Little Companion

Morning routines were really overrated, according to Lucas Grey.

It was another unaffordable luxury for a university student like him, who had way too many responsibilities, to be worrying about things like proper diet and skincare.

His mornings consisted of waking up to blaring alarms, eating instant noodles for breakfast and putting on the first fresh outfit that would drop down from his unorganised wardrobe.

Although within the past six months, his routine had undergone a drastic change.

It was in the form of a new member to his monotonous life, his two-year-old baby brother, Evan Gray.

When Evan first came into his life, Lucas was extremely scared and disappointed, and his perspective towards him, was limited to considering the little baby as another burden.

It was such a sudden change in his life that it made him extremely anxious, he literally just couldn't catch a break.

Things had just started to work for the nineteen-year-old, he had bagged a hard-earned scholarship for his university, had also found a reasonable part time job at a café, and so when Evangeline abruptly left Evan with him, he couldn’t help but feel that the baby was the biggest setback in his life, but as the time passed by, the toddler proved Lucas to be absolutely wrong.

Evan was so delightfully precious with his big blue eyes, that matched his own and pure innocence, that he made his way through Lucas’s heart effortlessly.

The toddler was very shy and quiet unlike other children, he rarely cried and waddled around all day with the few colours and a sketchbook that Lucas had given him instead of toys, which made him look like a literal baby version of himself.

He was so smart on top of that, it made it really easy to babysit him, Evan had already learnt a few words which he frequently used to convey things like, sippy for water, yes and no, yum for food, etc, otherwise it was just random babbling.

Whenever Lucas would be too busy to give him attention, he would put on rhymes for him on the television or on the phone and Evan would obediently watch that, until the older would come and play with him.

Evy, as Lucas had started to fondly call him, loved his sketchbook and colours with all his heart and soul, the only time Lucas had ever seen him cry hysterically, was when he had accidently spilled water on the book with his sipper, and all his colourful scribbles had become distorted and blurry.

It was that day Lucas realized, that he and little Evan had a lot in common and one of them was their love towards art.

The raven-haired was nothing but immensely grateful for Evan’s presence in his life now, and someone who deserved a huge credit for making him realize that, was his best friend, Austin Lee, who had graduated from the same university, majoring in liberal arts and was currently working for an advertising company as a graphic designer.

The 23-year-old ginger haired senior, had played the role of the only reliable figure in Lucas’s life, helped him through everything like an older brother would and Lucas could never thank him enough for that.

Austin had shifted on the second floor in their three storeyed apartment and even though Lucas had refused him a thousand times, he still paid him rent, it was impossible to win from him in an argument, because he was stubborn and very witty.

His senior was of a grumpy personality, but he cared a great deal about his close ones, and Lucas was a living example of that.

“Don’t worry too much about the baby Luke, he’s as helpless as you are, I’ll help you with him, we’ll get through this, just like we always do.” Austin had told him; the night Evan had arrived.

Six months had passed since that day, and Austin’s words held true, they really got through that together.

Evy had recently started calling Lucas and Austin as ‘Lu’ and ‘Tin’, and it had brought both the adults to tears, but none of them accepted that they had cried.

They were really similar that way, both of them were habituated to hide sensitive emotions behind strong facades.

They were full of insecurities and emptiness, but they never acknowledged it, it was unimportant for them, especially for Lucas, who’s priorities never included himself.

It was currently fall season in London, as dry red and gold assorted into the scenery of paved footpaths and busy streets in a subtle, but eye-catching way.

It was a Sunday and it was the only morning where Lucas could actually relax, without stressing about waking up early.

He was up till late the previous night, trying to start on his new art assignment, but he had no inspiration, which eventually made him give up, as he fell short of ideas and went to sleep, while cuddling Evy.

He slowly woke up to the traces of daylight greeting his chiseled face, from the open blinds on the bedside and glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand, that displayed 11:30 AM in a neon blue colour.

The raven haired stretched his long arms and rolled over to the side to find an empty bed, he rubbed his eyes to look around properly, and indeed Evy’s little blanket with puppy prints was discarded on the bedsheet and the little boy was missing, he must have woken up on his usual time, which was around nine o clock.

Just as Lucas freshened up and walked into the hall, the front door opened to reveal Austin with an energetic Evan in his arms.

“Finally awake, sleeping beauty?” Austin asked as he put Evan down on the floor, who immediately shuffled towards Lucas.

“Yeah, I was busy with a project last night.” Lucas sheepishly replied, picking up the happy little boy.

“Where did you two head off to, without me?” Lucas asked and he poked Evan’s chubby cheek, making him giggle.

“Nothing, just a walk in the park, he was awake, so I took him along.” Austin replied, while removing his coat.

“Lu!” Evan exclaimed in Lucas’s arms, as he slapped a maple leaf on his forehead, probably too excited to show him.

“Oh, so you brought a gift for me.” The raven haired retrieved the beautifully shaded leaf, and his eyes widened to see how the leaf had all three colours, green, ochre and red in an extraordinary blend.

“He was so happy with that leaf and a few twigs, no wonder he doesn’t have interest in playing with toys.” Austin said while shaking his head, making Lucas crack up a smile.

“Yeah, he’s really unique that way, I mean not all two-year-olds can help an adult for a college assignment.” Lucas smiled knowingly at Austin.

“Oh, that leaf gave you an idea for your painting, didn't it.” Austin guessed almost immediately.

“Yup, the topic is called ‘As the time passes by’ and the colours this leaf has, definitely fits the concept.” Lucas explained and kissed Evan on the cheek.

“Thank you, Evy.” Lucas mumbled to the baby, who was busy playing with the strings of his hoodie, and Austin knew with the affectionate glint that shined in Lucas’s eyes, that he had thanked his little brother for much more, than just his art assignment.