It was the day after Luna met Shikamaru in the park, it was now Friday and it was lunch time, she sat in between Tony and Bruce at the lunch table, Tony was trying to provoke Bruce into losing his temper so the school would start a food fight and we could all go home early. But unfortunately it only ended in Tony getting a fist in the face and afterschool detention.

"I told you not too, didn't I?" Luna said.

"Yeah, but your opinion means pretty much nothing I do what I want." Tony said.

"And that's why you have afterschool."

"I don't really care, I won't go, and no I don't care that I'll be suspended or that I'll that I'll be grounded afterward because I know where my mom hides my stuff, I mean it's my stuff how could I not know where she puts it."

Luna laughed at him and sure enough he walked out of school with her and Bruce. Since both of them lived farther away than she did they made sure not to miss the bus.

'I wonder if he'll be at the park again...'

She thought about him most of the day; he was so unique, and new. She walked towards the park again part of her hoped to see him again, it's not like he was unattractive. As she neared the park she saw no sign of him at the entrance.

'Maybe he found that girl he was looking for... Or maybe he is inside looking around, I guess I could walk through, he might be lost again.'

She walked on through the park, and found a park bench to sit down on it was surrounded by bushes with small pink flowers on them. Birds slowly started to land at her feet and in front of the bench, she didn't eat her sandwich today so she pulled off the bread and threw pieces on the ground for the birds. Shikamaru began to walk down the path and saw her sitting there, she had a smile on her face but her eyes were filled with sadness. As he walked closer she looked up and noticed him, she smiled and waved to him causing a few birds to flutter further away from the bench.

"Hey." He said to her.

"You haven't found that girl yet?"

"No, not yet." He took a seat next to her, keeping his hands in his pockets he slouched back and looked up at the trees.

"This girl must be important to you."

"Kind of. It's complicated I guess, she's really bossy, and gets annoying all the time, and she always yells when we bad mouth her wannabe boyfriend."

"Where are you staying?"

"In the park... I just sleep on the benches, I don't have a place to hang till I find my friend."

"You could stay at my house." She blurted out, without thinking about the danger of inviting a stranger into the house. But it was too late to take it back now.

"Sure. If it's not a problem."

"No you can stay till Sunday, Sarah won't be home till Sunday night and Pepper and Olivia are visiting their grandmother for the week, there isn't any school next week because its spring break."

"Oh, alright cool. I guess you could show me around town too, I'm kinda hungry."

"I guess you haven't really eaten huh?"

"Not really." he said scratching the back of his head.

"Ok let's stop at my place and grab a few bucks there's a really nice dinner over by my house."

"Alright" he said smiling.

They reached her small apartment, she lived in number 126, she went to the basement while Shikamaru looked around the downstairs, the apartment was on the bottom floor, it didn't come with a porch but instead had a basement, the flooring was spacious with a couch and a matching chair, with a large flat screen TV. She emerged from the basement door (which was in the kitchen) she wore a pair of navy blue shorts and a baggy grey sweater. Before she was about to leave her cell phone rang, she grabbed it out of her purse.

"Hello?" "I'm going to the dinner on my street." "Yeah she won't be back till Sunday night." "Yeah will you bring Tony?" "Bring some movies with you too." She hung up the phone and turned to Shikamaru, "My friends are coming over in a little bit, they're gonna bring some movies to watch, I guess we're pulling an all-nighter haha."

"What movies?"

"Oh, I dun know..." she said nonchalantly, "I hope they bring batman..." she trailed off."Anyway let's go eat."

They made it to the dinner and sat down in a booth by a window, the dinner had a retro style mostly because it hadn't been updated since retro was cool, but the food was still good, and the neon lights gave the place a nice glow at night time.

"What do you want to eat, they have the best fries, and the hotdogs are good."

"I don't know, why don't you order for me."

"Umm alright you can have the traditional hamburger. Nothing crazy but still very good."

"Sounds good." 'She thinks very rationally. It would be a good quality...'

His thoughts trailed off.

"Are you thinking about her? The girl you are supposed to find?"

"Yes, the last time I saw her she was crying. I wanted to know why, and I felt like I needed to help her."

"That's... romantic of you..."

"Romantic? Not really..."

"Well it's a romantic ideal then."

"Romance is troublesome... Definitely not worth the struggle."

"Part of me wants to believe that... But I still have hoped that there is one guy out there who would move heaven and earth to find me..." She gazed off into the distance out the window.

"Now that is romance..." He said drawing her attention back to him, his eyes were a deep brown abyss that she became lost in; Luna began blushing when he turned away and realized she was staring at him.

They ate and began walking home when they reached the door step Tony and Bruce were waiting with a handful of movies and a bunch of snacks.

"Who is this guy? He's almost as tall as me probably not as cool..." said Tony.

"He must be from out of town..." added Bruce.

"Bruce, Tony this is Shikamaru, and like-wise."

"Hi" They said.

"Hey." Shikamaru responded casually.

"The loner doesn't usually make friends, how'd you meet." asked Tony

"I was lost."

"Oh."

"Well there are movies and junk food and no witches, let's go relax." Said Bruce.

"What will we watch first?" Asked Luna

"The Dark Knight Rises." Bruce answered.

"Yessssss." Luna said quietly.

She made it through Batman and the Hobbit, then halfway through the Avengers. Luna was sprawled out her head was in Bruce's lap and her arms and hands in Tony's and her feet leading off the other end of the couch laying on Shikamaru. Bruce was casually running his hand through her hair while watching the movie. Tony was eating candy, and Shikamaru was just watching the TV. When the movie was over they sat in silence, not wanting to wake her.

"Should we mover her to a bed?" Asked Bruce.

"I think she's pretty comfortable where she is." Replied Tony. "We can get a pillow and blanket later."

"I'm surprised she made it this far, with all the stress she's been dealing with lately, I really don't know how much more she can handle." Said Bruce

"What do you mean?" Asked Shikamaru

"She hasn't been eating or sleeping well, and she can't focus in school. You can tell be the faint hint of pink under her eyes she's been crying a lot lately as well, I think she is beginning to break." Said Tony

"Her foster mother can't stand her, and her sisters treat her like dirt, she's been going through a psychological battle since she moved here. She needs to get out... go somewhere where she can be herself and not have to worry about how she's going to make it through the day without getting yelled at or being treated like shit." Bruce paused before continuing looking down at her, "Even if I never saw her again if I knew she was going to be happy it would be worth it.

"I agree... life would be better for her if she didn't live here. I think everything is weighing too much, if this goes on any longer she may become mentally damaged or... well worse." Tony added.

"I live in a place like that..." Shikamaru told them, "But if I take her there... you will never see her again."

"Would she be happy?" Asked Bruce.

"If she isn't there may be a way to get her back, but it isn't certain."

"Then maybe we should leave the decision to her, I don't know where you would take her but if you do, you better swear to take care of her."

"I swear that I will. It was why I came here in the first place."

Later that night Luna was laying on the couch she had a blanket and her head was in Shikamaru's lap the TV was turned on quietly, and she was covered in a purple blanket. She rustled and sat up to face him. He looked at her with an expressionless face, and he was close to her she was under him in a sense, not in physical condition but in emotion, he had a superior air about him that made her feel childish and protected.

"Luna, if you had the choice, would leave this world and live in a different one?"

"... Yes..."