Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee. Sorry guys!
A/N: This is the next chapter. Still dealing with young Wevid, but not as young as the prologue. Now we start getting into slightly sadder territory, but not full on angst yet. That will come later and hopefully won't last forever, still not sure yet on that though. Hope you enjoy and as always, please review. Next chapter is written and ready for posting, but I want some feedback before you get it, okay guys?
Chapter 1 : Compassion
"Wes, David is here honey!" Mrs. Kim called from downstairs. The now eight year old immediately perked up from where he sat on his bed, impeccably dressed in his black suit, and raced downstairs to meet his friend. "Wesley, why don't you and David stay in your room this afternoon? Daddy and I are going to be busy down here with all these boring old farts," Maria said to her son. "And change out of that suit, I know you hate having to wear it." While the smile spread across her lips it didn't reach her eyes which were red and puffy, tear tracks staining her cheeks.
"Okay Mom, thanks," he said, giving her a hug because he always hated it when his mother cried.
"I'm really sorry to hear about your dad Mrs. Kim," David said and she smiled kindly at him, wiping her eyes before patting him on the back.
"Thank you very much David. Now you boys run along and have fun. I'll give a shout when dinner's ready. But boys, please try not to be too loud."
Both nodded at her before they ran upstairs to Wes's room, David closing the door softly behind them. "How are you holding up? The nine year old asked, walking over to sit next to Wes on the bed.
"I'm okay," the lighter skinned boy said, shrugging his shoulders as his feet kicked over the edge of the mattress. "But I've never had anyone die in my family before, so I don't know if this is normal or not."
David remembered being that way when his Aunt Chloe had passed away the year before. It hadn't really hit him all that much at first, not until his birthday and he was reminded that his favorite aunt wouldn't be there that year or any other year. "Were you two close?" he asked, watching his best friend carefully.
Another shrug. "He and grandma don't really live around here so I didn't get to see him a ton, but when they came to visit we would hang out a lot I guess. He would take me fishing, or to a football game. Last year he even took me to Columbus to see Aladdin on ice because he knew it was my favorite. He bought me a stuffed Abu too," Wes said, looking back to his pillow where the stuffed monkey sat proudly and the boy couldn't help but smile. "I kind of can't believe that I'm never going to see him again, you know?"
Oh, David knew. He had sat on the stairs for hours, waiting for Aunt Chloe to come and join the party. It wasn't until his mother came and found him, took him into her arms holding him in her lap, and explained in a soft but tearful voice that she couldn't make it that David understood she wasn't coming back.
Reaching for the pillow, David grabbed the stuffed monkey. Regarding it carefully for a minute he handed it to Wes. "You know, just because he's not here anymore doesn't mean that he left," he said softly while Wes hugged the little Abut tightly. "I think he bought that for you so that you remember that he's always close by, watching over you."
Wes let out a tearful chuckle as he looked up at his best friend. "You're really profound for a nine year old, you know that right?"
"Way to use the summer vocabulary for Mrs. Thompson! Bonus points for Mr. Kim!" David exclaimed, getting a laugh out of Wes. "Now, how would you like to pop in some Aladdin and you tell me more about your grandpa?"
He had to think about that for a minute. "You sing Aladdin and I sing Jasmine?"
"I'll sing Aladdin AND Jafar," David said causing Wes to clap happily.
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Maria Kim had called for the two boys twice to get cleaned up for dinner, but she hadn't gotten an answer either time. That was to expected with these two boys, they would get up to something and not hear anything outside of the room. But on all of those occasions she would hear them carrying on as though there was no such thing tomorrow and she hadn't heard a sound from upstairs in almost two hours.
The closed door alarmed her when she went to investigate. Her son never closed his door. "Wesley? David? Dinner's ready you two," she said softly, knocking before opening the door. The television set was still on, and she could see Aladdin trying to revive an unconscious Jasmine after almost suffocating in her hourglass prison. It seemed as though the two young singers had dozed off while talking because both were lying on the bed, David's head resting on his arm as though he had been propping his head up and Wes curled in a ball on his side as they faced each other. As Maria approached them carefully she saw the tear tracks on her son's cheeks that were illuminated by the light from the television and recognized a familiar monkey clutched tightly to his chest.
Smiling fondly, tears once again springing to her eyes, she turned off the TV, greatly reducing the light in the room. She stepped carefully across the floor to reach the bed and pulled her son's comforter up over the two boys. Her fingers ran soothingly through Wes's hair, causing him to shift and eliciting a whimper from him. "Hush Wesley, just sleep my angel," she whispered as softly into the silence as she could before laying a kiss upon his forehead. Almost immediately he seemed to settle and she made to leave the room before stopping, as though she had forgotten something. Ever so carefully she moved back to the bed and leant over to kiss David on the forehead too. "Thank you," she whispered and he seemed to smile in his sleep and reach towards Wes. Not wanting to ruin the moment, Maria stepped out without waking the boys.
Once out in the hall she reached for the nearest handset and dialed the familiar phone number. "Hello, Annabeth? It's Maria…No! No, David is being a perfect little angel…Yes, I think he's really helping Wesley right now which is why I called. I was wondering if it would be okay if David stayed the night…"
