Add couldn't take it anymore. His shoulder ached more than he wanted to admit. It angered him to have his clothes, tailored by his own hands and technology, ruined so easily. He wanted nothing more than to strip off his top layers and do a full inspection and treatment of his entire shoulder, but he refused to do so in front of this stranger. Showing any amount of weakness in front of anyone would open him up to becoming a target. At least that was what he kept telling himself up until now. It had been about forty minutes into their walk, but Add was tapping out. He heard the sound of a rushing stream of water and was drawn to it.

        "Huh? Where are you going?" (y/n) questioned him, still following while he veered off the pathway. Telling her would just be another form of admitting weakness, something he had been trying to avoid this entire time. He hated the very notion of appearing vulnerable in front of anyone. It hadn't taken much for him to realize that humans looked far weaker when they were injured. "Add?"

        "Stay here. I'll be back." He no longer heard (y/n)'s footsteps following behind him as he made his way towards the river. From this distance, he could be certain that (y/n) wouldn't see him unless she came looking for him. The river was clean just as he had hoped. His gaze quickly scanned the surrounding area before he sat down on his dynamos next to the water and began to take off everything above his waist including his eyepatch. He had just what he needed all in his bag, thankful that he had known to be prepared ahead of time. After briefly watching the running water, he reached into the stream with a cloth in hand to collect the it. Add let out an involuntary sigh of relief from its cool touch. The pain was almost instantly appeased upon contact with the wet cloth.

        A sound, barely audible, caught his attention from behind him. "I thought I told you not to follow me," he snarled, angry that (y/n) had discarded his temporary trust. It was not so easily given, yet somehow she had earned it in record time.

        Yellow feline irises met his single magenta eye as he turned back frozen in fear. The large cat-like creature was ready to pounce and had stopped in a similar petrified state, but it was not out of fear that the predator remained there. A chill shot down Add's spine making him realize that the moment he moved, that thing wouldn't show him a single shred of mercy. If only it really had just been (y/n) coming to invade his privacy. He decided that he would have preferred that much more.

        "No, I'm not weak. I swear it," he thought as if pleading with the beast to leave him alone.

        It lurched forward with a heart stopping growl. Add's dynamos were fast enough to react to the frantic flick of his wrist. He staggered backwards, away from the feline that had taken a high voltage electric shock only to shake it off. It didn't wait on him to come up with a better plan of action. His voice was cut short by the cool waters that he had been calmed by just moments ago. Claws sank into his already injured shoulder, effortlessly puncturing the already damaged layer of nasod armor surrounding his body. He was plunged underneath the running current. The beast's fangs would have finished him off in that instant, but Add was not entirely helpless against its whims. His dynamos were mostly waterproof, and he hadn't hesitated to shock the animal even with himself underneath the sparkling blue waters, now tainted with his and the animal's blood.

        The shock distracted the beast but also effectively knocked the remaining air from Add's lungs. He frantically pawed at the water to reach the surface, successfully escaping the feline's grasp thanks to his dynamos doing most of the work for him. The immediate threat to his life was gone, but the river had now replaced the oversized cat.

        He didn't make it. The surface was just mere centimeters away from his grasp, but Add's body had already started to shut down on him. Bubbles containing the last of his air trickled upwards as he slowly began to drift away with the current. "No!" His eyes started to close even as he tried to grasp even just the sunlight. "Please this can't be it! I wanted to be strong! I wanted to survive this cruel world!!"

        An embrace, gentle yet forceful, surrounded Add to pull him from the river. He soon found himself on land again coughing up water and struggling to breathe. "Add!!" Never had he been more eager to hear another person's voice. He listened for it as he recovered. "Hey, calm down, it's okay. I've got you." Now he noticed that (y/n)'s arms were still hooked underneath his own. She was right there in front of him, not entirely bothered by his choice to cough water onto her. She was already soaked anyway. A little extra river water mixed with spit and maybe even vomit wouldn't hurt...right?

        Add's hand shakily reached up and found his heart to feel its rapid pounding in his chest. He was alive. The confirmation had his adrenaline lowering. The new cuts and gashes across his body were starting to let him know they were there, already pulsing with a new degree of pain. In that moment, his pride, self esteem, and composure all vanished. Add's body shook from both the cold temperature holding on to him and his own terror. He let himself collapse forward leaning onto (y/n)'s shoulder. Without hesitation, he tightly clung to her holding on to both his life and hers.

        He hated it. He absolutely hated it. Add hated it so much that it hurt. This weakness that he felt. This moment of complete helplessness. He never wanted to experience this again. Never. It completely disregard who he was. He felt violated as if someone had told him that he was nothing and succesfully gone out of their way to prove it.

        "You...how?" Add murmured. He could hardly form any words with how heavy his breathing was.

        "I heard you say something. Thought you called me," (y/n) answered as best as she could. Her hold on him was equally as tight as his own. "At first I was going to follow you anyway, but then I changed my mind because I realized you might have had to pee. That would have been really weird if I followed you. But then I heard you speak. I didn't really know what you said, but you seemed upset." She had started to cry as she continued to ramble on. "I wasn't sure what to do. When I heard you shout. And that thing was there. I didn't see you, Add. I thought you were gone. There was so much blood in the water." (Y/n) pulled him closer. "I'm glad. I'm so glad you're okay."

        "Even though you don't know me?" Although he said this, Add kept this stranger close not wanting to let her go any time soon.

        "You just helped save my life today. I walked with you. Even heard you say a few things about yourself during that short time on that boring dirt road. It would bother me for years if you died right here and now."

        "That type of thinking is no good. You should look after yourself, not anyone else. You'll be seen as weak." He meant to say that, but couldn't bring himself to. He closed his eyes and took in whatever warmth he could find with her. The last person who had hugged him like this had been his mother.
____________________________________

You really thought I was going to kill him?? I'm not here to break hearts (hahaha, maybe)!! Until next time you spectacular readers!