You couldn't get Mary out of your mind so you went into the village to find Mary, you tried to ask people if they had seen her but at the mention of her name alone they scurried away or closed the door in your face

You eventually asked the bullies where she was, planning on sending you to the Sanderson house and expecting you to never come back they told you where she lived
You walked up to the cottage, it looked like the other cottages but something about it made you weary

You were about to knock on the door when it suddenly opened and you were pulled inside and pushed against the door

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHO ARE YOU-" A cold hand was placed over your mouth

You looked up to see Mary looking at you with a panicked expression

"Shh, Someone might hear you" She quickly looked around to see if her sisters were home, when there was no one screaming at her to shut up she released a breath and removed her hand from your mouth

"What are you doing here? Did my sisters see you?" She asked in a worried tone, softly caressing your hand with her thumb

"I only wanted to spend time with you and I'm sure no one saw me" You didn't know what her sisters looked like but from the way she panicked, you didn't want to

She suddenly tensed and looked at you, staring into your eyes wondering if you were kidding

"You want to spend time...With me?" She asked you though it seemed like she was talking to herself

Someone that's not Sarah wants to spend time with her? that thought alone made her feel weird inside

"Of course, I want to spend time with you, I want to get to know you better" You smiled at her

Her eyes brightened and that crooked smile you loved appeared once again

She quickly pulled you by your hand to the kitchen and softly pushed you into a stool

She put on some mittens and pulled something out of the oven, she placed the pastries on the counter to cool and made her way toward you with one

"Try it I promise it's good, Oh and be careful it's hot" She whispered as she placed the warm pastry on your lips

Even though you barely knew her you felt like you could trust her, she looked so innocent, her eyes seemed to shine when she looked at you, and her smile, god her smile made you feel special like it was reserved for you only. You didn't have a second thought about the pastry and bit into it, the red jam oozing into your mouth

"Do you like it?" The girl was shaking with excitement

"It was amazing!, you are an excellent baker" The girl blushed at the complement

"T-thank you, my mom taught me" She sheepishly said

You looked away from her, your face felt like it was on fire but you blamed it on the heat radiating from the oven

While you looked around the house Mary looked at you, she wanted to touch you, not in a sexual way she just wanted to be in your arms again, she felt safe that way

Mary subconsciously hugged herself

Suddenly the door flew open revealing two girls the first one had buck teeth and red firey hair that screamed 'danger' with a scowl on her face

The second girl was smaller is had blond hair and bright blue eyes with a wide smile

"Mary, who is this random person and why are they in our house-" Sarah pushed past Winifred and towards you

"Oooh is this the person you were talking about-" Mary quickly covered Sarah's mouth but Sarah continued to talk

"Umm well it was nice seeing you Mary" You muttered before you turned around to see Winifred glaring into your soul, you quickly moved around her and out of the cottage

"Bye" Mary muttered, she wanted to spend more time with you but she understands why you left. She wouldn't want to stay with her sisters either

•Winnie asks what you were doing here, no matter how much Mary says that you two had only eaten pastries and nothing else Winnie still thinks something else happened

°Sarah pouts and asks Mary why she couldn't talk to you, Mary gives her a pastry and Sarah has forgotten about everything that has happened only caring about the yummy treat

•You and Mary have decided to start meeting in the woods next to a rushing river where no one could disturb you, after years of secretly meeting up Winnie and Sarah decides to follow Mary

°They both get to know you, Sarah always teasing you and Mary and Winnie has let her walls down around you understanding you have no bad intentions, giving you smiles here and there

•It was like they were your family and wanted to keep it like that