Charlie's POV:
Today is match day. I woke up before Mum's alarm, which is strange. I roll over to see Keira getting out of bed trying not to make any noise. I lift my head up and she instantly spots me. She walks over to me and crouches down next to me. "Go back asleep Charlie, I'm just going to the bathroom, it's only 5:30am", I look over at her and nod my head, I try to find a comfy spot again but I can't seem to find it. Keira comes out of the bathroom and walks back over to me. She tucks me in and gives me a kiss to my head. I watch as she walks back to her bed and carefully climbs in, then I close my eyes and drift off again.
I wake up to Mum opening the curtains. I groan and roll back over in bed, but before I can fall back asleep Mum pulls on the duvet making sure I don't fall back asleep again. I reluctantly get up and get out of bed. I pick a random outfit from my suitcase and head I to the bathroom to get changed where I'm met with Ellie squirming in Keira's arms as she tries to brush her cute but messy baby curls. Once she spots me she smiles and starts babbling to me. I keep her entertained long enough for Keira to fix her hair and then Keira picks her back up and heads out of the bathroom to let me get changed. I quickly change and then start looking for my shoes. "Charlie you ready to go to breakfast ?", Mum asks me standing at the door, with Keira almost wrestling with Ellie who was trying to take off her shoes. I giggle at the sight reminding me of when I was younger and I used to hide my shoes from Mum so I didn't have to wear them. It used to drive Mum nuts but it made me laugh. I quickly find my shoes under the bed and shove them on and then head out the door with Keira in front of me with Ellie in her arms and Mum beside me. We both chuckle at Ellie who has spotted us laughing and has continued annoying Keira.
As we reach the dining room Keira seems to have given up and taken off Ellie's shoes and just held her and the shoes in her arms. I wasn't feeling very hungry so when we went up to the breakfast buffet I grabbed a small bowl and poured a little bit of Coco Pops and a bottle of orange juice. Mum and Keira both grabbed bowls of porridge with fruit on top, while Mum grabbed Ellie a small bowl of yogurt and fruit. I picked a table that was empty because I wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone. Keira sat down beside me with Ellie in her arms who was trying to escape instead of eating her breakfast. I just sat quietly slowly eating my cereal.
During breakfast I noticed Leah looking over at me from across the table. I just kept my head down and avoided looking at her. Leah has always been able to tell when something was wrong, or if I was upset about something. When I got up to put my bowl away she got up with me and followed me. "Is everything ok Charlie ?", Leah asked me as we handed our dishes to the kitchen staff, thanking them too. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be ?", I replied, still not looking at her. "Did something happen ? Did someone say something ?", she asked even more questions. I couldn't take it anymore so I just bolted away and ran out of the room.
As I ran I didn't look where I was going and ran right into someone. I didn't even bother looking to see who it was I just apologised and tried to run again. But whoever it was held onto me. "It's ok, Charlie", they said. I finally looked to see Beth holding onto to me. She pulled me into a hug and held onto me. I felt tears run down my cheeks and I tried to wipe them away but they kept coming, I didn't want to get Beth's hoodie wet, but Beth didn't seem to care and just rubbed circles on my back. When I had eventually calmed down, Beth walked us to an empty meeting room. She pulled me in and closed the door behind us. I sat down on one of the chairs and she sat down opposite me. "You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to, but just know I'm here if you want to", she said gently. I looked up at her and then down at the floor. I didn't know if I wanted to talk to her about it because talking made it seem more real than it was. She shuffled her chair closer and stroked her thumb over my knee comfortingly. In that instant I knew I could trust Beth, so I slowly got up and went to sit on her lap. She pulled me closer and waited for me to talk.
"Has Mum or Keira told you anything about things that have happened lately ?", I ask fiddling with the strings on her hoodie, avoiding eye contact with her. "No, they haven't mentioned anything I can think of", she replied. I sighed knowing if I wanted to tell Beth, I'd have to explain the whole situation. "Remember the day me and Ellie got stuck in the lift ?, well afterwards we went on a walk and I spotted someone watching us", I started telling Beth everything. She just listened and didn't interrupt or ask any questions. "Turns out my dads parents want to get custody of me, even though I don't know them, they don't know me and I've only met them a few times", I finish, still fiddling with the strings. Beth gently takes my hands and nudges me to look at her. "Now that you've told me the situation, what's bothering you ?". I sigh and then look back at her "what if ... what if they take me away from Mum and Keira, and ... and Mum and Keira give up because they've got Ellie anyway", I say quietly. Beth answers immediately, "listen to me, your mum and Keira love you so much and will both fight and give up everything to make sure you're safe and with them, they will do everything to make you smile, and just because you have a cute adorable little sister that doesn't change how they care, love or feel for you, ok ?", I just nod and let her words sink in. "It's just that Mum and Keira spend so much time with Ellie, since she's been born, it sometimes feels like they forget about me", I quietly explain, looking at the floor. "They have to spend a teeny tiny bit more time with Ellie, because she's so small and young and can't do a lot of things by herself, when you were Ellie's age, Lucy had to do the same, but they could never forget about you", Beth explains to me. I just sit and listen without saying anything. We both jump when we hear Beth's phone buzz, she pulls it out of her pocket and a message from Lucy into the group chat pops up saying 'if anyone has seen Charlie, please text me or Keira back', Beth looks at me and says "see, they could never forget about you", I just nod as Beth quickly replies saying that I was with her and all was well and not to worry. Lucy instantly replies saying 'ok, thanks Meado, take good care of her', Beth likes the message and then turns her phone off. She looks back at me and says "it's nearly time for the team walk you wanna piggy back ?", I smile and nod my head . Beth stands up and I get on her back. Just before we leave the room, she turned her head and looks at me and says "remember what I said and always know you can come to me about anything", I nod and cuddle my head into her neck as we set off in search of the team for the team walk.
