A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys!

Daniel woke up that morning when he felt a light tugging on his shirt sleeve. He cracked an eye open and rolled over only to discover his little sister pulling on his shirt sleeve. He smiled at her as he squinted at the sunlight coming in through his windows. "What is it, Sara?" he asked, looking down at his little sister who held Mr. Snucckums tightly in her arms.

"Mommy's not awake yet and we have to go to school," she whispered. Daniel couldn't help but smile- his little sister always got up every morning on her own to get ready for school. Their mother usually fixed their lunches as they got ready so when they finished they could grab their lunches and leave, but today their mother was not awake yet. Daniel suspected that she was still laying in the lounge chair near the front door.

"Okay," he whispered. "I guess we'll just have to have school lunches today," he told her. He watched as his sister's little face crinkled in a frown.

"Those are gross," she whispered.

"I know," he said. "But we're going to have to eat them today, okay?"

Sara sighed, looking down at the floor. "Okay..."

"Okay," he said. "Go ahead and get dressed and we can go to school after we finish getting ready." Sara nodded and walked out of his room holding Mr. Snucckums. She walked down the hallway and closed the door to her room softly. Daniel waited until she got into her room to get dressed himself. Walking over to his dresser, he smoothed out his hair with one hand as another opened the drawer. He pulled out a pair of jeans and t-shirt and threw them on his bed as he started his hunt for matching socks.

Sighing, he pulled out a blue sock and a red sock. They would have to do. He walked over to his bed and sat down, lifting his leg up and slipping one of the socks on his foot. He put his other sock on and threw the shirt he slept in the night before off and put on the wrinkled but clean yellow shirt. He pulled it over his head and smoothed out the edges as best he could. When he was about to put his jeans on, he looked up to see his little sister standing in the doorway of his bedroom, her bottom lip quivering.

"What is it, Sara?" he asked quietly. He watched as she walked over to him slowly, holding Mr. Snucckums. She lifted her shirt sleeve and showed him her arm. The black bruises from the night before made by their father had appeared over the night. They were in perfect rings on her arms just below her shoulders, and she looked up at him with tear-stained eyes. "Hey.." he told her. "It's okay," he whispered. "It's okay."

"Why did he do it?" she whispered.

"Sara...I told you last night," he said quietly, lifting her onto his lap. "He didn't mean it, he wasn't himself. Sara just looked up at him as a tear ran down her cheek. He quickly wiped it away. "Go finish getting ready," he told her. "...Put on a long-sleeved shirt." She nodded slowly and got out of his lap, walking back to her room. She closed the door and he could hear her rummaging through her drawers again. Daniel sighed- he felt terrible that his father had done that to his little sister, but...he couldn't let anyone at school see...it would raise too many questions.

He quickly put on a clean pair of jeans and looked around for his sneakers. Finding them near the door, he grabbed them and sat on the floor, tying them onto his feet. Just as he was tying the first sneaker, his sister's door opened and she walked out. Her hair was brushed and she was dressed, shoes and all. She stopped in his doorway and he smiled up at her. "I don't know how you do it, Sis," he said. "But you always get ready before me." Sara smiled a little as she watched him tie his sneakers and then get up off the floor, grabbing his backpack. "Ready?" he asked. Sara nodded, holding up her backpack and they walked down the hallway into the living room.

They both paused when they saw their mother. She was now lying on the floor on her back, she looked like a beached whale. The bottle from the night before was now empty and lying on the floor next to her. She was sound asleep and didn't stir even as they walked near her to get to the door.

"Is Mommy okay?" Sara asked.

Daniel nodded slowly. "She's okay, Sara, let's go," he told her, taking her hand and leading her out the door. He slowly closed the door behind them and they walked down the two steps onto the walkway of their house. They turned and cut across the grass to their right and walked onto the sidewalk. Daniel held onto Sara's hand tightly as they walked down the sidewalk on their way to school.

Daniel looked down both sides of the street and they crossed it when he saw that both sides were clear of any cars. They walked onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street and continued walking. "Stay next to me," Daniel told her. "Don't go out in the road."

"I know," Sara said. "You tell me all the time."

Daniel smiled. "It's just because I worry about you."

Sara smiled up at him. "I know!"

Daniel smiled, squeezing her hand tightly as they rounded a corner. Soon, their school was in sight and they once again walked across the street once the coast was clear. Sara clung to Daniel's arm now, squeezing it as tightly as her little muscles could. She liked school, but she didn't like the other kids. They scared her. Daniel didn't really know why, he had good friends, but his little sister didn't have friends and she didn't like being around a large group of other kids. It seemed as though the only other kid she could trust was her own brother.

"Sara, I have to go to class now," he told her as they passed a group of girls who were playing jump-rope. Daniel pointed to them. "Why don't you go join them? They look like they're having a good time."

Sara just looked up at him, nodding slowly as she gradually let go of his arm. He felt her grip loosening until she finally had both of her arms wrapped around herself, looking down at her feet. Daniel kneeled down in front of her, putting both hands on her shoulders. "Hey.." he said quietly. "I'll see you later, okay?" he asked. Sara just nodded and walked off, still looking down at the ground. Daniel sighed, walking off to his classroom and turned back around to the group of girls playing jump-rope. Sara wasn't there, and when he turned his head to the right he saw her sitting on a bench all alone. He sighed, turning back to where his classroom was.

He cared about his little sister, that was for sure, but he knew that he couldn't be with her all the time, especially at school. But he knew how hard it was for her at school- the academics were no problem, but she hated having to play sports. Also, she got picked on a lot by the other kids- maybe that's why she was scared of the other students, Daniel thought. The other kids didn't seem to like Sara, but that only confused Daniel because he couldn't see who wouldn't like his little sister.

"Sidle!" Daniel blinked when he heard the familiar voice of his best friend. He turned around and saw him running up to him. "Hey!" the boy yelled, running to his side. He had black hair and baby blue eyes. He was only a little shorter than Daniel, and maybe only weighed a few more pounds. "How goes it?"

Daniel shrugged. "Okay, I guess..."

"You don't look like everything's okay," he said. "What's going on?"

Daniel sighed. "I'm just a little worried about Sara.."

"Your sister?" he asked. "Eh, don't worry too much about the little one, I'm sure she'll be okay."

"Gee, thanks Bobby.." Daniel muttered.

"No problem, pal!" Bobbby said, patting him on the back. "Now let's get to class before the old lady gets mad," he said, running ahead of him to their classroom. Sighing deeply, Daniel followed behind him and opened the door, walking inside. Daniel took a seat at his desk and lowered his head, getting ready to start the school day.

When Sara and Daniel got home that day, they both walked through the door only to discover their mother still out cold on the floor. Daniel closed the door behind them and them kneeled down beside her, nudging her gently. "Mom..." he said. She didn't budge, so he nudged her harder. "Mom," he said louder. Nothing. He sighed, finally giving up and walking into the kitchen with Sara.

"Is Daddy coming home tonight?" Sara asked quietly.

Daniel sighed. "I don't know Sara, I just don't know." He looked down at his sister who was now once again looking down at her feet. "Go ahead and go to your room and finish up your homework," he told her. She just nodded and walked off to her room to finish the little homework she had left. Daniel sighed, opening the refridgerator and taking out the carton of orange juice. He poured himself a glass and quickly gulped it down before walking down the hallway to his own room, closing the door and collapsing on his bed, wondering if their father really was going to come home that night.