Sometimes life leaves you in complicated situations. Sometimes those complicated situations are also awkward. These are called complicated-awkward situations. I was in one of those complicated-awkward situations. In this particular situation, I was trapped. And to make matters worse, it was my fault for agreeing to share a bed.

(Recap)

When I woke up, I was extremely comfortable. And warm. I felt very secure, safe. I snuggled deeper into my pillow, which smelled like clear, fresh spring wind. But it was winter, so why did I smell spring? Wanting to find out what was wrong, I struggled to open my eyes. I soon realized I was too tired, and once again snuggled into my pillow, when I realized something.

One: It was too hard to be a pillow, and two: since when do pillows breathe? I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was Allen Walker's sleeping face. It momentarily distracted me. He looked so peaceful…

Then I was snapped back to reality. Our arms and legs were tangled together, and there was no way to undo it unless we were both cooperating. And I didn't have the heart to wake him up. I slowly tried to wiggle out of his grip, but it didn't work. After several failed attempts, (all of which brought his face closer to mine, causing me to become tomato red,) I gave up.

(Back to reality)

And that was how I ended up like this, laying completely still, and the red stain on my cheeks fading, only to be replaced by annoyance. Allen was still sleeping peacefully, and I have no idea how he didn't wake up by now. I let out a resigned sigh, and lay my head on Allen's arm.

My head snapped back up when I heard hushed chuckling above me. Mana was observing my situation with quiet amusement, causing my annoyance to kick up a notch. I glared at him. "Although I'm glad my embarrassment makes you happy," I growled, sarcasm dripping from my words, "this is NOT funny!" I hissed quietly, so as not to wake Allen.

"Why don't you just wake him up?" A still smiling Mana suggested, quietly. I glanced at Allen. Why didn't I wake him up? It was then that I noticed that the arm I was laying on was more cushioned that it should be. Was he still wearing the oven mitt, even to bed?

It made me sad to realize that he felt the need to cover up, even when he was sleeping. Then I had a new thought. What if he was covering up because of me? Mana noticed my gaze, and he sighed. "He never takes it off." Something occurred to me. Did Mana even…?

"Do you know what's under it? The oven mitt, I mean." What if he didn't even know? Wouldn't he have to? I mean…

"Yes. But it is not my place to tell you." I relaxed. He didn't need to tell me, obviously. That was when the bed covers shifted, and the arms around me moved. I quickly moved out of Allen's arms before he even realized that I was ever there.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, and mumbled, "What's going on?" Without warning, Mana began to laugh. I was confused as to why he was laughing when I realized that Allen was oblivious to my struggle, and all that had just transpired. Then I burst out laughing too.

Allen just kind of sat there, looking extremely confused. "What's going on?" He asked again, only receiving our continued laughing as an answer. When I saw how confused his face was, I started to laugh harder. Until I realized how cute he looked like that. The thought caused red to stain my cheeks once again. I stopped laughing.

Mana stopped his laughter a few seconds later. It was then that I realized that I had subconsciously made the decision to stay with them.

Halfway through the day I decided I was going to ask. But I was nervous. I mean, it's not every day you just ask to live with people. We were all practically strangers, no matter how much I knew about them. And they were already just scraping by, without another mouth to feed. And add that to Allen's huge appetite, I was just a burden.

Just as I was beginning to second guess my decision, I got an idea. Unless… could I find something to earn my own money? Then I could buy my own food, and I wouldn't feel as guilty. Besides, it would be good practice.

I don't plan on staying with Mana and Allen forever. I'm pretty sure that (right now) Allen is eleven, same age as I was at the moment (why would truth do that? A whole year! I'm smaller, and my clothes are all baggy…) He spent three years with Cross, give or take. Then he joined the order at fifteen. Mana would die in a year. I had found out that it was the 27th when I 'arrived' here. Allen's birthday is, apparently, on the 25th. Christmas. He was found at Christmas. How perfect is that? Anyway, I don't know the exact date of Mana's death, but at most, I have a year. At the most.

I don't want to be around when Mana dies. I know that by then, I'll be too attached. I'm not a strong person, like Allen will be. I'm emotional, and if I'm present when Mana dies, I'll have a breakdown. I could always try to keep my distance and be emotionally detached, but I… No. I couldn't do that. Or, I could just go out on my own. But I need human contact to stay sane.

I planned to leave in eight months at the least. I think that after practice, I could live on my own. The bag that Truth stuck me with was amazing. I had tested it out, and discovered that it had limitations. The first thing I found out is that I couldn't pull out anything too big. Like, I couldn't pull out a plane, or an elephant or anything. And as to how I found that out, well, I don't want to talk about it. The second limitation was that I could pull out anything within its limitations, as long as I needed it. I couldn't randomly pull out a laptop or anything. And once I pulled something out, I could put it back in the bag and it wouldn't take up any space, but it would always be there, whether I needed it or not. So if I needed my Mp3, pulled it out, and put it back in, it would be there whether I needed it or not. Cool right?

So it would help me survive, but I couldn't just pull out food. I would probably have to be starving for that to happen. Okay, back on track. So, I was thinking I could sing. I used to be in choir, and while I had never been picked for a solo, I was pretty good. Allen and Mana did small circus acts to earn a living. I could do the same. Only, you know, with singing.

"Are you okay, Fever?" I was startled out of my thoughts by Allen's voice. I looked up, surprised to discover that the only occupants of our new room were me and Allen. Obviously sensing my confusion, he explained. "Mana's out."

I nodded my understanding. Finally looking around the bland inn room from the bed I had collapsed on as soon as we arrived. There was a faded pink rug, bubblegum pink curtains, and two beds. Always two beds. Allen and I would have to share a bed again, I'm sure. The reason why is…well… Mana's sleeping habits. While he went to bed normally, he always ended up spread eagle on the bed. As Allen and I had found out last night, well, Allen anyway. If either I or Allen slept in the same bed as Mana, we would end up on the floor. This was my third day staying with Allen and Mana, and after our 'problem' on the first morning, Mana had tried to help.

"Allen, why don't you and I share a bed tonight? That way Fever can have some space." Allen looked mildly confused at the question.

"Okay, that's fine." He answered, and I hoped that he was actually okay with it. He didn't need to sacrifice comfort for my sake. That night we climbed into our respective beds, and I was just falling asleep when I heard a thump and an 'Oomf!" sound following shortly behind. I peeked over the blankets with half lidded eyes and saw that the surprised sound had come from Allen, who was sitting on the floor rubbing his head. I was trying very hard to hold in my laugh, and Allen crawled back into bed.

He had not noticed that I was awake and watching, and was surprised to hear my laugh when he was pushed out of bed for a second time. He glared at me. "It's not funny!" He whined.

"I think it is." I snickered while he pouted on the ground. Then, feeling bad for him, I sighed. "Do you want to sleep over here? It'll be easier than sleeping on the ground." I'm pretty sure that's where he would have ended up if I hadn't been awake. Allen nodded the faint blush on his face the only indication that he was embarrassed.

"I don't know why he offered if he knew he was going to push me off." Allen grumbled as he climbed into bed. I snuck a glance at Mana. He was completely passed out, with his hand hanging over the side of the bed. I doubt he even knew what he was doing. He was definitely a deep sleeper.

I voiced my opinions to Allen, and he scoffed. After that he fell asleep, and (after hugging a pillow tightly to get rid of any embarrassing situations,) I did too. In the morning Allen had climbed back in with Mana, who was now sleeping normally, so it looked like he had been there all night.

I was brought back to the present when the door slammed open. "Hey, kids!" Mana grinned goofily, and I wondered what had made him so happy. I waved shyly, while Allen, apparently forgetting the incident before, ran up and hugged him. Then, Mana looked at me, and pushed Allen in my direction. He dug his feet into the floor, blushing.

"Why do I have to do it?" He protested. "Can't you?" He was getting pushed closer, and I wondered what was going on. I probably looked really confused, and Mana noticed.

"Allen has something to ask you!" He sang, giving Allen another shove towards me.

"Fine." Allen huffed. Walking over to me normally, he stopped in front of me. "Wouldyouliketostaywithus?" He spoke quickly, and when I finally processed what he had said, my eyes widened. "You don't have to! But it looks like you don't have a home, and we can help you…" He looked down, a blush firmly on his (and my) face. For a second I didn't know how to respond. They had just saved me from asking them. So I reached out, and gave Allen a hug. I quickly let go of him (he seemed to be in shock,) and grabbed Mana. He awkwardly pet my back, and I realized that he must not be used to hugs. And then I remembered the hug that he had received from Allen earlier. He seemed perfectly fine with that. I decided not to dwell on it.

Letting Mana go I smiled hugely. "Thank you so much!" I was sure my eyes were shining. Allen smiled. But then my face turned stern. "But I'm paying for my own food." Allen was about to protest, and I held my hand up. "I can. I know how to earn money." Actually, I only had a theory, but they didn't need to know that. I was so caught up in this world that, for a period of time, I forgot about my world. And by the time I remembered, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back.