The next day, Anya waited patiently for Walter to get out of the house. She was moving left and right like a dance and was humming silently to herself. When she saw the door open she got excited and eager to see her friend.

But was severely disappointed when she saw Walter's mother.

Miss Kovacs saw her and glared. "What the hell are you doing here, bitch? Walter's not going anywhere today!" she yelled and then slammed the door shut. Leaving poor Anya in the snow. Anya was hurt at his mother's words and slowly turned away to walk towards school.

Knowing that her only friend was stuck with his horrible mother.

/\\\

Later that night, Walter was sitting in his "room" for the whole day. And his mother locked him down there as punishment. He had yelled at her and she slapped him multiple times and locked him down in the cellar that morning. He didn't know what compelled him to yell at his mother, but with how many times she hit him, he made sure to never yell at her again.

Soon, the day turned to night from the short days and Walter was starting to get really cold. Though it didn't bother him as much as it should have. No, he didn't really care about the cold too much. He was far more concerned for someone else.

Anya.

The whole day, he couldn't stop thinking about her, thinking if she was okay and if she'd be fine without his protection. Frankly, it drove him crazy knowing that she was young and strange (like him) and that she would be defenseless (not like him).

He knew she came to wait for him that morning. He saw her from the small window near the ceiling. He saw her walk off disappointed and sad. He craved in that moment that he could run up to her and tell her he would be right there with her. He watched her as she disappeared around the corner.

But what he didn't know was that she saw him.

Suddenly, he heard a tapping noise on the window. His head turned to see what it was. And he was surprised and relieved to see that it was none other than Anya standing there with her big excited eyes and waving happily at him. He ran up to the window and opened it for her. While it was too small for him to get out of, she could easily fit in. She slid in and Walter helped her down to the floor.

"Hey, Anya!" he whispered happily, smiling excitedly at her. Anya closed her eyes in that same cute fashion and waved a 'hello' as well.

"What are you doing here? Mother could see you!" he said and Anya nodded as she pulled out her pencil and paper and wrote:

"I came to see you. I wanted to see if you were all right. I do actually care about you, you know?" she joked and Walter nodded.

"I'm fine actually. I just yelled at mother and she… Uh, punished me. I'm locked down here until God knows when." He told her. Hesitating when he mentioned why he was down there. Anya nodded as she looked away from him. However, while she did that, her hair flew out of her face and he briefly noticed a bruise near her right eye.

"Anya… Did anything happen today?" he asked, seriously. Anya looked at him and shook her head, lying. Walter could see it straight through her. He grabbed her wrist and with his other hand quickly moved her bang out of her face. He was shocked to see that her entire right eye was blue and she had a bruise on her cheekbone. He glared at the injury and shook the frightened girl harshly.

"Who. Did. This. To. You?" he asked, furious at her lying and more at whoever did that to her. She stared at him with wide terrified eyes as small tears started to leak out. She shook her head furiously. Praying that he would let her go. "Anya! Stop lying to me! We're friends! Friends don't lie to each other!"

Anya managed to break free and she backed away from him in fear. The tears only grew but she quickly whipped them away. When Walter saw her tears, he mentally slapped himself. She was his friend! He hurt her. His friend. Walter relaxed as he calmed down and slowly approached her.

"Anya, I'm so sorry… Look, I don't want to hurt you and I'm very sorry… Just please. Please tell me who hurt you…" he asked her, apologizing softly as he was finally in front of her. She was now no longer terrified, but she was upset. Not at him though.

She hugged him as she cried into his shoulder. Walter was surprised at her actions yet again, but didn't hug her back. He was still uncomfortable with her hugging him. But he did rub her back in comfort. "Who, Anya?" he whispered softly into her ear. She broke away and shakily wrote:

"Eric… And Richard…"

It was the bullies who cornered her on her first day. The bullies who tormented Walter too. He fumed in anger as his heart built up hate and anger.

How…. DARE they?! A little girl who was 6 years younger than them! An eight-year-old dammit! They actually hit an eight-year-old! This was unacceptable!

Walter stared down at her and with his thumb whipped away her tears and hesitantly gave her an awkward hug. But he was being so gentle and soft. Anya closed her eyes as she carefully wrapped her arms around his body and they stood there in the most kindest and softest hug anyone won't ever see.

"Anya… Those two won't get away with it. I promise you…" he whispered as he held onto her as if someone would take her away from him and he'd never see her again. But yet again, she could hardly feel any pressure from the comforting hug. She subconsciously began to write on his shirt with her finger:

"Don't do anything bad please… It's not worth it…"

Walter squeezed her softly as he whispered harshly but softly: "Never. It'll always be worth it for you…" Anya blushed red at his kind words, not at all expecting for him to read/feel her writing. He really did like her and wanted to truly protect her now. No more debt or responsibility. He protected her because he cared about her. He protected her because she was his friend. His only friend. The only person he actually loved—

Walter froze at that thought. Love? No. He didn't even know what love was. There was no love for him so why should he love anyone back? But deep inside, he knew he did love her. But he also knew that it was still too early for that. No, only as a friend. She would never love him. He knew that and he knew that he needed to stop loving her. He knew that they'd only be friends.

Yet why was he always happy to see her happy? Or smile at her face (well, mostly her eyes)? Or marvel at her beautiful music and be the only person to hear her beautiful melodies in private? Or show his emotions and comfort to when she was sad?

These things he'll probably never know why.

"Walter? Can I… Sleep with you here? I really don't want to walk back to my house…" she wrote as she broke away from the hug carefully and grabbed her pencil and paper.

Now it was his turn to blush. Sleep… With him? Of course he knew she didn't mean… That. But he still felt uncomfortable with the thought of a girl sleeping with him. She was a girl and he was a boy. Not that he didn't like her company. He just… Felt awkward to actually sleep with her.

When Anya noticed his discomfort, she shook her head and wrote: "Think of it as nothing more than a sleepover. I heard it's something friends do, so we can do what other friends do." She gave him her happy eyes and he relaxed slightly and half smiled.

"Sure I guess. Mother never comes down here anyway. She'll probably just leave the door unlocked and we can walk out of here without her noticing." He answered as he smiled fully at her and nodded. "I can at least have a heater with me while I sleep." He joked and Anya mocked punched his shoulder and he faked an 'ow'.

"I won't mind snuggling with you either. I bet you're very warm and comfortable." She joked, giving off that cute closing eyes that made Walter go insane. She was just so adorable when she did that closing eye thing.

"So I guess we'll be… Sleeping in the same bed?" he asked, awkwardly and slightly embarrassed. Anya nodded, also a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah… But don't worry, it's only to keep warm." She wrote as she walked over to his old and dirty bed. But she didn't seem to mind as she took off her coat and he saw she was wearing a blue sweater and a skirt that went down to her knees. She turned towards him and gave him her happy eyes. "Well? What are you waiting for? It is getting rather late…" she wrote and then pulled off her boots.

Walter swallowed as he walked over to her and waited for her to get into his bed. She scooted over so that he could have room too and he laid there next to her, face to face. She still didn't take off that scarf and he tried to pull it off, only for Anya to grab his wrist and shake her head as if to say: "No."

He sighed and nodded. And Anya turned over to the other side and lifted the covers over the both of them. Walter carefully moved closer to her and placed an arm over her form and subconsciously snuggled and spooned with her body.

Soon, the two drifted off into a deep sleep.

Walter was running. He was running as fast as he could. He was panicking. He needed to get to someone. Someone important to him.

He was so worried over something but he didn't know what. He just ran in a burning building, looking for someone. He searched frantically, trying to desperately avoid the flames.

Until he found her.

Anya. Only, she wasn't his Anya. This Anya was a few years older and she had her scarf off. But she didn't speak. She was stabbed right through the chest and in her right lung with a long piece of broken glass.

Walter ran up to her and supported her shivering and weak form. His hands were bigger than hers but he didn't care. All he could focus on was Anya and how much she was bleeding.

She stared at him with her brown amber eyes that were crying. But a smile surfaced on her face when she saw him. He was so worried for her. She reached up and planted a soft and loving kiss on his lips. Walter froze but eventually kissed her back.

"Anya...?" he whispered, but his voice was deeper and older like her. "Are you going to die..?" he asked. And she smiled.

"No." she said as her eyes turned emerald green for a few seconds before—

Walter awoke with a start. He sat up and was breathing heavily. He relaxed when he realized it was just a dream. Just a bad nightmare. He sighed as he noticed Anya was lying peacefully next to him. Seeing her alright calmed him down immensely and he smiled at her face. Her scarf was still in place and with how much curious he was he knew he couldn't look. She would show him when the time came. He gingerly brushed aside a strand of hair from her face and then turned to the window. It was already daytime.

He got up carefully and walked over to the window. The sun had risen a while ago from the looks of it. Walter ran to check his clock he had next to his bed and was shocked when he realized it was 10 am. But he relaxed as he realized that it was Saturday. A weekend. Not a weekday.

He walked over to the bed and lay down next to Anya again. He thought about that nightmare. Strange how he would dream about them as young teenagers and... Anya dying. Why would he dream something like that? He didn't want her dead. Hell, he didn't want her in that state at all. She was his friend! So why would he dream of her death..?

But more importantly. That kiss. In the dream, she kissed him. What did that mean? Was it just his consciousness telling him he liked her and wished she would do that? Or was it just a stupid dream he had because of the injury she had gotten and his over-worrying?

Whatever the case was, he was glad it was only just a dream. Because dreams don't come true. Right?

/\\\

Later that day, Anya also woke up to find Walter missing from the bed. She got up and noticed the alarm clock on the floor next to the bed. She picked it up and it read 12 pm. She made a sort of sighing sound and saw a note where the clock had been. She picked up the note and read:

"I'm upstairs. Mother is gone for the weekend. She went to my aunt's house. So the house is all ours! You can come upstairs if you'd like. -Walter"

Anya smiled underneath the scarf and walked upstairs. Eager to find Walter. But before that, a bathroom.

/\\\

Walter heard a shower start and he figured it was Anya. Taking a shower. He shrugged as he resumed making breakfast for the two. He was somewhat failing at making eggs and the toast was also going pretty badly. Slightly burnt but it was okay to eat.

After a few minutes, he heard a knocking noise come from the bathroom. And he froze to listen to it. It was like someone was calling his name from the beat of the knocking. He realized it was Anya and walked over to the bathroom.

"Anya? Did you knock?" he asked and heard another knock come from right behind the door to confirm it. Suddenly a note was pushed under the door.

"Can you please tell me where the towels are, Walter? Also, sorry for using the shower without permission."

Walter smiled. "It's okay. The towels should be in that closet to your right." He told her and she knocked again as if to say thank you. "You're welcome." He replied as he walked back to the kitchen.

After a few minutes, Anya came into the kitchen. Wearing her dirty sweater and skirt, along with her scarf. Walter saw her and then her clothes. He shook his head.

"Uh-uh, I'll lend you some of my clothes. I don't have much but it's better than what you're wearing." He said as he walked away to go downstairs to find some clothes. He looked through what little clothes he had and picked out a blue long sleeve shirt that was a bit too big for him and would work perfectly for her.

He ran back upstairs and found her saving the eggs from burning as she placed them in two plates. When she saw him she gave him her happy eyes and then blushed when she noticed the shirt. She nodded a 'thank you' and took the shirt out of his hands as she walked out of the room to go change.

Walter waited patiently for about a minute before she came back into the kitchen, wearing nothing but his shirt and socks. He was sure she wore panties but they were hidden. He was surprised at her look. She had tied her hair up in a ponytail and the shirt he gave her was long on her and reached to her knees. The shirt was rather flattering and looked like a simple dress on her. The ponytail made her look very pretty and her eyes were much more visible. She also wore that scarf and it never ceased to surprise him. The bruise and black eye could be seen but Anya put a bandage on the bruise and left the black eye.

Walter flinched when he saw it and took a clean rag and turned on the cold water and soaked the rag in the freezing cold water. And when it was fully wet, he turned the faucet off and rinsed the rag. When water stopped dripping, he handed it to her.

"That'll help. Just put it on your eye and let it sit there for a while." He told her and Anya nodded and did as she was told. "You look really pretty." He added. And Anya blushed pink as she nodded a 'thank you'. Afterwards, the two sat down and ate breakfast; they talked (wrote) a lot as they ate. Well, Walter ate. Anya didn't touch her food until Walter left the room to go take a shower himself.

And from that day on, their friendship was growing into a great relationship. And Walter and Anya both knew that well.