Kenny's POV

Argh… back home after work. I like clubbing and all but a job's a job. Walking in I see someone on the couch, I guess Charlie and Sue are staying the night. As I walk pass the living room, I hear Charlie stir in her sleep. She shifts uncomfortably and her body seems to be curling inwards. I walk over to her, I know the signs of a nightmare when I see one.

"Hey, Charlie." I said softly as I gently shake her shoulder, she groans but still doesn't wake up.

"Hey, kid." I try waking her again. "Relax it's just a dream."

Her eyes slowly open as her pupils start to focus, she asks in a groggily voice, "…Who's there?"

"It's me, Kenny."

"Kenny?" She rubs her eyes as her voice starts to clear up. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Just got back from Styx, lots of work to do."

She nods to acknowledge that she heard me but then sits in silence, I wonder if it's got to do with that dream…

"Bad dream?" I ask.

"How can you tell?"

"Because my sister acted the same way you did when she gets nightmares."

Karen… Man, I miss her so much. Focus, Kenny. You're helping Charlie now. I rub my hand that on her shoulder in a comforting manner, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't wanna."

Charlie opens her mouth but stops herself from talking when we hear Sue stirring in the armchair next to us.

"Let's talk outside." I nod in response, she walks out to the patio with the blanket she was using draped over her shoulders. I go to the kitchen to prepare 2 mugs of instant hot chocolate, I figured she'd want something warm to help with the autumn chills and to help her sleep better. She accepts the mug with a smile.

Charlie takes a sip and finally sighs after a long silence, "…I dreamt that I was home again…"

"Charlie…" I understand immediately, some people wouldn't understand that you don't just leave everything behind even if you could get away from it.

"It was horrible, a broken home." She snaps her eyes shut at the thought, groaning at the memories. "No peace, no acceptance, no future."

"I can kinda relate, for a while that was my life in South Park."

"Kyle told me a bit about the times you guys had there."

"I guess he didn't mention much about me."

"Other than 'don't be surprised if you see his corpse in the front yard'? No."

"Well, he's not one for revealing backstories." I chuckle.

I take a deep breath before I start. "I'll start from the beginning, I grew up in the poorest family in South Park, and when I say poorest I mean poorest. We had little to nothing more than a rusty hole-infested roof over our heads, my family was pretty fucked up. Parents' always drinking, my brother's hardly home and I had to do everything I could to protect my little sister and make her happy."

"Sounds like she means a lot to you." She comments.

"Karen is the sweetest little girl you'll ever meet." I sigh longingly at the memory of my baby sister. "She's pretty shy but she has this wide eyed innocence that just makes you want to keep her safe. She was one of the reasons I never tried to left South Park until she got away from my family, I managed to get her a small apartment, it's a tight squeeze and we both have to pay for it but I'm glad that she's free from them. We still talk to each other but I think she still misses her guardian angel."

"Well, you can tell her that her guardian angel's still doing a great job. I literally won't be alive if it weren't for you guys."

"No problem."

We finish our hot drinks, but Charlie seems reluctant to go back in.

"Hey, Kenny. Stay with me for a bit. I don't wanna go back to sleep yet."

"Sure." I take our mugs back put them to a side. "How are you feeling now?"

"About the dream? A bit shaken but I'll live."

"I meant about the whole situation."

"Oh." She fiddles her fingers a little. "Nervous, but relieved. It's nice to feel safe."

"Well don't be afraid to come to us for help. Kyle's not the only one you can turn to, Tweek may be a bit twitchy but he's nice and Stan and I will always be there to help you."

"…Kenny, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"How did you get strong?"

"What?" I look to her in surprised confusion.

"Growing up like that can't be easy, with the shit you had to deal with in South Park and yet you still do everything you can for Karen. How do you do it?"

"I didn't have a choice. I was a kid too but if I was going to protect Karen, I've gotta learn to mature and get tough."

"I feel so weak, they push me and I almost jumped of a building." She clenches her fist as she fights back any tears. "They have such a strong hold on me that even when I'm here away from them, I still have thoughts of giving up. I hate that, I want to fight back, and I want to stand up for myself."

"Charlie, everyone has their weakest moments. Everyone wants to give up one point or another, but that fact that you're still here and that you want to fight back means a lot. You'll make it through this and we'll be here to help."

"Thanks Kenny." She turns to me and smile. "That means a lot to me."

"Try and get some rest, we'll need to figure out the plan in the morning. Knowing Kyle he's probably thought of plan A, B all the way to fucking Z."

"Yeah."

"Good night, Kenny."

"Night, princess."

"Princess?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Don't like it?"

"No… It's nice." She shakes her hand and smiles sweetly.

"Good to know, see ya in the morning." We say our goodnights and I head to the basement. I felt so exhausted when I got back but now I don't know if I can sleep at all with this giddy feeling inside me.

Stan's POV

I wasn't expecting a last night call to the park and yet that's exactly what happened, Z called me on my phone and sounded really excited about something, something about him finally doing it. Reluctantly, I put on my coat and start driving to the park.

I wonder why he had to call me out in the middle of the night of all times.

I lose my train of thought when I see a figure dash across the road. I stomp on the brakes just in time before whatever that is becomes roadkill. I groan in pain at the sudden stop and the soreness from the belt stopping me from flying out the fucking windshield.

I look at the figure, it's Z. Now using his arms to block his head and face, like that could have saved him.

"What the fuck were you thinking?! Running on the road like that." I shout at him.

"Stan!" Z gets into my car and blissfully ignores my scolding, he looks like he's high on adrenaline right now. "Thank god you came, I need help."

"Woah, calm down Z." I drop my anger and stop him from jumping off the seat. I decide to let that reckless behavior go for now, I'll bitch about it to him later. "Now tell me what happened."

"Oh my god, there's so much. Where do I begin?" He takes a few deep breaths and calms down, but even then he's got this shit eating grin on his face. "Ok…Ok, well first thing's first, I finally stood up to him, I stood up to my stepbrother."

That would explain all the bruises on his face and arms, I want to tell him to not fight his brother if he couldn't hold his own but he looks so proud of himself that I couldn't rain on his parade.

"There's something else." He continues. "I finally talked to her."

"Seriously? Holy shit that's awesome." I congratulate him. Working up the guts to talk to a crush isn't easy, I don't care what anyone says.

"Yeah, she's a little shy." He gazes longingly into the distance. "But… I can't stop thinking about her. She's so beautiful, just a few says ago I was talking to her, I was looking at her soft wavy hair and I noticed a bit of red on the roots."

"So, you think she dyed her hair black?"

"Honestly, I think I like redheads better." He shakes his head sharply, probably trying to snap himself out of that gaze "Argh. I'm acting like some lovesick pussy."

"Yeah, you're getting there." I laugh a bit to which he just rolls his eyes at me.

"Haha." Z laughs sarcastically. "So how have you been?"

"Pretty good actually." I answer. "You remember my best friend from South Park?"

"Oh yeah… Kyle, right?"

"Yup. I moved recently and he's one of my housemates."

"No way!" His eyes widen in excitement. "Dude tell me everything."

"Nothing much to say really, I think we've gotten pass the awkward stage and we're starting build our friendship back to the way it was."

"Well it's a start I guess. Judging by how you talk about him, you two are gonna be just fine. I'm surprised you two stopped being friends to begin with."

"Yeah… Anyways enough about me, I know you didn't call me out in the middle of the night just to hear me talk about Kyle. You also had a favor too, right?"

"Umm yeah…" He scratches in head awkwardly with a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. "Ok, wow this is pretty embarrassing now that I'm actually gonna do it."

"So are you gonna ask me or am I gonna have to pull it out of your throat?" I fold my arms in mock annoyance.

"It-It's for her, she's a huge fan of your work and I know it'll mean the world to her if you sing this for her." He says it so quickly that I barely get it all, I take the paper he's holding out for me.

"You know a name will help, Z."

"No way!" He glares at me, not really threateningly with the pink hue on his face. "The last thing I need is to hearing her name when you rip on me."

"Whatever." I laugh as I look at the paper. There's a lyric sheet for a song. "Dude, this is pretty chessy." I say after I finish reading it.

"I know! I know!" He groans with his hands covering his face. "So… can you do it?"

"Sure thing, Romeo. Just make sure Juliet's listening tomorrow." I wink at him and he groans in frustration.

"Ugh, don't call us that. Makes me feel like I'm in some cheap high school play."

"Fine, come on. I'll send you back home."

I start up the car again as Z puts on his seatbelt. We talk a bit more, me to him about Kyle and him about the plans he has for his crush to which he still refuses to give me a name for. The things I do for this kid…

Shelly's POV

"Morning, Shelly."

"Hello, Francine." I figure it'd make no sense if I start calling her Dr. Nixon again after referring to her as Francine. But don't get me wrong, this is no way makes us friends.

"How have you been doing lately?"

"It's been about 2 months since I've been released from that hellhole, honestly if you asked me the only thing different is there isn't a guard threatening to tackle you to the ground if you stare at someone. I still go come to see you once every 2 week now and my mom has been pretty much the same, working all day then acting like she gives a shit about me when she gets back."

"What do you mean?" She asks me with her pen spinning between her fingers. "Have you been making attempts to reconnect with your mom?"

I don't bother responding, why should I make the first move? She was the one who's always so busy that she couldn't spare for her goddamn kids.

"What have been doing since you've been released?" She tries asking something else.

"I've been taking a few odd jobs, not everyone wants to hire an ex-convict." I inform her.

"You mustn't give up hope. There are still people with prejudices but there are some agencies that can help get you on your feet." She's starting her hope preaching again. She sounds like one of those shitty motivation posters, the only thing I thought about it when I see them is when does that cat fall off the fucking branch.

"You're wasting your time." I respond with a blank glare and an annoyed tone.

"And you're an ignorant fool if you think I didn't see what you're pulling." She snaps back at me, with a clear tone of irritation.

"Excuse me?" I raise my eyebrow and fold my arms across my chest, almost challenging her as to what she means by that.

"You heard me, Shelly. I know you're not as calm as your mother makes it sound." She starts saying in a stern voice. "I know you still hold a lot of resentment towards her and your brother."

"If you think I'm so unstable, then why'd you let them release me?" I scoff.

"I never said you're a psychopath. I just said that you have some unresolved issues and you weren't going to get better with an extended sentence. You have been able to show restraint and logical thought so don't make me regret it."

"And what's gonna stop me from doing what you're so scared of me doing?" I challenge her.

"Shelly, I took the risk for your sake." Her face starts skewing with anger and frustration. "I have nothing to gain if you get better but your life will be worse if you choose to go after your brother. I want to help you, please just let me."

"So what? You're blackmailing me into receiving your 'treatment'?"

"Listen to yourself." She casts a look at me from the chair she's sitting on, continuing to challenge me. "What are you going to do if you went and confronted your younger brother?"

"I don't know!" I jump off my chair and shout. "But it's gotta be a fuck ton more helpful than the shit you're spitting out."

I start staring at her so intensely that I half expect to see a hole right between her eyes and right through her know-it-all brain, she responds with a glare just as strongly. I step back away and start walking to the door.

"I'm done, send the bill to my mom or something."

"… See you in 2 weeks, Shelly."

"We'll see." That's my last words to her before I slam the door behind me.

A/N: Shit's going down, Charlie is still traumatized by her family's abuse and Dr. Nixon is starting to catch on to Shelly's intentions. Next time, we follow the gang as they figure out what to do next.

Dr. Nixon isn't stupid by the way, she just wants what's best for her clients and sometimes that involves taking some risks.

Also, whoever can guess the song Z asked Stan to sing before the next chapter gets a free pixel cookie. Hint, it's part of the drama's soundtrack.

Thanks so much to herbione for your review. I love the drama so much so I wanted my first story to be on my first drama.

As always, feel free to check out the drama this story is based on, "It's Okay That's Love" by SBS

Take care, Loves.