"Excuse you!" Foster gasped in mock horror, clutching her nonexistent pearls. "Where did you learn this vulgar language?"

I glared from where I was sitting on the sidewalk, clutching my foot.

"I stubbed my toe, give me some respect." I replied, except with a few more choice words. She laughed slightly, sticking out her hand to pull me up. We had been walking downtown (basically just a street with a bunch of stores) to go get ice cream because I wanted to cheer her up after yesterday.

I lifted my foot up, as close as I could get it to her face. "Kiss it, make it better?" I asked with my best pouty face. She laughed, pushing my foot away.

"Kiss it yourself, dork." I gasped, leaping for her and putting her in a headlock. Then, I gave her my best noogie ever. She laughed and squealed, tapping at my arms.

"Who's the dork now, huh?" She laughed again, smacking at my arms, then elbowing me in... the forbidden area.

Naturally, as a tough and strong man I handled myself pretty well.

If you consider 'pretty well' to be curled in a ball on the ground, squealing.

And Foster just stood over me with her arms crossed, smirking. I noticed her reach back and rub her lower back along her spine, trying to keep the pain from her face. I stood up quickly.

"I'm sorry." I said quickly, resting my hands on the sides of her arms. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I forgot about that."

She shook her head quickly and smiled lightly. "It's okay, Keefe, you didn't hurt me. It just still hurts a bit no matter what I'm doing." I nodded, not believing that I didn't make it worse, but I still just linked our elbows and led her further down the street.

I got her to laugh a few more times as we made our way to the small ice cream shop at the end of the block. The bell above the door jingled as we entered and I was filled with nostalgia. I could still remember all the times Ro's dad escorted me here because my parents were too busy.

All before she was too young to be my head guard, before he got injured during a hurricane on the coast while he was away on business.

I was glad that Ro replaced him, she's so much more fun and we just have a better bond. But, I also miss all the times he took care of me when my parents couldn't be bothered to. When he was more like a father to me than my own.

When I snapped out of my thoughts, Foster was staring at me knowingly, smiling timidly. She squeezed my arm tight in a hug and pulled me along to the counter. I watched as she scanned the chalkboard menu, picking between which of the unique flavors she wanted to try. I already knew which one I wanted, the one I always got.

"Hi, what can I help you with?" A girl around our age ran to the counter from the back room quickly, stopping in place when she saw us. Well, not us, everyone in Eternalia was used to seeing me at this point. She stopped when she saw Foster.

"Oh. My. God." Her jaw was quite literally on the floor. "I mean, I heard that you were, well, you, but it's kind of just hitting me right now." Her breathing started to become erratic as her eyes widened. "I'm such a big fan, I've literally been listening to your music since you were on YouTube. I absolutely adore all of your music, you have no idea how much it really means to me." I watched as Sophie just stood there, smiling uncomfortably and kind of shrinking in on herself. The girl didn't seem to notice. "I'm Mitya, I'm the level above you at Foxfire. Is there any way I can get a picture with you?"

At the mention of Foxfire, my girlfriend's mood seemed to drop even more, but she nodded and plastered on a bigger smile. Mitya squealed, practically launching herself at Sophie, handing her phone to me. I lifted the phone up, but couldn't bring myself to take the picture for a moment.

Without meaning to, I was comparing them. Mitya wasn't even bigger, she was one of the skinniest people I've ever seen. But compared to Sophie...

Where Mitya's face was rounder, fuller, Sophie's cheeks were sunken. Where Mitya's arms were bony but not just skin and bones, Sophie's joints jutted out unnaturally, unhealthily. Where Mitya's collarbone was softer, Sophie's looked to be protruding. But it was just the lack of muscles, lack of necessary fat, that made her skin cave in between her bones.

It was completely off putting, and it sent a pang through my chest, to see her look so starved, so unhealthy. She hardly had any food while kidnapped, so I shouldn't have been surprised, but her hair was dull and thin and broken, her skin was incredibly pale, dry, and peeling.

Mitya threw her arm around Sophie, and I saw her cave in just a little bit more, trying to shrink away from the contact. Mitya didn't notice, smiling brightly at the camera.

I took a few pictures quickly, making sure Sophie looked as normal as possible in them, before handing the phone back to Mitya. She tapped through them quickly.

"Thank you so much!" She ran back behind the counter, shoving her phone into a pocket in her apron. "Now, what can I get for you?" We both gave her out orders, with Foster side-eyeing me when I just asked for chocolate.

"You're basic." She told me as Mitya went to make it.

"Basic things are basic for a reason. Everybody likes them." I replied, slinging my arm around her shoulder. Unlike with Mitya, she seemed to lean into my touch, which I was so grateful for.

Mitya came back out a few seconds later with our ice cream. She paused as we went to pay, staring at Sophie.

"I don't understand how people don't believe that you were kidnapped." She finally said. My eyes widened, because how did she actually believe that was a good thing to say? Sophie flinched, so I pulled her in a little tighter under my arm.

And despite it all, she kept talking. "I mean, if you just look at you, you can tell that something bad clearly happened. It sucks so much that people would accuse you of faking it."

She means well, she means well. I thought to try and calm myself. But did she really think it was smart to be saying that? Like she said, it was clear that something happened to her, but wouldn't that deter someone from saying something?

I watched as Sophie smiled uncomfortably, shaking slightly.

"Thank you." She said awkwardly. I grabbed our ice creams and ushered her away and out the door As soon as we were away from the building, I wrapped her in my arms and hugged her tight. She wrapped her arms around my midsection, burying her face in my chest to muffle sniffles.

All I did was rub her back gently, run my fingers down her hair, and let her cry. After a moment, she pulled away. I tucked her hair behind her ears, trying to put my best comforting face on.

"I'm fine." She said when I hadn't even asked anything. "Let's just keep going." I nodded, dipping my spoon into her ice cream and taking a bite before she could do anything about it. She shoved me and laughed, and it was the best sound I'd ever heard.

We kept walking on, and I looked away for a few moments so that she could steal some of my ice cream in retaliation.

I was talking to her with my head facing her as we rounded a corner, causing me to run into someone. When I faced forward, I couldn't help the excitement that filled me.

"Keefe! Wow, I haven't seen you in forever!" Alvar exclaimed.

so i've been slacking again, and this chapter was supposed to be this plus the next chapter but i didn't have enough time so you guys get this (even though i have two weeks, i just want to stay ahead) i hope you enjoyed it anyways, and liked the cliffhanger because it was honestly just supposed to be halfway through a chapter, not the end of one. but you guys get treated with that so yay.

Avery, out ->

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