It had been a whole day since the boys had come across that man. Mr. Freeman suggested letting Jazmine stay with them for her own safety seeing as Dedrick had no idea where they lived but knew the girl was close to the boys and could hurt her. The night it had happened, she was following Huey upstairs after being brought her pajamas and favorite doll to sleep with. Huey was carrying a futon for her to sleep on along with some sheets and a blanket.

Stepping into his bedroom, he lay the futon down on the floor and started fitting the sheet on it. She giggled and hopped right on before it was even finished. Huey rolled his eyes and turned around.

"This is fun!" She giggled, "Like a sleep over party!"

"Whatever," Huey muttered and climbed into his own bed. They waited awhile for Riley but he didn't show up. Grandad poked his head in and told them that Riley was feeling a bit shooken up still and asked to sleep in his bed. He then kissed Huey and Jazmine goodnight and fliped off the light switch.

Jazmine debated on crawling into Riley's unused bed. She looked down at the cold floor and then looked back up at the warm bed.

"You can take it," Huey said, his back turned to her, "He aint comn back,"

She smiled and tossed her little body onto the soft mattress, "Goodnight, Huey!"

"Night,"

It started to rain again outside. Bad too. Before they knew it, the lightening and thundre was cracking louder than anyone could handle. Jazmine closed her eyes tight but couldn't drown out the scary noises. Suddenly, she heard a slight sound coming from Huey's bed that made her mind start to race.

A sniffle?

Did he have a cold?

Her eyes widened and she sat up in bed after hearing a small choked noise from his throat.

He...he couldn't be...

crying?

His back was to her, but she could see his shoulders shake and his head bob along with small muffled sniffles that made her heart ache. Gently pulling the covers off, she whispered, "Huey?"

He jolted, "What!?"

She slowly walked over to his front, "Why are you crying?"

"I'm NOT," He barked, rolling over, "Go to sleep,"

Jazmine's eyes softened and she sat on the side of his bed, "It's okay to cry, y'know. I do all the time,"

"I said go to sleep, Jazmine,"

Now, Jazmine wasn't as smart as Huey was. Everyone knew that. But, she had an amazing sense of what people needed and right then, Huey needed someone to help him. He needed to talk to someone but most of all... he needed a friend.

"Huey?"

"What!?"

"I'm sorry," Lightening thuddered and the house shook.

Huey sat up and glared at her, his eyes puffy and his nose as red as Rudolph, "You're SORRY!? You have no idea what I'm going through! How can you be sorry!? How can you possibly know how I feel!? You've never had to deal with ANYTHING even SLIGHTLY this horrible!"

Jazmine's eyes widened and she smiled, she gently wrapped her flannel covered arms around him and said, "I know he hurt you. And I know that you being hurt, hurts me too,"

Huey's eyes softened and he broke. Letting go of his pride and willpower, he collapsed and hugged her back for once. He let his tears flow and her grip tightened on him. Maybe having a girl for a best friend wasn't so bad.

"He...killed my mom,"

He didn't know why he said it. He never actually ever said it outloud to anyone before. It felt strange...like a large rock being dislodged from his throat.But he didn't stop there. He retold the entire tale. How alone he felt, how his mother fell and the horrible scream his grandmother made at the sight of her bleeding child. When his story was through he felt so different. It was nice to get it off of his chest but at the same time was annoyed that he unburdened his soul on the most innocent girl he knew. Suddenly, he felt small droplets fall on his shoulder. Pulling away, he saw tears were streaming out of her eyes. He then felt the guilt all over again.

"Jazmine... Please don't...!" But he was crying too.

"I had no idea, Huey!" She sobbed loudly, "THat's why you're so cold and angry all the time! I'm so sorry I called you miserable before!"

Huey wiped away a tear from his own face and looked at the young girl before him.

"If... if you want... I can share my mommy and daddy! You can be in our family! And Riley to!" She sobbed, "I don't want you to be alone,"

It was then his heart melted for the honest girl infront of him. She was so sweet and pure... and gorgeous when she was sad. Pain was pretty on her, so he suddenly decided. He loved her smile but the way her tears rolled gingerly off her round cheeks and the sparkles in her eyes made her seem so much more angelic.

"I don't want you to be alone, Huey," she said, taking his hand, "Because... you don't have to ever be with me,"

He couldn't help it. He tightened his grip on her shoulders and pulled her close to him, drifting their eyes shut they pressed their lips together. The white lightening shot through both of their bodies as if they weren't really there. The tears mingled as they faces touched and smell of salt burned their noses. He was miserable but he was happy. He was hurting and yet he was healed by her honest love.

When the kiss broke, he lay down on his back, pulling her down with him. He lifted the blankets and they tucked themselves in. Jazmine, who was still in a shocked state decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and just snuggled tenderly, using his arm as a pillow.

It wasn't sexual (they're TEN) but it certainly was more than just puppy love. He kissed her forhead and nuzzled her gently. Jazmine placed a cool hand on his face and tenderly rubbed under his eye to clear away and tear residue.

They didn't exchange any words but they did exchange several small, chaste kisses and they clung onto eachother throughout the stormy night.

Pain had brought him closer to another person in his life.