At first when Steven woke up, he thought he'd been kidnapped. He immediately fell back to sleep, the bed was warm and it was a whole ass bed. Whoever kidnapped him at least had him sleeping in style.

The second time he woke up, he nearly pissed himself. Standing over him was a girl he almost swore he'd never seen before, until the events of last night came rushing back to him. "You guys kidnapped me."

It only hit him then that he had been kidnapped. That was the right word for it.  They'd held a gun to his head, transported him to a new location, and now he was here instead of making Allison breakfast and guessing what she'd want. She never told him, he just had to guess. Most of the time he'd just make multiple different things and seal them away in the fridge. He snuck a sausage once. One time was all it took.

"I didn't kidnap you," Connie corrected him with a smile. "I watched you get kidnapped."

He returned her smile, she was even prettier in the daylight. Now he could clearly see her black eye. It was swollen and not super recent, but still recent enough he felt bad. "Are you okay?"

She blinked, off put by his change in course. "Oh... yeah. I'm okay." She touched the edge of the swollen eye and sighed. "Scott said I talked too much."

He almost cracked a bigger smile. She certainly seemed like the type. Steven thought it was kind of cute, he liked that she had so much to say. Connie was a little too close though. He wasn't sure how to respond. He shifted awkwardly and realized he must have tossed his shirt off in the middle of the night. It was kinda warm in here. More like hot actually.

"Did you sleep okay? I didn't hear a peep from you all night."

His thoughts were sucked back to her kneeling a bit. "Oh u-uhm. I-I'm sorry."

She frowned. "For what?"

He didn't know. It was instinctual, a sign of submission that made him hate himself. Why couldn't he stop provoking people? "S-sorry. I'm a little shy."

Suddenly realizing her closeness was causing a problem, she took a sort of obnoxious step back. "I should be saying sorry. Adam kinda broke me of the habit. Sometimes I forget to say it, so sorry!" She finished with awkward jazz hands and he almost laughed, but he didn't want to upset her.

Carefully he swung his legs out of the bed and rubbed at his neck. No tension save for old stuff from the hundreds of nights before. "I forgive you. It's okay." It sounded robotic to him with someone else. Like he'd said it a million times.

But Connie's smile wiped that all away. "Come on, flower boy. I'm starving and you have to eat at least two meals a day."

Says who? He shoved the question to the back of his mind along with that breaking habits thing and stood. There was no way he'd complain if food was involved, but he was half naked and shy. "Do you know where my shirt is?"

"That things a shirt?" She laughed outright and pulled open a drawer. "I'm surprised you didn't hear all the noise in here last night, they got you a bunch of stuff. Toothbrush and bathroom stuffs obviously in the bathroom, clothes are in here, don't worry, I checked your sizes–,"

"Y-you what?"

"–And then we have a pair of red flip flops, a sign of a new arrival so the others are careful–,"

"The who?"

"–And on top of that, Adam snuck back in and grabbed your game console. There was a weird app on there he was suspicious of so he deleted it, and we got you a few coloring books that I picked out at the store. They're curse word coloring pages. Very therapeutic." She turned to see him tearing up. Frozen, Connie watched for a little before murmuring, "I talk too much, like I said."

It barreled out of his mouth before he could even think. "Can I hug you?"

Connie snorted and spread her arms. "I love hugs. Before I got here I'd fo– oh my gosh." She settled into his arms and felt her insides turn into mush. He gave incredible hugs, his touch was so gentle and yet the perfect amount of firmness that all she could do was melt into it. "You're probably wondering why my black eye is so recent. I went back." The hug tightened and she sniffled, quickly numbing herself so she wouldn't cry. "You ready to eat?"

He pulled away abruptly and red faced, mumbling he had to pee before he rushed off. As soon as the door shut, he slid down it and cried as quietly as he could. The tender touch of a hug, a real hug with genuine kindness, not the stuff Allison had apparently been giving him, had filled his metaphorical bucket of happiness. There was nothing like it in the entire world. If he went back right now, he'd have been satisfied for at least another year.

Connie. He wondered if her full name was Constance as he stood to look in the mirror. He was still a little red, and his eyes were sunken. He had lost a lot of weight after being with Allison, she'd casually made fun of his massive size though he was far more tall than... that word. Being chubby as a kid had turned into being underweight for his size. 6'4 was typically a size for skinny dudes, but not Steven. He recognized the lack of bulk in his form, the bulk passed down by generations. Turning to the side, he sighed remorsefully at the bruise there. His nose ached too, now that he let himself actually feel things. When he touched it, it throbbed angrily.

He didn't look anything like how he thought he should. Probably not very attractive either.

He slouched back out to Connie standing right by the door where he'd left her, hand against a flushed cheek. They started an impromptu staring contest until she whispered, "You give really good hugs."

"Oh." Everything but Connie flew out of his mind. She... liked his hugs? "Sorry if it was too long or anything."

Her hand dropped. "By now everyone's awake. You've got a lot of medical stuff to do today and Hazels gonna be around to support you specifically."

The kitchen was lively with commotion. The smells of coffee and omelettes and pancakes made him drool so much if he had opened his mouth it would've dribbled on the floor like a dog begging for a bone.

Like a dog.

"Good morning, Steven," Adam greeted, trying to open a jar of pickles. "Glad you made it."

"Do you need help?"

Adam released his grip on the pickle jar. "Be my guest."

Steven had always prided himself on his strength before Allison. He could bench 250 pretty easily after stretching enough, and had really good stamina despite his size. But he couldn't help but notice the significant amount of strain it took to get it open. "Here."

Connie grabbed one too and pointed at a guy in a blue and yellow varsity jacket. "That's Alexander, he's an asshole."

Steven's eyes widened when he whirled around with a middle finger her way. "Go fuck a knife, Blabbermouth."

Adam tossed a pickle at him. "Knock it off, you two. And quit calling her that when you know it's hurtful."

Alex sighed, "I'm sorry," and walked off quickly with a wave his way.

"He's not really an asshole, he's just used to arguing." Adam turned to Connie and pursed his lips. "Quit provoking people."

Connie shrugged and picked the pickle off the floor like a trained maid, scrubbing at the juice until Adam cleared his throat. "Right." She stood there anyways, leaning against the counter with her eyes flickering down at it.

Steven knew how she felt, deeply inside him he felt the urge to do it instead. A dirty kitchen was a huge no-no, it made him antsy. From the looks of Connie's slightly irritated shuffling, he could tell she was too.

Another girl sauntered in and smiled. "Welcome. You must be Steven."

He shyly tucked his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor. "Yeah. I guess so."

"You guess so, huh?" She opened the cupboard and pulled out a pop tart. "When you figure it out for sure, let me know your name and I'll call you that instead. I'm Jasmin."

He fought back a laugh and instead smiled. "Okay."

"Not very talkative," She commented.

A gentle touch to his back made him cower in full force, nearly jumping to the other side of the kitchen until he realized it was just Hazel. "Sorry."

Adam made a buzzer sound. "Chronic apologizing. Makes me sick." He pulled out his phone and scrolled a bit. "Hazel, print me out the Advanced Apology Packet when you get a minute."

"Yep. How are you, big guy? You still haven't eaten anything." Hazel handed him a freshly made burrito. "Eat."

The smells it was giving off were heavenly. Creamy aromas of warmed tortilla and soft eggs and sauce, paired with the sharper scents of peppers made him tremble. The first bite nearly sent him into tears again. It was even better than it smelled, and was gone in ten seconds flat. Embarrassed he wiped at his face and returned his gaze to the floor. "Thank you."

Hazel watched him sadly and exchanged a glance with Adam. "You're welcome. You want another one? Connie can help you make it if you need the help or company. She's a kitchen bug."

Connie was a lot of things apparently. Pretty, a blabbermouth, a little chaotic, and apparently, a kitchen bug. "I like to clean up after people."

"They clean up after themselves, Connie," Hazel told her wearily. "You're not a 1920's housewife. It's not your job to clean up after people."

Her demeanor changed at the drop of a hat. The cheerfulness faded to an empty stare that drifted off to the right. "I know."

"Hey," Her eyes rose to Stevens. "I like to clean too." He didn't know what compelled him to comfort her, but it must have worked. She smiled like the sun and he sighed out loud on accident.

"Holy shit, he's really tall, Hazel!"

Steven turned to see another petite blonde woman just passing by. "I'm 6'4."

Hazel shook his head. "We'll see after breakfast." He pushed him toward the fridge and Steven stumbled like a baby deer.

Instinct came to life and he grabbed the ingredients he could find as quickly and quietly as possible. Actually, he could make the burritos even better if he added a bit more salt and spices to the sauce. Actually, he could just deconstruct it. Quelling his nerves, he asked Hazel which one had been put in the burrito.

"I think it was an insane mix of avocados, ketchup, and mayo." He pointed to each one and Steven grabbed those too, along with the creamy french dressing.

It took him record time to complete it. Without Allison scolding and criticizing him over his shoulder, he didn't feel as much pressure. He floundered a little with the tortillas, but once he'd wrapped it pre-warmed around the rest of the ingredients and toasted it again, they came out perfect. "Is there anything else you'd like me to do?"

"Yeah, eat."

He offered a plate to Connie and she picked it up, giving him an odd look. "Did you make this for me?"

He nodded quickly. "U-unless that's not what you want. I can make something else, let me think–,"

"Steven!" He snapped back to look at her and she took a big bite without breaking contact. One chew and she slumped against the counter. "Oh my fucking god. Hazel."

He took a bite and groaned. "Holy shit, I'm gonna kill her."

"What?" Steven's eyes widened and he swallowed a bit of bile. "Who?"

Hazel quickly backpedaled and patted his arm. "You did an amazing job. You should be a professional cook. Thank you, Steven."

"For what?" He was genuinely confused. It was just a meal, it wasn't anything special like a full body rub or cleaning up the house. Where was the rush of energy from his praise? Thank you didn't sound right, or make him feel very good. It seemed empty to him.

"For cooking." Hazel grabbed a second one and tossed the other to Adam. "Last three are yours."

Steven hadn't even realized he'd made enough for every person he'd seen so far. But not himself. Feeling awkward just standing there, he hopped up onto the other side of the counter near the oven and took a bite. Deconstructing and reconstructing the sauce had brought a bit more of a tangy flavor, salty but a bit sweet and savory too. Both of his were gone before Connie had gotten half way through with hers.

"Stopwatch has started, Connie," Adam said as he held up his watch. "Two hours, full surveillance."

She scowled and took another small bite. "Fuck you."

"Only if Hazel can watch," He quipped, leaving the room as if he hadn't just said something ridiculous.

Hazel chuffed and smiled after him. "Fucking Adam, man. He's learning to talk more and sometimes says the most out of pocket shit in the world."

Steven cleaned up after himself while Hazel explained everything that he could.

"Basically, you're in a safe house. This is an off the charts, unseen by Boogle Maps, and unknown by everyone but the town officials. I started it when my mom told me about my dad a few years ago. Connie was the last person to come before you, she's a real one. She'll be a Dog in no time."

Steven frowned. "What?"

"A Dog. Dogs go out in the field when another person is pointed our way. We've got code words now and everything, we're sick like that." Steven didn't seem to comprehend any of it. "We sent a team of Search and Rescue Dogs to your house to bring you to a place where Allison isn't."

Her name made his stomach lurch. He'd completely forgotten his phone with all the madness! "Where's my phone?"

Adam jogged back in and handed him a phone. "Here you go, she just finished uploading."

This was not his phone. It was brand new with no shattering of the screen. The Track360 app wasn't pinging on the home screen, and the picture of him and Allison was replaced with the one from the night before. But it unlocked without a passcode like his other one did, and everything was in the same placement. Even still, this was definitely not his phone. "Whose phone is this?"

Adam grinned, pulling off his beanie and pushing his hair back from his eyes. Steven had to avert his gaze immediately, it was like he could see everything wrong with him in a passing glance. "It's the latest model, comes with all the bells and whistles. Your phone was so rundown it was basically about to explode. The battery was funky and the Track360 app is not allowed at The House Of Angels."

He scrolled through the contacts to find only Adam's, Hazels, his dad's and the house phones number on it. He panicked as he realized he didn't know Allison's number, she grew furious if he called her. "Where's Allison's number?"

"Trashed it."

"Why? She's probably worried sick!" He cried. "I was– I was supposed to make her breakfast this morning and make sure everything's ready by the door! What time is it?" His franticness reached peak when he saw it was 11. Fear like he hadn't felt for a long time flowed through him.

She would beat him senseless. She would break him to pieces and he deserved it for failing her. That was the nagging feeling making him so spacey: failure.

"Steven!" Hazel grabbed his shoulders. "We're going to give you your old phone, but only to listen to the voicemails. There's 35, and then we're going to process them."

That made him feel only the slightest bit better and he slumped into Hazels touch. "I just wanna go back to my cot, Hazel. Please just put me in my cot." Allison often saw him to his cot, it was the only consistent thing that made him truly content.

Hazel sighed, longing to at least give him that comfort as he rubbed at his shoulders. "You sleep in a bed here, Steven. I know you aren't used to being awake for very long during the day. I'm sorry, but you're only allowed an hour to nap."

He'd have to be awake for eight hours if not more?! He groaned lowly and righted himself. "What am I supposed to do for eight hours?"

"Well, there's jobs around the house to do, but you're only allowed one if you have a history of maid service. We'll cover if you fit into that at Group."

"What's a group?"

Connie spread her hands and showed front and back. "I ate it all." She then turned to Steven. "Group is where we all get together and hang out. It's not really mandatory but it's recommended." She rolled her eyes, but he could see the smile in them. "They make us hang out with the other Angels so we can see it from the outside and realize we're better off."

"Speaking of which, it's almost that time. You can start heading into the living room if you're ready."

He guessed this red star tank was just his then. Funnily enough, it reminded him of his father's old merch, but he'd donated it long ago.

The first thing he noticed was the massive TV. It was easily the biggest one he'd ever seen, and the adults around it were choosing to watch a brightly colored and silly cartoon.

"Hey, pop a squat," Connie told him, patting the spot on the loveseat next to her.

Steven was... allowed on the furniture? He blushed but nodded, making sure to stay as far away from her as possible so to not irritate her. The last thing he wanted was to get in trouble if he was stuck here, and something about the way Jacob was fiddling with a bullet and chuckling at the TV told him he'd be better off trying to settle in.

Connie watched him shift uncomfortably. "You're shaking. You can sit a little closer if you want, I'm probably not going to bite you."

"Probably?" He edged just a centimeter closer and cautiously set his hands on his lap. It was like he'd never sat down ever in his life, this girl's presence was making him nervous.

When was the last time he was around another woman other than Allison? He looked around at the others, a vast majority of them being women. Steven had a tendency to think everything was beautiful, but like magnets he was finding himself staring at Connie. She had her hair in a long braid today, just reaching past her breasts.

"You're staring at my boobs again."

Steven scoffed and turned away. "I was noticing your braids length. I'm not always staring at your boobs."

Connie's laugh gave him pins and needles. He'd never heard such a pure sounding giggle. "I was just teasing you, silly. But now I know that you have stared at my boobs at least once."

"Sorry."

"Don't be." She fiddled with the end of said boob braid and glanced around. He noticed her hand over her stomach, pushing just lightly. If anyone had ever looked like they were about to be up to no good, it was her.

In an actual flash she shot up and booked it. Jacob had her beat with speed though and hopped over the couch like it was nothing to stand menacingly in front of the hallway leading to the bathroom.

"Drama," Alexander whispered.

"And where does Ms. Connie Maheswaren think she's going?" Jacob crossed his arms and raised a stern eyebrow. "Come on, Connie. You're gorgeous and we need to break the habit before we can do anything else to help you."

"Maybe I didn't ask for help," She growled. "Maybe I was just fine without it."

Jacob shifted, lips twitching like he wanted to say something. Instead he sighed and moved out of the way. "Fine."

She flew past him and he shook his head.

"Just know I'm extremely disappointed in you."

The sound of footsteps stopped. For a moment they stared each other down. Connie sighed and for a second, Steven hoped she was coming back. "You should be."

She didn't come back until 15 minutes later. When she did, she looked embarrassed to no end.

Seeing the distant look of regret in her eyes made Stevens heart hurt. "Are you okay?"

"I'm bulimic." Connie's eyes watered and she dropped her head in her hands. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"I didn't see anything," Steven said warmly.

Their moment was sliced in half by Jacob cocking his gun. "Looks like we've a visitor. Hazel, start Group, yeah?"

Hazel took over seamlessly and stood right in front of the TV. "Jasmin, mind turning it off for thirty minutes of your time?"

"But how am I ever going to find out if the ripped dad comes to his senses and returns to being a couch blob?" She whined.

"You go back to Vanessa," He countered deadpanly.

Jasmin's hand shot to the remote and shut it off without another word.

"Good afternoon you guys, it's another sunny day so I see no reason why we should be inside for a good half of the rest of it. We've only got a few things to cover, and I'll try to make them speed rounds. I want everyone to go around and say their name, and why they're here for our newest Angel. I'll go first." He touched a hand to his stomach and bowed. "My name is Artez Tabb, but please call me Hazel. I'm 24, and I'm here cause this is my job. I started THOA almost 5 years ago and now I'm blessed to have all of you."

Jasmin raised her hand. "I'm Jasmin. I'm 25 and I had an abusive mother. She used to burn and beat me with unconventional things. I'm a year into recovery."

"Hi, I'm Sophie!" The petite blonde was awful peppy for what she'd just heard. "I'm 20. I'm..." Her face darkened a little and she looked to Hazel, who gave her an encouraging pump of his fist. She nodded and tried again. "I'm a survivor of sexual abuse for the last 8 years. The Dogs broke into my basement after I went to a coffee shop and they heard me use the code word. I got lucky, I wasn't going to leave without help."

That made Steven smile too. It gave him some kind of resolve. His hand twitched and he clenched his fist, feeling the strange need to hold someone's hand through this. 

"I'm 22. I'm Alex. Stop calling me Alexander." He paused. "Please. I used to live with my boyfriend but things started getting out of hand when he threw a toaster at me and nearly took me out. I'm on recovery for concussion."

"And you're doing a great job!" Hazel exclaimed. "I know the head fog makes you a grumpy boy."

Alex seemed to struggle between wanting to scowl and wanting to laugh. "You make me a grumpy boy."

"Hi, I'm Zinnia," A curvy and kind faced woman said softly. "I'm 34, and I'm here on the run from my husband John. I'm a recovering drug addict." She tapped her arm to hint at it and sighed. "I've been clean for a while now, but it started to get bad again just recently."

Adam, leaning against the couch she was on, put a hand on her shoulder. "You're still doing a good job. Everyone has relapses. My names Adam, I'm in training to be the next full time employee but Hazel and I go way back. My ex girlfriend basically held me captive when I told her I was gay. I wasn't allowed to speak at all and I definitely let her hit me more times than I should have."

Steven startled. "You would hit a girl?"

At first he seemed annoyed, but a look of understanding crossed over his face. "Oh, I forget it's not super obvious anymore. I'm trans."

When it got to Connie, the world seemed to stop moving. She shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Steven out of the corner of her eye. "I'm Connie. I'm 21. I am... was a prostitute for the Empire City Broads for four years. I'm washed up and used. I went back three days ago, so that's why I have a black eye. Scott was killed after he hit me so now I really have nowhere to go."

"He was killed?" Steven whispered like the SWAT team might burst in at any moment. "By whom?"

His correct grammar made her exhaustion lift a little, and Hazel smirked at the way she looked at him before he responded. "Well, when you hit a woman and threaten to kill her, the reconnaissance is your life."

Steven wasn't satisfied by that. "But who did it?"

Connie snickered. "Don't you mean 'whom'?"

"No, that's incorrect usage," He mumbled.

Jacob returned cheerful and covered in mud. "Was someone talking about my good buddy Scott? Oh, I iced that motherfucker like a latte. Adam tried to take him out the nice way, but when shit it the fan, someone obscured had to pull the trigger. Anyways, Jacob, 22, here because I'm one of the few men the police couldn't even help and that's all I can bring myself to say for now."

Murders. He wasn't in a house of angels, he was in a house of fallen angels. "Are you going to kill Allison too?"

Hazels eyes darkened. "No. Unless. There's a reason we have body cams where we're out in the field. Scott had thugs and a gun, we had a ragtag team of spies and a gremlin with a gun. Bang bang, one left standing."

Two wars waged within him. One side said to run as fast as he could back home to beg for Allison's forgiveness and love again. If he begged and let her use the frying pan, he'd be cleansed of his sin. The other half was a fiery rage that wanted him to ask them to. So what if she died a horrible death? She... she was abusive, right? Isn't what this was about? Wasn't that why he was here?

Connie nudged him. "Hey, he deserved it. He would have. I would've let him." The room filled with a heavy silence so thick he almost couldn't breathe. And like the flip of a switch she turned cheerful. "Anyways, your turn!"

Steven sunk into himself. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't even mumble. Allison hated when he mumbled. "H-hi. I'm Steven. I'm... I'm 23." He checked the month on the phone and nodded a bit more surely. "Yeah, I'm 23. I'm here because I got abducted."

Zinnia chuckled. "Join the club, kiddo."

Her laughter gave him confidence. "I'm here because my girlfriend's been treating me poorly me for nearly four years, I guess."

Adam came over and knelt in front of him. "Hey, it's okay. You're safe here. Tell the whole story."

"I was her slave and she beat me like one." It slipped out like he was possessed. It hadn't even crossed his mind to say it. The words came out like the next line of a song: automatically.

Adam patted his head as he stood. "You're not alone."

"I guess I don't really know why I'm here though. I was happy," He finished, avoiding everyone's faces. "I miss her."

Instantly he felt stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He shouldn't miss her but all he wanted was to sit by the door and wait for her to come home.

"Well, that's normal," Sophie assured to his surprise. He sat up to stare at her a little in wonder. "I miss my abusers, too. But isn't it nice knowing you can be yourself without being hurt for it?"

Steven wiped the tears from his face and huffed out a laugh. "Not really."

"You'll get used to it." Hazel grabbed a stack of papers from inside the TV stand and flipped through them. "Steven, this week you're doing the Advanced Apology Packet."

Steven took it and it almost slipped out of his hand. "This is heavy."

"So is abuse. Comparatively, the packet is a much lighter load," Jacob laughed. "And yes, it is homework."

Connie got a Self Worth packet and tried handing it back. "I don't need it."

Hazel completely ignored her and handed Alex a packet. "No homework yet, but I need you to track your headaches and dizzy spells, okay?"

Alex scowled and snatched it. "Whatever. I'm mostly better. This is a joke."

"PCS is not a joke, Alex." He turned to Zinnia and she sighed. "And for Ms. Zinnia–,"

"Not Ms. yet."

"For Ms. Zinnia, a Self Worth packet as well."

She grinned and flipped through it. "You forgot a lot of the pages. It's just affirmations."

Hazel winked. "You're almost graduated. Cut yourself some slack."

Steven stared down at his packet. The first thing on it was a mantra.

'Not everything I do is not worth apologizing for'

The first page was literally full of it in every kind of handwriting he could possibly imagine. Over and over and over he read through them all, assuming he must have to.

Hazel tipped his head and watched Steven stay on the front page. He was diligent and hyper focused, both things that could be good things if he wasn't clearly trembling. He flipped to the second page and sniffled. An unreadable expression crossed over his face and he quietly shut it.

"You okay, Steven? I know this is a lot to process." Hazel crossed over to crouch in front of him and wipe his tears. As soon as his hands moved away, Steven whined involuntarily. "How about we spend part of the day together and just do medical stuff? You wanna hang out?"

Steven nodded miserably. "I-," He stopped midsentence and seemed to think about it with his eyes closed. "I'm sorry for acting strange. Your hand just..." He lost his motivation to speak and turned red with shame.

Hazel chuckled and pinched his cheek. "You're touch starved to an extreme degree. We used to have a cuddle buddy sign up which was a really huge success, but I think I know someone who might be a perfect fit." He nodded to Connie and she switched her eyes between them.

"Is this the next step?" She asked hesitantly. "He's just a baby."

"I'm older than you," He countered quickly. "By two years. Why Connie?" A genuine curiosity had sprouted in him. Obviously he could connect the words 'cuddle' and 'buddy' and assume what it was. But why Connie?

Hazel shrugged. "Connie's an excellent cuddler, Plus, she needs to understand what genuine touch feels like, she's nearly completely numb." He pinched her arm and she frowned.

"I felt that. You're an asshole." She smiled just a little and nodded. "This is insanely fast."

"Steven clearly needs human contact in order to stop his flinching," Hazel protested, then pointed to her sternly. "You need to learn how good human contact is. Steven's the kindest person I've ever met and you could possibly skip out on one packet next month. Hypothetically, anyways."

Steven raised his hand. "I don't know how to cuddle. Or... I-I don't... I'm probably bad at it by now."

Hazel tugged him up at patted his cheek. "Hey, one step at a time. It's just talk for the future. Now let's go."