I'll Be There For You.

The next morning, I left my room and walked into Meghan's smiling, but it disappeared when I noticed that she wasn't in her bed. I walked out of her room and looked around the house, calling her name. When I didn't find her, I went back to her bedroom, panic spreading through me.
My eyes landed on the closet and I noticed that the door was slightly opened. I quickly opened it and saw Meghan curled up in the corner with tears streaming down her face.
"You scared me." I told her frowning.
"Sowwy." She said quickly, her whole body shaking.
"What's the matter? Why are you hiding in your closet?" I asked gently.
"I'm sowwy!" Meghan said again, her voice trembling.
I bent forward and picked her up out of the closet and stood her up in front of me. That's when I noticed her pants were all wet. I knelt down so that I was at her height.
"Oh honey, it's alright." I said gently.
"I'm sowwy." Meghan repeated.
"It was just an accident, it's okay." I replied and she nodded.
"Come on, let's go give you a bath." I told her, rubbing her tears away with my thumbs.

After I had gotten Meghan out of the tub and we had both gotten ready for the day, we went downstairs. I made two bowls of cereal and we sat down at the table.
While we were eating, the front door opened.
"Hey Matt!" Jimmy called out.
"In the kitchen Jimmy." I replied.
As soon as he appeared, Meghan's eyes grew wide and she didn't move.
"Well hello there," Jimmy said with a grin. "What's your name?"
"M...M...Meghan." She stammered.
"I'm Jimmy." He told her excitedly and she gave him a small wobbly smile.
"Hi." She said quietly and looked back at her bowl.
Jimmy sat down beside her, across from where I was sitting and grinned at me.
"Zacky is going to be super jealous." He told me, making me laugh.
"You wanna hear a joke Meghan?" Jim asked, turning his attention to her.
"No." She replied, then her eyes shot to mine and she looked worried.
"It's okay." I reassured her and then looked at Jimmy who looked defeated.
"Are you done eating?" I asked as I stood from the table. Meghan nodded looking unsure and I took both of our bowls to the kitchen.
"What're you two doing today?" Jimmy asked as I placed the bowls in the sink.
"Well, we need to go to the store and then from there I'm not too sure. Might go to the park or something, maybe I'll get another one of the guys to come over." I replied.
"Let's go to the store!" Jimmy exclaimed as I walked back to the table. Meghan was watching him curiously.
"Do you want to go Meghan?" I asked.
"O...Okay." She said, her speech slightly stammered.
"Alright, let's go then." I told her.
"To Wally-Mart!" Jimmy said excitedly and ran to the front door. I glanced down at Meghan and noticed that she was smiling.

By the time we got to Walmart, Jimmy had a new best friend. I found a parking spot near the building and we went inside.
"Did you want a new teddy bear?" I asked, looking down at Meghan who was holding on to my hand.
Before she could answer Jimmy exclaimed. "Toys? What're we waiting for?" and took off. Chuckling, we followed him.
"I like Immy." Meghan stated as we neared the toy section.
"I'm glad to hear that." I replied, smiling down at her.
When we caught up with Jimmy, I told him to watch Meghan and knelt down in front of her.
"I'm going to look for something and I'll be right back. You stay with Jimmy, okay?" I told her and she nodded.
I left them with the toys and went to where the Cd's were. While I was looking, Jimmy suddenly appeared beside me looking nervous and upset.
"Where the hell is Meghan Jimmy? I leave her with you for two minutes and you lose her?" I asked, panic taking control over my body.
"Dude, she took off on me! We were coming to find you and I told her not to touch this glass thing we walked by and she just fucking ran." He told me frantically.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I practically yelled. My heart started to race and worry filled me.
"Let's go look, come back here if you find her. Calm down man, she'll be fine." Jimmy reassured and although it didn't really help, I just nodded and we split up.
I walked quickly through the aisles, asking random people if they had seen a blond little girl, but no one had, which made me even more freaked out than I already was.

I found Meghan in the toy section, hiding on one of the shelves with tears running down her face. She didn't notice that I was there until I knelt down in front of her.
"Come here." I told her, trying not to sound angry.
She slowly moved out of the shelf and stood in front of me, looking scared. I cupped her chin in my hand and tilted her head up so that she was looking at me. She went completely still.
"Don't you ever do that again." I told her sternly and she started to cry. Sighing, I picked her up and her whole body tensed.
"Honey, you can't run away like that. You scared us." I explained wiping her eyes with my free hand. She nodded, but kept crying. I pulled out my cell phone and called Jimmy.
"I found her, just meet us at the front doors." I told him when he answered.
"Alright, where the hell was she?" He asked.
"Toys." I replied.
"Damn, should've thought of that one."
"Yeah, we'll be right out." I told him and we hung up.
"Let's go find you a bear and then we'll go." I told Meghan and she looked confused. Maybe she thought that I wouldn't get her one after the stunt she just pulled, I thought.

When Jimmy saw us coming from the cashes, he ran towards us, stopping in front of us. He looked at Meghan, who I was still carrying.
"You little goof! Why'd you run away from me?" He asked.
Jimmy moved his hand towards her and she flinched before he could tickle her. Jimmy immediately dropped his hand and Meghan started to shake.
"Hey, it's alright honey." I reassured.
"I'm sowwy." She stammered, starting to cry again.
"You're okay, nothing's going to happen." I told her quietly.
People kept glancing from me to Meghan, frowning or whispering to each other as if I was hurting her or something.
Just because I'm a big guy with tattoos and piercings , doesn't automatically make me a bad guy. Fuck people are judgmental.
"Let's get out of here and go get something to eat." I said to Jimmy and we left the store.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked Meghan as I buckled her into her seat and she didn't reply. I think that she was still scared for some reason. She was as stiff as a board and would barely speak.
"It's alright." I reassured, brushing some of her hair away from her face. "I'm not mad at you, you aren't in trouble."
Meghan slowly lifted her head and looked at me. I could see the unsurety in her eyes.
"I promise." I told her and kissed her forehead.
At that moment, I promised myself that I'd never hurt her in any way.