Sebastian went downstairs to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water to hopefully calm his nerves. He was used to strange dreams, but dreaming of his best friend like that... It made him shudder just thinking about it. The first thing he’d done when he woke up was look outside. That howl had greatly unnerved him, but there didn’t seem to be anything in the backyard. He checked the front yard next from the window in the hall, but there wasn’t anything out there either.

Still feeling uneasy, he decided to lock Bruce’s dog door. Just in case. The basset hound in question was passed out in his dog bed beside the back door. Completely unbothered by any strange sounds. Sebastian wondered then if he’d imagined the howling.

A nightmare as bad as that could have ended with him hearing things if he was tired enough. He used to have plenty of unsettling dreams as a kid, though he didn’t ever remember waking up to noises that weren’t there. There was always that feeling in his gut though. The unsettling intuition that something was going to happen.

He was feeling that again tonight. So, for the sake of his own peace of mind, he locked the dog door. This roused Bruce, who looked up at him sleepily, almost as if asking why he was awake at this hour.

“Go back to sleep buddy,” Sebastian whispered, giving the dog a quick scratch behind the ear before heading back upstairs to his room.

His parents seemed to both still be sleeping in their room as well. That significantly calmed him down since he knew how light a sleeper Nick could be. Any howling would most defiantly have woken him up too, so Sebastian had to have imagined it.

He still felt uneasy though when he laid down. Now far too awake, he took out his phone and noticed that there was a message from Edmund.

Made it home safely. Night <3

Seb felt much better seeing the message, and quickly texted back ‘goodnight’, even though he knew Ed probably wouldn’t see it until the morning. After that, he decided to just try playing games on his phone and focused his energy on that until he fell back to sleep. He didn’t get nearly enough sleep though, because the next thing he knew, his alarm was going off and he was groaning in agony.

Ugh, mornings.

After turning off his alarm, he sent a good morning text to Edmund and then got himself dressed for school. As he was walking down to breakfast, a reply came through from Ed wishing him a good morning too and saying he’d be there to pick him up for school a little late. Sebastian’s brows furrowed in question and he sent a message asking if everything was alright. He got a reply rather quickly;

Yeah, all good. The truck’s just having a bit of trouble starting.

Sebastian snorted.

I told you that thing needs replacing.

Quit talking about my baby like that!

;P

Bitch

I know you are but what am I

He pocketed his phone as he entered the kitchen. Nick was making breakfast and his mom –Emily– seemed to be reading over some business papers at the dining table.

Nick noticed him first. “Hey kid, coffee?”

“Yes please.”

Emily looked up from her business papers and frowned. “You okay, hon? You look really tired.”

“I didn’t sleep great, but I’ll be fine.”

“Was something bothering you?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I had a weird dream and couldn’t fall back to sleep afterwards.”

“What happened in the dream?”

“...I saw a wolf die.”

Nick let go of the spatula then scrambled to catch it before it clattered to the floor. “You saw what?”

“A wolf die. It was injured really badly.”

Emily frowned. “That does sound unsettling.”

Sebastian shrugged again. “I don’t know what caused the dream, but I’m sure I’ll forget about it in a day or two anyway.”

“Hmm, if you have trouble sleeping again tonight though, maybe you should take of your meds.”

“Okay.”

The three then settled into a comfortable silence, Emily returning to her work, Nick to his cooking, and Sebatian opened social media on his phone to scroll while he waited for breakfast. By the time Nick was plating their food, there was a knock at the door, signalling Edmund’s arrival. Sebastian got up to let him in, petting Bruce as he left the kitchen.

“Hey, you know we gave you a key for a reason. Right?” he quipped after opening the door.

Ed shrugged. “It’s still polite to knock before entering someone’s house.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes and stepped aside for Edmund to come in. As he crossed the threshold however, Bruce began to growl form the other end of the hallway. Seb cocked a brow at the hound’s strange behaviour.

“Oi, chill Bruce. It's just Eddie.”

Bruce continued to growl and gave a short warning bark at Edmund. Edmund blinked in confusion and held up his hands in a surrender manner.

“I’m not a threat, Bruce.”

Sebastian reached out and messed his hair. “Yeah, B, does this look like the face of a bad guy.”

Edmund swatted at his hand. “Hey! I work hard to maintain that.”

“Really?”

“Rude.”

Sebastian chuckled before noticing something. “Wait, what happened to your hand.”

“You know I cut it on a broken glass yesterday. I told you after work.”

“Then why is it all healed now?”

“Huh?” Edmund looked down at his hand and now also noticed the absence of the cut he’d had there yesterday. “What the hell?”

Before the pair could wonder about this for too long, Nick poked his head out of the kitchen door. “Hi Ed. You want coffee or juice with your breakfast?”

“Juice please.”

Nick nodded then ducked back into the kitchen.

It was then that the boys notice Bruce had gone silent. He still seemed to be giving Edmund a death glare [which shouldn’t be possible since he’s a dog] but he wasn’t growling or barking anymore at least. The pair took this as an opportunity to go into the kitchen and sit down at the table.

Emily looked up from her papers again as soon as the pair entered. “Morning Edmund.”

“Good morning, ma’am.”

“Why was Bruce barking?”

Both boys shrugged and Sebastian said, “Don’t know. He seems fine now. I think.”

“Perhaps he heard the mailman?” Nick suggested.

“We didn’t see anyone, but could be,” Edmund supposed.

“Speaking of the mailman, if a package arrives today, it’s mine,” Emily stated.

“Did you order something?” Seb asked.

“Just a new lamp for the office. The one we have right now is too dull, so I figured I could surprise Marcie with an early birthday gift of sorts.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “Does it count as a gift when you both use it for work?”

“That’s why I said of sorts. It’ll throw her off from the real gift I’m getting her. I’m determined not to let her find out this year.”

“Didn’t you say that last year?”

“And the year before that. But this is the year!” Emily stated with a triumphant stab at her bacon.

“Geez, Eddie, slow down. Nobody’s going to steal the plate from you,” Sebastian commented amusedly as he watched his friend wolf down his breakfast.

“I’m really hungry. I got home late so I didn’t bother with supper.”

“I knew I should have made you stay over last night.”

Edmund rolled his eyes, “Why are you watching me eat, anyway?”

“I’m not.”

Nick shrugged. “You kind of are, bud.”

Emily nodded. “Definitely.”

“Oi, you’re my parents. You're supposed to be on my side.”

“Edmund is practically a second son, so actually we don’t have to take your side,” Emily argued.

Sebastian frowned. “That’s favouritism.”

“If it’s any consolation, I think Bruce is on your side,” Nick commented, eyeing the dog who was still glaring at Edmund from the doorway. “What did you do Eddie, pet a cat?”

“I haven’t done anything I don’t normally do this morning.”

“Except car troubles,” Sebastian pointed out.

Edmund rolled his eyes. “Yeah, except that. Maybe I got some weird smell from the engine on me.”

“You had trouble with your truck this morning?” Emily inquired.

“It was a bit difficult to start up, but she’s running fine now.”

“Hmm, you sure she’ll be alright to take you boys to school?”

“Never let me down before.”

“Yeah, before now,” Sebastian quipped, ducking with a laugh when Edmund threw a napkin at him. “Okay, okay! I’ll stop.”

After breakfast, Ed and Seb went out to the truck to drive to school, like normal, when Edmund gave Sebastian a curious look.

“Are you wearing cologne?”

“Um, no, why?”

“You smell like fallen leaves and blackberries.”

“That’s... oddly specific. But, thanks, I guess.”

“It’s a nice smell. Sorry if I’m being weird. I’m having a really weird morning.”

“You wouldn’t be my best friend if you were normal, Eddie.”