Hey guys, this chapter is going to be pretty important to the development of Noah and Lana's character arcs. I tried to put less lightheartedness in this chapter, you'll see why once you get about halfway through.

~~Noah's Pov~~

Once we were done eating, Robin left since he needed to go do work for his classes and Flora went back to their house since the café had closed. So it was just me and Lana sitting on the fountain.

We were just talking about ourselves, asking questions about the other mon, and overall just trying to get to know each other better.

The questions weren't anything special, just the normal questions you ask someone you want to know about, but then Lana asked a question I wasn't expecting.

"Hey Dusk? Have you ever had a girlfriend?" The question caught me off guard. "No... Why?" She nervously chuckled and looked away, "Eh. N-No reason. Just curious"

I thought that was it, but she asked another, "Have you ever been in love with someone?" Okay, this was beginning to get pretty strange, "Are you oka-" but she interrupted me, "Just answer. The question..." she said it rather harshly, before tagging a "Please" after a second.

It seemed that this was pretty important to her, for some reason. So I just decided to answer, "No. No I haven't."

What followed was silence, all the while Lana refused to look at me. Was she upset with me? "Hey Dusk? Want to come over to my place?" Guess not.

"Sure. I'm in no real rush to return home, so why not?" She seemed really happy, and got up. "Wait, now?" She turned around, "Yes 'now.' What, do you not want to go right now?"

"Uh… No. Now is fine" she nodded and turned back and started walking, and I followed her, after a couple of minutes we arrived. 

The house wasn't that big, but it looked really well kept. There was only one floor which had a kitchen, living room, and a hallway for the rooms.

Lana led me to her room and let me inside. I looked around, she had some basic drawers and a closet, and a desk with a desktop computer. Lana sat on her bed and patted the spot next to her, gesturing for me to sit there.

We talked for a little while before Flora called Lana out for something. Lana had said that Flora was teaching her everything she knew about cooking.

I was just sitting there looking around, when my eyes settled on the desktop. The light was on, meaning the computer was on, but the screen was black. Maybe it went to sleep mode.

I fought the urge to shake the mouse and see what was on it.... For about ten seconds. I gave in. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I know for a fact....

None of the possibilities in my head were true.

When the screen flashed on, it was an article. But the article seemed to be talking about how to deal with depression and suicide.

Concerned, I began to search around, though still trying to respect her privacy, finding nothing…

I was confused and concerned. Why? She seemed so happy and carefree. Why would she even think about something like this? Does Robin or Flora know? I didn't even know for sure if this meant she had those thoughts…

There were so many questions that I had. None of which had an answer, but the questions that hurt the most to think about were: What do I do? What CAN I do?

My thoughts were painfully stopped when I heard footsteps heading to the room, I quickly and quietly pressed the sleep mode button on the computer, and sat back down in the bed, trying not to show any signs of worry.

Lana came into the room, seemingly just as cheerful as she was before. "Hey. Sorry about that. Lately, Flora has been teaching me how to cook like her. Were you bored sitting in here?"

I tried not to show any visual signs of lying, "No. Not really." She let out a sigh of relief, "Thank Arceus." She then sat down next to me, closer then she was before she left. She seems to like sitting close to me. The other times I didn't really give it much thought.

Maybe it's because of what I now know that I'm starting to question her actions a bit more. Like, why does she choose to be so close? Why does she blush so much around me? And why would she ask me about my love life?

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I saw a bit of relief on her face when I told her I had no Girlfriend. But I stopped thinking about that, and began thinking about the clear elephant in the room

Lana... Why would you even consider suicide? From what I see, you seem to be happy a lot, and your Brother seems to love you. Or do you? I'm not sure…

I apologize in advance for prying into your personal life, but this is something I can't ignore. I need answers.

That's when my thoughts were interrupted by Lana, "You okay? You've been sitting there staring at the ground this whole time"

I jolted and looked at her, "Yeah. I'm fine, just thinking." Please don't ask. Please don't ask. Please don't ask.

"About what?" Fuck. How to respond... "Just... Just about how my life has changed since I met you." 

I wasn't really thinking about what I was saying, and mentally cursed myself for it, she quickly turned her head, she was blushing and her eyes were wide.

I was bracing for the moment when she would slap me with her paw, but it never happened. When I opened my eyes, she was looking at the floor, still blushing, and a smile on her face.

"Well... My life has definitely changed for the better since I met you, Noah. I don't know where I would be." What does she mean by that?

Wait... It may be false, but I pray to Arceus that I am not the only thing keeping her from killing herself… If it is true then I now know the answer to it all. The thought is weird, but...

If this is true… I need to protect Lana from herself, and to do that, I just need to be her friend.

Right?

He knows. He knows everything. Or does he? Now all that's left is how he acts on it.

As usual, let me know of any mistakes I might have missed in the comments, thank you for reading, and until next chapter... PEACE!

~CalveeEevee