*yawns* Gooooooooood morning there. Another sunny day that hurts my poor eyes ;-;

Ah well~ Sup peeps? Interesting development! BB and L are now tied for first place in the poll! (At the time I checked). Some somebodies want Valerie to become a masochist, me thinks . Repel against that motion! Or, you know, agree with it. I'm not fussed~

-an hour later- Okay! I'm focussed! Well, enough to write at least. This chapter is for my best-est friend, Romi~ You're flat out awesome chick, and thank you for putting up with me as long as you have. Oh! I do mean to email you back at some point # Sorry! Anyways~ I hope you like this chapter, as it's just for you~ (Psst? I think I remember everything you asked for)

Enjoy the read! As always, if my spelling curled up and died at point? It's not the end of the world~ If it really really bothers you? Let me know and I'll think about fixing it.

*gets handed an important piece of paper*

Oh, and if you want a chapter dedicated just for you?

If doesn't cost anything . Honest. It was the weirdest moment of my life when I was asked 'how much it would cost for a chapter just for me?'. Dude! I write because you want to read it, it shouldn't have to cost you anything. Unless, you want to make me a cup of tea. Then, I'll let you pay me in tea. But, simply Pm me with what you want, vague one liners don't do me to much good... I like step by step instructions so I'll have a better chance of writing what you want to read. I'm happy if you're happy.

Awesome~

(There's a reason that this chapter is so damn late! Sorry guys!)

Chapter 10- Randomness, Obliviousness, Misunderstandings and Intensity. (Or, Romi ^.^)

Me and Near made it to the play room fairly quickly I would say, but now that we were here.. It was odd. Mello and Matt sat cross-legged, each on an overstuffed blue beanbag in the middle of the floor. They had what could've been a board game in front of them, and the other side of the board game was two more beanbags. Near took an uncomfortable looking seat on the bag farthest away from Mello, and I lingered a moment before following suit. A couple of my joints popped or clicked as I slumped into the soft bean filled fuzzy fabric. I layed my cane down on the floor beside me. Everyone looked around at one another before Matt started to explain, his voice sounded just as chirpy as before.

"Hey Valerie! Um, I hope you don't mind but we want to play a game with you, to get to know you better! Do you wanna play?" Matt spoke with a smile and held in his hands a stack of white cards. He waited for me to nod before shuffling the deck and dealing out 3 cards to each person. On the bottom right hand corner of the back of each card, was a number. All the cards Matt had given out were 5's. Near then handed out black marker pens. One to me, and then two to Matt for him to give one to Mello. Mello sneered a little and shot Near a glare before taking the pen. Why did Mello hate Near so much? Ah, a question to save for the safety of my room I think.

Mello continued the explanation, " There are questions on the top of the cards, and you gotta write an answer under it then put one of your cards face down in front of you. If some one reads out the question that's on the card you've written on, you gotta flip your card and show the answer. The cards are levelled for how personal they are. 5's aren't very personal, and 1's are very personal. Got it?". I nodded softly after a moment and examined my three cards. I'd been given: 'Favourite colour?', 'Favourite word?' and 'Favourite animal?'. I smiled. I decided to go with the colour one to start with, just to play it safe. I weighted out the options before writing out in neat writing, "Light Blue".

I put my card face down and waited for everyone else to do the same. Matt had his tongue poked out and was looking upwards as if he was trying really hard to decide what to write. Mello was scribbling with amazing speed, while Near was slowly drawing out his word. Surprisingly, Near put his card down a fraction of a second down before Mello and received a grumpy glare for it. Matt wrote down possibly the shortest response after so much thinking and grinned at me.

"I think you should pick what card gets read out first. Hold out either of your cards and we'll see who chose that one" Matt suggested. I weighed the option again before holding out the 'Favourite Animal' card. Both Mello and Near flipped over their cards. Mello's favourite animal was a dog, and Near's was a cat. It made me smile. Maybe they were just too different to get on with each other? Mello stared at Near's card for the longest time. I waved at Matt and pointed at the cards in his hand. He followed my gaze before snapping back too reality.

"My turn! I pick What's your favourite colour! Did you pick that one Valerie?" Matt asked while looking at my face down card with such excitement, like he want to pounce it. I nodded and flipped my card over. Matt grinned while reading my answer out loud, "Light blue? Aw! Like the sky on a sunny day? I like that colour too. Now, I won that round because no one got my to flip my card over, and I get to chose wether we advance to a more personal card, or if we play another round of fives. Hmm... I want another set of fives!".

Mello collected everyone's face up card and put them to the side of him, each card was side by side. He then handed everyone a new card to add to their hand so we all had three cards to start with again. Everyone had a slightly different hand this time. The new card asked 'Least favourite weather?'. I smiled. That one was easy. I hated when it got too hot because it made me grumpy. I wrote, "Hot sunny days" on that card before placing it face down. Once everyone else had done the same Near spoke, "I chose the least favourite weather one, it would seem like the most logical answer to chose as it's the one card everyone now has".

Smart bugger. I flipped over my card, and I was very surprised when Mello and Matt did exactly the same. Near had won in a single go. He was one to watch, while he carried an innocent look of a child he could easily be dangerous too. I glanced at Near when I looked at Matt's answer and the corner of his lip was curled upward. He enjoyed games too, or more precisely he liked winning games. I'd noticed almost everyone seemed to carry that trait here. Mello had chosen "Storms", and Matt had chosen "Rainy days". Mello was sneering again, so Matt decided to move on quickly.

"Near won that round, but he doesn't get to chose the number this round. If he kept it the number the same, statistically the chance of picking the other person's cards are much less likely as each turn each person loses a different card, and chances are no one would win. Every other turn some one gets to chose. Mello, can you take everyone's cards please? I'll hand out the 4's" Matt grinned out while picking up his handful of cards again. Mello did as he was asked and took in all of our cards, and again put them all in singular stacks besides him. Each person had their own pile in Mello's system. I wonder what he'd do with them after?

By the time I'd finished wondered, there was another set of three cards in front of my feet. Everyone else was already reading their cards. I looked at the fours at the corners of cards, and one of the fours seemed to be a little different. All the cards were hand made by Mello, Matt and Near. Maybe they switched writer half way through writing up the cards? I shrugged it off as nothing. I picked my cards up and held them like a set of poker cards. Two of the questions were fine, "What is your favourite sweet thing to eat?" and "What animal would you have as a pet?". I ignored them both, and stared at the third card in the middle of my hand.

The question was written in sketchy erratic scribbles, unlike the bold clean cut writing of the other cards. It read as such, "Did you feel like a failure when you woke up in that hospital bed? Or, did you just not remember trying to take your life?". I felt tears sting my eyes and a burning rage fill my chest. Why would they do this to me? I could feel my breathing get ragged when Matt pipped up quietly, "Are you okay Valerie? Do you want me to get Watari?". I flicked my eyes up from the card to glare at him. His happy look melted away to a confused, hurt one. I sniffled as I felt two hot tears roll down my cheeks. I threw the offending card down between Matt and Mello's beanbags. Both boys leaned down and reached for it at the same time, causing their heads to come very close to each other. If I wasn't so angry, I would've laughed. It looked like they were going to kiss they were that close to each other.

Both of them froze up. I took this as my opportunity to leave. I snatched up my cane, hauled myself to my feet and shuffled to the door without a second thought. I didn't care which of them wrote that awful card, I felt hurt and humiliated. I was out the door and half way to the stairs before I heard Mello shout after me, "We didn't write this card Valerie! It wasn't us! Someone's tampered with the whole deck!". I didn't care. I hobbled up the stairs with as much speed as I could manage when I heard quick hurried steps come after me. I stumbled a couple of times and caught my feet on the upper stair. It hurt, but I wasn't going to stop.

I got a glimpse at the boys when I reached the large flat part of the stairs, about half way up stairs, it was there to adjust to the 90 degree turn. Matt was holding onto the banister and looked very upset like he might cry. Near was standing at Matt's side and he was looking at something towards the living room. Mello was clutching my card from earlier and staring at me with wide eyes. I kept 'running' till I made it to my bed in my bedroom. I'd slammed my door shut after I entered my room with all the strength I had in my body. I flung myself down on my bed with such force, I bounced twice before lying still on the mattress. How dare they!

I don't know how long I cried into my pillow, but I was exhausted when I stopped. I just laid on my bed staring out the window. It was much darker now outside, it was like looking into nothingness. The phone besides me had rang a couple of times, but I refused to answer it. Not like I could've said anything anyways. Several people came and hammered on my door to check I was okay. Some tapped gently and gave quiet apologises, like Matt. Others, almost broke the bloody thing down, like Mello. Some didn't knock at all and tried to reason with me, like Near. Watari knocked and told me he understood I was upset, and that I could take some time to calm down, and that first thing in the morning he'd check I was okay. God bless him, he's adorable.

I sat up when the phone started to ring again. I hugged my knees with the protest of my back and stared at it. With all the emotional trauma of this evening, with all the crying and sobbing into a pillow? My mind was fuzzy. I couldn't remember if that phone had always been there or if someone came and hooked it up after I moved in. Never the less, it kept ringing. The whiney echoing chime was starting to piss me off in more ways then I could count. I was desperate to know who was on the other side of that phone call. L? Or was it someone else? It wasn't helping my migraine any, the noise or the theorising. I snatched the phone from it's cradle and held it to my ear. I rubbed my eye with my palm and waited for the person to speak.

I waited for a while, and nothing. I sniffled, just to let the other person know I was there and I checked the red bold writing on the phone's cradle. It clearly read, "ENGAGED", and underneath the capital letters was a timer counting upwards from zero so I hadn't picked up the phone and missed the call. I was about to put the phone down when I heard something. It was a soft sound, like a hoarse inhale. I leaned back against the headboard and continued to hold the phone to my face, just listening. When you don't speak, all you really have left is listening. Well, most of the time anyways..

I felt tired after a while of hearing soft calm breaths in my ear. I'd slipped down to lie on my side and rest my head on my pillow. The curled cord partially blocked my vision from the phone's timer. It was just past 16 minutes and some seconds. Finally, a quiet but quirky voice spoke into my ear, "Do you feel better now you've calmed down?". The voice itself belonged to one of three people, but with my current fuzzy, tired and confused state, I wasn't completely certain who it was. I raised an eyebrow and rolled my head left to right to search my ceiling for cameras. There weren't any. They couldn't see me, so they wouldn't know what I answered, so why ask the question? Plus, how did they know I felt calmer if they couldn't see me?

"You know, your breathing sounded cuter when it was ragged and out of sync. I did a bad thing to you today... I apologise for that, But it was to help me... understand you. People don't get upset about things that don't apply to them. The question on the card, you wouldn't have cried if it didn't apply to you." the voice whispered to me. It was BB, undoubtedly. I took in a big sniffly breath. My eyes stung a little but felt like I was out of tears so I couldn't cry anymore. I opened my mouth to release a shakey breath. BB shushed me and continued his hushed talk, "It's okay. I don't want you to talk yet, just wait a moment Valerie while I explain my process. Don't hang up till I'm done talking. If you don't want to speak when I'm finished, I understand and I'll let you sleep". I huffed out a sound then waited for him to continue, but a calmer rage was building in my chest. I was angry with him, and my mind was racing to think of a reason he would want to hurt me like this, other then the fact he was a psycho.

He started off softly, but worked his way up to insane, "I know your hurting. You're in beautiful agony. The way you walk, the way you sat at dinner, the way your eyes look, the way you blink and hold your eyes closed for a little too long like you want to be released from the pain. I can see you're hurting. And that fascinates and excites me". BB took in a sharp shudder of a breath that was more then creepy, but he continued after a moment. "At first?.. I wanted to hurt you more. I wanted to break you, to see what your eyes looked like when you were in so much pain you couldn't bare it any longer.. But. I can't do that now. You interest me. Why won't you speak? Won't you tell me Valerie?".

I felt paralysed with fear, and a little something else that burned hot in my lungs.I couldn't move. He wasn't going to leave me alone because I was different. I was a puzzle to him, and like everyone else here he couldn't lose. He was like a creepy kid. He wasn't going to leave me alone.. L.. L said he'd handle them!

BB sighed softly before taking a little pause. I swallowed and felt a shiver run up my spine. It reminded me I had the ability to move, and calmed me. It also brought to light how fucking freezing I was. I slipped under the blanket and rubbed my aching arm that held the phone to my ear. My teeth were chattering quietly, and I closed my eyes while waiting for him to continue. I could've put the phone down, but then he'd probably just come into my room shortly after.

"You do realise, don't you Valerie? If I can't hurt you, I'm no longer a danger to you. Right? A made me swear, through means, I'm not quite sure were necessary. You're now under my protection. If I can't hurt you, I won't let anyone else.. Hurt you.. So, you've no need to fear me.. Heh...". BB's voice trailed off and suddenly he sounded excited and intrigued. "Come meet me in the upstairs living room, It'll be completely empty. There'll be some tea, just to warm you up.". There was a soft click in my ear and I waited a moment longer before gently putting the phone back into it's cradle. The personality BB had was odd. He'd basically just told me he'd always keep me safe and yet I still felt creeped out. Maybe I was being unfair, but he's been nothing but nasty to me since I've been here.

I wasn't sure why.. God knows why. Maybe, I just wanted some companionship after being upset. And, I could bitch him out for making me hurt. I found myself wandering the upstairs, looking for the living room. But.. Thinking about it more? If I were in his crazy shoes? I would've done the same thing. It was very clever, what he had done. He put a trap card in my deck to see how I'd respond. So, clearly he's interested in the mind-fuckery puzzle that is me. I'd gotten out of bed and gotten changed into the pj's that had been given to me; I had checkered floor length pants made of the softest cotton, and a grey vest top. I slipped on a fluffy dressing gown too to try and conserve some heat. I also found some cool slippers just under my bed that I so nearly tripped over when getting out of bed. I was getting more and more tired, and I hated falling asleep in my clothes. I'd have a quick chat with BB, tell him to leave me the hell alone, then slip into bed and sleep.

I found the living room after a while of sneaking down the hallway like a ninja, avoiding creaky floorboards and sticking to the walls. It was like the other rooms, it was labelled on the outside for me to find it. I opened the door quietly and peered in. It was almost exactly the same as the down stairs living room, but it had a different colour flooring, I think.. I'd have to check to be sure, but I think it was a different colour. There was a couch facing a tv, and a coffee table in between them both, and a soft comfy chair at one end of the coffee table. On the coffee table was a sliver tray with two mugs of tea. I couldn't see BB anywhere, but the room was kinda dark with only the Tv providing some light to illuminate the outlines of things.

I crept forward, keeping my free arm tight to my chest and watching everything cautiously. I took a seat on the couch in front of the tv, and watched some gloomy news about some other country flooding and people dying. I stretched my fingers out along the sofa and found the remote, so I changed the channel to something better. It was something called 'Cash in the Attic'. I was only half paying attention as the sound was off, but people were finding some stuff in their attics and were selling them for money. I wonder if Wammy's has an attic.. What would be in there? Probably Near's collection of toys that look like the other kids here.

I giggled at my odd little thought when I heard something move behind me. It was only a quiet shift, but I tensed up. I felt my heart beat jump up a little and bit my bottom lip. Maybe I'd imagined it? There was nothing to be scared of.. I listened quietly before turning my head slowly to look over the couch. I was slumped, so my eyes were level with the edge of the sofa. BB was stood behind me with a jar in his hand and a spoon in the other. His eyes were glazed over and staring at the Tv, but when I blinked the movement of my eyelids made his eyes shift onto mine. He smiled a sincere looking smile, it didn't have a hint or creepy too it and it looked very cute on his lips.

By the time I'd stopped and reconsidered that last little snippet of thought, BB had couched besides me. I turned my head to face him and watched him open a jar of strawberry jam, and delicately spooned the tiniest bit of jam out on the tip of the spoon before eating it. BB caught me watching, and while still sucking the spoon he offered out the jar with a muffled, "do you want some?". I shook my head and smiled at his oddness. Maybe he could be nice? I was still angry with him, but it wasn't a raging anger now. It was more of a 'I'll rip into you if you do it again' kinda rage. He seemed harmless and almost childlike while he curled around the jam jar and spooned out the tiniest of spoonfuls.

BB used his spoon to point to the tea on the sliver tray and spoke quietly, "I made you some tea that'll help you feel better. I'm not sure if you've ever had this kind of tea, but it's the best kind available.". I could smell it when I entered the room, it was like mint but softer and sweeter. I leaned forward to touch the side of the cup to check the temperature, then snapped my hand back when it was burning hot. I whined and earned a chuckle from BB. I carefully picked up the cup and sipped a little to try it. It was perfect! It was sweet and had a flavour that was pleasing to taste. It didn't taste like a fruit or a spice, it was like a herb but I'd never had anything as nice as this before.

I sat upright and found that BB was watching my every move. I held out my cup for him to see then tilted my head questioningly and pointed to the cup, asking what it was. Slowly a grin spread across his face. "If you want to know what flavour it is, use your words Valerie. I disabled the cameras in this room and everyone else is asleep, so only I will hear you." BB stated with a little chipper tone in his voice. I frowned and repositioned my head to upright to glare at him, but that only made him smile more.

"C'mon! I've heard you speak before, it'll be okay. Just ask about the tea, I won't ask you to say anything else if you don't want to.." BB said, still wearing his grin. I sighed and looked around the room. There were two cameras in this room, but they didn't have a flashing light on them, maybe it was safe..

I flicked my eyes back to BB to find him staring at me over his open jar of jam. He couldn't look anymore un-menacing if he tried. I had another sip of my delicious tea then licked my lips. I hummed out a quiet sound to check my voice was okay, before opening my mouth. "W-... What.. Kindofteaisit?" I stumbled over the words and I felt my cheeks start burning. BB's grin dropped a little and he leaned over to poke the end of my nose. "Try a little harder, almost there" he whispered quietly, then he withdrew his hand and let it rest on his knee.

I closed my eyes tightly and held the radiating cup against the centre of my chest. I tried again, slowly and in a shakey mouse like voice, "B...B? What type of tea is this?.. Please, tell me". I kept still and with my eyes closed, but he didn't reply. I felt him shift on the sofa, but the silence was getting to me. I felt his breath on my neck as he purred out, "Again.. Once more. Louder Valerie". I peeked open my eyes to see BB's face inches from mine. I took a sharp inhale and froze. My hands felt numb, and I could feel the teacup shift out of my grip. BB saw this too, however, and with the lightest touch took the cup from my limp hands. I glanced down when he did and saw that he'd abandoned his jar of jam.

He looked at me, his eyes wide and searching for a moment before he did something awful. BB wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me against his chest. He leaned back into the sofa and mumbled softly into my ear, "Shhh... It's okay.. I won't push you anymore today.. Here, I'll tell you, It's peppermint tea. Relax Valerie, hush now..". I felt the heat suddenly rush through my body as he held me. What was he doing!? Just a couple of minutes ago, I was in my room being really angry with him for ruining my day, and now he was giving me a cuddle.

It was nice though... After a while? My eyes were heavy and I was relaxed against his warm body. I let out a yawn after glancing up at BB. His eyes were barely open, just enough for the red to be visible. His hold on me was firm, but it was very stable and relaxing. It gave me the chance to smell his scent. I wasn't sure of the smells his clothes smelled like, but his hair smelt like strawberries. I layed with my head on his chest while being held in his lap. He was so warm, like a radiator. It was shortly after that I caught my eyes closed when I didn't mean for them to be. I gave in after 10 minutes and let sleep take me. I felt so confused. BB was unsafe, but he made me feel.. Safe?.. oh lord..

*bows* Sorry it's so late! I've just started college! I'm trying to settle in my dorm and do 3 A level grades. I don't know what that is for anyone outside of England, but they're hard!

BB and Valerie are cuddling it up! Awww! Hey Romi, what did you think? What did the rest of you think? And, I'm so sorry for any mistakes. I only have time to write before I go to sleep so if parts don't make sense, breathe through it. Who wants the next chapter? Or, would you like me to write a one shot for you? If it's in my lists of things I've seen, I'll happily write something and deicate it to you because I'm nice like that ^.^

Alrighty. I'm so tired now I need to crash. This is a rough copy of the chapter, I'll tidy it up tomorrow and repost it but I didn't want you guys to wait anymore :3

peace out!

-Alice