"Hogarth!"

Suddenly Hogarth jerked and woke, his eyes opening and then shutting quickly. Someone had turned the light on in his room and it sent shots of pain through his eyes.

He found his mother standing in his doorway, an expectant look on her face. "One of your friends is here."

Alice!

"Oh my God, I completely forgot!" Hogarth shouted, sitting up in his bed. His head spun with sleepiness but he shook it off as he tossed the covers off of himself. He looked at his mom once he was on his feet and found her smiling at his rumpled sheets.

"You're sketching again." She said, gesturing.

Hogarth turned and saw the many scattered pencils and sketch book laying on the bed like an artistic battleground. "Oh. Yeah. I am." He looked back at his mother. "I need to change. Can you tell Alice I'll be down in a little while?"

His mother nodded, smiling again. "Yes, I'll tell Alice that you'll be down soon. Just keep in mind you're kind of on thin ice after that little argument last night." Hogarth winced as his mother turned to shut the door. "Tread lightly." She told him before closing the door.

Hogarth sighed, burying his face in his hands. He did feel a little terrible for yelling at Dean last night. But somehow it felt justified to him. Hasn't he dealt with being treated like a naïve child long enough?

Oh, and the Giant! The Giant was back! That's why Alice was here…

And then Hogarth would have to tell his mom and Dean what was going on. That, however, was not going to be particularly enjoyable.

He grumbled to himself many different scenarios as he changed. He was about to tug on his worn red converse that were haphazardly throw under the bed (not the same ones from when he'd first met the Giant, he'd outgrown those and got a new pair a couple of years ago) when he noticed a box tied with a red ribbon next to them.

What?

He cautiously placed his old shoes on the floor in front of him, reaching underneath the bed to pull out this mysterious box. Pulling it onto his lap, he realized there was a note tied to the end of the ribbon. He yanked it off and unfolded it.

Hey, kid. Quite a night last night, huh? I'm sorry about calling you inconsiderate. And you should never forget the Giant. He meant a lot to you.

But I still don't want you scaring us like that.

Your mother and I both know that you tend to blow off steam by taking a walk in the woods, though, and we'll be happy to let you go if you tell us first. We just want you to be safe.

Hope you can forgive me.

-Dean

P.S. Happy 16th and enjoy whatever's in this box.

Hogarth frowned, folding it back up. Of course Dean cared. Of course his mom cared. They had a right to. But, somehow, the argument seemed necessary. Wasn't it? After all, Hogarth had bottled so much up in the past few years and last night seemed like a great way to let off some steam. And he knew that he was bound to get into a fight-no, not a fight. It was definitely an argument. Nothing more than that. Either way, it was bound to happen at some point. Otherwise, he and Dean would be way worse off later on.

He sighed, putting the note in his pocket and untying the bow. He opened the box up and was revealed to a brand new pair of converse. He smiled to himself, remembering to thank his mother and Dean. Picking one of them up, he noticed white stitching in the side. On the inner part of the shoes, his initials were hand-stitched in small print near the white rubber of the sneaker. His mother must've done it awhile back. Hogarth appreciated the thought and carefully loosened the laces, slipping them on his feet, and tying them tight. He stood and walked into the bathroom, quickly brushing his teeth and messing with his hair.

Alice was waiting for him when he made his way downstairs. She smiled and he saw she was wearing jeans and a white button down shirt with black and white oxfords. Her hair was in it's usually style; her long dark hair trailing down her back with a headband to keep it out of her face. There was something different about her now though.

She was wearing black-framed glasses.

"Oh, hi." Hogarth said. He couldn't help but grin at her somewhat-new appearance.

"Hello." She replied.

Once he joined her, he led her into the kitchen where his parents were. "We're heading out for a bit." Hogarth told them, sliding the note out of his pocket and holding it up. Dean looked up, saw the note, and smiled at him, which Hogarth gladly returned. His mother turned just as Hogarth had placed the note down. She was cooking something savory and it filled the kitchen with it's scent. Bacon, maybe?

"Alright, just don't be out all day. Try and make it back around lunch time."

"Will do." He replied, walking back to the front of the house with Alice in tow.

"Love you!" His mom yelled after him.

"Love you too!"

Dean watched him leave, seeing the new red shoes plain as day as he did so. He heard the front door shut and looked over at his wife. "That's his girl, you know."

She turned and gave Dean a surprised look. "Is she, now?"

"Well, not yet. He likes her."

She smiled to herself and turned back to the stove. "That's nice."