Making his way down the stairs, Neal found himself flashing back to his childhood foster home. One of the first ones he'd ever been in since leaving Arendelle.
Arizona- 14 years ago
Neal was once again in a new foster home, thanks to his social worker. He had gone straight to his room, and, pulled the necklace from his papa out of his jacket pocket. Neal didn't even know why he kept it, but, he couldn't let himself part with it.
The necklace was all he had left from his papa, and, the lives they had once had together. Neal was so deep in thought that he didn't hear his new foster brother coming into the room that the two of them shared.
'What's this? What did the new kid bring with him?' Before Neal had a chance to answer, his foster brother had already taken the necklace from him, and, was holding it in his hands, glancing at it.
Neal felt a rage growing inside of himself, as his brother's grip tightened around it. 'Give me that back.' Neal shouted as he reached out for it from his brother's grip. He may hate his father, but, he would still keep the necklace. It was a gift from his father, and, all he had left of the man, and, that place as a whole.
Seeing his foster brother's glance on it, Neal struggled to hide his disgust at that. 'This could be worth a lot if I sell it to the right person.' Neal then cringed at his foster brother's sneer and soft chuckle.
Feeling his hands turn into fists, Neal breathed heavily, before looking back up at him. 'I don't care what it's worth, you aren't getting it.' Neal said, once again reaching out for the necklace back. 'Looks like I already have it.' As it was held further out of his reach, Neal suddenly came up with a bit of an idea, thanks to his life in other places.
'You won't get much for it. I already tried selling it once before I came here. They wouldn't take it for more then a few bucks.' Neal said, hiding his slight pain at lying about his necklace from his papa. 'So you can try again, but, I'm sure the results wouldn't be much different. Unless of course you can figure out the math from your possible profit or loss that would come from selling the thing.'
Neal smirked as his foster brother just stood there looking confused by what he'd just said. And he quickly made his way out of the room, taking the necklace from his foster brothers grip as he did. He made his way into the bathroom, when he heard his foster brother coming to his senses about what had happened. 'Get out here. You'll have to come out of there eventually, and, when you do, I'll get that necklace.'
Leaning against the wall of the bathroom, Neal smiled softly as he slid his body down to the floor. 'Lights out. Get to bed, both of you.' He heard his foster brother heading back to their room, and, Neal decided to just stay in the bathroom for a while, until he was sure his foster brother was asleep. Placing the necklace back around his neck, Neal softly and silently cried.
A couple of hours passed before Neal silently opened the bathroom door, and, made his way to their bedroom. Neal packed his few belongings in his bag, before silently making his way downstairs. Neal's grip went to his necklace, and, he didn't want to let himself risk losing it. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Neal silently opened the door of the foster home, and, made his way out of it, before breaking into a run as quickly as he could.
Present day
Neal was glancing down at his necklace, as he stood by the bottom step, glancing up at the night sky through the window. He was brought out of his thoughts by the grip on his shoulder, and, he jumped slightly, but, he was relieved when he noticed it was just Ruby, the co-owner of this place.
“Oh hey Ruby. Yeah, I guess it is a bit late.” Neal said, sighing softly.
“That's it, I couldn't sleep. How else am I going to get to know the town if I don't walk more of it? I wouldn't mind at all, maybe you could be my tour guide, since I really don't have any idea where most of the stuff is.”