Eight Years Ago...

"You realize that's quite idiotic, right?" The ten year old boy said to the girl two years younger. She kneeled by his dog, Plutos', cage. An amused smirk laid upon his face. Yes, it is an unusual quality of a ten year old, but as the years went by Mary realized how suiting the smirk was and how frequent it would pass upon her best friends face.
"No, it's not. It's sad to see such a cute dog locked up." The eight year old pouted and looked up at her friend with big, hazel eyes, eyes that Sebastian always thought were a tad too dangerous for a child to have.
"Well, it's also sad when the dog chews everything up and pees like our home is his bathroom." Sebastian teased and sat down next to Mary.
"Pluto was a gift from my family, it seems only fair that he gets to come out when one of us visits." Mary said stubbornly and crossed her arms.
"Mary, you're here everyday, it's one I the perks of being neighbors." Bash raised an eyebrow but Mary simply shook her head.
"Daddy says that Pluto was an agreement of some sort; what does it say about your family to keep the agreement caged up all day?" Mary scolded Bash, but he just laughed, getting a glimpse of the spirit Mary would have in the future.
"The agreement was for the baseball teams that our parents manage." He stated simply, not bothering to answer his question. Mary nodded in understanding, but still looked defeated. Her father, Jonathan Stuart, was the owner and manager of the Highlanders while Sebastian's dad, Henry Dubois, owned and managed Marianne's Marauders.
"But really, what harm could it be if we just let her out for an hour? Don't you see how sad she is?" Mary asked, not realizing that she was going Sebastian her puppy dog face. Again, Sebastian noticed just how big her eyes were, he didn't think about how as the dog looked; but he did notice how sad Mary looked.
"I guess it wouldn't be too bad if we're here to watch him." Bash conceded, Mary gave him a giant smile and hugged him.
"Oh, I knew you weren't heartless!" Mary squealed before pulling away from Sebastian and unlocked the dogs cage.
Pluto bolted out of the cage, rushing right past Mary, causing her to lose her balance and tumble into Bash. "Pluto!" Both of the kids exclaimed. They scrambled to their feet and tried to catch up with the poodle. Mary pumped her little legs and her long, dark hair was flowing behind as she ran up the steps to the third floor of the Dubois house. Sebastian was right behind her. It was only them in the house, their parents were at some executive meeting and Francis, Sebastian's longer brother, was with Mary's older brother, Harrison, at a birthday party for Olivia Jameson. Sebastian was invited too, but Olivia had never like Mary so she didn't invite her; so Sebastian decided to stay with Mary.
"I bet dogs run so fast because they have four legs. It's not fair," Mary pouted and looked at Sebastian, who chuckled in return. They both stopped to catch they breath at the top of the stair case, the search for Pluto was no more. "I don't think Pluto knew I wanted to pet him." The young girl said when her breathing was back to normal.
"I think that the dog has been locked inside all day and needs to get rid of his energy." Sebastian stated.
"So, now what do you want to do?" Mary asked, looking up at Bash, and again he noticed the size of her eyes.
"What ever you want." Bash shrugged and smiled, he did that a lot around his best friend.
"We should watch a movie!" Mary graded Bash's arm and dragged him towards the movie room of his house. "A scary one, my parents never let watch scary movies." An upset look crossed over Mary's face, she had told Sebastian time and time again how her parents treated her like she was...well, eight. Bash put the DVD into the player and say beside Mary on the couch.
"What's this one called?" Mary's voice was timid as she gave Bash a nervous glance.
"The Others, freaked me out real good when I watched it." He lied. He knew it wasn't very scary, but he also knew how good Mary would feel after watching it and thinking she was braver than Bash.
It was 20 minutes into the movie before Mary spoke again, "Bash," Mary started slowly and Sebastian looked at her in concern. "Thank you for staying with me. I don't know why Olivia doesn't like me." The expression on Mary's face was utterly heartbreaking, and it wasn't until Mary hugged him that he finally responded.
"Of course I would stay with you. I'll always have more fun with my best friend than I would at any party," Sebastian held her tightly until a crash broke them apart. "Pluto!" Sebastian exclaimed before jumping up and followed the sound the crash. Mary was right after him.

When they entered one of the spare bedrooms on the second floor, the weight of the world fell on them. "You won't see me anymore after today, my father will finally have killed me." Bash spoke dryly ad he took in the ripped pillows and blanket, the toppled over chairs, and the broken picture frame.
"How could a dog make so much noise and we didn't hear him?" Mary asked, on her knees picking up the feathers from the pillow. Her long dark hair fell over her shoulders and landed on the floor.
"Must've been the speakers in the movie room, they were too loud." Bash grumbled before sitting down and helping her. They cleaned silently for a few minutes before they were interrupted by a gasp.
"What happened in here?!" Catherine, Sebastian's stepmom, said from the doorway. She must be back from shopping, Bash thought grimly and eyed the shopping bags at her feet.
"I let Pluto out of his cage." His voice was dripping with guilt. Mary was about to protest and set the record straight when Bash grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"Your father will be very upset. Dishes for a week. Oh, don't touch the glass!" Catherine scolded Mary, who was still cleaning up but suddenly stopped at Catherine's shrill tone and clenched the glass deep into her hand. A blood curdling filled the air as blooded dripped from the young girls palm. Tears were running down her face as Catherine ruses over to assess the damage. Sebastian's stomach dropped, he had never been so scared in his entire life.
"We need to go to the emergency room." Catherine insisted, ushering the children out of the room.

Two hours later, after Mary had gotten four stitches on her hand, she was sitting on a hospital bed with Sebastian. Their dads had came to the hospital right away after a frantic call from Catherine. All the adults were dealing with paperwork, leaving the two children in the room.
"Does it hurt? I've never got stitches or anything like that before." The ten year old asked, feeling awful. Mary simply nodded and looked like the saddest angel ever with dried tears on her cheeks. "I'm sorry, all of this is my fault." Bash hung his head in shame.
"No, it's not. I picked up the glass." Mary debated, hating seeing her best friend feel bad. The waver in Mary's voice made him feel worse than before.
"Pluto made the mess and I said you could let Pluto out."
"I begged you to let Pluto out."
"I should have known better."
"Pluto was a gift from my father! If he never got the dog we wouldn't be in this mess! Now stop feeling so bad, I'm the one in pain!" Mary gave Sebastian her best serious face an he didn't say anything back, knowing it would just upset her. "I don't blame you for this." Mary said softly and Bash's ten year old heart broke. He swore right then and there that he would always protect Mary Stuart, his best friend.

Authors Note

First of all, HOW AMAZING WAS THAT MASH KISS! I SWEAR I STOPPE BREATHING AND JUST COMPLETELY DIED, MY GHOST IS WRITING THIS STORY! This was just a little prologue to my new story, I hope you like it! The next chapter will probably be longer and they will be older. Also, Francis will show up and you'll meet Mary's older brother! I added Harrison to the story because I think it's more interesting with a protective older brother, wink wink(; And lastly, it's really just a side comment, but Torrance Coombs is so insanely adorable that I seriously can't think straight whenever he's on camera. Please read and review!
-Caitlin