not in the same way || c.h.

1

"Brenna Brenna!" My little brother yelled and ran towards me.

"Yes Noah?" I asked and made some space for him on the couch.

"I finished my dinos, can we go now?" He asked excitedly and ran right in front of me.

"Every single one of them?" I asked and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mhm." He nodded surely.

"Alright as long as you let me go to the grocery store after." I bargained and sat at the edge of the couch.

"Okay." He giggled and ran down the hall to get his shoes. I slid on my shoes, grabbed my keys and my phone and waited for him to come down the hall.

"I'm ready." He yelled and ran down the hall. He ran towards me and jumped into my arms so I would carry him to the car. I put him down in his car seat and strapped him in tightly. I pulled out of the driveway and turned on the radio for him to listen to. I drove us down to the park that was about ten minutes away from my apartment.

"I'm gonna bring you to nana's after we go shopping okay." I said and briefly looked at him through the rear view mirror.

"No I don't wanna go back." He whined and pouted in his car seat.

"You have to buddy I'm sorry." I said sadly.

"Why can't I stay with you?" He asked sadly.

"I have work and school bud, you can't stay with me." I said and heard him whine some more.

"You love nana and papa bud." I said and he just shrugged his shoulders.

"But I love you more." He said.

"I know but they will take better care of you than I could right now. Once I'm out of school and I have a stable job you can stay with me, just like I promised." I said assuringly.

"How long will that take?" He asked with a sad look in his eyes.

"A couple years at most. I'm almost done with school and once that's over I'll have a nice job to look after the both of us." I said and heard him sigh. He was only five, but he was very mature for his age.

"Promise I can stay with you after?" He asked with a hopeful look.

"I promise." I said and parked the car in the parking lot and turned my car off. I got out of the car and took him out of his car seat. I held his hand as we walked towards the playground so he could play.

  I sat on the bench and watched him play just in case he got kidnapped or something. That was one of my biggest fears when we went to the park, or anywhere really. So I always had my eyes on him if he wasn't in my arms or holding my hand.

  I ended up playing with him for a bit when he asked me to. Then when it was starting to get late we had to go grocery shopping so I could get him home in time for bed. We were walking from the playground back to the car when I bumped into someones shoulder.

"I'm sorry." I said and looked up at him. He was wearing a tank top with holes in it which showed the many tattoos he had. He had short black hair and beautiful brown eyes. He was honestly really hot, but his entire demeanor and just look about him was kind of frightening and intimidating.

"Watch where you're going." He grumbled and looked me up and down with a hard look on his face. He walked away immediately after and left me kind of in shock.

"Brenna? Who was that?" Noah asked and clung to my hand. I tried to compose myself before I looked down at him so he wouldn't see that I was just a little bit scared. There were some scary people in this world, so you can never be too sure anymore. He looked pretty worried and scared when I looked down at him.

"Nobody buddy it's okay. Let's go grocery shopping and I'll take you home." I said and picked him up and carried him to the car.

  After we went grocery shopping I drove to our nana's house to bring him home. He was pretty upset about it but he'd get over it, he always does.

"Hi nana." I said softly as I walked through the door.

"Hello darling how are you?" She asked and rushed over to give me a hug.

"I'm good. Where's papa?" I asked and looked around the house.

"I'm right here honey." He said and came from down the hall with his arms wide open for me to hug him.

"What did you two do today?" He asked and led us all to the couch.

"We just hung out at the house, went to the park and went grocery shopping." I said and looked at Noah who was occupied by his toys that he left on the floor.

"That's great darling." Nana said and started knitting in her recliner.

"I'm gonna head home and put my groceries away. I'll see you next weekend." I said and stood up to give them a hug.

"See you soon honey, stay safe we love you." She said and gave me a hug.

"I love you too." I said and went to say bye to Noah.

"I'll see you soon buddy." I said and sat on the floor in front of him.

"Do you have to go?" He asked with sad eyes.

"I have class tomorrow, I'll see you next weekend don't worry." I said and kissed his forehead.

"Okay." He said and stood up and gave me a hug.

"I love you bud." I said and rubbed his back.

"I love you Brenna." He said and nuzzled his head in my neck.

"I'll see you soon don't worry." I said and stood up from the ground and put him down.

"Love you guys, see you soon." I said and headed out of the house so I could go home.