Four days later:
''Hey you guys want to go to the bar tomorrow night?'' Sam asks as he sits down at the lunch table looking at his friends.
''Bar?'' Santana asks curiously. ''Aren't we too young for that?'' She continues with a slight tilt of her head trying to ignore looking over at Brittany.
''Well for a normal bar we are, Sam means a karaoke bar for teens.'' Mercedes explains with a soft chuckle. ''There will be no booze served there and it's just a hangout spot for teens to relax and enjoy the weekend.''
''I'm down.'' Puck replies shrugging. ''There is no other good party this weekend, same time as always?''
Santana smiles as everyone but Brittany agrees and slowly nods her head as they all turn to look at her curiously. ''Yeah sounds like fun, just tell me the address.''
''We will all meet up at the park before walking there, the bar has no good parking lots so we mostly drive with two cars and leave them near the park.'' She turns to Brittany raising an eyebrow as she sees her laying with her head on the table ever since the beginning of lunch period and clears her throat. ''B you joining too?''
They all raise an eyebrow as she doesn't respond and Santana turns to Quinn as she clears her throat. ''Britt, you joining?''
Puck rolls his eyes as his best friend ignores them and pokes her side quickly raising his hand in surrender as she suddenly jerks up straight glaring at him. ''We are talking to you.'' He tells her quickly.
''Huh? What?'' Brittany asks softly not noticing all of them exchange concerned glances, Rachel leans forward to pat Brittany's hand and smiles slightly.
''We are all planning on going to the bar tonight, will you join us?''
Brittany shakes her head and sighs. ''I can't.'' She glances at the time and stands up as she sees that it's time to pick Mason up. ''I gotta go, see you all on Monday.''
She grabs her bag and shoulders it, she walks out of the cafeteria after shooting her friends a forced smile ignoring their concerned gazes and jogs down the hall towards the exit. She slows down as she feels her phone buzz and takes it out of her pocket, she rolls her eyes as she reads the message from her mother and growls.
From Birth Bitch: I am away for the weekend, no parties!
''Fucking figures.'' She grumbles shoving her phone back into her pocket as she reaches her car, she unlocks it and slides into the drivers seat after dropping her bag in the trunk and grabbing Mason's seat to throw it back into the backseat.
She pulls out of the parking lot driving the short distance over to the elementary school and parks her car at the front killing the engine as she sees that she still has a few minutes before she has to go in, she takes her phone out and replies to her mothers message.
To birth bitch: You forgot that you have a little boy that might want his mother home for once? Currently you are a fucking stranger to him, stop fucking around and spend time with him!
From birth bitch: Watch your language Brittany Susan Pierce! We will talk about this on Sunday!
To birth bitch: Yeah if you will be home before Seven for once we really could talk about the shit you pull off.
From Birth bitch: I am old enough to decide when I will be home Brittany, stop being so god damn childish!
To Birth bitch: Childish? I am just stating the fucking truth! He didn't see you for weeks, he feels like you don't love him and I am sick of dodging his questions. He is young but not dumb, he knows that you don't love him just like I always knew that you never wanted to have any kids in the first place!
From birth bitch: We will discuss this Sunday.
She growls angrily as she throws her phone on the passenger seat and drops her head knowing exactly what will go down on Sunday, she takes a few deep breaths silently hoping that she will be home late once again and slowly slides out of the car.
She walks up the steps opening the doors and smiles lovingly as she hears her brother yell her name loudly, she catches him as he jumps into her arms and laughs kissing his head. ''Hey Maze, had a good day?''
Mason nods his head with a big smile as he wraps both of his arms around Brittany's shoulders and looks up at her. ''Yes I had a lot of fun with my friends!'' He squeaks out bouncing in her arms. ''What are we doing this weekend Britty?''
Brittany smiles carrying him out to the car after thanking the teacher for handing her his bag and walks down the steps, she looks at him and chuckles. ''What do you want to do Maze?'' She asks as she places him in his seat, she buckles him in as he taps his chin to think of all the things he can do and leans back to look at him.
''Can we go to the park?'' He asks cutely.
''Now or tomorrow?'' She asks softly.
''Now?''
''Sure we can, we can go for a bit before dinner.'' She kisses his forehead as he smiles brightly and steps back to close his door, she walks around sliding into the drivers seat, she hands him her phone silently telling him that he can choose the music and starts her car.
She glances at her radio as she hears her phone beep and sees on the display that she received a message from Mercedes. ''You can ignore that Maze, I will reply later.'' She tells him as she drives down the road towards the park, she hears him hum before music fills the car and leans back in her seat suppressing a yawn. ''What did you do at school today?'' She asks glancing in the rear view mirror.
''I drawed a picture of our heroes and had to talk about it!'' Mason tells her grinning big.
''Drew Maze, you drew a picture.'' She corrects him gently, she smiles nodding her head as he corrects himself and parks her car near the park.
''What did you draw?'' She asks curiously. ''Batman?''
Mason shakes his head and looks down at his hands smiling shyly as he mumbles something, she frowns in confusion and turns in her seat. ''I didn't hear that Maze, what did you say?'' She asks softly.
Mason looks up playing with his fingers and smiles shyly. ''You.'' He whispers softly.
''Me?'' Brittany asks confused, Mason nods his head and grabs his bag pulling out the picture he made. He hands it over to her and smiles.
''I drew you Britty.'' He tells her shyly. ''You are my hero.''
Brittany takes the picture he holds out and looks at it, she smiles lovingly as she sees a stick figure with blonde hair and blue eyes. She looks up at him after reading the caption My big sister, my hero.
''I love it Maze, thank you.'' She tells him softly. ''But didn't you have to draw a hero from a movie?'' She asks curiously, Mason shakes his head and looks at the picture.
''No our teacher told us to draw a picture of our hero, out of a movie or someone in our family.'' He tells her softly. ''I didn't want to draw batman again and batman is only a movie hero, you are my real hero Britty.''
Brittany smiles lovingly quickly sliding out of the car and jogs around it, she opens his door crouching down beside him as soon as she unbuckled him and opens her arms. ''Come here Bud.'' She murmurs lovingly.
She wraps him up in her arms the second he jumped out of the car and into her embrace, she kisses the top of his head and sighs softly. ''I am glad you see me that way Maze.'' She murmurs into his spiky blonde hair, she pulls back cupping his cheek to tilt his head up and gazes into his bright blue eyes. ''That one will also get a nice spot on the wall in my room tonight, will you help me hang it up?''
Mason nods his head wrapping both of his arms around her shoulders after she places his drawing beside his seat and tightens his hold as she stands up still holding him, he buries his face in her neck just enjoying her embrace as she walks towards the park and sighs contently.
''Britty?'' He asks softly as they near the playground.
''Yes Maze?'' Brittany asks just as softly.
''If she never comes home again, will you still stay with me?'' He asks slowly pulling back to look at her, Brittany stops in her tracks not having expected that question and locks eyes with him.
She quickly walks over to one of the empty park benches and sits down with him in his lap. ''Of course I will be.'' She tells him as she sees the telltale sign of tears, she gently runs her hand up his back and tilts her head. ''What are you thinking about Mason?''
''Why is she never home?'' Mason asks sadly. ''Doesn't she want to spend time with us?''
Brittany sighs softly and drops her head. ''How about we talk about this at home?'' She asks softly, she gently runs her thumb down his cheek and smiles sadly. ''I don't think the park is a good area to talk about this Maze.''
''Can we go home?'' Mason asks pouting.
Brittany sighs knowing he wants to talk and stands back up, she walks back to her car still holding him in her arms and nuzzles her nose in his hair. ''Where is this coming from Maze?'' She asks curiously.
''We talked about family at school.'' Mason starts sadly. ''Everyone told about their mommy or daddy, I was the only one who only talked about you because I can't tell much about her and about him.''
Brittany bites the inside of her cheek to keep from cursing and unlocks her car. ''Well we don't know much about him sweetie.'' She tells him softly. ''I don't know much about him either, all I know is that he is not with us anymore.''
''Is he up in heaven?'' Mason asks curiously as Brittany places him back in the car, Brittany bites her tongue knowing she can't tell him that their dad got arrested right before he was born and forces a small smile.
''No he isn't, he had to go somewhere to work.'' out his mistakes. She adds in her thoughts, she slides into the car once again and starts it. ''What do you want to eat for dinner?''
''Chicken fingers?''
She nods her head and chuckles. ''Yeah we still have those at home.'' She mutters as she drives down the road. ''Do you have to write something for school this weekend?''
Mason shakes his head and smiles brightly. ''No I finished everything at school Britty.'' He tells her as she parks her car in the driveway, Brittany nods her head reaching behind her to unbuckle him and slides out of the car smiling as he follows her lead.
''Slam the door with all your strength Maze.'' She tells him as she grabs her bag out of the trunk, she hears the door click shut as soon as he slams it close and locks her car handing him his bag while keeping a hold of the drawing he made.
She unlocks the front door and walks in kicking off her shoes. ''Where do you want to talk?'' She asks softly, she nods her head as he points to the living room and watches him walk to the couch.
She quickly walks into the kitchen to grab him a snack and opens the fridge to grab a juice for him and a bottle of water for herself, after she made the both of them a small snack while shoving the chicken fingers and a few fries into the oven and walks into the living room handing him his bowl with pretzels and the juice package.
She sits down beside him munching on a pretzel and crosses her leg turning her body to face him. ''I don't really know why she isn't home much sweetie.'' She tells him softly as he takes a small bite of his pretzel, she takes a sip of her water and sighs. ''And I know she also doesn't answer all of your questions so you can ask whatever you want and I will try answering them.''
Mason nods his head pulling his feet up on the couch and turns to look at her pouting. ''Will I lose you if she never comes back?''
''Never I will always be your big sister and I will try my best to keep you right where we are now.'' Brittany replies almost immediately. ''We don't have much family or well if we look at it this was we only have each other since the very beginning.'' She tells him sadly. ''I will do my best to make sure that you won't lose me Mason.''
''Why is she never home? A mother is home a lot right?''
Brittany slowly nods her head and sighs. ''Yes normally a normal mother is home to spend time with her kids, but our mother isn't like that.'' She tells him softly, she bites her lip thinking of a way to explain it to him and drops her head slightly as she comes up empty. ''I don't really know how to tell you what is going on Mason.'' She tells him honestly.
She reaches out to pull him close as she sees his bottom lip quiver and rubs his back as he buries his face in her shoulder. ''Every child deserves a parent.'' She tells him softly. ''But not every parent deserves a child.'' She continues gently running her hand through his hair as she pulls back to look at him. ''I can't really tell you what is going on with her because I don't know myself, but I promised you ever since you were little that I will be by your side and will show you all the awesome things life has to offer and I won't break my promise Mason.''
''You promise you won't leave?'' Mason asks softly tears clear in his eyes, Brittany leans their foreheads together and holds out her pinky.
''I promise Mason, I won't leave you.'' She tilts her head up kissing his forehead as he wraps his pinky around her own and sighs. ''Eat your snack, I will look at our dinner.'' She murmurs softly.
She stands up as he nods his head grabbing his bowl and walks into the kitchen pulling out her phone, she opens Mercedes message and raises an eyebrow.
From C: Hey B, Mandy is in town again and Jayson asks if he can play with Maze. Mandy asked if Maze can sleep over tomorrow so both boys can play, please say yes and join us out to the bar you need a bit of you time girl.
To C: I don't know C, I will ask him but he is currently in the questioning phase. He just asked me why bitch is never home and if I will still be with him if she decided to never come back again.
From C: Fuck that's deep, where is that coming from?
To C: They started talking about their heroes at school today, every kid started about their parents well all of them but Maze, Maze told them about me and drew me a picture with the caption my big sister, my hero.
From C: Well I can't say I don't understand where he is coming from, a subject like that while feeling that your mother doesn't give a flying fuck about you must hurt like a mother fucker. But that little boy adores you B, you are an amazing big sister and we all know how protective you are of him but sometimes you need a break.
So ask him I am sure he will say yes and you will move your ass to the bar before I pull you in by your ears, I noticed how fucking tired you look and I don't quite know what went down this week but I am sure it's fucking you over.
To C: It's the same old but he starts asking questions and I am just pissed that I can't tell him the whole truth, if someone finds out he will be whisked away and I won't let that happen.
She places the tray back into the oven after placing the food on plates and places them on the table as he phone buzzes once again. ''Maze, dinner!'' She yells before looking back down at her phone.
From C: I understand you B, but we will all make sure that won't happen. If hell goes down you will have all of us on your side, we all know that you raised him, she didn't do shit. Hell you even work to buy the two of you groceries.
To C: Yeah biggest problem is, I am not eighteen yet. We have to wait Seven months before I can even think of pulling her to court, they will never allow a six year old to stay with a seventeen year old high school student no matter what someone tells them in my favor C. You know my luck in life or well no luck in life.
She places her phone down as Mason jogs into the kitchen showing her his freshly washed hands and chuckles ruffling his hair. ''Let's eat.'' She tells him softly as they both sit down.
''Can we watch a movie and cuddle tonight?'' Mason asks as he eats a fry, Brittany nods her head and smiles.
''Sure, downstairs or in my room?''
''In your room?'' Mason asks cutely, Brittany nods her head once again and smiles slightly.
''Guess who is in town.''
''Who?'' He asks frowning as he takes a bite of his chicken finger.
''Jayson and Mandy are visiting Cedes.''
''Jayson is in town?!''
Brittany winces as he squeaks and laughs. ''Inside voice Maze.'' She scolds him softly. ''And yeah, Jayson is also asking if you want to sleep over and have a play date tomorrow.''
''May I?''
She smiles lovingly as he looks at her with puppy dog eyes and chuckles. ''Sure but you know the rules right?''
Mason nods his head taking a sip of his juice and smiles. ''I can tell Mandy to call you whenever I want to go, I have to listen to Mandy and behave.'' He tells her grinning.
Brittany hums eating the last fry on her plate and steals one from his place shooting him a wink as he frowns. ''That's right, I will probably go with Cedes and the rest of the group to hang out a bit but my phone will be on loud so I can hear it in case you are calling but Mandy also has Cedes, Puck's and Sam's phone numbers.''
She chuckles as he just nods his head and stands up as soon as he finished eating. ''Go change into your PJ's and choose a movie, I will be up in a few minutes.'' She pulls his chair back so he can race upstairs and turns to the sink to wash their plates and glasses, she glances at the window looking at her reflection and groans softly as she sees how tired she looks. ''God I look like shit, a night with friends will do me good.''