not in the same way || c.h.

26

"Brenna!" Noah yelled as I walked through the door of my grandparents house.

"What's up buddy?" I asked and picked him up and squeezed him tightly.

"Nothing. Can we go get toys today?" He begged and gave me his signature puppy dog eyes. He knew that puppy dog eyes got me to give him whatever he wanted, I was always a sucker for those big blue eyes of his.

"Only if you're good for me while I get some homework done today." I said and he eagerly nodded his head and played with my hair.

"Let's go say bye to nana and papa." I said and carried him over to their recliners in the living room. Once we said bye to my grandparents I took him back to my apartment since I had a bit of homework to do before Monday.

"Do you want something to eat?" I asked as he ran through the door and put his little backpack on the couch.

"Dino nuggets." He yelled and pulled out a toy dinosaur that I had gotten him a few months ago.

"Alright. I'll start those for you and you can find a show to watch." I said and handed him the remote while he got comfortable on the couch.

  When I came back to the couch he sat right next to me, making sure to leave no space between us at all. He held the stuffed animal that I had given him when he was younger tightly in his arms and rested his head against my arm. His eyes were glued to the tv while I did my homework. He was very good at listening and being able to sit and be quiet when he needed to be.

  He's such a nice kid. He doesn't deserve the complicated life that was handed to him at all. I hope he stays this good as he gets older. Hopefully I'll be able to teach him to be good no matter what.

"That looks hard." He said softly after about an hour of me working and him watching tv.

"It only looks hard because you haven't learned this stuff yet. Once you go to school and start learning this stuff will make sense." I said and wrapped my arm around him.

"When do I go to school?" He asked curiously.

"You'll go in September and meet tons of kids your age and be best friends." I said and moved my folders and stuff away from me. I can do the rest tomorrow night.

"Did you have a lot of friends?" He asked.

"I had tons of friends when I was your age. As I grew older I had less but you won't have to worry about that. You're going to make tons and tons of friends at school." I said and tickled his stomach which made him giggle and squirm.

"Can we get toys now?" He asked as he recovered from his giggles.

"Yeah let's go." I said and stood up from the couch and grabbed the stuff I'd need.

"Can I bring him?" He asked and held up his stuffed animal before bringing it back into his small chest.

"Yep just don't lose it." I said and took his small hand and led him out of the apartment building and to my car.

  After driving around the city towards the toy store I parked a few blocks away. It was nearly impossible to find a parking spot in the city, but driving made me feel more comfortable. The idea of walking around the city-especially after what happened that night in the alley-made me nervous and scared me a bit.

  We did have to walk a few blocks, which was fine during the day for me at least. Daytime was fine because at least there were other people around. But it was rare to see many people walking around at night.

  Noah kept asking me whatever questions came to his mind ever since we left my place. They were all super random and were rarely connected to each other but I answered them all the best I could. He had just asked me if french fries were made in France, which I remember wondering as a kid too if I'm being honest. But before I could answer his question I was cut off my a hard and broad chest slamming into me.

"Oh- I'm sorry." I said and tried to gather myself. Noah clung to my hand tighter as he looked up at who bumped into me. I haven't seen yet mostly because I was just trying to see if he was alright.

"Oh hey Brenna." I heard that familiar accent say which made my head snap up to look at him.

"Hey Cal, what are you doing?" I asked and felt Noah wrap his arms around my leg while I rested my hand on his back.

"I was just gonna go get something to eat. What are you up to?" He asked and looked down at Noah who looked pretty scared. It was understandable.

  Calum was quite intimidating to me when I saw him the first few times, but he was also a lot harsher when I first met him. Now he wasn't as harsh or stand offish, but I guess Noah has always been a bit shy.

"Noah was just dragging me to the toy store, apparently he doesn't have enough toys." I said and poked Noah's shoulder to try and get him to loosen up a bit.

"So this is Noah huh?" He asked and crouched down to Noah's level. Noah looked up at me with a worried and scared look on his face as he clung into my leg even tighter.

"It's okay bud, he's a friend of mine." I said and put my hand on his head and moved his dirty blonde hair out of his face.

"Hi." He said shyly and hid behind me a bit more. Calum just chuckled as we both watched Noah analyze him from head to toe.

"Why do you have pictures on your arms?" He asked and came up from behind my leg a bit to curiously look at his arms. Calum just chuckled a bit and shook his head slightly while I stifled back a laugh.

"They're called tattoos. When you're old enough you might want some too." He said and let Noah hold his arm in his hand and look at each of his tattoos.

"What are they? How did they get there?" He asked and gave him a curious look.

"Well, you go into this place and someone will take a needle, dip it in some ink and put it in your skin. It stays there forever so you have to make sure you really really want it." He said while Noah's face scrunched up in confusion.

"A needle? Does it hurt? Like a shot?" He asked and looked at the tattoo that he had for his sister.

"Sometimes, it kind of just depends on how much pain you can take." He said while Noah let go of his hand and looked back up at me.

"Do you have any?" He asked and held my hand.

"I have some yeah." I said and moved his brown curly hair out of his face.

"Where? Did they hurt?" He asked.

"A little bit, but I'm a bit of a wimp." I said which made Calum laugh and stand up straight.

"Brenna I want toys." Noah whined and tugged at my arm.

"Okay okay we can get some toys." I said to get him to settle down. "Do you want to come with us?" I asked Calum.

"Not it's okay, I'll give you some time alone. I know you only have a couple days with him. Plus it's probably not the best idea." He said with a sigh and looked down at Noah.

"Oh... right yeah... well I'll see you Monday then?" I asked and he smiled a bit and nodded his head.

  He said goodbye to Noah and gave him a fist bump before he walked past me while giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. My heart got all warm and fuzzy at the feeling of his soft lips against my skin, but I'm sure that'll always happen if I'm being honest.

  Once he had walked down the street I walked with Noah down to the toy store so we could get some toys.