Brat

5| Knee

I drove, seeing she was clearly very regressed and it was dangerous for her to drive. She looked out the window the whole time, running her index finger along her thigh.

I would do that for her.

I pulled into my parking spot in the back, stopping the car, "unbuckle, c'mon." I unlocked the back door and she came up behind me, I held the door for her and let her walk in the lead her to my office. "Sit down on the couch." She nodded and sat down. I went back to the kitchen and grabbed a bucket of ice then went back to her.

I crouched down in front of her and rolled her pant up over her knee, then put the ice in a cloth and pressed it to her knee. "Hold that tight or else the ice will spill out."

I got up and put the desk, then heard things hit against the floor and I turned back around. "I- I'm sorry." She sniffled. "I didn't mean to."

"It's okay." I said, assuring her as I gathered the ice again and sat on the couch next to her. She turned sideways and put her legs on my lap and I held the ice to her knee for her. "Does that feel better?"

"Yes." She said with a smile.

We sat in silence for a few moments, but I really wanted to know what happened. I barely know the girl but I know she got hurt. And I cared about it.

"What happened that day?" I asked, breaking the quietness.

"Oh- yeah I told you I would explain." She mumbled. "Well, you see I got this really good group of friends. You know Gavin. And they really support me- and JJ my best friend is close to me about it... but my friend, Gracie, her boyfriend, well... he doesn't like me. He thinks I'm weird and makes these rude comments that make me uncomfortable."

I remember Sofia at the bar with two others. A girl and a boy.

"And there were a lot of little around- duh, it's that type of place. And I really like it, because as soon as I came here there was Paul and he was super duper nice to me. But Will, the boyfriend, he was being all rude and I finally listened to him for some reason. And I packed everything away and said I threw it away. I miss Skittles. And my paci's. And being able to be little. But it's not right."

"What do you mean? Being little is perfectly fine. It defines you Sof. And this is what this place is for. It's why I got a Paul, and lots of others here. We got lots of people every night, but for some reason Paul didn't forget the girl who asked what his name was and had conversation with him. And I didn't forget about the little girl who accidentally came into my office, crying with a scraped up hand. And how much of a brat you were afterwards." She giggled at that. "Lots of littles come in here every night, and they aren't treated any different. Because there isn't any normal. It's not a thing. No where. So you are normal for being a little. If you don't want to be a little because of you, then you don't. If you want to be a little but some douchebag says you're weird, tell him to find me."

She launched forwards and hugged me tightly, after a second I wrapped my arms around her.

"Thank you." She whispered. "I'm sorry about the whole cafe scene. I wasn't nice."

"Yeah, you were a fucking brat."

She just giggled.

"How am I supposed to get my car?" She asked.

"Paul and Gavin are stopping by in a few. He can drive you back. I think you're a bit too little." Her cheeks flushed red. "Do you think that friend of yours can drive it back for you?"

"Yeah." She said then gasped. "She's a little too!"

"She is?"

"Yeah! I should tell her about this place!"

"Maybe you should." I chuckled.

:::

After a half hour Sofia hugged me again and left with Gavin, she had a limp and her knee was bruised badly. He said he would stay over night with her just in case, and would make sure she get all her regression stuff back out.

Now it's three in the fucking morning and my phone is going off. I groaned and reached over to my nightstand and answered.

I heard crying in the background and that woke me up a little. "Hey man, I'm really sorry about this." It was Gavin.

Meaning it was Sofia crying.

"I didn't hear her get up and she fell down the stairs because of her knee. She's okay but she won't stop asking for you. Maybe tell her you're busy or something."

"Send me the address." I said and hung up. I grabbed my sweatpants and put them on over my boxers and threw on my shirt too. Then I woke Duke. My idiot of a dog Bernes. "Go back to sleep. You're not coming." I went down the stairs and grabbed my keys then left my house, putting my seatbelt on as I pulled out onto the road.

Gavin's text came through and saw she was 10 minutes away. That is really convenient. I pulled into her driveway seeing Gavin's car. I knocked on the door and Gavin opened it right away.

"I've tried to calm her down but she won't stop. She just keeps saying she wants you." He mumbled. I followed him up the stairs, she sat on the ground against the couch with red puffy eyes. "I'll- let you do your thing. I'll be downstairs."

"Thanks." I said and he nodded, mumbling, 'anytime'.

I picked up the crying girl, resting her on my hip and she died down her crying. She was trying to catch her breath and she rubbed her eyes. "What happened?" I asked.

"I- I was- thirsty- and I had to go- down the- the stairs. And my- my knee- hurt and I- I fell." She began to cry again. I sat down on the couch but she still clung to me, moving onto my lap. "It really hurts."

"Take deep breaths for me. You might have to go to the hospital." She shook her head no really quickly. "Sof, you really hurt yourself yesterday. It hurt just watching."

"I don't wanna go." She cried harder.

I got back up, carrying her to her room and found a pacifier on her nightstand table. "It's okay. I won't take you. Sleeping it off may be better." I laid her down, grabbing a pillow from the side and putting it under her leg, propping her knee up. "Open up." I gave her her paci and she gladly took it. "See? It's all right little girl. Does your knee hurt right now?" She shook her head no. "So do you feel better now?" Now she nodded. "Good. Gavin is asleep downstairs, maybe call him if you need water."

More sniffles came from her, she dropped the paci and began to cry again. "No no, why are you crying?"

"I want the water and I don't want you to leave." She wailed.

"You don't want me to leave?" She nodded. "I'm sorry but I have to."

"Can you please stay till I fall asleep?" That seems like a harmless deal.

"Of course. I'll just go get your water." I fixed that paci for her then left the room and went downstairs. "Hey Gav, you can go. I think she'll be good for the rest of the night. She's going to be out."

"Okay. Thanks, for that. Jake is really the one who helps her with that stuff. I don't know why she wasn't crying for Jake?" I shrugged. "I'll see you later than."

"Yeah." I turned on the lights to the kitchen and looked for a cup. A glass? No. Where is a... there. I grabbed a sippy cup and filled it up with water then went back up to Sofia's room. "Here you go."

She looked more sleepy now. I got on the bed next to her and she took a long drink from the cup, then put it to the side and put her paci back in her mouth and laid back.

"Thank you." She mumbled through the rubber.

"Anytime." I smiled.