In the small amount of time we had been together, I had been attacked by a gorilla droid, Tilly had found herself afraid of the only person she trusted, Aster had nearly gotten his fingers cut off, and Ed had a hole in his foot. Me losing that backpack was just the cherry on top, too.

"How's your foot?" I asked Ed. We had found a stick for him to lean on, so he was walking on his own now. I attempted to make him a pair of crutches, but I realized that I didn't have anything to hold it together. I also figured out that I sucked at building.

"Well, it hurts a lot," he said. I nodded. His eyes flickered towards Tilly, who was trailing behind. "Is she mad at me?"

"Scared," I admitted. "I don't think that she's seen you yell before."

"Well, I'm not supposed to be thrilled about being impaled, am I?"

"I guess not."

After a moment of silence, I walked ahead. I could tell that Ed still blamed everything on Aster. It all seemed to fit, after all. He had been the last person to be awake and wasn't supposed to fall asleep. There were times when I did that, too, but I never woke up to shackles. Could it really just be a coincidence?

Aster was such a sweet guy, though. There didn't seem to be a mean bone in his body. He saved Ed and he saved me. As much as I want to blame all of it on him, I couldn't. The Game Master wanted us to turn on each other. I didn't want to start now.

"I saw you talking to Ed."

Speaking of which. Aster had quickened his pace to catch up with me, obviously not wanting to risk a beating from Ed. He stared at his feet, his arms swinging awkwardly. I couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah, his foot's getting better," I said. "How's your hand?"

"It still hurts, but I'm managing with one hand," Aster said. I looked down at the bandages around his fingers. There was blood causing the edges to curl in. The cloth was damp and dirty and was in need to be changed. Too bad we were running out of sleeves to tear.

"I was talking to Tilly." Aster chuckled. "She's not much of a talker."

I grinned. "No kidding."

Tilly was walking next to Ed, studying the floor. She wasn't really saying anything. Ed was explaining something, for he gave her shoulder a tight squeeze in the middle of his sentence. I hoped that they would be friends again. They needed each other, that's for sure.

"Can I ask you a question?" Aster asked. I tore my eyes away from them and waited for him to continue. "You...you don't actually think I had anything to do with that, right?"

I had hoped that he wouldn't ask that. "Not really. You can't deny how bad it looks, though."

"Why would I let myself be part of it instead of letting you guys die?"

I hesitated. "I don't know."

Aster stopped and faced me. It gave Ed and Tilly enough time to catch up. Aster motioned for them to continue walking with a nod of his head. Silently, they continued on. I looked at him and studied the way his glasses slid off the bridge of his nose. He didn't bother to lift them back to their original place.

"Kat, look at me," Aster pleaded. When I did, he sighed. "We're allies now. Allies stick together." I nodded. "But you're not really letting us stick together. There are times where I think you've finally allowed us to be a team, but there are also times where you look at me as if I'm going to attack you at any second."

"You're the one to talk," I said. "Remember that time where I asked you to be allies, and then you walked away? How was I supposed to trust you after that?"

Aster's eyes flickered through two emotions. The first one was cold, and the other one was a look I knew all too well: pain.

"I'm sorry," Aster whispered. "I don't know how many times I'm going to have to apologize to you until you let that go. I am just as new to all of this as you are. Making allies was making it too real for me. I don't want to have you hanging that over me until I die.

"You may not like me, Kat, and at this moment, I really can't blame you. It looks bad for me. I have been a little private. You have to also remember that I broke my fingers to stop an obstacle. Who takes over many watches while you guys sleep? Me. Sure, I might've fallen asleep that one time, but if I had known that something bad was going to happen, I never would have.

"I want to be friends," Aster said. "I don't want us to not trust each other. We have to have each other's backs. Can we do that?"

We, not you, we. I tried to look for any reason for us not to. He was right; it was tiring not being able to trust each other. Maybe everything would be smoother. Whatever would happen, it was worth a shot.

"Yeah," I finally said, "we can." 

Hey, everyone! Sorry that this is a day late, last night my Wi-Fi was a little wonky. Kat and Aster are officially friends. Yay!

Don't forget to like, read, comment, and share this story with your friends. Once you share this story with your friends, have them slam the vote button. Stay amazing and have a great day.

This is another song by Florence and Machine called Shake It Out. Has Kat finally shaken off her grudge on Aster, or can they never truly be friends?