This is not how this fic was supposed to turn out. What is wrong with my brain? I own nothing.

It's not that Bolin doesn't appreciate it, because he does, more than anyone will ever know. Mako always makes sure he has enough to eat, that he has the warmest places to sleep, that his clothes are patched will enough to keep out the cold. But he sometimes watches Mako, and he wonders.

Is he, Bolin, supposed to be this happy on the streets? It seems like all the other street rats he sees are always miserable, just barely scraping by, and he feels guilty for being so content. Not everyone has such a great brother, and he's lucky in that regard, but he resents it at times. Mako's so good at everything, and it's not like it goes to his head or anything, but he seems to take it as his cue to be over-protective. The one time he actually brought it up with the older boy, Mako had flushed and mumbled something about coping mechanisms, and it was only later that Bolin realized that acting like a parent made him miss theirs less. He didn't mention it again.

But he still thinks about it sometimes. About how he should be learning things on the streets - and really, he is. He knows when to pick a fight and how to win, or even run if necessary. He knows how to beg. He knows how to tell which molds will make them sick and which ones just taste bad. He knows how to avoid getting caught stealing or picking pockets, and he can bargain with the best of them. He can figure out the best places to sleep and how to be invisible.

But he doesn't really know what it's like to be alone. And he's beginning to suspect that Mako does.

It's been three years since Mama and Papa died, and Mako's weird. It's that distant look in his eyes sometimes. It's the way he can't tell Bolin where he goes late at night. It's the way he always seems stressed out. It's the way he hugs himself tightly all the time. It's the way he can't stand to be alone for any amount of time.

Bolin knows what's going on, or at least he thinks he does. Mako's lonely.

He doesn't know why. They haven't been apart for more than two hours in the past three and a half years, and even when they aren't together Mako's surrounded by other people. How can he be lonely in such a huge crowd? He wonders if it isn't because most of the people in those crowds aren't raising their little brother, and so Mako feels like the only one. But he's got Bolin, hasn't he? And he always says he's glad for that, because he knows that someone's got his back no matter what happens. So why should Mako be lonely?

Bolin doesn't get it, but he feels like he's missing something important.