Disclaimer: Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs belongs to Sony Pictures Animations.

The respective OC's belongs to me.


And sometimes I get nervous
When I see an open door
Close your eyes, clear your heart
Cut the cord

Human - The Killers

...

It's been like three days already... since the girl arrived to the house. The day after they found her, they called a doctor to give track to her health, surprisingly for everyone, when the moment to check her wounds came, she had pretty much none, and the one that threatened with her life was already gone, of course that brought the attention of the scientist a lot because it just couldn't be. At the same moment he decided to probably, just probably take a DNA test to see what's the thing that made her recover so fast, and then he screeched out loud...

Such a nice timing, wasn't it? Pretty much a lot of his glass-made instruments were broken a day ago because of a mischievous and crazy monkey he owned, and some of them were fully necessary to make the tests he wanted to do, like some of the tubes that were now broken, and it'd take a few days to get everything back to normal... yes, he was blaming his luck way too much now. The perfect thing that could've happened to him indeed in so long was having a new and special case that'd help science to go in a new direction and all his stuff were ruined. Perfect.

And then in the other hand that was a good thing, right? Because when she wakes up he'd be able to make questions to her and stuff, it was unsure her reaction after she wakes up so a nice thing at least was just not snitch when he wasn't being called... for now of course. At least he could "play" a bit with that sword... right?

Going to the former room of the inventor, we can see the little girl starting to wake up, she moved her head to the sides for a moment, contracting and stretching her limbs a bit as she yawned; slowly her eyes opened, revealing a pair of slightly dull brown eyes that were trying to process information... her mind was trying to retrieve the last events before she passed out as her stare was straight lost in a blank point of the ceiling, then everything flashed fast, and out of sudden she sat down breathing heavily, looking to her surroundings with confusion... when did she even end there? "Someone saved me...," She mumbled almost to herself in Spanish. Looking down she saw she wasn't using her other clothes but a black over sized shirt that said 'I got the brains', she got slightly more nervous now...

Her face got this bittersweet expression, as if she actually wasn't expecting anyone to save her life, her little body trembled a bit for a moment, then stabilized again, looking around the room he saw faded blue tapestry on the walls with the design of vertical rhombus, her bed sheets were science-themed with flasks and test tubes all over it. There was also an old home-made computer that reminded to an old Apple Macintosh computer on a desk in front of a covered window with some modifications if she wasn't wrong with her impression. Next to the bed there was the night stand with a lamp, at the feet of the bed there was the door, and a few inches away from the door there was a bookshelf full of several different stuff like books and other things scattered.

Slowly she moved and stood up, feeling slightly dizzy, wobbling side to side for a brief moment to then recover it as she used the night stand to lean on... "Okay... just breath...," She said once again to herself in Spanish, breathing in and out slowly one, two, three times to clear up his mind... it worked. Wherever she was she got to get out, right? Or not? Where was she anyways? Was it a safe place? So many questions and it was so hard where to start actually. Could she trust whoever who saved her...? "I don't think so..." She quietly mumbled...

Due the fact of her barefoot condition, slowly and sneakily she got out of the room without giving any hints to the owners of the house that she was already awake, looking carefully to the sides to see if there was anyone around. It'd be perfect for her to get out if no one was around... there was this door at the end of the hall and a door next to the room where she got out. First, she checked the one at the end, only to find out the bathroom of the house... of course she used it briefly to do her needs, and then got out as if nothing happened. Checking again the hallway, he slowly sneaked into the door next to her room...

It felt nostalgic...

The walls had a tapestry with faded yellow tones with the design of flowers similar to the blue room, it felt quite sad if she was honest, as if something was actually missing in there; for the size of the bed she could tell it was the room of the owners, and the room where she was staying was their son's, but where were they now? Did they leave her alone on purpose...? No, she didn't really think so, nobody in its sane mind would actually leave a complete stranger alone... slowly she got out from there without looking back, leaving the door exactly as it was before she got in; then she turned around with her mind thinking that no one would notice anything, just to jump straight to the ceiling out of surprise when she saw Tim Lockwood standing behind her with arms crossed, screaming out surprise... and now she was on the floor upon her butt, afraid and her cheeks burning in shame...

"I-I-I'm so sorry...!" She apologized nervous, this time in English, "I-I know I shouldn't be roaming without permission and-and...," Her breathing was quick, as if she was struggling to hold down a panic attack, "It wasn't my intention to wander around like this..." She mumbled looking down, closing her eyes tight trying to not let out the tears get out.

The old fisherman felt bad for her in that moment, she was so small and seemed so vulnerable, indeed for her reaction he could actually tell she wasn't actually meaning to sneak around, or at least, not steal something from there, just having gotten carried for curiosity around the house. "It's alright little girl...," He said, approaching his hand to her a bit to help her to get up. Hesitantly she took it and stood up. She was indeed real small in comparison to him, still looking down... there was something falling down her cheeks slowly, "Oh dear... don't cry..." He said again, with one of his fingers upon her cheek stopping a few tears "I heard that every teardrop is a waterfall, don't be scared. I'm not a shark to eat you... I'm promise I'm not mad at you."

It was quite hard to calm her down, showing up that indeed she was feeling scared, but after a while, at least she managed to control herself, although she still was shaking slightly. Her behaviour made him wonder what did happen to someone so young like her to be so shaken up like that, but he just wouldn't ask now... maybe in another moment when she felt less stressed... he was expecting her to say something, but for his big surprise, she never said a thing, not even when he heard her stomach growling... he passed her his hand again to take her to the kitchen, and again, she reluctantly took it, feeling so petty in front of him apparently. Once there he gave her seat, she was still a bit small, or maybe the table was too tall, in any moment she didn't say anything else...

"What's your name, little girl?" He asked trying to start up a conversation.

There was again silence for a while, as if she was still doubting about giving any information about her, then, "I'm Alice..." She didn't say anything else.

"Nice to meet you Alice, I'm Tim Lockwood, you can just call me Tim if you want." She looked at him a little bit, then smiled a little. It was almost imperceptible, but it was something, wasn't it? "Uh... I'm sorry if the food is not of your liking, there's not a lot of options over here asides of sardines..."

She didn't say anything for a while, which pretty much had him worried... "Where am I...?" She asked shyly.

"We're in the island of Swallow Falls." Tim said, "We used to be famous because of our sardines, but one day we went to bankruptcy as our main source of money shut down, and the States stopped sending us food some years ago."

"So you have to get everything they don't want..." She added, this time he got surprised. "I understand..." A clever girl indeed, he nodded at her in response. "An economy that sucks and everyone's got to eat something they hate..."

"We got used to it, though," Not everyone of course, but most of them had to resign to it. Only some people could get some things from the States – if they went there personally of course with whatever money they had, and sometimes the Lockwood family was able to get some stuff from New York. "Oh hey, I found canned soup." Alphabet soup in fact.

"I don't mind it honestly...," At least she was being a bit more talkative to him now, "It's fine..."

He just got ready the food and sat down near the girl, not so close either to not bother her that much due her retracted behavior, it was a slight progress that she was already talking to him a bit more than a while ago. "Why don't you tell me something about you?" He asked, "Where are you from?"

"A small country in South America..." The reply this time was a bit more faster than the last ones she gave, apparently she was just starting to get some trust towards him now. "It's called Paraguay. We don't have a shore to the sea." She was so far from home, how did she end there then? It didn't just make sense in his honest opinion, so many leagues away, he wondered what about her parents, if they were even looking for her, he wanted to ask but remained shut, passing to another question, which was her age... she remained silent for a moment, "I'm ten years old..."

Flint was right then...

The smell of the soup and the sound of her stomach growling made him remind about the food, passing her a hot bowl of steaming soup that actually tasted good for her, even making her smile a bit more than before which still was an actual and real progress. It didn't take long before she was done, thanking for the food and going to her temporary room. He looked to the side of the bowl and saw she actually left something written...

So that's her full name then...

"Hello dad." Flint said as he got into there.

"Son, she's awake." The eyes of the inventor lit up when he got the news, before he could go to check on her, his father stopped him, "Wait for her over here, son. She's not really... uh... communicative, neither... uh..."

"Outgoing?"

"That..."

Oh... oh well. It didn't take long before she came back, stopping out of sudden when she saw the young inventor, then stepped back taking her distance, making them notice certain hostility/mistrust. Alice looked to the old fisherman first, then to the scientist. "Hello, I'm Flint, what's your name?" He asked nicely, smiling at her trying to make her gain some trust to him. She didn't answer this time. "I saved your life and brought you here, you're safe, don't worry." He said again still smiling, trying to get her less (apparently) stressed. She seemed... afraid? "Hey, don't be afraid if that's how you feel, I won't hurt you, I promise." There was still no answer from her, just an intense look straight to his blue eyes like trying to find a hint of darkness in his intentions. Finding pretty much no other choice, he extended his hand to her, making her look at it for a moment, to then hesitatingly take it... "It's alright, see? You've got nothing to fear." She didn't reply once again.

Without their realization the old fisherman left the room leaving them alone, with it the girl retired her hand away from the inventor's still showing a lot of mistrust from her part, seeming much more out of place with him staring closely to her... "W-why are you looking at me like that...?" She asked, evidently stressed.

"I'm sorry but... have we ever met? I can swear I've seen you somewhere else, but I don't know where..." Three days later and he still haven't sorted out why the feeling was still there. The more he tried to figure out the more confused he found himself, and it was really, really annoying. She shyly shook her head with the question, making him sigh, "Maybe it's just me and my head playing games on me... I don't know... but I can swear that I've seen you somewhere else, I don't know where exactly..."

"No... we never met..." She mumbled shyly, "This is the first time we're talking..." And, it was true though.

"Oh, sorry then... just one question... by any chance isn't your name Alicia?" The look of surprise she got when he said that name was such he actually got surprised as well, "Alicia Galiano, isn't it?"

"Who told you my name?!" She exclaimed angrily, or better said scared, giving him the hint that he nailed on it.

"That's why I'm asking you if we ever met... your name is on the back of my head for some reason, but I don't actually understand nor know why." Then he sighed again, "Sorry for bothering you... it's not my intention..."

"I-I'm sorry..." She apologized too, "I'm just... real awkward..."

"It's alright, don't worry. I get to be like that as well like... a lot."

Of course it was true, something that made her smile a bit, indeed he noticed her starting to gain a bit more of trust towards him, probably having socialized a bit with his father opened her a bit more. He asked her to follow her to his former room and took out some clothes from a drawer. He explained her that his father went to the mainland the day after she arrived to get her some proper clothes to wear asides of his oversized shirt, giving her a smaller orange shirt with familiar stamps of white flowers, black shorts and a couple of slippers... "It wasn't necessary to get me all of this..." She told him still in a slightly shy way, he didn't reply but just give her a smile, a toothbrush and a towel.

Around ten minutes later she got out again fully dressed, with her hair wet and bright as she washed it, drying it with the same towel and then shaking her head like a dog, giggling softly as her hair became messier and curly. Despite her longer hair and her small size, he had to say it, it felt like he was seeing a reminder of... wait there was something missing... he went to his father's room and came back, removing some hairs from her face he carefully placed a blue head bang so her face would remain visible... indeed she was reminding him a lot from his mother... he couldn't help but curve a small smile with the memories he still had about her...

He coughed once, trying to put himself together for a moment before asking her to follow to the backyard, placing his hands on his pockets and trying to relax a bit more before speaking, he closed his eyes for a brief moment and then opened them again a bit, just a little bit more calm, to then go to his laboratory. In a first moment before they did, she stopped and looked to the enormous edification there surprised, looking to every single detail she could catch with one glance, to then spot the weird entrance made with a Porta-potty... and feeling weirded out when he said, "This is where the magic begins." Of course there was a real awkward silence for a few moments, "Oh! No! I mean– t-this is the entrance to my lab!" It was too late as he blushed a lot, scratching the back of his head in the process feeling shame now... he should get a book about how to talk to people indeed, it's been a long while since he actually had some human interaction with somebody else.

Opening the door of the portable restroom, they got in, when they closed it, it suddenly sent them upstairs with a swoosh! And the speed made them crash against the sides, the ceiling and the floor, forcing them to crawl out from there; there she found herself surrounded by the pink lights of the hexagonal hallway made inside a school bus, with a vault-like door at the end of it... the two of them stood up dizzily, wobbling to the sides for a brief moment and their heads spinning because of the joyride they just had; he even apologized for it because it was not something he actually expected to happen, in fact he'd give it a check because it shouldn't have happened, it was supposed to be in its classic supersonic mode to get up but that was not even close to be considered as something he would expect.

Once they were finally fine again, she followed him into the lab, gasping when she saw the inside... with all the blue lights mixed with the blue Tron-like lines all over the place, it felt like all the way to the ceiling was infinite, leaving her awestruck for a good while... "You must spend a lot of time alone..." She mumbled loud enough to make him hear her.

"What? No!" He said, laughing slightly nervous trying to pretend it wasn't true, even looking away while he laughed. Incredibly enough he felt a strong stare upon his neck that felt like saying she knew he was actually lying. Turn around and see her staring directly to his soul made him shiver a lot. "I-I'm being honest! I'm not–"

"You're lying..." She said, "I can see it... just tell me the truth..." She wasn't allowing herself to trust him but she was actually asking him to trust her, was it irony? Or it was an attempt of her to open up and know more about him first? Indeed, this was another unexpected twist, but it was a good one, right?

The mysterious girl he found floating in the sea three days ago, who was being extremely retreated with them a while ago was now trying to make him talk.

Maybe if he started with his life she would open up about hers as a way to begin with...

He went to take a photograph of his mother, he wanted to open up about it with her to give more context to his actual situation; taking his rooking chair to give her a seat, he sat around as he looked to the picture frame holding his mother's picture, then took a deep breath, "When I was young, I didn't really have friends... my mom was pretty much my only friend back then," He gave her the frame to allow a look to it, "When I was down she always used to give me support and everything I needed, she even gave me this lab coat when I was eight as an early birthday present," He took a pause, he saw her looking in silence but paying attention, "And some months after that... in September uh... there was this... tragedy... there was a fire... she inhaled a lot of toxic smoke at the defunct cannery and..."

He sniffed, slowly breaking down with the memories that were floating up to his head again, he tried to keep the tears in but he found himself unable to do that, to then look down as he felt his heart racing against his chest. He made an effort to put himself together and recover his composure, but this was one of those times it felt futile, as if he actually needed to break down one way or another after having holding it for so long... then he suddenly felt her hugging him tight, surprising him for a moment, to then do the same as tight as he could, breaking down more than before... it should be okay, right? "It's alright..." She just said as he sniffed again... when was the last time he hugged someone when he needed to cry like that? It felt nice...

Although sadness wasn't really a foreign feeling, he didn't like to feel it, even less because he never had anyone to lean on, and now... he forgot what does it feels like to have someone just hugging, not supporting just... being kind to him... it's been so long since someone has been actually nice and charming to him, and the feeling, how he felt like was so... nice... he couldn't tell how long he's been like that with her, but it wasn't more than just a few minutes until he started to break the hug, to then realize she wasn't releasing him at all... he couldn't help but keep hugging her as well, caressing her back softly.

"It's alright..." He said with a raspy voice, "It... happened a long time ago..." And sometimes he wasn't still used to it, not even a single bit. "I'm used to loneliness anyways..." Which was true, and even if he was used to it a lot since early years because of his inclination towards science and stuff, it still could sting, "I'm not... exactly liked here in the island..." He said, "Everyone sees me like some kind of stranger because, as you see... I'm real different to them... I'm the local outcast... but that haven't stopped me from keep going with what I really love... which... is inventing..." She moved from her place, seeing that she was actually crying, there was something that told him that they shared something in common, "Hey... I don't know anything about you... just remember: it doesn't matters who you are, you only need to believe in yourself and never give up..."

Those words just brought up a new stream of tears down her face, as if the kindness he was having towards her was breaking her down, probably that was the moment where he actually understood he was dealing with someone with a fragile personality, he couldn't help but clean up her face with his thumbs and hug again as if an older brother or a father he was, in any way, she hugged back in a tight way again, hearing her sniffs and feeling her face buried against his shoulder. And after a few minutes after trying to ease her, she calmed down more, cleaning her face again with her wrists... "I'm sorry..."

"Why...?" He didn't understand why she apologized, "You didn't do anything wrong..." There was no answer from her part again. "It's alright... I'm used to all of this anyways..." He smiled a bit at her, trying to make her see that everything was okay with him, "Oh well, let's... let's try to change the subject..." Now he realized, everything was real quiet in the lab. Peace and silence weren't always a real good sign if we have in mind the kind of partner he got, "Gosh... Steve! Where are you?" He called out.

"Who is... Steve...?" The little girl asked

"Oh, he's my lab partner," The inventor replied, "And I don't know what is he doing..." Again: silence and peace weren't a good sign sometimes.

They looked to the sides, pretty much everywhere, there she felt this weight on her head, he felt something like small hands upon her hair, and then when she realized there were this pair of big orange eyes looking straight to her out of sudden that made her jump and scream in surprise as she got scared, falling down, making the thing do the same, then saw how it went to hide behind Flint, realizing it was a grey vervet monkey. "Oh, and this is Steve." He told with a smile.

The monkey took a peek to her, then hid again saying 'scary' for the girl's surprise, to then hid again when he saw her move a bit. She got closer as Flint tried to convince him that she was a nice girl, grabbing him and pulling him close to her, to then place him upon her head, making her giggle a bit, "Hello Steve, I'm Alice," She said with a smile, then felt him turning around to face in the same direction to her, to then look at each other again, this time the slight hostility disappeared, making him now exclaim his name. "Oh... is that a Monkey-Thought Translator...?" She asked, surprising him once again, receiving just a nod in response, "Cool... I'd also work for deaf-mute people, so the others can actually hear what they think," He never thought about that now she actually mentions it, "I mean, signs language already exists but just a few people actually know how to use it..." She smiled at the thought.

"Actually, that's a great idea! How come I never thought about it before?" Probably just like the idea of not adding the wings to his Flying Car... "It's real practical. I'll do that when I become famous! Thank you for the idea Alicia!" The little girl looked at him in some kind of disbelief, as if she didn't actually think that her idea would be useful or something, "Hey, what's the problem?"

"Just... call me Alice..." She said, smiling a bit to him.

"Alright then... Alice." They sat around, with her sitting back on his rooking chair with Steve still upon her head, apparently liking it as some sort of nest even if he head his own box as he curled in a ball and slept again, making her giggle a bit, "Hey, I can see you like animals," She took the monkey with a smile and placed him on her arms, for him it was almost the same, he felt safe with her now, becoming once again a fluffy ball upon her lap, "And I see that Steve likes you now." He got a look from her, like asking where did he get him, "Oh, well, I found him in a cage like a couple of years ago, he was alone and was also like... two months old so, I brought him here. I guess he was part of a contraband load that passed by, as Vervet monkeys are from the East side of Africa from Ethiopia to South Africa, so it doesn't makes sense he just appeared..." He took a brief pause, then continued, "It could've been also from a group of animal rescue and his box fell to the ocean, but I highly doubt that."

Of course Tim was completely against the idea of the monkey when he first arrived to the house, mostly because he was a wild animal and needed to be either in a forest or a zoo but of course not in a house with a backyard scientist like him, but then he thought that at least he could work as a friend for him and palliate a bit his loneliness somehow, in fact that's pretty much the other reason he made him the Monkey-Thought Translator, not just because he was curious to know what could be lurking in his mind – even if it was a really primitive brain with primitive thoughts, but to have someone to talk with... and incredibly enough his father allowed him to stay even after he ripped off his mustache. He shivered again with the memory, and even had the footage of it... as a self-note he got from that day: never give gummy bears to Steve ever again.

NEVER.

Oh well...

"Why don't you tell me something about you, Alice?" Like how did she get there and how did her wounds heal that fast for example, she blushed, "Oh, I'll tell you a bit more about me. I'm sixteen years old, and my birthday is on July, 11th so, we're like two months away from it." He was back into his 'I want my answers, please' mode but this time was on incognito mode. "Born in 1993 by the way and single child."

Alice bit her cheeks and her lower lip slightly, in a curious contrast to early, she seemed a bit more confident of answering some things to him. "I'm ten years old..." He freaking knew it, and just remember when he found her floating deep in the ocean just made him wonder some things more than before, "I was born on February 26th, 2000 when my mom just completed her college career in medicine... she's a pediatric doctor so I don't need to get a place for it at a hospital... also, I'm a single child..." She gave him a shy smile with it to then pet Steve's back. "I live with her and my grandparents... not in a same house just... crossing the street..."

"And what about your father?"

There was silence for a good while as her smile just faded away, "He left my mom after they did their things..." She quietly said, "She and my grandparents raised me..." Wow... it wasn't like a unique case, but he understood a lot what does it feels like to grow up without one of the parents, even if she actually came to the world without a father.

"I see..." That's all he could say for the moment, "Uh... and... what are you doing here...? I mean, how did you end up in the ocean...?"

There was again silence, she seemed to be recalling the events from that day, to then hug the monkey tight without squeezing. He waited for a good while, but there was no answer, of course she didn't want to talk about it, which meant she didn't just talk about it... "Flint... can I ask you something...?" He raised an eyebrow, thinking she just wanted to avoid his questions, "Just... just... you and your father... don't get too... attached to me... because I'll only make you suffer..." She sniffed, clearly trying to calm down and pretend she was alright or something, "Just... think of me as... as someone who is just... passing by... and you may never see... in your life ever again... okay...?" Okay, indeed he was feeling scared and curious now, indeed she was hiding something deeper inside and she wasn't going to tell him; not just that, but the petition actually made him feel... sad for her... there might be something deep and heavy going on with her life and she didn't want them to get involved into it. "Please..."

He couldn't say no, he didn't want to say no. It was much more now, he wanted to know, he wanted to help her in whatever her problem was! He was just like a cat (or a child): He was curious, he needed to know, he was eager to learn more and more if he had the chance to... she didn't stop looking at him, completely waiting for him to say that word with three letters... he didn't want to say it but... would that help him to gain her trust better? His mind was forcing him to say it, he didn't want to, he struggled to say it, it was too much... he looked at her, she was still staring and waiting for his answer... 'Say no, Lockwood! You can't promise that!' He thought, he wanted to say it, he wanted to say just 'No' or 'I can't do it'... he tried to not say it... "Alright..."

Darn it! He completely groaned with some rage inside, asking to himself in silence why even say it. On the other hand, she seemed to relax a bit more with his answer... something just told him that she wasn't completely convinced for it, but at least it'd be enough to let her calm down more with it. "Thank you..." Alice said in a low voice, receiving a small (and forced) smile from his part. Now it escalated from just a mystery to something deeper... inside couldn't stop repeating to himself the word 'moron' over and over again for it...

What else to do...? "Hey Alice, uh..." He swallowed hard, trying to get down his desperate questions and growing concern, it wasn't normal, not even a single bit to hear that from such a young girl like her... and as he already launched her name, he had to think on something fast, and out of sudden the idea came, "Would you like to learn how to model glass with me?" The question didn't mean he didn't do anything in the last three days because of course he did, it was just an excuse to make her do something together and get to know her as much as he could, much more than he did now. There was this surprised look from her for a moment, to then accept the proposal.

The rest of the day they got recovered a lot of what was broken due her help, it was surprising how fast she knew how to learn everything and how smart she actually was... after they were done she was still making something, and when it was done, he got surprised: it wasn't a jar nor anything related to his laboratory but a modest, yet detailed and beautiful crystal heart... when he questioned her about it, she flinched and almost dropped it, to then hold it close to her chest and look down, he thought she actually seemed scared that he would give her a reprimend for it...

It didn't happen.

In fact he praised her for it, an act, he realized got her off-guarded for some reason, as if she was expecting him to get angry or something like that... he couldn't stop thinking she got through too much before ending there with him, hence her shy personality... she even blushed when he caressed her hair a bit, as if affection was unknown... was her family abusive to her? It just... he sighed... "What is it, Flint...?" She asked, he just smiled and took the crystal heart, got some wooden sticks from somewhere around and made a stable base for it, placing it upon his nightstand next to the frame of the picture of his mother.

"It looks good here, doesn't it, Alice?" The young inventor asked to her with a smile, Alice just seemed to be... surprised... "I gotta admit, you got a lot of talent with your hands. Have you done something like this before?" She shook her head slowly, "Oh, well, you really got a lot of talent, I admire you a lot now. It is a fine piece of art." Her cheeks grew pink with the compliment, to then give a shy smile; he looked then to time, "Oh, 11:00 PM... we should take some rest, right?"

"I guess so..."

"Okay then, let's go downstairs."

Reaching out his hand to her, they went downstairs together to her temporary (?) room, getting everything ready for her and a good night of sleep, she yawned widely when they crossed the sliding door diving the inside of the house from the backyard, covering her mouth with a hand showing her tiredness and making him chuckle, changing up the bed sheets as well for some fresh and new ones. Among all the stuff in his old wardrobe, behind all the stuff he found a teddy bear dressed with a small lab-coat he used to call Newt because of Isaac Newton... he smiled at it...

Then looked at her, and the more he saw her, the more he pondered about her petition from early... to not get too attached to her, because it'd cause him pain...? But why? Was it because she had to leave one day soon or something? He didn't know... "Flint?" Alice asked, looking at him comfused, "Are you okay?" And all he did was extend his hand to her, passing it upon her hair and then upon one of her cheeks with a serious expression, "What... what's the problem...?" She asked once again confused and blushed.

"It's nothing..." Lies, secrets and lies, "Just... if you need to talk... you can talk to me... alright?" He said with a sincere smile, wanting her to talk to him about whatever was bothering her no matter what. She just frowned a bit and nodded slightly, "And also, would you like to walk around the island tomorrow...? I can give you a tour if you want to..." His hand was still upon her face, slightly touching her hair in the process, he bit his cheeks a bit waiting for an answer, to then receive a smile and a nod, "Just when you are ready to leave tomorrow, okay?" She nodded again, "Alright then Al, have a nice night..." Newt was still on a hand, smiling, he gave it to her, "Just a small and old friend to take care of you tonight," He said, "His name is Newt, he used to be my sleeping partner when I was your age, you can have him if you want..."

"Thank you Flint..." She said with a small smile to then hug him tight, "I like him..."

"Well, I'm glad you do." They broke the hug as she hugged the bear tight as well, "Have sweet dreams Alice..." The thing she didn't expect, not even a single bit was for him to kiss her forehead in a protective-like way, "I'll see you tomorrow..." He smiled at her, she just lied down again ready to fall asleep, he didn't leave until she was completely fast asleep... he just reminded when his mother used to stay with him like that, maybe a paternally/brotherly side bloomed in him, in the same way she used to be.

Silently he left the room and closed the door gently, seeing her hugging his former teddy bear tight and completely covered with the bed sheets, to then leave to his laboratory again... slowly he got to his bed, feeling... rage? There he clenched his fists feeling like a complete idiot... "Why did I say 'yes' to her!?" He exclaimed furiously, scaring a monkey that was sleeping in his box, "Stupid, stupid moron! You fucking messed it up already" He never swears, unless he was actually real angry or something similar, then groaned a lot trying to calm down, still wondering like hell why he agreed to forget her when she leaves, he shouldn't have said that, it was a complete mistake, that's all he actually knew. He looked to his nightstand, exactly to the crystal heart he took, gently he grabbed it and looked to it: transparent, as if it just irradiated pureness, it wasn't even made of some kind of precious jewel but just a bunch of melted glass...

It was her heart... somehow...

"Fucking hell..." He swore again, "I can't do it..." He didn't actually promise he would try, he didn't mean his word, he couldn't do it anyways, "I'm a fucking idiot, aren't I...?" Without his realization, the heart was slipping from his hands, when he realized he moved his hands in the air until he managed to catch it just in time, placing it back on its base before he ended up doing something way stupid and probably getting somebody's hate for ruining her work after having praised it.

Standing up he opened the window and sat on the verge, looking to the clear, starry night. The beautiful thing of living in the middle of nowhere were those illuminated nights, even more when there was a full moon. His thoughts then drove to somewhere else, far, far away from his body maybe...

Questions...

A lot of questions...

Memories...

Open wounds...

Death around the corner...

His mom wasn't the only one he saw leaving the world...

And now he didn't want her to leave him alone again...

He didn't want to be alone again.