𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟

Chapter 6 : A little time

"I wasn't, but I just thought of something right now," Mason shrugs.

Alex groans and waves his hand to say,'Go ahead.'

Mason laughs and flicks his head before speaking again.

"Do you remember the institution ?"

"The Rosa institution ? The orphanage in which Tyler and Ivy grew up ?"

Mason nods after each question.

"Do you know what is special about that place ?"

Alex shakes his head because Tyler was never too keen on talking about it, even though he claims it was home for the entirety of his stay there.

"Rosa and her husband, the people who own and run the orphanage, they have an insane amount of money, like, insane. So the way it works is, children over there are taken care of, whether it be for school, food, shelter, and anything else they might need,"

"Oh," Alex says. He hasn't got a clue where this is going.

"Once the kids turn eighteen, houses or apartments are picked and bought by the institution for them, but the rest of their needs, they have to take care of themselves. The same way Tyler did."

"Okay ? Mace I'm not su- " Alex starts, but Mason cuts him off,

"Tyler was brought in when he was three, and Ivy was only a few weeks old. They were the youngest members at the time, so naturally, they became very close, and Tyler grew more and more protective,"

Mason stops himself with a little smile, as if he had been there himself.

"Rosa was against it. She didn't want to risk having them grow codependent and then separate them, knowing Tyler would eventually leave before Ivy. But the more she tried to keep them apart, the more Ivy grew anxious, and she turned into a completely different person. Tyler was no better. He kept throwing tantrums, and he would stay locked up in his room until Rosa decided it would be best to raise them together."

"What about not wanting them to grow codependent ?" Alex asks. He's getting engrossed in the story.

"It was too late. From the moment they met, they became a package deal. When Tyler turned eighteen, a house was bought for him and Ivy, and it was agreed that Rosa and her husband would take care of Ivy's expenses until she turned eighteen."

"Tyler never told me the story," Alex mutters.

"He doesn't really like talking about that place. Not because he had a hard time or anything, but the reason he was there to begin with stuck with him a little bit. I'm guessing you know about his parents ?"

Alex winces, nodding slowly.

Tyler's parents were despicable human beings who would abuse their son daily. Tyler doesn't remember of course, but the one time he spoke of his parents to Alex, he told him that he knew about them because Rosa never kept the truth from the kids at the orphanage when they had questions about how they ended up there in the first place, but only when she felt they were ready to hear it.

"Well, he got lucky, Ivy...not so much," Mason says sadly.

"What happened to her ?" Alex asks, immediately responsive, and he hates himself for it.

"I'm not sure I -" Mason hesitates, but Alex interrupts him quickly.

"Look, Mace, I respect the fact that you guys want to protect her, and her privacy, but I don't think she and I can work things out if we remain strangers to one another. "

Mason releases a breath, studying him. Alex is growing restless, twitching with anticipation when he sees that Mason is about to give in.

"Fine, I guess you're right, but I can't tell you the big thing, the main reason she is the way she is with you. But Ivy was brought into the institution because her parents were drug addicts."