Dylan Springbell

"Forget all that! All of your worries and sadness..." - Chapter Fourteen

Dylan Springbell is a violinist, the roommate of Marcus and Roland, and a childhood friend of Elijah Elkwood. He was the one who revealed Petunia's true identity when she disguised herself as a boy in her early Melbourne days. While Petunia finds him annoying, he believes that since he is Elijah's friend, he needs to watch out for his younger sister.

Appearance
Dylan is a dark-skinned and slim male, who stands on the taller side despite having no confirmed height. He has somewhat messy dark peach or light brown hair, black eyes, and a mole below his mouth. He dresses in a well-kept manner, often wearing vests and ties. He tends to wear dark trench coats and sometimes wears a fedora. He's fairly attractive, Elijah openly telling him that he was cute. However, Petunia has countered such claims, and calls him ugly, though it could just be due to her annoyance with him and his presence in her life.

Personality
Dylan is an outspoken and candid character who voices his opinions, whether or not they were asked for, and could be considered somewhat egotistical. He's shown to only be concerned about his own interests, as he dismissed Marcus's logic of letting Petunia stay with Norah because he felt that he was better suited to the task. He's very loud, and tends to project over people with what he wants to say. When he's irritated, he tends to shout annoyingly, such as when he accuses Norah of stealing Petunia away from him, refusing to believe that Marcus was responsible, at first. After he discovers that Petunia no longer had the means to take care of herself, he hits her atop the head and prays to God to spare him from the Elkwoods and their stupid decisions. Whenever he's truly struggling, though, he will become incredibly quiet and antisocial.

Nevertheless, Dylan has a good heart and looks out for those he cares about. This is best demonstrated whenever he offered his ear to Elijah about his experiences in Perth, and comforted him after he was brought to tears. Another example is him playing the violin for Petunia whenever she was feeling down, and he said that "if the world got her down, he would pick her up".

Background
While there are still some mysteries in Dylan's past, it's known that Dylan spent his childhood and his young adult life in Alice Springs, prior to moving to Melbourne. He was a bit of a bully as a child, if Meredith's experiences and his neighborhood reputation is anything to consider. He harshly teased Meredith with several of his friends, to a point where the latter finally snapped and broke his arm and beat him to the ground. At some point during his life, the Elkwoods moved away from Alice Springs to Perth, and while Elijah had promised Dylan that he would return, he never did. Elijah's departure was a heavy loss to Dylan, as he talked about how he and his friends would just sit around and talk about him until they felt he didn't exist anymore. Later on, Dylan moved to the city of Melbourne and met Marcus and Roland.

History
'''*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! READ WITH CAUTION!*'''

Chapters 11-15
When Petunia hears from Marcus that Dylan is coming back, she and Roland attempt to hide her beneath a blanket on their couch. However, Dylan sees right through it, and pulls her out from her hiding spot. The two exchange insults before Marcus and Roland pulls him away, telling him that she's "got the blues". Petunia gets embarrassed, and Dylan offers to "pick her up". Confused and embarrassed, she hides herself in a pillow, and Dylan proceeds to pull out his violin and play a song for her. He leads her, Marcus, and Roland outside, where his neighbors gather around in excitement to see him again, and he tells Petunia to let go of all her worries and to dance. Dylan continues playing while Marcus and Roland dance with Petunia.

In the second flashback chapter, Dylan comes into contact with Petunia again, once she crashes to the ground beside him, Marcus, and Roland. When Petunia yells at Marcus and Roland for talking like her brother, which causes Dylan to examine her, and recognizes her as Elijah's sister. Overwhelmed with the truth, Petunia passes out on the ground, and Dylan supposedly carries her back to his apartment. When she wakes up, he's incredibly thankful, but teases her about disguising herself as a boy. He goes on to tell her about when he met Elijah, which was quite the emotional reunion. When they go to hang out at Dylan's, he shares a moment with Elijah, though quickly switches to the topic about Elijah leaving Alice Springs, and how he promised to return. When Elijah expresses how he thought no one would miss him, Dylan yells at him that they all missed him very much, which causes Elijah to start crying. He embraces him, and noticing the bandage on his wrist, Dylan asks Elijah to tell him what happened in Perth. Elijah pulls away, with a terrified look on his face, and quickly changes the subject. However, before Dylan can recount some of Elijah's comments about Petunia, she stops the story.

Dylan asks her if she's found them yet, and Petunia responds that she hasn't found them, is nearly broke, and doesn't have a job. Frustrated, Dylan hits her and decides that Petunia will live with them, as she is Elijah's sister and that he should watch out for her. However, after they leave to settle Petunia's hotel lease, he comes back to find that Petunia is at Norah's house. He accuses Norah of stealing Petunia away from him, but eventually, after arguments and Marcus's judgments, she is deemed to stay at Norah's. Dylan tells her to take a bath, and that he will come to collect her tomorrow. While bathing, Norah asks Dylan if he will come back to Rainbird Cafe, to which he says he won't.

Chapters 16-20
Petunia wakes up to find herself in Dylan's room, the following morning, which he greets her with a smile. She slaps him, and he proceeds to escort her to the tram. He mentions that while he thinks it's alright to grow up and change, he prefers Petunia's old self. He talks about Elijah's transformation, and wonders if Petunia has spoken to him. When she denies it, he expresses his frustration about their lack of communication. However, he tells Petunia to keep her chin up, and sees her off.

All or Nothing Gamble
Dylan is a young resident of Alice Springs, and one of the bullies of the neighborhood. His teasing has traumatized Meredith, and caused the latter to break his arm in anger. He later confronts Meredith about the incident, and tells him that if he apologizes to him, he will forgive him. However, after he kicks Meredith down and he refuses to speak, he makes a curt comment and laughs at him.

"All or Nothing Gamble" is an unfinished side story that will hopefully give more insight into Dylan's past.

Elijah Elkwood
Elijah and Dylan are childhood friends, who were close during the time the Elkwoods lived in Alice Springs. Despite Dylan's teasings of Meredith, it didn't keep their friendship from faltering. The pair of them appear to be quite close, if their heartfelt reunion gave any clue. Dylan, however, wishes that he was closer to Elijah, and expresses his concern to know what happened to them between their childhoods and meeting again in Melbourne. He openly asks Elijah about his past, and received a horrified look in response, and further inquires whether Petunia knows about it or not. In addition, he was quite furious with Elijah whenever he claims that he believed that no one at Alice Springs would remember him, Dylan snapping to a point that it brought Elijah to tears.

Petunia Elkwood
Petunia and Dylan are acquaintances that met when the Elkwoods lived in Alice Springs. It seems that Dylan and Petunia didn't have many interactions during their early years, only Dylan remembering her well when he meets her in Melbourne, and just called her "Elijah's annoying kid sister". After their first meeting, Petunia seems to disdain Dylan, to a point where she calls him ugly at any chance she gets. While Dylan does have his own annoyances with her, to where he calls her a "goblin", he seems to be rather fond of her, playing the violin for her whenever she was upset and came to his house. In addition, he also seems to smile at her kindly whenever she isn't always looking, such as when he walks her to the station. Dylan wishes the best for her, possibly beyond the fact that she is Elijah's younger sister, and tells her to keep her chin up.

Meredith Elkwood
Meredith and Elijah are acquaintances that had a rough past together when the Elkwoods lived in Alice Springs. Despite Elijah's friendship with Dylan, Meredith and Dylan did not get along at all. Dylan teased him constantly, enough that it caused Meredith to lash out and break his arm. After the incident, Dylan approached Meredith again and demanded him to apologize and that he would forget about it if he did. However, when Meredith stayed silent, he teased him again. After the family left for Perth, and they meet again in Melbourne, Meredith clearly still holds a grudge against Dylan, and looked incredibly annoyed to see Elijah acting so friendly with him.

Marcus and Roland
Marcus and Roland are two friends of Dylan's, who met before Elijah and Meredith came to Melbourne. The three of them live together, and they seem to be rather close friends. However, it's clear that they can both find Dylan annoying at times, such as when they force Dylan to stop teasing Petunia when she's feeling down. Dylan appears to be the de facto leader of the group.

Norah
Norah is a friend of Dylan's, who met him before Elijah and Meredith came to Melbourne. It appears that the two of them were once co-workers at the Rainbird Cafe, and often clashed with one another. When Marcus brings Petunia to Norah, intending to get the two of them to live with one another, Dylan started a fight with Norah over the matter, and refused to believe her until Marcus stepped in. Even after the argument was over, he still claimed that he would take Petunia away from her.

Quotes
''"If the world's got you down, I'll pick you up." ''(to Petunia Elkwood, Chapter 14)

''"When you APOLOGISE to someone, you're supposed to look them STRAIGHT IN THE EYE!! You really never learn. You still annoy me in all the same old ways." ''(to Elijah Elkwood, Chapter 15)

''"Hey. Chin up, eh? Everything will be okay. Yeah?" ''(to Petunia Elkwood, Chapter 16)

''"You don't talk much...do you? Do you even know how to talk?" ''(to Meredith Elkwood, All or Nothing Gamble)