The next few days have gone by pretty well. Classes have went well though I still stay pretty much to myself, unless I'm with Joy. My job has been okay as well. I was able to ask Auntie Yuri if she'd be able to watch Mason while I was at work, and she thankfully agreed.

I just got out my last class and was heading to pick up Mason. Today is Friday, which means Mason has an appointment with his therapist today, which means having to take a bus.

The thing is though, Mason is pretty okay when it comes to buses and trains or other modes of public transportation. But when it comes to cars, he just freaks out, which is understandable because of what happened. Just a little weird in my opinion.

As I was walking out the school doors, someone wrapped their arm around my shoulder

I look over to see Joy smiling. “Hey! Aren't you glad it's Friday?” She says.

“Hi. And I guess so?” I say.

“What? No plans for the weekend? You should be happy that it's Friday! It's our last free weekend before practice starts,” She says.

I just shrug. “Nothing really. Plus, your brother is coming over for the weekend so I gotta be there.”

“But won't your parents be there?” She asks.

I shake my head no.

“Well can't you ask them to watch them instead? Maybe we could hang out,” She says.

We continue walking as I think whether or not I should tell her. She seems like a trustworthy person, right? I mean, what's the worse that could happen? She stops talking to me?

“My parents died some months ago. It's just me and Mason,” I suddenly say.

She stops in her tracks, making me stop and turn towards her. “Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry Charlotte. I didn't know. I'm sorry of I sounded rude or anything. I just did-”

I shake my head and let a little smile form on my face. “It's alright. Like you said, you didn't know.”

“Well, I'm glad you told me. I was getting to feel like you didn't really think of me as a friend. You haven't really shared anything about yourself,” she says as we start walking again.

“I'm pretty sure I think of you as a friend,” I say. “But could you keep that to yourself. I don't really like people knowing about that. Plus if someone finds out me and Mason are living alone-”

“Hey, Charlotte. I won't tell. You're good. That's what friends are for. Besides, I think it's pretty cool for you to be doing all of this for your brother.”

“Thanks Joy.”

“No problem,” She says as she scans the parking lot for her brother. “Oh!” She says before turning back to me. “How about I come over too and I can help you with the boys. It'll be like a double sleep over. Plus, we can get to know each other more,” She says.

I tilt my head to the side, thinking this idea over. I mean, it doesn't sound too bad.

I slowly nod. “Sure.”

She jumps up and down excitedly. “This is going to be fun! We can order pizza, talk boys, maybe go to the mall. Oh yeah, the boys. Maybe we can go to a movie instead?”

I chuckle at her. “Whatever sounds good to me as long as they have fun.”

A honk shouts up and makes the both of us jump. We turn to see who the culprit is, only to find it's her brother.

“God damn it Yoongi! Was that really necessary?” Joy yells.

He rolls down the passenger window down until we can see his face. “You were yapping your mouth away so yes it was. Now come on. We gotta pick up Kyung.”

“Whatever,” I hear Joy mumble before turning back to me. “Do you want a ride?”

“I don't think he's in the mood for an extra person,” I say.

Before I know it, she grabs my hand. “Come on,” She says as she leads me to the car.

“Is this gonna be a regular thing now, Charlotte? If so, you're going to need to offer gas money,” Yoongi asks as I buckle my seatbelt.

“Oh um, yeah. Sorry. This will be the last ti-” I start to say but get cut off.

“I'm joking,” he says before chuckling.

“Sorry,” I say before looking out the window.

“Tch. Someone doesn't have a sense of humor,” he says as he drives off.

I ignore the comment but apparently Joy doesn't. “Hey! Be nice!”

“I am! I'm driving aren't I?” he says back.

As they continue bickering, I continue my staring out the window.

“Oh, dad said he'll be back later tonight,” Joy says.

I hear Yoongi sigh. “Do you have plans for the weekend?” he asks.

“I do. I'm staying with Charlotte for the weekend,” Joy says.

“Isn't Kyung going there, too?”

“Yeah, it's gonna be fun,” She exclaims.

“Alright. Don't come home until I tell you,” he says.

Don't come back home? What does he mean by that?

“Where are you going to be?” Joy asks.

I see him shrug. “Home and work probably.”

“Just be careful.”

And it went quiet after that.

We were soon at the school and we were waiting for the boys. When I say we, I meant me and Yoongi. To say it was awkward would be an understatement.

“So, you.”

“Hey you.”

I look over to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Why doesn't your brother like cars?” he asks.

“What?”

“Why doesn't your brother like to ride in cars?” he asks again.

“What are you-”

“Charlotte!”

I look over to see Mason and Kyung running our way.

“How was school, Mace?” I ask him.

“Good! What time can Kyung come over?” he asks.

I chuckle at him. “Well, you have your appointment today so,” I say before looking back at Yoongi, “is 7 o'clock okay?”

He opens his mouth but Kyung beats him to it. “Yes! It's perfect!”

“Yah! Are you the one driving?” Yoongi asks.

“Oh hyuuunngg!”

Yoongi shakes his head. “But yeah. That's fine.”

I nod before looking back at Mace. “Well, let's go or we'll be late.”

“See you later Kyung!” Mason says.

“And we had art time today. I painted a pretty cool picture,” Mason says as we reach the bus stop.

“Did you really? Is it in your bookbag?”

He shakes his head. “We have to let it dry. We'll get it next time.”

I nod in understanding. “Oh look, we made it just in time,” I say as the bus comes.

I feel his hand squeeze mine. I look down at him.  “You okay buddy?” he nods.

“Alright let's go then,” I say as I lead him onto the bus.

I pay the bus fare and I pick a seat close to the front. I wait for Mason to take the window seat but he never does. He just stands and looks at me with a pouty face. I put both of our bags on the outer seat and sit in the window seat before picking him up and sitting him in my lap.

“Better?” I ask.

He nods. “Can we listen to some music?”

I reach over to my bag and pull my earphones out. I put one in his ear and the other in mine. I give him my phone so he can pick and choose. It usually helps to distract him.

Soon enough, we arrive. Me and Mason walk off the elevator together and go up to the secretary.

Before I could say anything, she looked up and smiled. “Hey, guys,”

“Hi, Miss Min,” Mason says with a smile.

“Hey there, Mason. Have you been good for your sister?” She asks.

“Yup!” he says cheerfully.

“Good,” She says before looking at me. “How have you been Charlotte?” Oh, did I mention they speak English, too?

“Fine.”

She nods and I can see the look of pity in her eyes.

“Well, Mason, you can go on in. Dr. Kim is ready to see you,” She says.

“Alright, Mace. I'll be sitting out here, okay?”

He nods before going back to see Dr. Kim.

I sigh as I take a seat out in the waiting room.

“So how's your aunt?” Miss Min asks. I freeze up at her question. You see, Dr. Kim and Miss Min here still think I live with my aunt. If they knew, they would've called CPS and we'd definitely be in foster care right now, which is something I'm trying to avoid.

“Oh, you know, just doing what she does best,” I say as I try to put out a smile.

Miss Min chuckles and nods. “I bet. How's Mason doing? He seems to be doing well from what I can tell.”

I nod. “I think he's getting better on the separation thing but much hasn't changed about transportation.”

“Still afraid of cars?”

“Yeah. We came here by bus,” I say.

“I'm sure he'll get better as he gets older,” she says.

“Me too.”  I can only hope.

An hour passed and soon both Mason and Dr. Kim come out.

I walk towards them and smile.

“Hello Charlotte. Nice to see you again,” Dr. Kim says. I nod and smile.

“Why don't you go and get a piece of candy from Miss Min, Mason? I heard she got some new candy today, too,” Dr. Park says.

“Oh okay!” Mason happily agrees as he walks over to the front desk.

Dr. Kim then turns back towards me. “So how is he?” I ask.

“He's doing really well for what he's been through. I heard he's at school. No trouble there?”

“No. I can tell he gets pretty anxious if I'm a little late to picking him up, but other than that he's fine.”

She nods. “That's good. Is he okay with other adults?”

I nod. “Our neighbor sometimes watches him and he's okay with her.”

“Great,” she says with a smile. “It looks like his separation anxiety is improving greatly. I assume he's good on making friends, too?”

“Yeah. He has a sleepover tonight actually,” I say.

She nods and smiles. “That's great to hear. His social skills seem to be normal for a kid his age,” she says before moving on. “He tells me he still doesn't like cars.”

“Yeah. That doesn't seem to be getting any better,” I honestly say.

“That's normal in the type of trauma he experienced. He's afraid of what he thinks killed his parents. Of course we know it's the driver but in his young mind, he sees the car as a type of danger.”

“What can I do to help him with it? I mean, I do what I can now, like walking and taking the bus. I'm just being realist here, but I don't know how long I can do without riding in a car,” I honestly say.

She nods as she takes this into consideration. “It may be time for you to try with him. Just make sure the ride isn't long and make sure you're with him. See how he reacts. Sometimes all it takes is a push to help with something like this.”

“Alright, I'll try. “

“How are you doing?”

“What?”

“Mason tells me that he doesn't see you smile as much or he doesn't think you're happy.”

I let out a sigh. “I'm fine.”

“You know you're free to talk to me anytime, right?”

“I know.”

“Just know that it isn't your fault, Charlotte. Nothing is,” she says. I wish I could believe her. I really do.

“I know.”

There was a silence until Mason came running back to me.

“Come on Charlie! We have to get back and get ready for the sleepover!” he exclaims.

I roll my eyes but agree. “Did you tell Dr. Kim and Miss Min thank you?” I earn a nod and smile in return.

I look at Dr. Kim and tell her thanks before we head off, not before waving goodbye to Miss Min.

“Wow, who would've they would go right to the video games,” Joy sarcastically says.

I chuckle as I take a glance at the two. They were in the living room laughing and playing games. I'm glad Mason is having a good time.

“So,” Joy begins, “tell me more about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Well first off, how long have you been playing soccer?” she asks.

“Practically since I could walk,” I say as I walk to the fridge.

“Wow, no wonder you're so good. Did you play while you were in the states?”

“I did. Soccer is really big over there,” I say as I walk back to the kitchen island with two bottled waters.

“Wow. I've always wanted to go there. Maybe you can show me around,” she says with a smile.

“Yeah, sure,” I say as I pass her a bottle. “So, what's with you Miss Captain,” I ask her with a smile.

She just shrugs. “People just saw me as Yoongi’s younger sister for a while before I tried out for the team. Some people still do. Even though he graduated, it's like he's still there. Don't even get me started about all the girls that ask me about him,” she says while shaking her head.

I chuckle. “I bet you have a bunch of guys lined up for you.”

She shrugs but smiles nonetheless.

I quirk up an eyebrow. “Who is it?”

“Who's who?”

“Who do you like? Have I seen him?”

“It's no one.”

“That's not what-”

“Is it dinner time?” Mason yells from the living room.

“Oh yeah. We should get started on that,” Joy says quickly.

I giggle at her. I guess I'll find out in due time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoongi's POV

I pull up in the driveway and sigh as I see his car. Hopefully he'll be knocked out.

The smell of alcohol hits me as soon as I step inside the house.  Before I could even make it up the stairs, he comes out from the kitchen.

“Where the hell have you been at?!” He yells.

“School, where else would I be,” I say with an eye roll.

“Where are the other two at?”

“They're at a friend's house,” I simply say.

“Who the gave them permission to do that?” He yells for which I just ignore and start walking up the stairs.

Next thing I know, I feel him yanking my arm back.

“I was ing speaking to you. Now answer me!”

“For what? It's not like you care anyways. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to be leaving, too,” I say as I yank my arm out his hand.

Before I know it, my head is turned as he gives me a good hard slap across my face.

“When did I raise such a disrespectful as a son? How dare you talk back to me?”

I bite my tongue, knowing if I say something it'll make him even more mad.

“Now get the hell out of my sight,” He says before walking back to the kitchen.

I walk up to my room to begin packing some clothes for the weekend. There is no way in hell that I'm staying here.

Once I'm done, I storm outside the house, nor forgetting to slam the door shut, and get in my car and drive off.

I pull my phone out once I stop at the light and send a quick text to a friend, asking if I could crash at their place.

I sigh and zoom off once the lught changes.  

I just can't wait to be free of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the night was pretty fun, if I do say so myself.  We all had our dinner and even played a few rounds of Mario Kart with the boys.  Me and Joy also continued talking and getting to know each other better.  

We all decided to sleep in the living room so we got a bunch of pillows and blankets and covered them on the floor.   Soon enough, everyone was pretty much knocked out.

All of a sudden, I start hearing some noise.  I turn over, thinking it's one of them but they're sound asleep, especially Joy who sounds like a bear.  I chuckle to myself.  She must be a heavy sleeper.  

I sit up and scan my surroundings as I hear the noise again.  I finally get up as I realize it's coming from the front door.  Who is here at this time of night?  I pick up my phone to see that it's after 3am.

I walk up to the door as the knocking persists.  I look through the peephole to be shocked.  What is he doing here?

I open the door about halfway before whispering, "What are you doing here?"

"Are Joy and Chyung alright?" Yoongi asks.

"Umm, yeah. Everyone is sleeping. Are you okay?" I ask him.  I take a good look at him.  He's wearing a hat pulled down that practically covers most of his face.

"Y-yeah. I just wanted to check up on them."

"Are you sure you're alright? Do you want to come in?"

He stands there for a moment, seeming to be thinking my question over before sighing.  "No. I'll just leave now. I'll be back later to pick them up. Sorry to wake you," he says before walking down the hallway.

I quietly shut and lock the door before going back to lay on the floor.

Well, that was weird.

A/N: Hi guys! I know this is a really y and boring chapter but things should pick up after this chapter!