, Four. We don't want to wake anybody else up."

Four mimicked his movement, putting a finger over her own mouth and nodding.

"Alright, so...." Ferris started, before stopping, not entire sure how to start a bedtime story. "So.....once upon a time," He started. Cliche, right? But it didn't matter to him. He noticed Four staring at him expectantly. She no longer had teary eyes and just seemed to be waiting on Ferris.

"There was....a tree." He knew that it was going to be hard making this up has he went, but he just needed to go as long as he needed until she fell asleep. "And the tree was incredibly lonely, because there were no other trees around."

"Why are there no other trees?" She asked, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Uhhh, because...." He paused. "Because...." Ferris eventually let out a sigh. "Sorry Four, I'm not very good at telling bedtime stories."

Four made a small pout, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks. Ferris raised his hands in defeat.

"Sorry, sorry." He muttered. "How about we talk about something else? Like what your bad dream was about?"

Four stopped pouting and uncrossed her arms, her eyes becoming watery again. She gripped the hem of her shirt, stray tears falling once again. "When you were hurt really badly...I thought that you were going to l-leave us forever...I don't want to be alone..."

Ferris instinctively brought his hand up to his shoulder. The memories of that day haunted him. He himself thought he was going to die. And yet, he was alive. He wasn't sure how, but he was. And to think that his sister was worried about that was something that she shouldn't have to worry about. He was never going to leave them. He was never going to be like his or her parents. Ferris reached his arms out and pulled her into a hug.

"I will never leave you, no matter what." He felt his voice crack as he hugged her tighter. Ferris felt Four wrap her tiny arms around him as far as they could go. He then let go of her, bringing one of his hands up to his face. He hadn't even noticed it, but he was crying. 

Four brought her hand up to his face as well, wiping away his tears as best as she could with her thumb. "Why are you crying?"

Ferrs shook his head, wiping away his tears. "No reason." He reassured her.

She had a frown across her face, as if she didn't believe him, but she didn't say a thing.

"Well, I'm gonna go now." He spoke. Ferris went to leave the room, standing up to walk out, when he felt a tug on his pants. He glanced down, seeing that Four had grabbed his pants leg.

"Could you stay here with me?" She spoke quietly, as if any louder and everything would go wrong.

Ferris let out a sigh and sat back down, leaning back against a wall. He motioned for her to come closer and Four scooted over and plopped down next to him. She leaned her head against his arm, letting out a yawn. Ferris let out a humorless laugh.

"Someone sounds tired." He taunted and Four shook her head. But another yawn told a different story.

"You should probably go back to sleep now, Four." Ferris spoke, but was confused when he received no response. He glanced over at her, and saw that she was fast asleep. A light snore arose from her, and Ferris just let a small smile cross his face. He treasured moments like these. When he didn't have to worry about being on the run, or what they were going to eat, or having to watch over his sisters constantly. Moments where he could just relax and not care about those things. Where he could let his walls down and not be on guard.

He may not be qualified as their parent, but he was qualified as their brother. And to him, that was worth more than anything. Ferris felt his eyes grow heavy again, but this time, he didn't have to worry about anybody. He leaned his head back against the wall and let his hands rest in his lap. He closed his eyes, and let sleep consume him.