Third Person Perspective
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"Hey Ryan?" (Y/n) hummed to the male. To which he responded with a hum as he looked through the racks with her.

"Yes?"

"Do you actually like me? Or are you just spending time with me to learn how to tolerate me?" She asked. He looked at her with a raised brow. "I-I won't be offended if you are..." She bowed her head.

Trender stood up and faced her. (Y/n) felt like she shrunk as she coward, afraid that he was upset with her. He softened his features and sighed.

"Just because you came into my life suddenly because of my brother, doesn't mean I'm just tolerating you." He said softly. (Y/n) puffed out her cheeks. Feeling embarrassed for assuming, but also felt like he still didn't, but she knew that feeling was a little dumb.

"Ok..." She complied with his words quietly. Trender was debating on saying something else, but just continued looking. (Y/n) then wandered off. She looked at some dresses and rompers, soon finding hoodies. Some were cropped, some had designs.

"(Y/n)!" A voice said from behind her. Turning, (Y/n) saw the manager of the place, who she knew well. She'd consider him a friend. "I'm surprised you're here." He sounded astonished. She raised a brow at him.

"Why?" She asked, curiosity lacing her voice. He blinked, then made a realization.

"You finally ran away didn't you?" He asked, he knew about her situation. He witnessed one of the times where her step mother harmed her. She had only asked for a hoodie to wear at home, the same one she had been eyeing before he came over. Instead of a plain no, she was gifted with a back handed slap and a storm of profanities.

"Yeah... I found people who were willing to take care of me as well. I feel... happy." The girl said softly, giving the man an honest smile, which made him smile in return.

"Good. But did you really need to fake your death?" The man said, his smile dropping to a frown. "You scared all of us."

"F-fake my death...?" (Y/n) asked, sounding mortified at the idea. The manager was taken aback, surprised she didn't know.

"Wait here..." He said quietly before walking off. (Y/n) messed with the sleeve of the hoodie she liked, looking at the (design) it had on the sleeve and the (design) on the breast of it.

"Do you like that one?" She suddenly heard Trender asked, making her flinch. (Y/n) turned to see him holding the stuff they had picked over where they were before. (Y/n) fiddled with her fingers nervously and nodded.

"U-uh... yeah..." She whispered, feeling embarrassed that she was still being super reflexive. Trender examined it for a moment.

"Though I don't really like hoodies... if you want one, you can get one. But just for home." He said, making (Y/n) smile. She went a few sizes up and grabbed one. He was about to ask why, but remembered her 'flop' thing, that was strangely adorable.

"Uh, (Y/n), who's this?" The manager asked, he was holding a paper in his hand, looking at Trender.

"Oh uh... this is Ryan. He's my chaperone. H-he's one of the people who helped me escape..." (Y/n) responded, looking at him. The man seemed delighted to hear that response.

"Oh now really? Thank you sir. Oh and (Y/n), this is what I was talking about." He handed her the paper. "I guess your parents are still big storytellers."

(Y/n) took the news paper and looked at it. She made the headline. "HIGH SCHOOL GIRL COMMITS SUICIDE" The title read. There was a picture of her standing on the edge of the window, clearly footage from the camera in her room.

"Friday, a girl by the name of (Y/n) (M/n) (L/n) committed suicide. The parents of Ms. (L/n) are devastated at their second loss. 'She was always so happy and well behaved. We wonder what was wrong.' Her father, Mr. (F/n) (L/n) admitted to officials. The police questioned her friends to only get the same response. 'I miss that angel everyday. If there's one reason I'd think she'd commit suicide is because of her brother. He disappeared years ago. She's always believed in the after life. She believed it was the final destination where she'd find happiness.' The stepmother of Ms. (L/n) shared with us in her interview on her stepchild's death. We will forever hope that this angel rests in peace." (Y/n) frowned, then looked at the man.

"Can I keep this?" She asked, the manager nodded. (Y/n) folded the paper and put it in her bag. "Thank you Quill..." She gave the man a hug. He returned it then let go.

"You stay safe from now on. We don't need you getting hurt again." (Y/n) smiled up at the man, she'd come to know over the years of coming to this mall. "Well besides that, if you need any help, you'll know where to find me."

(Y/n) nodded and she smiled as he walked off. Her smile dropped right after and she looked at the bag she had placed the paper in. Trender noticed her frown.

"Are you ok?" He asked, looking down at her. She perked and looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah... I'm fine." She gave herself a moment before shaking her head and smiling up at him. "So what now?" She let excitement fill her again, trying to distract from the interesting news.

"Well, we're pretty much done here unless you'd like to try on some dresses." He suggested. (Y/n) thought about it for a moment. She had a love hate relationship with dresses. She appreciated them, but she never knew when it was completely appropriate to wear a dress, or how to wear one.

"Will there be an occasional where I'll need to wear a dress?" (Y/n) asked.

"Maybe. You never know." He responded. She thought about it for a moment before agreeing. They went over to the dresses, while Trender drifted toward the more fancy and bedazzled or just eccentric dresses, (Y/n) focused on the more casual ones.

She picked out a sundress, so she could wear it over her swimsuit when they went swimming again, a more casual everyday wear one with a cute design, and she gave in to Trender and tried on a few of his choices. She ended up really liking one of them, but was still questioning when she'd ever need to wear it.

Trender bought it for her anyway because he didn't really care if it was need or want.

They hit the last few stores, but there was one Trender said he needed to go in alone. He always dropped off bags at his store, which (Y/n) had also gone into and looked around, picking out her favorites, but apparently this one, she couldn't go in.

Though she didn't know why, she didn't question it. She was more happy that he willingly spent his time with her even though he could've done it with anyone else. So far, like usual, her favorite stop was the makeup store. All the pretty colors made her happy and excited.

While Trender was in the store she couldn't enter, she walked off elsewhere. She found herself in front of a shop she hadn't seen before. Entering the little store, she found the shop was run by an elderly woman. (Y/n) talked to her while her chaperone was elsewhere.

The store was full of handmade jewelry with beautiful jewels and wood carved ring holders. (Y/n) looked at the cheap yet beautiful jewelry, debating on getting some. When she asked when the woman opened up shop, she received a heartwarming answer.

"My daughter loved my crafting skills. She grew up with a lot of handmade things. She believed that I could sell my crafts. Though I didn't believe her, she made me believe. She gifted me a shop for a few months for my 91 birthday... poor dear, lost her daughter to cancer a few months ago. Yet she still strived for me. Every purchase is going to charity." She explained, though it took a while. (Y/n) felt pity for the woman, but was happy for the elder.

She soon came to terms with the ring that called to her the most. A (f/c) gem in the eye of a (mythical creature). She payed the older woman with what money she had, and gave her a little extra just for the sake of being nice, then put on the ring and left the shop.

Trender soon came back and we began walking back to the front of the store. They stopped at the food court, as promised.

"What would you like to get?" He asked. (Y/n) looked around and picked at random. "Let me guess, you've never actually eaten at these places?" She frowned at shook her head.

"No..." She admitted, wringing her hands. Trender smiled softly.

"We should do this one instead," he said, taking her to one. "You find a seat, I'll pick something for you."

(Y/n) debates for a moment, then nodded and went off to find a table. She found a two seater and sat down. She tapped her fingers on the table, humming softly.

She looked around and saw some kids she recognized from school. She tensed a little and hid behind her hair, as well as using her arm. One of the boys noticed her and went over.

"Hey (Y/n)! We don't see you at school anymore. What happened?" He asked. This was one of the popular boys. He wasn't just popular from his good looks, he was also popular because of his kind nature. That's why (Y/n)'s had a crush on him during school. She's mostly forgotten about it, but every time he talked to her she got nervous and flustered easily.

"O-oh... h-hi Trey..." She greeted quietly. He was patient with her shy nature. "I-I uh... switched to online school."

"Ah. Public schools never really seemed like your thing anyway." He winked, his smile gentle. "Well I'll see you around then~"

He left (Y/n) blushing for when Trender came back a moment later. He caught her staring at the bot who had gone to one of those random games they have scattered across the mall for the kids and teens.

"Well you look like you're crushing." He said, putting some food in front of her, as well as a drink. Her blush darkened and she sunk in her seat.

"Eh... n-not really..." (Y/n) said, taking a sip of the drink he got her. "A-at least not enough to consider him..."

"Why? Focus on school work?" He asked, seemingly eyeing the boy with a strange look in his eyes.

"Not really... h-he's just popular and nice... I never knew him well enough to consider dating him. I-I also usually got backlash for speaking to him... b-but he always wanted to talk to me when we're in the halls." (Y/n) explained.

"Maybe he likes you?" Trender suggested. That made (Y/n)'s cheeks flush a bright red.

"W-what...?! N-no...! H-he's just nice to everyone. I-I just happened to be one of those people... I-it doesn't really m-matter anyway." (Y/n) brushed it off, soon trying to food he got her.

To sum things up, (Y/n) enjoyed the food Trender got her and when they arrived back to Splendor's place, they put up her new inventory. Splendor and Trender let (Y/n) take a nap. She slept until dinner, which she ate then watched a movie and went to bed right after. That gave Trender the perfect chance to make a teen go missing that night.