I grabbed Charlie’s hand and we crept into the kitchen and ducked down behind the cupboards. I grabbed the emergency numbers off the fridge and flipped open my cell as we listened to the door bang open.

                Skeet Skeet began to bark furiously and Charlie gripped my arm tightly. My finger hovered over the “send” button on my phone as we heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen.

                “Charlie?”

                We both relaxed. “Fuller!” Charlie said and jumped up. I shut my phone and set the emergency numbers down before standing up with Charlie.

                Charlie ran over to his brother and smiled. “Fuller, this is Shay! She’s really nice!” Fuller smirked at me. “Hello there Shay,” he said. I rolled my eyes. “Hi Fuller.”

                Skeet Skeet licked Fuller’s hand and barked again. “What are you doing home Fuller? I thought you were staying at Chris’s house?” Charlie said curiously. Fuller shrugged. “He was too tired. He fell asleep,” Fuller said, an amused look in his eyes.

                The smell hit me and I glared at him. He smelled strongly of cigarette smoke and a slight hint of alcohol. “Let me smell your breath,” I said as casually as I could. Fuller chuckled and blew his breath in my face.

                I glared and grabbed Charlie’s hand. “Let’s go play Wii,” I said kindly. Fuller had definitely been drinking. I didn’t want him around a little kid if he was drunk.

                Fuller laughed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I had two bottles and it wasn’t anything strong. I’m sober,” he said in amusement, watching as we set up the Wii and began to play.

                “Two bottles of what?” Charlie asked, his innocence making me want to hug him. He was so freaking cute! “Two bottles of soda,” Fuller lied with a pleasant smile as he dropped onto the couch and watched us continue to play.

                “I won!” Charlie cheered. I laughed and Fuller stood up and high fived him. “Good job CharChar. You finally beat someone at something!” Charlie smiled proudly. “I beat dad sometimes too!”

                Fuller rolled his eyes. “Our dad lets him win,” he mouthed when Charlie wasn’t facing him. I laughed and high fived Charlie. “Yea, you beat me,” I said and stuck my tongue out at him. He giggled and made his way to the kitchen.

                Fuller and I followed him. “Can I have popcorn?” he asked with puppy dog eyes. I smiled and checked the time. It was only 8 p.m. and his mom said he could have a snack before 9.

                “Sure!” I said. Charlie smiled and put a bag of popcorn in the microwave. He pressed the “popcorn” button and opened the refrigerator. He pulled out a juice box and offered one to me. I thanked him as I took it.

                Fuller pulled out his iPod and put it on the speakers sitting on the counter. He pressed play and I smiled widely as Simple Plan’s “This Song Saved My Life” came on.

                “I love Simple Plan!” I announced proudly. Fuller grinned. “They’re the best. This song is so damn true.” I nodded in total agreement. He sighed. “Well, mostly true.” I gave him a questioning look which he ignored.

                “So what else are you into new girl?” he asked. “Play LMFAO!” Charlie cheered. Fuller laughed and put on Party rock Anthem. Charlie danced to it which made me laugh. He was just too adorable! I couldn’t get over it!

                “I like a lot of Simple Plan, Sum 41, Tokio Hotel, Pierce The Veil, JJ Demon…That kind of stuff,” I said to Fuller. He nodded and laughed at Charlie. “He always does this. He loves dance music. CharChar worships Skrillex and Deadmau5.”

                “He’s just too cute,” I said as he danced around more. The microwave began to beep and he opened it and hesitated. “Can you get it Shay? It’ll burn me.”

                I smiled and nodded. I carefully grabbed the bag and Charlie handed me a bowl to dump it in. I handed him the bowl and he smiled at me and held it out to me. “You can have some too!”

                Fuller rolled his eyes and put another bag in the microwave. “I eat my own bag,” he said and pressed the “popcorn” button. “Thank you Charlie,” I said and grabbed a handful.

                We migrated back into the living room once Fuller had his bag of popcorn. “Can we play Smash Brothers?” Charlie asked eagerly. I shrugged and nodded. He ran to the TV and turned on the N64.

                I sat down with him and Fuller sat next to me with a grin. We each grabbed a controller and began to play. Fuller and I both played as Kirby while Charlie played as Link.

                Fuller and I quickly killed Link and then it was down to us. “I’m pretty good at this game. Just a warning,” I said with a grin as I killed him with a bomb.

                He frowned. “Damn. Down to 2 lives.” He and I fought furiously until we were both down to one life. Both of us were at a high percentage.

                I frowned deeply as Fuller managed to grab me and blow me up. “Aw,” I whined as he jumped up and cheered. Charlie giggled. “Fuller’s never lost before.” I smirked. “Then that will be my goal. I’ll beat you eventually Fuller!”

                Fuller grinned. “You’ll try.” “I’ll succeed.” I smiled pleasantly and he laughed. “That’s what CharChar said 2 years ago,” he said, ruffling Charlie’s hair. Charlie pouted. “I’ll win someday!”

                I laughed. “How about you get in your pajamas and we watch a movie?” I offered. Charlie’s face brightened. “Yea! Come on; you can see my room!” He grabbed my hand and eagerly led me up the stairs to his bedroom.

                His room was painted a light shade of blue and purple. It was really relaxing. He had a white carpet and a few posters were hung up on his walls.

                His bed had a plain comforter that complimented the walls. There was a dresser pressed up against the wall next to his bed with a lamp and a few pictures on it. There was a shelf with soccer and baseball trophies and pictures of Charlie in uniforms.

                He wandered over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of pajama pants and a shirt. He pulled his jeans off and slid the pajama pants on. He switched shirts and smiled.

                “Do you like my room?” I nodded and smiled. “I love your room Charlie!” He smiled even wider and came over to me. He grabbed my hand and led me downstairs to the living room.

                Fuller was sitting on the floor petting Skeet Skeet lovingly. He glanced up at us as Charlie grabbed a movie and put it in the DVD player.

                “What are we watching CharChar?” he asked curiously as Charlie pressed “play”. “Good Boy!” Charlie said with a huge smile as he pulled me over to the couch and cuddled up with me.

                He pat the couch next to him. “Come here Skeet Skeet!” he said as the movie started. Fuller got up and sat on the couch. He snapped and Skeet Skeet obediently jumped up in between Charlie and Fuller.

                Charlie smiled and began to stroke the dog. We watched the movie until I heard Charlie softly snoring. I smiled at him and glanced at Fuller.

                “Bring him up stairs. I’ll turn off the movie,” he said quietly. I carefully picked Charlie up. I carried him upstairs slowly and went into his room.

                I pulled back the covers as best I could without waking him and gently set him down. I pulled the covers up to his shoulders and smiled at him. “Goodnight Charlie,” I whispered before leaving his room.

                I went back downstairs where Fuller was sitting on the couch watching Family Guy. I sat down next to him and he grinned. “So did you just move here or something?” I nodded. “Yesterday.” “How do you like it?” I shrugged. “It’s alright.”

                I yawned and he laughed. “You can go to sleep you know. I can keep an eye out in case CharChar wakes up.” I shook my head. “I’m alright. Just a little sleepy. Do you always call him CharChar?”

                Fuller nodded and laughed. “Yea. Habit, I guess. So you and Casey?” I rolled my eyes. “He’s nice and we’re friends,” I said and gave a small smile.

                Fuller shrugged. “Casey’s a pretty good guy. But since you’ll be keeping an eye on my baby brother, I’m thinking we need to hang out and get to be friends,” he said with a wink. I giggled and nodded. “Alright then.”

                He grinned. “You can hang with my friends too. They’re not too bad once you get to know them.” I yawned again and Fuller rolled his eyes and forced me to lay down on the couch.

                My head ended up in his lap and he smiled at me. “Goodnight Shay,” he said with another wink as my eyes closed and I drifted off to a peaceful sleep.