First House of Anubis fic. I love the show, and I love the friendship between Alfie and Jerome. I was fascinated by Jerome and the things he told Mara, about being "left to rot", and I decided to do something related to how Jerome had been left at Anubis House. A take on Jerome and Alfie's first meeting. They are younger, so they may be a bit OOC, and there isn't too much dialogue... I'll just shut up now ^_^

Jerome is standing in his favorite hiding spot -the bushes in front of Anubis House. They are the perfect place to hide. In between the thick foliage, he can hide in the greenery and never be spotted. There, Jerome can spend his free time watching the new ones arrive, one after another, sniffling or crying or clinging to their parents as they beg not to be left behind. It is just another day for him. Until he comes up.

A young boy, no older than ten is standing in front of the school. He's staring at the large doors with equally large eyes. Jerome watches him with curiosity, waiting to see how he reacts. It's like a game to him. Children come and go, some eager, some afraid, and since he is doomed to stay here, he likes to watch these children. Sometimes, he even likes to imagine that he's practicing, for the day when his parents come to get him -though he knows that this day will never come.

"This is your new home, Alfred." The man -his father, of course -says. His booming voice is full of pride, but Jerome can only try and contain his laughter. The boy does not look proud, he does not look pleased. He looks like a little deer in front of headlights, eyes wide and full of fear. Like Bambi, he thinks, grinning at the analogy.

"I don't like it." The boy says quietly, arms wrapped firmly around his mother's waist. Jerome stares blankly at the sight, taking it in. For a moment, he lets himself wonder what it would be like, to have a mother that would not only let him wrap his arms around her, but who would take him into her arms and just hold him there. The doors open, shaking the thought from his mind, and he's glad. There's no point in filling his mind with fantasies and rubbish like that, anyway.

Victor steps out, in all his wicked glory, and Jerome scowls from his hiding place. He can't stand Victor. No one can. He watches as the man welcomes the couple to Anubis House, pointedly ignoring the child who has huddled behind them. He's scared of Victor, Jerome can tell, and he honestly doesn't blame him. He can remember being ushered into the House of Anubis, remember staring up into Victor's cold eyes and crying. If it weren't for Trudy, their loving house mother... Well, he didn't know if he'd have been able to stand it.

"Come, have a look around." Victor is ushering the boy's parents in. The child -Bambi, Jerome decides to call him -stares in horror at the doors, which have opened like a mouth and swallowed his parents, and he shakes his head.

"I'll stay here." He calls, grinning nervously after his parents. Jerome doesn't hear a response, but no one comes back, and Bambi sits down in a huff, resting his head on his knees. Jerome knows this type, he's seen plenty of them. The child in denial, not willing to accept that he is about to be left behind. Unwillingly, an image flashes in his mind -a car driving away, two figures in the front seat, neither one turning to wave good bye as their son waves frantically after them, trying hard to staunch the tears as he wonders when he'll see them again. If he'll see them again. Immediately he banishes the image, shaking his head. Why is he thinking like this? This is just a stupid game, anyway. This kid's parents will come back and see him, just like all the others' parents did... Probably.

Bambi is yanking up grass from the lawn -something Victor will scold him for later, he knows -and placing it in a pile near his shoes. Suddenly feeling awkward, Jerome steps out from behind the bushes, coming into view. Bambi doesn't notice him.

"Hey." Bambi looks up, brown eyes wide. They relax though, soon after meeting Jerome's gaze, and he smiles. Jerome finds himself smiling back.

"Hi." Bambi says, his voice shy. "I'm Alfie." Jerome nods. It sounded better than Bambi.

"Jerome." He replies, glancing into the open doors. There's not sign of Victor or Ba- Alfie's parents. It's almost as though the house really has swallowed them. "So... You're the newbie, huh?" The boy looks up in surprise, eyes wide again, and he nods.

"Yeah..." Jerome sees the uncertainty in his eyes, the fear, and he knows -oh how he knows -the terror that he's feeling. "How long have you been going here?" He asks, and Jerome smirks. This kid doesn't really care. He just wants to know more, for his own sake.

"Five years." Alfie stares, a nervous light in his eyes.

"Do you like it here?" Alfie asks, his wide brown eyes making him look more and more like that innocent deer. Jerome shrugs.

"It's okay. The food's decent. Victor's pretty scary." He grins, gesturing toward the house, "I'd be careful around him if I were you. I've heard he eats people." Alfie blinks, then grins back. "You might want to go check on your parents. Victor skipped breakfast this morning." Alfie laughs, and again, Jerome finds himself joining in.

"How often do you see your parents?" Alfie asks suddenly, and Jerome falls silent. There's the question. The one that never fails to silence him, to drive him away. "Jerome?" He doesn't respond. He isn't looking at Alfie any more, or at the house, or at anything at all, really. He can see a dirt road in his mind, that old car he hasn't seen in years, and two silhouettes whose outlines have been engraved in his mind. He sees two adults walking out of Anubis House, backs turned, faces forward. He feels a cold hand grip his shoulder, and an even colder gaze drilling into him.

He sees his them driving away, leaving him to the tender mercies of this school. And then, he sees nothing. Because that is the last he ever saw of the two who dared to call themselves his parents, and, if he was correct, the last he would ever see of them for a long, long time.

"Jerome?" Jerome snaps back into reality, staring bleakly at Alfie. The boy is staring up at him hopefully with that blind, Bambi faith of his still shining in his eyes. Jerome wants to break it to him gently, he realizes. Tell him that his parents aren't going to come back. But, he doesn't know that for sure, does he?

He can feel it though, he realizes, as the couple walks back out. He senses it in the stiffness of the father's form, the seriousness in his eyes, the weakness in the mother's silence. They will leave. They will write. But they won't, be coming back.

He stands by Bambi's side as his parents drive away, as Victor leaves them to stand alone in the dust left behind by the car. He can feel the same stiffness, but also the same weakness, in Alfie right now.

"Are they going to come back?" He whispers, his eyes unable to leave the dot as it travels farther and farther away. Jerome smiles, his first real smile in a long time, and claps a hand on his new friend's shoulder.

"Probably," Alfie looks at him warily. Their is uncertainty in his eyes, but when he sees the sureness in Jerome's eyes, his mouth peels upward in a small smile.

"But, in the meantime, who needs them?" Jerome laughs. "After all, you've got me now." Alfie grins, and once more, Jerome is unable to resist grinning along.

Bambi takes a deep breath, and then, mustering all the courage he can, he turns away from the car and faces his new home. Jerome beams. There's something about him that's different than the other sniveling kids who were left here. Something bolder. Something brighter.

"Let's go, Bambi." Alfie raises an eyebrow curiously, and Jerome smirks.

The two boys walk on ahead. The dust left behind by silhouettes in his mind and dots on the horizon no longer shrouds them, as they turn their backs, and for the first time, Jerome no longer feels that he's been left behind.

Faster! Faster, Bambi! Don't look back! Keep running! Keep running!
~Bambi's mother, "Bambi"

Thank you for reading! I had trouble with the ending, but any comments you have, don't be shy to share them. Go ahead, drop a review. You know where the button is.