Garry was tired. He spent the whole day surviving all the questions thrown at him by Ib's parents. Not that he could blame them. If his nine year old daughter came home with a new twenty year old "friend", hell, he would be paranoid as well. It took hours of convincing her parents, mostly her dad since her mother was oddly accepting of him, that he wasn't some pedophile. They just met in an art museum and Ib happened to ask him what certain words were and they became close friends. It's not like they spent hours together, stuck in a nightmare world which is the gallery. It's not like they saved each other's lives more than they can count. It's not like they promised each other that they would both make it out of the nightmare. No, none of that could've happened right?

Right?

Before he could spend more time resting, Garry felt a small tug on his arm and saw Ib looking at him with her rosy eyes. Garry was about to ask what she needed before he heard grunts at the door way. Right, after he convinced her parents that he wasn't a threat, Ib suddenly decided that she wanted to live with him. Long story short, after receiving enough glares to scare the Devil himself, Ib was finally allowed to live with him. It was better for both parties anyway. Ib, after seeing the museum, had taken a liking to art and wanted to enroll in an art class. Sadly the school she wanted to join was across the city from where she lived but coincidentally, Garry lived three blocks away. Garry, although feeling a bit awkward about living with a nine year old, was happy for the company and treated Ib like a little sister.

With a sigh, Garry stood up to assist Ib's father…with carrying a bed. Yeah, Ib was dead serious about the living thing. Garry grabbed hold of the other side of the bed and lifted it up. It took a couple of minutes but finally Ib's bed was in her room. Thinking back on it now, renting a 2 bed roomed apartment was a good idea; he couldn't remember why he wanted two anyways. After panting for a while and regaining his energy, Ib's father looked at him than at Ib.

"Ib, could you please check to make sure I didn't leave the coat outside?"

Ib looked at him and nodded. As Ib was walking down the hall, Garry prepared himself. With a stiff neck, he turned to look from the door way to meet the glaring man. With an inward sigh, he opened his mouth only for him to be interrupted. It's not like he didn't expect it, if he didn't try to talk, the two men would just stare at each other.

"Look, I don't know why, but Ib has taken a liking to you. I say that in a surprised manner because Ib hardly ever shows her emotions but somehow…you're different. That's not saying I accept what is going on right now," he tilted his head towards the bed," but I love my daughter and I will make her happy. So if anything happens to her, you better watch your neck. Understand?"

Garry could feel the killing intent in the air. This wasn't the first time he was threatened like this, but it still made him a bit uneasy.

"I understand." Somehow, that came out higher than what he thought it would sound like in his head.

Before any other threats were made, Ib came back with her father's coat. With a small smile, Ib's father walked towards her and picked up the coat.

"Alright, well… it's time for me to go. Remember Ib, you can call me anytime alright? I know you have the number stuck in your head by now but if you forget, you can just check under," the man stopped to glare at Gary before leaning down to whisper in Ib's ear.

"Under my dresser? Ok."

Well…that was awkward to say the least.

After a few more goodbyes, Ib and Gary were left all alone. Garry looked at the clock and saw that it was nearing 7:00 PM. He sighed and sat on the couch to watch T.V. He noticed Ib come over and he patted the couch next to him. Ib sat down and started to watch T.V with him.

"Sooo Ib, was your day fine?"

Ib nodded silently.

"Still quiet as ever I see."

After about an hour of watching T.V, well, more of Garry dozing off and Ib drawing on his face. They decided that they wanted to go outside to do something.

"Hey Ib, you wanna go somewhere? Well, its 8 so the café isn't open right now. Hmm."

"Hey Garry?"

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Do you ever think about Marry?"

A silence enveloped the room, neither wanting to break it.

"Yes…sometimes…why do you ask?"

"Is it bad that I miss her sometimes? She tried to hurt us."

"No it's not bad. She herself wasn't a bad person; all she wanted to do was to be free. Her decisions however could've been more…safer to say the least."

After a minute of silence, Garry decided to bring up the question both wanted to hear.

"Do you want to go to the museum?"

Ib turned to look at Garry and nodded.

"Garry you should look in the mirror before we go."

It took about twenty minutes to finally arrive. Garry still felt the uneasiness of being in there but was struck with a bit of sadness. Ib was in the same mood except worse. They wandered to the front desk to pay.

"Good evening sir, I do hope you and your daughter have a wonderful time. Today is the last day of the exhibit dedicated to Weiss Guertena."

"Er, well…ahh never mind, thank you."

Garry didn't know whether to curse his luck for arriving on the nightmare gallery's last day or happy he could see where he met Ib. He held Ib's hand subconsciously as they walked through the exhibit. They just arrived at the Embodiment of Spirit before the lights went out.

"Everyone please remain calm. There was a momentary black out do not panic, the light will come back soon."

A second after saying that the light went back on, making several people sigh in relief. The worker surveyed the area and made sure everyone was ok before stopping his eyes on two individuals. An older man was with a little girl under his arm and was looking to make a sprint.

Well that's probably the funniest thing I've seen all day.

Ib and Garry both froze and looked at each other before they burst out laughing.

"Haha sorry Ib, force of habit." He says as he sets her down.

Ib nodded with a smile and starts tugging at his hand to lead him to another part of the gallery. They continue walking for another twenty minutes recounting how many times they had run from certain things before an announcement was made that the museum was to close soon.

"Alright, guess it's time to g- Ib?" Garry paused as he searched for Ib.

He found her looking at a painting that he couldn't see from his view. He started to walk towards her.

"Jeez Ib nearly gave me a scare, Thought I lost you or…something…"

Gary stood next to Ib in silence. There in front of them was an old friend.

It was Mary's painting.

They stood in silence watching the blonde girl surrounded by yellow roses. They finally left when a worker said its time to close. They left feeling…somehow relieved. Garry thought he killed her after he burned her painting yet somehow she was there…the gallery will never be understood. Gary, not aware that Ib also had the same thoughts. As they left the museum they had a small smile on their face.

They arrived home weary. As Ib sat down on the couch, Garry brought a blanket to cover her with. They watched some random show that neither was paying too much attention to.

"Hey Garry?"

"Yes?"

"Are you happy that we saw her?"

"Yes, I am."

Ib went back to being silent before asking another question.

"When I learn how to paint well, do you want to paint her?"

The question surprised Garry but without a second thought he agreed.

"Sure, we'll paint her every year."

"Thanks…"

With that, Ib closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Garry looked at her and with a smile, also fell asleep on the couch.

Garry woke up to his phone ringing. With a slight groan, he was about to stand before noticing the little girl sleeping on his lap. He instead reached over and picked up the phone.

"H-hello?"

"Where's Ib?"

Right, he forgot about him.

"She's right here asleep on the couch." Garry said with a yawn.

"Why on the couch?! Did you just yawn?! I swear to god if you did something to he-" He was cut off by sleepy Ib.

"Garry tell my father to shut up please."

Both men on phone went silent.

"Wow…" They both said.

"Well uh, hearing as she is fine, I uh, w-well have a good night you two." With that, he hung up.

Garry looked down at the now again sleeping girl before quietly chuckling.

"Jeez Ib never knew you were one to be grumpy when woken up."

"Garry shut up too please."

"Ok." Garry replied with a small yelp.

She sure is scary sometimes.

Gary set the phone down and gently picked Ib up and walked her to her room. After setting her down, he left the room for her to change into her pajamas and get ready to sleep. Garry helped her into bed and tucked her in.

"Night Garry."

"Night Ib."

With that the light was shut off and the door closed. Garry stood against the door and let out a sigh. With a long day like this, he should sleep too. After getting in warm clothes, he finally lay down on his bed. It was only quiet for ten minutes before he heard the door of his room open.

"Ib?"

"Sorry Garry. I had a nightmare… can I sleep with you?"

Garry inwardly sighed. He somehow knew this was going to happen. Seeing mannequins walking towards you gave a lot of nightmare fuel. Being too tired to care of the consequences, Garry scooted over and let Ib lay on the bed with him. He wrapped an arm around her and finally fell asleep.

I hope to god that by the time she's older she will not have nightmares anymore. If she does, well, I might start to lose my sanity.