One Year and Eight Months Later
August 13th, 2004
Sidney's POV

The young girl grumbled sleepily as she slowly pried her eyes open, not really wanting to get out of bed as the mattress was way too comfortable. She sighed as she looked up at the ceiling, examining the glow in the dark stars stuck up there and not glowing anymore due to the early morning sunlight. She then brushed a strand of her mid-length brown hair out of her face before sitting up in the bed, yawning tiredly as she stretched a little bit.

A now eleven-year-old Sidney Johnson looked all around her bedroom, taking in the shelf standing next to her walk-in closet that was filled to the brim with novels and comic books as well as posters of bands such as Metallica, The Cure, and many others. She smiled at the sight since she felt right at home, despite not being in her parents' home anymore; that was something that made her somewhat happy, at least.

She had been living in her older half-sister's apartment for six months now and she was quite content with living there... after Christina's furious outbursts and screaming from her nightmares had slowly begun to cease over time. She was doing significantly better than she had been over a year prior to today, which was something that comforted the young girl as all she wanted was for her to be happy.

Besides, Sidney felt much more free living with Christina, as the older woman felt the need to mostly allow her to do whatever the hell she wanted... as long as it wasn't irresponsible or illegal, of course. The two sisters also got along exceptionally well despite the constant bickering that would occur between them from time to time, but who could blame them? They were siblings, after all, and they only ever got into 'fights' over the dumbest shit, such as where Christina's car keys were.

Overall, the pre-teen found her living experience with her older sister to be fun and peaceful for the most part.

Sidney then stood up, slipped her hearing aid on her left ear and made all sound come back to her, and was just about to walk towards the closet to pick out her outfit for the day – it was her first day of sixth grade – but she decided to look at the alarm clock on her nightstand.

It was 7:08 A.M.

"Fuck!" she muttered as she panicked slightly, barreling out of her room just as the sound of a loud blaring sound finally registered in her ears.

Sidney frantically jogged down the hallway of the apartment, cursing to herself for not setting her alarm the night before. Once she reached the room at the very end of the hallway, she began to quickly rap on the door as loudly as she could with the intention of waking up the person inside.

_____

Christina's POV

"Chris, wake up!" came Sidney's voice from the other side of the bedroom door, which slightly startled the adult woman out of her deep and pleasant slumber.

"Huh...?" she groaned tiredly, rubbing her eyes and tempting herself to fall back asleep.

"Your alarm's going off!" Sidney shouted a little louder, which made the brunette woman finally open her blue eyes as her little sister kept knocking on the door to wake her up.

The excruciating sound of her loud ass alarm finally made her sit up in her bed and look over at the clock. Once she saw what time it was, she panicked and slammed her hand down on the button to silence it until the next morning. "Damn it!" she cried out and practically leapt out of bed. "I'm up, I'm up!" she called towards Sidney as she ran towards her closet to pick out an outfit, her formally high-pitched voice sounding a lot lower and less feminine than before. She guessed it was something that had physically changed about her due to the trauma that had occurred almost two years ago.

"Nice going, sis!" Sidney replied sarcastically, her voice slightly muffled from the barrier of the door.

"Just get ready for school, I'll be out there in a few minutes," the woman said in an irritated voice, rolling her eyes playfully as she dug through her closet.

A now twenty-one-year-old Christina Johnson picked out the best outfit she could find in her half-asleep state and swiftly changed out of her tank top and night shorts, slipping on her black work jumpsuit. She then dashed over to her vanity and grabbed her brush, combing through her brown hair as quickly as she could without yanking at the strands, muttering "Fuck, fuck, fuck" every five seconds as she did so.

After about two minutes of brushing her hair, she then put on the lightest amount of concealer and mascara, feeling as satisfied with her look as she possibly could. She then walked over to the cordless telephone on her nightstand and picked it up, dialing a specific number before putting the device to her ear. "Come on, pick up," she grumbled as she ran a manicured hand through her hair.

"Daily Bugle, Betty Brant speaking," came a female voice on the other end.

"Hey, Betty," Christina greeted sheepishly with a slight chuckle. "Can you tell Jonah that I'm going to definitely be late...? I may or may not have overslept."

Betty sighed on the other end but not even she could suppress a laugh at what Christina had said. "Of course, Chris," she replied with a smile in her voice. "I'll let him know. You better be lucky that he's been lenient with you."

"Yeah, I know," Christina said as she put the phone on speaker mode, beginning to tie her short hair up into a loose bun. "Just tell him that I'll be there in about half an hour. I gotta make Sidney breakfast and get her to her first day of school. I'm sorry for having to make the day even more stressful for you guys."

"Don't apologize, Chris," Betty responded kindly. "Just do whatever you need to do and get Sidney to school and then come in. Jameson seems in an alright mood, so you should be safe."

"Thanks, Betty," Christina mumbled gratefully. "I'll be in soon."

"See you later."

Christina hung up the phone before going back to the vanity to check her appearance one more time and make sure she looked truly ready for the eight hour shift awaiting her. She seemed to look pretty okay, which was absolutely fine with her. After a few seconds of examining how she looked, she glanced over towards a picture that she had sitting in front of the mirror and noticed that the flames in the candles on either side of it had burned out the night before, which made her frown slightly.

I can fix that when I come back home later, she thought, which made her smile.

"Let's pray I don't get fired, Mom," she mumbled to herself as she chuckled, staring at the photo of her nine-year-old self and her long since deceased mother, Margaret, after she had won that soccer game.

_____

Five minutes later, after brushing and flossing her teeth in the bathroom and taking an antidepressant, Christina walked towards the kitchen and was just about to make the move of grabbing a skillet when a certain smell hit her nostrils and surprised her.

"Don't worry, I got it already, sis," Sidney said as she stood in front of the stove, moving the spatula around the skillet as she cooked a few eggs for her and Christina. "By the way, we're out of pancakes."

"Oh, damn it, I forgot to buy some batter yesterday," the brunette mumbled under her breath as she walked over to the coffeemaker across the room from her. She didn't fail to take in how Sidney was already completely dressed for school, clad in a blue flannel shirt and blue jeans with a few holes in them, and a pair of Converse to top it all off.

Christina had often noticed how non-girly Sidney really was, which was something that shocked her sometimes. But she never really minded, since it brought out a cool side of her little sister despite her shyness and it allowed for the two of them to get along much better. Besides, she loved buying Sidney things like comic books and CDs for her favorite Metal and Rock & Roll bands, which were also things she generally liked and they bonded over that.

The only main difference between them was that Christina was way girlier than Sidney was, but neither of them seemed to care.

"You know, I could have cooked for you," the brunette pointed out, frowning ever so slightly. "You didn't have to do all of that for me."

"Well, someone decided to be late for work so I'm deciding to help you," Sidney fired back with a smug smile as she scraped the finished scrambled eggs off of the skillet and onto a serving plate. "I'll wash the dishes when I get home from school."

Christina was about to protest but she knew that Sidney wouldn't allow that for even a second, so she finally relented and nodded, smiling softly. "Thank you," she said timidly. "But only if I get to do them next time."

"You have a deal," Sidney said. "Just don't oversleep again."

Christina giggled. "I'll try not to," she retorted as she started making her regular coffee, which she often drank without creamer and sugar. She liked to say that it helped wake her up more without all of the sweetness in her blood. Sidney liked to say that what she was talking about was complete bullshit.

"Did you do your laundry last night like I asked you to?" she added in a question, giving Sidney a pointed look.

"Did it, folded the clothes, and hung them up," Sidney said confidently, grinning over at Christina as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.

"That's my kiddo," Christina said proudly as she playfully ruffled her little sister's hair.

Sidney giggled as she swatted Christina's hand away. "Hey, don't mess my hair up, dumbass!" she jokingly scolded, and the two couldn't stop laughing.

After finishing the process of making her coffee, Christina went over to her sink and ran a bit of cold water into the drink in order to cool it down a little bit. She then set the mug on the kitchen table and got her own plate to put the eggs on, taking a brief look at the remodeled wall next to the kitchen. It had been fixed two weeks after that night and she hated to admit that it looked way better than it did last time. At least there were regular windows now as opposed to floor-to-ceiling ones.

A brief flashback of the night of November 28th nearly two years ago made her heart skip a slight beat, but Christina shook it away and continued to fix her plate before going to sit at the table with Sidney, who was already eating her own eggs.

"Don't forget, we have that birthday party to prepare tonight at May's," Christina said to Sidney after swallowing a bit of her food.

"Yeah, I know," Sidney said with a huge smirk planted on her face.

"What?" Christina mumbled blankly as she became confused.

"Nothin'," the pre-teen girl said casually as she took another bite of her eggs. "It's just... I'm sure you can't wait to see your loverboy..."

Christina's eyes widened as she shook her head, pointing a finger at her little sister. "Sid, you promised you wouldn't bring that up today," she said in a pleading tone.

"I know," Sidney said with a soft laugh. "That's the only time I'll bring it up, I promise."

"Thank you," the older woman said with a sigh before going back to her food.

But she, unfortunately, didn't miss the shit-eating grin on Sidney's face as she used her hands to form a sentence in sign language by using her right fist and transforming it to two crossed fingers. She then pointed at Christina before placing her index finger against her temple:

Or so you think.

"Sidney, I swear you better not bring that up at the party!" Christina genuinely scolded her as her face began to turn beet red.

"Okay, Jesus, fine, sis!" Sidney exclaimed as she held up her hands in surrender. "But we both know it's true. You need to tell him how you feel at some point."

Christina hesitated to answer that reply but, after blushing even more at the thought of the person Sidney had brought up, she slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, I know..." she murmured shyly as she finished eating her breakfast.

After saying this, she brought up her left arm so she could look at the silver watch that once belonged to her mother, seeing that it was almost 7:30. "Okay, finish up and I'll drop you off at school," she said as she picked up her plate and coffee mug so she could take them to the sink.

"How much time do I have?" Sidney asked in a somewhat nervous voice, anxious about her first day of sixth grade.

"Five minutes, that's all you have," she replied as she yawned ever so slightly, covering her mouth as she did so.

"You don't have any shoes on," Sidney pointed out playfully as she took another bite.

Christina froze in place after putting the dishes in the sink, looking down towards the floor; and, sure enough, her feet were completely bare and somewhat freezing. She rolled her eyes into the back of her head as she mumbled, "Shit," running back to her bedroom to grab her black slip-on shoes.

"You're losing it!" Sidney shouted out to her older sister with hysterical laughter.

"I know, I know, I'm losing it big time!" Christina yelled back as she quickly put on her shoes.

_____

After Sidney finished her breakfast and grabbed her purple backpack, she and Christina walked out of the front door of their apartment before taking the elevator down to the first floor. The young adult greeted a few of her neighbors in the lobby before speed walking out of the large double doors and walking towards the nearby parking lot with the pre-teen girl by her side.

Around a minute later, they were both sitting in Christina's yellow Volkswagen and were buckling their seatbelts as the brunette turned on the ignition and blasted the AC since it was stiflingly hot in the vehicle. She then pressed a button to start the radio and she switched through several channels, not really finding anything satisfying to listen to as she groaned with annoyance. "Nothing good, I guess," she mumbled.

"Wait, wait, stop there!" Sidney said as she put her hand on the radio, halting Christina's movements. "I love this song." She then turned the radio up as Jack & Jim's Midnight Monsters Hop softly blared through the speakers and filled the car with its jolly tunes.

Christina grinned with amusement as she looked at her sister. "Isn't this song more suited for Halloween?" she asked out of slight confusion.

"Yeah, but I think it fits well for any time of year... to me," Sidney said semi-timidly.

Christina chuckled a little before shrugging and she began to drive away from the apartment complex, humming along to the song as Sidney just stared out the passenger window as she bobbed her head a little bit.

The two sat in comfortable silence for the full seven minute drive to the school, which was just fine with them. In fact, they didn't want it to end, especially as they pulled up to the front of Midtown Middle School. Christina felt a little glad that she didn't have any university classes today but she felt bad for her little sister for having to step into a new school for the first time. So she decided to give her a brief pep talk.

"Hey, listen, Sid," she began. "Try not to let anyone bother you, okay? The ones that pick on others for their fashion, looks, or even their intelligence are assholes, to be honest. I never really got bullied in school but, if anyone decides to mess with you, tell me and I'll kick their butts for you."

Sidney chuckled as she shook her head jokingly. "I don't think you'll have anything to worry about, Chris," she said shyly. "I actually have a few close friends to keep me safe."

Christina smiled at those words as she patted Sidney's shoulder. "Well, good," she murmured. "Now, you go in there and have a fantastic first day. You can tell me all about it when I get home from work."

Sidney nodded this time as she smiled back at her older sister. "Thanks, Chris," she said as she leaned forward and gave her an affectionate hug to express her gratitude, which Christina returned without hesitation.

But, not wanting the hug to be too long, the older sister of the two reluctantly pulled away. "Okay, don't make me any more late for work," she said coyly as she giggled, which also made Sidney laugh.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," she replied tauntingly. "See you later. Love you, sis." She then got out of the car and shut the door before waving goodbye to Christina.

"Love you, too, kid," Christina said a little more quietly as she stared after Sidney, just making sure that she got into the school safely.

Once she was assured that her little sister would be just fine, Christina checked her watch and then drove away, not wanting to be any later to work than she already was.

A/N: so there we are! the first chapter of Part Two and the fourth or fifth chapter of this week!

thoughts on part two thus far, despite there only being one chapter so far?

what do you think of sidney's character? do you like her dynamic with christina?

do you think christina is doing pretty well considering what happened in Part One?

predictions for next chapter?

be looking forward to the next chapter!

-denbroughswife