One Pack of Smokes from Broke.

Charlie smiled back at John as she hopped out of his car.

"Love you!" she called back at him. John was the only one she ever really said that to anyone.

"Love you, too, Char." he smiled sweetly at her. He waited until she'd walked into her house before driving away. He hoped things weren't too bad at her house tonight, but he knew it was a waste.

Charlie took a deep breath before pushing the door open to her house.

"Momma?" she called softly.

There was no response as she made her way to the living room.

Charlie winced at the scene before her, after 3 years, she should've been used to it. It was bearable when he was still around, but he'd left her all on her own.

Charlie was pulled from her thoughts when her mother groaned and turned over on the couch she was currently sleeping on.

Charlie sighed and bent beside the couch, picking up the empty whiskey bottle from the floor.

She set it on the coffee table next to the couch. She gently pulled a blanket over her passed out, drunken mother, placing a soft kiss to her head. She tried not to breathe in the stench of alcohol as she did so, she grabbed the empty bottle again and went to the kitchen where she threw it away.

Charlie made sure to go up the staircase quietly, not bothering to gaze hopefully into her mother's old art studio in the upstairs hallway. She made her way to her room, setting her school bag and the folder containing her new prints on her bed. She moved to the mirror, redoing her messy bun. Her gaze fell onto her left lower arm, the long scar catching her attention. She sighed and applied more cover-up on the remains of her failed attempt of suicide.

Not bothering to make it perfect, she hurried her way back out of the house. She was going to Eric's, she could be fully comfortable there; she didn't have to hide.

Charlie did her best to clear her mind from those thoughts as she walked the short way to Eric's, just a street over from her's.

She didn't knock on their door, just walked in. This was more her home then the one down the street.

"Charlie!" a little boy with short brown hair and chubby cheeks squealed and threw his tiny arms around her, his head only coming up to her stomach.

"Hey, Austin baby!" Austin was Eric's 6 year old little brother, and Charlie absolutely adored him.

"Hey, Char." Eric called from the living room where he was most likely playing video games.

Charlie scooped up Austin and balanced him on her hip as she walked into the kitchen, where Eric's single father was preparing dinner.

"Hi, David." she greeted him shyly.

Even though their little arrangement had been going on for months now, Charlie still felt a little shy about it. Charlie would home over Eric's every night and eat dinner with his small family of three. Ever since David had found out about Charlie's mom always being too out of it every night to cook dinner (Charlie also lacked the talent of cooking), he'd insisted for her to do so. David loved Charlie like his own daughter and couldn't live with himself if Charlie ever went to bed hungry.

"Hey, Charlie!" David beamed from the stove. "Ya hungry?"

Charlie nodded shyly, becoming hungrier each time she inhaled the amazing aroma from his cooking.

"Good. Dinner's ready!" he called to Eric, who soon came bounding into the dinning room.

Charlie put Austin in his seat and helped David set the table. She always tried to help him in every way she could, she was unbelievably grateful to him.

The four of them sat down at the table, said grace, and dug into David's amazing dinner.