Three days later... (Friday) 

It was silent. The only thing to be heard was the thumping of my shoe against the concrete floor. My leg was ticking nervously. I was at the police station. Today was the day I had to face my father in prison. Apparently, my father knew someone from the police department and organised a time for us to meet. I didn't even know that was possible. I sighed and cracked the knuckles in both of my hands. Samuel and Lisa were waiting outside in the car for me, my orders. I think I'm regretting my decision. "Mr Henderson?" a voice bellowed out from above me. I looked up to see a rather large policeman staring down at me. "You may see your father now." he said then walked away. I got up and followed him into a small room. It had glass up between the prisoner's side and the visitor's side. I thanked him and sat down. He told me that he'd be on the other side of the glass with my father and then he left to fetch him. 

I started thinking about how I was going to handle seeing him again. What if seeing him sets of the flashbacks and bad dreams? I was just getting control of them and I wasn't thinking about having them again anytime soon. I sighed and leaned my elbows against the counter in front of me and rested my head on my folded hands. Samuel and Lisa told me that they would be praying for me in their car outside -- let's just hope their God can help me calm down right now. My head shot up when I heard a squeak of a door on the other side of the glass. I looked up and saw the policeman, Marti, and my father entering the room. My father looked awful, but better than before. He wasn't clean shaven like always and he was wearing an orange prisoner uniform. My father had his head hung low, he wasn't making eye contact with me. I frowned, but took in a breath as he got closer until he finally sat down. 

I stared at him, searching his appearance, but when he looked up I found myself looking into the familiar eyes of the one I feared the most. I gulped and looked down, not being able to handle the gaze he was sending me. "Afternoon son, it's nice to see you again." he said quietly. I took deep breaths. "What do you want to talk about?" I asked him impatiently. He nodded and looked at his hands. "Did you turn me in?" he asked. I shook my head. "No, I was too busy dying. I don't know who turned you in." I said. He nodded. "I'm sorry about everything, Carson." he said, with a small smile. "Would you forgive me?" he asked. I scoffed. "You think that a simple apology will solve this? Well, it won't. Don't ask me for anything, ever!" I yelled at him. Marti warned me to keep my voice down and to calm down. I nodded and did as I was told. 

My father now had his angry look back on, the look that meant that if the glass weren't here -- I'd be dead by now. The look was familiar. "Fine, just don't expect me to be too nice to you on the day of trial." he said. I didn't say a word in reply, instead just stared at my hands. "See you then -- son." he said then got up and left with Marti. I sat there for a while, just trying to process my feelings toward him. He apologised and asked for forgiveness -- did he honestly think I was going to grant him that? I sighed and got up after a while. I walked out of the room and back into the lobby. "Thanks Marti." I said and walked away. He nodded and went back to working on the computer. I walked outside of the police department and saw Samuel and Lisa sitting on the hood of their car. I smiled and walked towards them. 

"Hey, how'd it go?" Lisa asked me. I shrugged. "It was okay, a bit frustrating, but not as bad as I thought it would be." I said. Samuel smiled at me. "But then why do you look so torn up?" he asked me. I sighed. "He apologised and asked for forgiveness." I said. "And I told him off." Lisa gave me a sad smile. "Carson, by forgiving him you're setting yourself free from all of this pain." she said. I shook my head. "He doesn't deserve forgiveness." I said. "Can we go now?" I asked. They both nodded and jumped off the hood and we all piled into the car. 

~&~

"So are you returning to work or not?" Joe asked over the line. I sighed. "I'm not sure. I'm having second thoughts. A lot has changed for me at the moment and that might alter the situation at work." I said and picked up the pillow on the ground that Luke knocked over on the way to bed. "Okay, but think about it. Besides, the restaurant isn't the same without you.  People are asking for you all the time." he said. I smiled. "It feels good to know that I was wanted." I chuckled. "You were," he said. I looked up at the clock on the side of the wall. It read 4:30. "Hey look, I got to go." I said and started walking up the stairs. "Okay, get a good night's rest. Bye." he said. I nodded. "Cheers." I said and hung up. I continued walking up the stairs until I got to the top. 

I walked past Samuel and Lisa's room, then past Rachel's and then Kyle's until I finally reached mine. I opened my door and walked into my room. I flopped onto my bed and closed my eyes. 

Who needs pyjamas anyway?

I laid there for a while, trying to fall asleep, but it felt impossible. "Ugh," I grumbled and sat up. "Why can't I sleep?" I asked myself quietly and rubbed my face with my hands. "Legend says when you can't sleep at night, it's because you're awake in someone else's dream." a voice said from the doorway. My eyes shot to the doorway and I saw Kyle standing there with his arms crossed and a smirk playing on his lips. I chuckled. "I wish they'd stop dreaming about me then." He laughed and walked into my room. He sat down next to me and sighed. I rubbed my eyes again to wipe the sleepiness out of them. "I'm so tired, but I can't seem to sleep." I said. He nodded. "Have you always had trouble sleeping or is it a recent development?" he asked me. I shook my head. "Recent. After my father starting acting weirdly, I couldn't sleep because I was too scared he'd come in the night as well, which he did." I said and looked at him. He looked at me with pain; he was obviously feeling sorry for me. I shook my head. "Please don't look at me like that. It makes me feel weaker than I already am." I said and sighed. 

Kyle chuckled. "You're not weak, in fact you're the opposite. You're the strongest person I know." he said. I smiled. "Thanks buddy, but I doubt everything." I said. He smirked. "You don't doubt Rachel and I, do you?" he asked. I shook my head. "I said I doubted everything, not everyone." I said. He laughed. "Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean. I know you like her." he said. I shook my head smiling. He gasped. "You do like her?" he asked, it was more of a statement really. "Don't tell her though." I said quietly. He laughed. "Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me." he said. I nodded. "I'm not allowed to date her, am I?" I asked. He looked at me weirdly then shook his head. "It really depends on my father. You see, we believe that if you date someone who isn't a believer, you won't be whole, because if you believe in something -- you're going to want your partner to believe in it too, right?" he asked. I turned to him. 

"So I can date Rachel?" I asked excited, but quickly covered it up with a smooth smirk and rubbed the back of my neck. "I mean, so she can be my girlfriend?" I asked again. He looked at me with a smile on his face. "Are you open to Christ?" he asked me with a huge grin. I squinted at him. "Open to Him? What do you mean?" I asked confused. He nodded. "I mean, are you willing to give your life to the Lord, to become a Christian?" he asked. I looked at him, still unsure of what he was asking. "Why do I need to do this to date Rachel?" I asked, slightly frustrated. He looked at me and shook his head, with a sad smile. "You don't have to do this to date her. That's up to my dad, but do you think God cares about you?" he asked. I shrugged. "Well, the big guy in the sky didn't seem to care about me two months ago, why would He care for me now?" I asked, crossing my arms. Kyle sighed. 

We were now sitting against the headboard, with our backs leaning against it. "You should ask my father about that too. He is a pastor after all. He has a lot of answers." he said. I nodded. "Yeah okay." I said. He smiled. "You know, it might seem rude of me to to say this about Rachel, but I've never met someone who has ever liked her before." he said. I laughed, breaking all the previous tension between us. "Well yeah, make sure she didn't hear you say that." I said. He smiled. "What do you like about her anyway? She's my sister, so to me she's disgusting." he asked and pulled a weird face. I laughed so hard it felt like my head was going to explode. He just looked at me like I was mad. "I'm serious." he said. I nodded. "Yeah I know. Um, I guess  she's pretty and I like how she acts around your family and the way she is with kids." I said. He chuckled. "Yeah, she's good with kids because she still is one." he said. I shook my head. "You really have this sibling rivalry down to a T, don't you Kyle?" I asked him. He nodded with a mischievous grin. "Down to a science," he added. I chuckled. 

"Anyway, I'm glad to know that there is a guy out there who thinks my sister is a potential love interest." he said. I laughed, again. We seem to be doing a lot of that. "Since when did you speak like that?" I asked. He looked at me, confused. "What do you mean, 'speak like that?' How am I speaking?" he asked. I chuckled and shook my head. "Nothing, you just usually use slang words and such." I said. He looked at me as if I had slapped him through the face. "That hurts. You think I can't speak proper English!" he exclaimed. I laughed. "You can speak English? I never knew." I said sarcastically. He smiled at me. "Well I ain't speaking Korean, buddy." he said, getting up and walking toward the door. "Where are you going?" I asked him, raising my hands in protest. He smirked. "I'm going to go speak to Rachel and my mother. Maybe they'll understand my challenging language that you cannot seem to tolerate." he said in a 'I-know-everything' kind of tone. I rolled my eyes and looked away as I heard his footsteps fade away. 

~&~

I was lying on the couch downstairs. It was six 'o clock. It was usually at this time when Adam and Ethan would pitch up at my place and we'd play video games until ten 'o clock, when we'd leave for the Friday-Night-Party-Session, as they called it. But that was before the time of alcohol, violence and secrets. A shiver ran down my spine just thinking about the months before this present moment. Things were better now. I had a family that cared about me.  I had food and a roof over my head. I had two new, true friends and someone who made my life a little brighter. Things were a lot better. 

"Carson?" I heard a voice say from the stairs. I looked up and saw Rachel standing in the doorway of the staircase. I smiled. "Hey, what's up?" I asked, sitting up. She smiled. "Um, I'm just getting ready for youth tonight. You coming?" she asked me. I squinted at her. "Youth? You've never gone to youth before?" I asked her, more like demanding an answer. She nodded her head. "The guy who runs it was away at a funeral last week so he wasn't available so there wasn't any youth and before that, my father thought it would be better if we stayed here to get to know you. Now that we do, we'd love you to join us. It's at our church. It's really cool and fun, you should come?" she offered. I shook my head. "I don't know. I've never been to one before. I don't know if it's my thing." I said. She smiled. "It'll be fine. There are kids from our school as well. Emily and Eli go there, you know? The twins from English class and they're pretty cool too." she said, but then stopped and placed her hand over her mouth as her eyes widened. I laughed. 

"I'm so sorry, sometimes I rant a little." she said quickly. I laughed even more. "It's okay. Really, it's fine. It's kind of cute." I said with a slight smirk. She blushed pink and smiled. "I take it you're coming?" she asked. I thought about it for a moment then nodded my head. "Okay, I'll come." I said, getting up. She jumped in excitement, literally, and ran toward me. "Come on then, you need to get ready. It starts in half an hour." she said. I looked at her, confused. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I asked her. She laughed. "Nothing, if you want to freeze to death." she said and dragged me up the staircase and into my room. "Grab a hoodie, you look good in those." she said before she could stop herself. I smiled at her as she blushed. "Thanks, Rachel." I said and grabbed my favourite navy blue hoodie. She nodded and jogged out of my room. I followed her out to the car. Kyle was already in the car, waiting in the driver's seat. "I didn't know Carson was coming with us?" he said with a smile. He high-fived me. I nodded. "I didn't know you could drive so we're even." I said. He laughed and nodded. 

"Touche, now get in before I leave you here, Henderson." he said and laughed. "Shotgun!" Rachel yelled and hopped into the passenger seat. I pouted and got into the backseat. "No fair." I said, and crossed my arms like a 4-year-old. Kyle laughed. "And you two call me immature?" he asked while he started the car. We all laughed and Kyle pulled out of the driveway. As we pulled into the street, a thought came to mind. First church, now youth. Does this make me a Christian? Will doing this and going with them to their religious events make Rachel want to date me? I looked out of the window and sighed. Maybe or maybe not, we'll just have to see.