OH MY GOSH HERE IT IS! I am soooooo excited for this new story and I hope you all will love it too! And when I had said in my one-shot that I didn't want to steal someone else's idea, I scrolled through the stories and couldn't find that story and while Dewi-Michelle had suggested giving that person credit, like I said I couldn't find the story and I realized mine was only similar in the basic idea anyway, so it's not stealing. Anyway, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ib; only the story is mine


A cool breeze started to stir and I shrugged my shoulders up to my ears to try and block out the cold. My pull over sweater wasn't proving to do much to protect me from the biting wind making me debate about heading home. The tights were proving to be even less effective for keeping me warm, but I was still glad I had chosen to wear them under my maroon pleated skirt. Even though school had let out ages ago and everyone else had returned home long ago I remained on the property wandering around the building sprawled out in a field. It was surrounded by a forest making for some beautiful scenery around the building that I would end up staring at all through class.

Most people thought I was the artist type, but I hadn't drawn for five years...since the incident with the art gallery. I had never really had a knack for drawing before so giving it up altogether hadn't proven to be that difficult. Ever since I had been transported to that nightmare in the gallery I had done my best to avoid drawings or paintings or sculptures or anything of the sort at all costs. I always started panicking a little whenever I was near one expecting the world around me to shift back into that living hell and that was something I never wanted to go through again.

My brown hair that I hadn't let grow any longer since I was ten decided to obscure my view of the path in front of me as the wind picked up instantly changing directions. I wasn't accident prone or anything like that, but with my hair being annoying like this I was bound to trip over something. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket to see that it was four 'o'clock as I let out a gasp of surprise.

"I'm gonna be late!" I pointed out the obvious to myself as I whipped around and started sprinting in the direction of home.

The guilt of not telling my parents the full truth started to rise up in my gut again as my feet pounded rhythmically along the sidewalk. I knew there was no way I could tell them the truth as they would never in a million years be okay with it but that didn't mean I enjoyed lying to them. Whenever I went out they thought I was doing a project for school or at the library studying, neither of those scenarios ever being true. Thinking about what I was really doing caused the excitement to bubble up in me once again and I actually had to suppress a giggle. It wasn't that hard to fight back though as I reminded myself my feelings were completely one sided and anyway it was just plain wrong of me to love him. If anyone found out about my secret I was pretty sure I would die from mortification as there wasn't a single person in the world who would be okay with who I loved; not even the person I loved would accept it.

I shook my head to free it of these thoughts as I reached the front door of my house stopping to regain composure and make it look like I hadn't just been running for my life before I entered the house. "Mom, Dad, I'm home!"

"Ib I was beginning to wonder where you were!" My mother called from the kitchen. She stuck her head out into the hall to give me a smile as she continued, "What kept you so long, sweetie?"

"I hadn't planned on staying that long, but just the way the overcast sky looked over the school grounds was just mesmerizing to me and I couldn't help but stop to appreciate it." I was glad I was at least able to tell the complete truth in this case. Lying seemed to be something that was starting to become more common and easier and that was starting to worry me. "I won't be staying home long either though. I have a huge test I have to study for tomorrow so I was going to head off to the library to get some peace and quiet," I added trotting down the hall to my room to set down my school bag.

My mom was standing in the doorway as I spun around to exit, blocking my only means of escape. "Can't you stay home and study for once? I know you don't always go out, but it looks miserable out there and I can't stand the thought of my little girl out there in such dreadful weather," my mother begged poking her bottom lip out in a pout.

Grabbing my messenger bag and filling it with a few textbooks to make it look like I really was studying, I argued, "But I don't want to ask you and Dad to be quiet and it's really helpful to study at the library. They have the internet and books to help me figure things out that I otherwise wouldn't be able to at home." I knew I had her with that argument just like I had every other time I'd had to fight my way out the door.

With a sigh she reluctantly agreed to let me go taking a step out of the doorway to signal that I had free passage once again.

I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before racing back out into the cold world making a beeline straight for the cafe. It was our usual spot thankfully only being about five minutes from my house so that when I was running late like this it wouldn't take me long to get there. I slowed to a stop as I saw the building come into view and fixed my bangs and clothes making sure I didn't look like I had just gone through a hurricane even though it kinda felt like I had as the wind was still blowing like crazy. Pushing the door open I was greeted with the usual blast of warm air as my eyes went straight to the table in the corner where I knew he would be waiting.

Garry was staring out the window his hair covering his eye that was facing me like it had since I first met him making it impossible for me to see what he was thinking. While they obviously weren't the exact same clothes he was wearing clothes very similar to what he had worn five years ago, but that was just like him to not really change much about himself. I wasn't one to talk though as I had hardly changed anything about my appearance as well.

It was like he could sense my presence because in that instant he turned to face me and his face lit up in a small causing my heart to beat just a few clicks faster. I didn't waste any time in making my way back to the table as I slid into the chair opposite him. "Sorry I was late; I was wandering around school and lost track of the time." My cheeks reddened slightly as I apologized taking a sip water to regain composure.

"I knew you would come so don't worry about it. You weren't that late anyway," Garry assured like he always did whenever I was late. He was twenty three now, but his voice still wasn't that deep and gruff sounding. As if on autopilot he popped a piece of candy into his mouth as he was still struggling with trying to quit smoking. I felt bad for him as I knew it was hard to quit smoking and it was something he was determined to do no matter what, but he was still struggling with it.

The waitress came by with our usual order of macaroons and green tea for both of us. I wrapped my hands around the mug choosing to just let the heat from it warm the outside of me up first before even thinking about drinking it. "So anything new and exciting to tell me?"

Hurriedly swallowing his bite of macaroon he started, "Actually I do have something I want to tell you. It's more of an idea really and before you say no I want you to hear me out and then make your final decision." Taking a deep breath to center himself he continued, "I know you hate going to art galleries and everything, but a new gallery opened up downtown and I think it might be a good idea for you to go. Before you say anything you know I would never in a million years force you to do anything you don't want to, but I really think it might help you if you visited one that didn't have any...weird memories attached to it. They don't have anything by Guertena and I'll be with you the whole time."

Once he finished his proposal I could only seem to stare at him. The idea of going to a place like that terrified me to the bone, but I knew how much he loved drawing and had always wanted to show me his drawings. He never did show them to me though as he knew I would freak out. He was always taking my feelings into account and even though he had been trying to quit smoking before it had only been a half hearted attempt; after he met me though he was determined to quit because he was once again thinking about my health safety. How I could sit here and claim I loved him when he had given up so much for me yet I hadn't done anything in return for him? "Garry...I think I want to give it a try," I whispered the words surprising me as I hadn't actually meant to say it out loud.

"Really?!" Garry's face lit up like a little boy's at Christmas and I felt my heart start beating a million times faster again at his shining face. "When do you want to go?" He could barely contain his excitement in his voice as he ate another macaroon his eyes glued to my face as he waited for my answer.

"How does tomorrow sound?" I didn't have school and if I delayed the trip too long it was very possible that I would chicken out and there was no way I was going to disappoint him. "Ten o'clock?" I suggested the time to which he enthusiastically agreed and I could help but laugh lightly at his antics.

It was a lot easier to meet up now since I was fifteen and actually looked closer to his age then I had before. When we were younger we would just tell people that we were siblings whenever we went out to make sure no one tried to call the cops and call Garry a pedophile as no one would believe the story of us being friends. It didn't matter though because as much as I wished he loved me in a romantic way I was pretty sure he saw me as a little sister.

The rest of our meeting flew by like it always did and I felt a twinge of sadness as it was time for us to part ways. He ruffled my hair like he always did before making his way to his car to head to his downtown apartment like always. I felt bad that he felt guilty about not being able to give me a ride and forcing me to walk all the time, but I didn't mind the walking. True I wished he could give me a ride so that we could spend more time together, but that would've been a stupid idea to do that as my parents would definitely find out about him then.

At home I went through the motions of eating dinner and taking a bath as dread slowly started to creep into me at the thought of facing my fears tomorrow. I always took a bath instead of a shower when I was in a thinking mood as it gave me more time to think about things before having to go to bed. I was glad that I had been able to talk myself into giving this a try to attempt to get over my fear, but at the same time I wasn't looking forward to facing my fears. After the whole terrifying experience at the gallery it had proven a lot harder for me to hide my fear as all those horrifying sights had finally gotten to me and made me crack. I was just glad that I had found Garry and we had managed to remember each other back here in the real world. If I would've lost him I'm not sure what I would've done with myself. Wanting to make sure I got enough sleep for tomorrow I retired to bed early curling up under the covers into a tight ball as the sound of the wind howling through the air distracted me long enough to push back the dread, letting me drift off into sleep.