Hey, sister!

Backstory

TW; Triggering content in this chapter contains the following.

- Abuse
- Childhood trauma

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As screaming and glass throwing echoed around the house, two-year-old Stephen is clinging onto his sister, sobbing into her chest.

"Why do they always fight.." Stephen questions, tears rolling down his face.
"I don't know Stephen..but just know- I'll always be here to protect you! " His sister replies before turning around and grabbing a pair of headphones, placing them on her brother's ears to clear out the yelling.

Sophia, Stephen's sister, is only of the age 5 and taking care of her brother. She tries everything she can to protect and comfort him from anything! Any-thing.

A few hours pass and Stephen has seemed to have fallen asleep. Sophia moves around careful to not disturb him, grabbing a blanket from her bed to cover the both of them.
She hugs Stephen closely, tearing up a little before staring at the door as she hears footsteps and than a door opening and shutting. She sighs of relief when the footsteps weren't headed towards her room, which is where Stephen and Sophia are currently at.

She carefully picks Stephen up and tucks him in her bed before walking to the door, opening it oh-so carefully, squinting her eyes as the door squeaked before peaking out, observing the place and it's state.
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Sophia and Stephen currently lives with their mother and father in a ran-down motel. One day, a stray dog; named Lucas ran inside the motel and comforts and stays with the two children as a support aninal.

When Sophia was only 3 she learned to care for herself when her mother wasn't home... which was often, when she was 'around', however, it would be too late for Sophia to be up. She always came home drunk or yelling about something that happened at the club.

Her father was also very absent, being at work half of the time and often using this as an excuse to go around cheating on her mother, with a 28-year old brunette named Alivia (pronounced Olivia), Sophia couldn't blame her father though. Alivia was a really nice woman who helped take care of Stephen when her mother wasn't around!

However, this happiness wouldn't last long, and about 9-10 months later, Sophia's mother came home early and threatened the woman so bad she never dared to set foot on that property, let alone neighborhood, ever again! She even closed all communication with Sophia's father, never being seen ever again.
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As Sophia peaked through the hallway she looked at all the pieces of glass on the floor, as well as unorganized furniture and punched in walls. She was practically afraid of her parents when she was more young and dependent until she eventually have had enough and started standing up for her and Stephen's back, which she has been doing ever since.
"Is the coast clear..?" Stephen question quietly. Sophia jumped at the voice as she thought Stephen had fallen asleep before nodding, "yes." She looked back out the door before an ungroomed dog ran into the room, jumping on top of Stephen and licking his face playfully, "Hey buddy.!" Stephen laughed and giggled, petting Lucas.
"Shh.." Sophia shushed before turning around and being met with a six-foot-two man in front of the doorway.
"Quiet down in here, and get that dog off of my bed." He yelled.
"It's not your bed! It's mine!" Sophia snapped back, the tall man glaring at Sophia, "This is my house. I get to call it whatever. Now fix your attitude young lady or I'm putting that damned dog down! You're lucky we even considered letting you keep it." He argued before slamming the door.

Sophia was furious when the door shut in her face. She wanted to cry but stopped and reminded herself to stay strong for Stephen.

The dog whimpered as he got off the bed and curled into a ball, Stephen running to it and comforting it, "It's okay buddy, he's just a bit grumpy!"

Sophia grinned when she heard Stephen's word, feeling better almost immediately. She walks over to the two, hugging them both until they all have fallen asleep.
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Sophia always told Stephen that whenever their parents yelled at them, they were just being 'a bit grumpy' and not meaning a thing.

Another thing she told him was that sometimes when someone is mad they will say untruthful and hurtful things that they didn't mean to say at all. When someone is mad they don't usually think before they speak or act, causing them to say or do something they didn't attend to do. However, she also taught him that this doesn't mean you have to forgive the angry person, as what they say may be really rude and painful.
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On the weekends when her parents would both be home, all they would do was fight. It was to the point they forgot Stephen's birthday, not like they celebrated anyway, they didn't even notice Lucas walked into the house until a week later!
Sophia was so grateful that her parents let them keep the dog and so whenever she woke up or came home, she would always hug and cuddle up with him!

As school started for Stephen, he has been dealing with getting bullied many times. It was to the point he thought it was normal, until his sister came and stood up for him.

"You look like you grew up in a pig's farm, loser!" One of the bullies said, Stephen looking down to the ground on the verge of tears. "Leave me alone!" He yelled trying to defend himself. "Aww, is the crybaby going to cry!" Another bully teased and laughed at him, which was until a 10 year old Sophia was towering over all of them.
"Hey, how about you leave poor Sef alone!" Sophia shouted, hands on her hips.
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Sophia gave Stephen the nickname 'Sef' when she was trying to teach him how to pronounce and write his name, getting it wrong he pronounces 'Stef' instead of 'Stephen'. However, Stephen prefered 'Sef' over 'Stef' saying 'it felt to girly' for him, and so Sef has been his nickname ever since!
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One of the boys stepped back, a bit terrified but still yelled out: "Look, Stephen has to have a girl to protect him!" He snickered, the other bullies laughing along side him except for one, Mason Dungbar. Mason had always been a standby, standing next to the bullies as they bullied Stephen, wanting to help he didn't know what to do so he sat and watched, threatened that if he were to tell someone, a monster would come through his window at night and eat him alive!

[This also caused him to become very paranoid at everything, especially at night. ]

Dumb but at the age Mason was, he was quite gullible and believed almost everything.

Sophia stepped back before punching one of the boys in the nose, breaking it.
"I suggest you stay away from my brother!"
The bullies ran away in tears. However, Mason stood back and hugged Stephen.
"I'm sorry I never tried to stop them!" He cried out.
"Hah! losing to a girl!" Sophia mocked as the boys ran away before turning around to Mason and Stephen, a bit confused. "I thought you were one of them..? " Sophia asked, hands on her hips with a raised eyebrow. Mason told them everything and the two soon became best friends!
I say 'two' because, throughout the abuse she and Stephen has experienced, Sophia has inherited extreme trust issues, making her scared this could be a manipulation tatic.
Stephen tried to explain and reason with her that Mason could actually be a good person, but Sophia didn't buy it until, Mason and his parents would allow Stephen and Sophia to stay over, which they really appreciated, crying as they were feed proper food and given clean clothes and a shower. This went on for months even spending holidays and birthdays together, giving Sophia and Stephen happy moments in their life, also causing Sophia to trust Mason more! Their parents probably didn't even notice they were gone, But they did come home every other week.

Stephen and Mason have both started high school. Though Sophia was only a few years above them, Stephen wanted to learn to rely on himself! And so he trained and trained but he never actually got the courage to hit anyone.

But he'll always have Sophia by his side, at least for now.

Word Count; 1430