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Agnes

The slight touch of large hands being place on my cheeks wakes me, but my eyes remain shut. "I'll be right back," William whispers. I'm so tired, I can't even respond. I feel him kiss my forehead then hear his heavy footsteps walking away. I'm too tired to go after him.

So I stay in bed until my mind is fully awake.

I sit up and jump out of bed. As I take my time walking down the stairs, I can hear voices coming from the kitchen. I can just barely make out Gloria's voice. Her voice is so distracted, it takes me a second to realize it's her. "In all my years of dealing with children, I've never heard a child cry like that before. Honestly, Will, with you around I thought...I thought it wouldn't have bothered her as much."

"It's not about having a father," William says. "Kid?"

For a second I think he's talking to me, but then someone, a guy I don't know, answers. "Dunno."

I hurry down the rest of the steps and into the kitchen. "Agnes?" William sits up in his seat. Suddenly, the whole room goes still and everyone's staring at me. It's overwhelming, especially with the young man I don't know, who's sitting across from William and looking at me with wide eyes.

"Alright," William says, standing up. He scrolls over to me and picks me up. "I thought you were sleeping."

"Mm," I shrug. He turns and looks at Tisha with desperate eyes. I've heard them talking about how little I've been sleeping. Normally I've would've been upset about it, but how could I? They're talking. With William's face turned from me, I can see the cut on his cheek clearly. "What happened to your face?"

He turns to me. "Julia."

"Will," Gloria says. I'm guessing she wasn't expecting him to answer honestly.

"Don't worry," William continues, reading my concerned expression. "She kicked me out, but I'm staying with Charlie." Well, that explains why Charlie answer William's phone the other day. "I'm already looking at apartments. It's a good thing too, Julia's apartment only has one bedroom, and I can't foster you in a one-bedroom apartment."

I do not like Julia. How could she hurt William? I feel my pout deepen.

"I'm fine, really," William smiles. "I'm done with her." I nod. "I want you to meet someone." I nod again, then he put me down as the guy at the table stands up. "This is Robbie."

"Hi." Robbie's smile is warm and welcoming, it reminds me of William's. Robbie reminds me of William, not just his grin, they even have the same dirty blonde hair and light eyes. I like Robbie, he gives off a good vibe.

I peer up at William. "Can I show him Night Fury?"

William smiles in a sort of relief as if it's a relief that I like Robbie. "He's in the living room."

"Robbie?" I turn to him.

"Yeah, sure." I step to Robbie, take his hand and lead him to the living room.

William

Watching Agnes drag Robbie out of the kitchen hurts. I wanted her to like him, I was hoping for it, but it happened so fast, I hate it. It's like I'm handing her away already. My fatherly instincts-something I didn't know I would have so soon-kicks in, and Agnes is suddenly sixteen with her first boyfriend. Oh no. I hurry to my seat and sit down before the aching pain in my chest brings me down. Maybe I'm lucky enough to convince Agnes to start dating when she's twenty.

"Will?" Tisha whispers. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I mumble, rubbing my temples. "Can you...keep an eye on her?" She nods and leaves. I can hear Robbie telling Agnes how amazing Night Fury is. I want to smile, but I can't.

"You're pretty honest with Agnes." Gloria had been so quiet and still the whole time, I had almost forgotten she was here.

I shrug. "What was I supposed to tell her?" Plus I need Agnes to be honest with me. I get up, grab the plates on the table, cross the room and place them on the counter. Tisha and Agnes were having dinner when Larua Valley, Agnes' cause worker, stopped by and told Agnes everything. "When did Tisha call you?"

"What?"

I turn and face Gloria. "About Agnes. Did she call you after she called my work?" I've been meaning to ask Gloria that for a while, but I with Agnes while she was sleeping. Now we're finally alone.

"I called her. I call every day."

"What?" I whisper, utterly shocked.

"I call every day," she repeats more firmly as she slowly moves in front of me. "Are you okay? Did you hit your head or something?"

"You care about Agnes, right? I mean, not as a cop caring for a child, but as...family?"

She smiles. "I care about her the same way you do, not as much, I mean, I don't think that's possible; the way she looks up to you-literally looks up to you-and how you don't hesitate to drop everything for her, it's...it's-" I can see her struggling to find the right word "-it's pure." She suddenly looks shy and turns red. "You're willing to stop your life for her."

I smile at her. "I...already have." Agnes is my main focus now. All the drinking, smoking, and meaningless sex, I'm done with it. Well, smoking is still on the table, but it's not as bad as before. I'm even working overtime-something I've never done before-for Agnes. The more money I have, the more things and opportunities she has. It's all for Agnes.

My grin vanishes when I hear Robbie in the other room say, "what's wrong?"

I swiftly step around Gloria and hurry into the living room. Robbie and Agnes are sitting on the long couch with Night Fury lying between them. Agnes has a blank expression, her hands placed nicely on her lap. I rush over to her and kneel. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask, and she shrugs, refusing to look me in my eyes.

My blood goes cold. She was fine a few minutes ago, what the hell happened?

What did I do? Robbie mouths to me, I shake my head and turn to Tisha, maybe something did happen, maybe Robbie said something, but Tisha's tired expression tells me nothing happened. Agnes just shut down.

My gaze returns to Agnes. "Are you tired?" I try. She nods then begins to scoot off the couch. I rise to my feet and pick her up.

I'm sorry, Robbie mouths. He looks so scared and worried, I mentally hit myself for even considering him of doing something to her.

You're fine, I mouth back. I hold Agnes closer to me as I turn and head for the stairs.

"Agnes?" I whisper as I climb the steps. "What happened?"

She shrugs. I notice she's leaning on my body, not hugging me like she usually does. "This happens a lot."

What the hell does that mean? "What happens a lot?"

"I get sad. It happens more faster now."

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