Thomas Sanders Sides OneShots 4

The helpful four - Maria & Mateo

11:04pm

Trigger warning: abusive parents

This isn't the OneShot I was talking about on the conversation board with the therapy and shit - I just needed to write something else because I liked this idea and I needed a break from writing the same story

Au
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There was a knock on Maria's and Mateo's door that afternoon as the young siblings were making dinner. Confused, Maria looked at her younger brother to see if he knew who it was, but the boy with a head full of honey brown hair shrugged and held his sisters hand as she jumped down from the stepping-stool and walked down the wooden floorboards to the front door.

She unlocked and opened it.

"Is this the Caldwell's residence?" A man questioned. The two children had to tilt their head back far to meet his gaze. They both eyed him curiously - they hadn't ever seen this man before. He was wearing glasses, dark clothes, and a tie. Was he a salesmen? The siblings parents told them to stay away from these people, and not let them inside.

"Yes. Why?" Maria responded, curling an arm around Mateo's shoulders and pulling him behind her. He grabbed the stands of her hair softly. Playing with it eased him.

"That is none of your concern" the tie-man responded, and peered inside the house. "Have a nice evening" with that, he was down the path and gone. Maria glanced at Mateo who shrugged. They closed the door and quickly returned to the meal they were preparing for their parents like they asked them to. Once finishing, they did the usual routine of making themselves sandwiches, placing the plates in the oven to keep the food warm, and scurrying off to their room before they would return. The children's parents didn't like to see them after long days of work.

In the morning, Maria woke up first, made her bed, changed, and woke up Mateo. It was a struggle to get him out of the protective warmth, but Maria always did. She helped him change, and the two brushed their teeth in the shared bathroom. "Maria?" Mateo murmured from his bed, sitting on the end with his school bag on his back. Maria finished putting her long brown hair into a pony tail, glancing at her brother through the cracked mirror.

"Yes, Mateo?" She responded, putting everything away in a box under her bed. "Will things get better?" Maria paused, slowly arising from the floor, skirt fluttering around her legs as she walked to her brother with poise. "Everything will be fine" she smiled, brushing her hands across his shoulders and straightening his hair out. "Now" she turned and picked up her bag, checking herself in the mirror once more. "Let's go, shall we?" Mateo nodded happily and the two held hands as they walked to school.

"Meet me here, like always, and remember" the two smiled, "run away from strangers" they spoke at the same time, giggling afterwards. "Have a good day, Mateo" she watched him run off to the building and to his friends, looking as bright as ever. She rose from the ground and turned to walk to her school but she bumped into someone, forcing her to stop.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir-"

"It's alright, Kiddo! Completely my fault!" The man responded happily, bending down slightly to get a closer look at Maria who did the same. He was wearing glasses, bright clothes, and a cardigan on his shoulders. Maria smiled. He looked friendly. But then she frowned; stranger danger. "I must be going" she bowed her head before she left, hurrying off to school to not be stopped by anyone else.

During lunch, Mateo left his lesson and ran through the corridor to get to the cafeteria. He was starving! While running, he turned down a corridor children weren't technically allowed to go down, but if you made it to the end without getting caught, you were fine - plus, it was a great shortcut.