Guys, I had to sit there and look at my phone to figure out what letters Ryuu wouldn't be able to text with xD I have a keyboard on my phone, so obviously, we see how often I use the ABC funtion xD

Feferi finally stopped, having no idea where to go. Her bag slid off her shoulder again, hands resting themselves on her hips before she sat down on the ground. Maybe she wouldn't go to Ryuu's house? She could probably find a bench to camp out on for the night. Or go back home. With an irritated sigh, Feferi picked up a pebble on the side of the road and chucked it, as far as she could manage. This was mildly entertaining, and she continued it for a while. What a relief. It was like each pebble was a problem, and she was just throwing it away, far away from her, so she didn't have to deal with it anymore. But...was that such a good idea?

Feferi paused, hand raised as she pressed a pebble between her fingers, lost between throwing it and putting it down. No. This wasn't solving anything. Throwing pebbles wasn't going to make things better for her, wasn't going to make her parents stop fighting, or bad memories go away. Staying on a bench was a bad idea, and she didn't feel like going home at the moment. God knew her parents were going to stay up late, keep the door unlocked and probably call the cops. If she came home they'd give her hell. She'd want to yell back at them anyways. Feferi tilted her head from side to side before finally giving in. The pebble slipped from her hand as she pulled her cellphone out. She opened up a new message to Ryuu, then hesistated. She didn't know what he would say. What if he said no? What would she do then? Text someone else? Feferi contemplated the thought of sending the same message to a few people, but then decided against it. There was really only one way to find out what he would say.

)(-Ey, Ryuu? Do you mind if I stay at your )(ous-E tonig)(t?

Her fingers ran across the buttons as she waited, afraid that he wouldn't reply. As if the tension of rejection wasn't hostile enough, time was ticking away. Feferi raised her head from the small black object in her hand, letting her foot vibrate against the cement as she looked up the street. She could see it. She'd be sitting here, waiting for a reply that would never come, and the cops would come wheeling around the corner, picking her up and taking her home. Just as she was about to give up and go to the first house her feet lead her to, her phone vibrated.

Sure, 8ut whut's wrong? R u ok?

Feferi stared at the message for a moment. His typing was a little odd. A mixture of a few typing quirks, though she didn't know anyone who used text talk, or 8's for 'b's.

Yea)(, I'm okay. W)(at's up wit)( your typing?

Oh, the two 8utton is 8roken, so I wus forsed to think of other weighs to type. Do you know where I live?

No, I don't actally...m-EEt m-E )(alf way?

K, I live up in plesnt prk. Just wlk tht weigh n I will meet you.

Alrig)(t.

Feferi got to her feet. Damn, he lived all the way on the otherside of town. With a grumble, she walked over to her bag, kicking it before she picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. This would prove to be a long walk. She'd also have to get to the main road, since she knew no other way to the area he lived in. Hopefully he thought of this, otherwise she might end up having to text him again.

Feferi rushed across the street, before breaking into a hop and a skip as she jumped up onto the sidewalk. This was one thing she liked about walking. With cars, you were forced to obey so many laws, had to go a certain speed and had almost no short-cuts at your disposal. Walking on the other hand, you could go as fast as you wanted, meandering along or running at full speed. Nothing prohibited you from taking whatever route you wanted, minus a few buildings and busy intersections. This was blissful, and a long walk was exactly what she needed in order to clear her mind.

The first thing she did, was head for the main drag. She cut through empty parking lots, patches of grass and over chain-link fences as she moved, all the while trying to calm herself down. The last thing she wanted was to force all her problems onto Ryuu. That wasn't what she'd asked of him, because all she'd wanted was a place to spend the night. So why did she feel such a heavy pain in her chest? Right, because this wasn't her boyfriends house she was staying at, this wasn't Karkat's house. Feferi's head dropped, pace slowed. Maybe this was a bad idea. Feferi popped out onto the main drag. It was too late to turn around. She wouldn't make Ryuu walk so far, only to turn around. "Its just one night." Feferi told herself. "Its not like I'm cheating on him."

The walk was long, but thankfully Ryuu ended up meeting her a little past the half way point. The thing Feferi enjoyed most about this? He never bothered asking what was wrong. "Hey!" Ryuu called when he saw Feferi, hand shooting into the air like he was afraid she wouldn't see him.

"Hi." Feferi replied meekly, hand raised slightly in a wave. She jogged a little to catch up to him, one hand wrapped tightly around the strap of her bag, paper being scrunched up again.

Ryuu smiled, turning so he was walking in the same direction as her. His eye caught the paper in her hand, still a little crumpled, though it showed signs of an attempt to be straightened. "What's that?" He questioned, giving it a look as he reached for it.

"Oh this?" Feferi loosened her grip, holding out her hand passing Ryuu the crumpled up paper. "It's the form for the dance class. Still got to get mum or dad to sign it." Feferi sighed. "But I don't think I'll be able to get them to." Feferi's eyes fell to the ground, shoulders slumped. She felt really bad about it. Not that she'd imagined she'd get in, but just the thought had made her giddy.

Ryuu studied the paper for a moment. "I see. Nervous are we?"

"Me? Nervous? Well...yeah, a little, but that's not really the problem." Feferi admitted.

"Oh. So, basically its got something to do with home, which is the reason why you asked to come over, but you don't want to talk about it?" Ryuu ventured. "I dunno, maybe forge their signature? I mean, what's the worst that could happen? All you need to do is tell them that you're joining dance right?"

Feferi giggled a little. "Well, I wish it were that easy. The reason we have the form is because there are stuff that the parents need to pay for, so they want to make sure that said items will get paid for and not just...well yeah." Feferi shrugged. "So one way or another they need to see this and they need to sign it before Friday."

Ryuu nodded. "Alright, so does this mean your going to practice a dance or something? Get yourself all prepared for that audition so that you nail it?"

"Uhm...I'm not too sure. I don't even know what I would do to be honest." Feferi chewed her bottom lip. She hadn't thought about that. She'd just been concerned with getting the form signed.

"Well...you have all of next week to prepare right?" Ryuu offered, trying to make her feel better. "So you have an entire week to think of something, and make sure that you're ready. I'm sure you'll do fine. No, I know you'll do fine." Feferi smiled at Ryuu as they turned into a little park. "Short cut to my house. Its just on the otherside. You can see it from here." Ryuu pointed off in the distance to a white house with a black roof. It looked a little fancy from the outside, but the inside might say differently.

"Thanks." Feferi said. "I think I'll do good too. So, is it just you and your parents living here?" Feferi asked once they got to the yard. Ryuu shook his head.

"I have a younger sister, but she's really little." Ryuu started as he opened the front door to his house. "She's four now, and she really likes to hang around me when I have friends over. So if she starts to bother you, just let me know and I'll get mom to distract her."

"No, that'll be alright. I don't mind little kids. I have a younger sister too, but she's only a few years younger than me, so I suppose its not quite the same." Feferi stepped inside, already slipping her shoes off as she scoped out the room. "You have a nice house Ryuu. Do you like living here?"

"Yeah. Its better than where we were living." He shrugged, nudging the door shut. "You can hang your coat up there, or sweater if you want." He pointed to the coat rack before he shrugged his own jacket off and hung it up. "And if you want, you can have my bed tonight, I can just sleep on the couch. I don't mind."

"Ryuu?" It sounded like an older woman, which made Feferi assume it was his mom. She was right of course.

"Yeah mom?"

"Is your friend okay?" She peeked around the corner down to the two in the landing. There was a flight of stairs that lead up, to where his mother was eyeing around the corner at them, and a flight that lead downstairs into the basement. Terezi's house was set up the same way, which made Feferi believe half the houses were like her's. Karkat's and Kanaya's, and the other half's were like this. Ryuu's mom smiled down at her, a real smile that only hid sugar and rainbows behind it.

"Yeah. I think it was just a misunderstanding at her house that she didn't want to be part of." Ryuu looked at Feferi for a moment, and she nodded before he looked back.

"Well, then it's a good thing you came over. You're free to stay here whenever you need alright, uhm...?"

"Feferi. Feferi Peixes. Its nice to meet you, and thanks." Feferi smiled, blushing a little. Why was everyone so nice to her?

"Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat, or snack on? I have brownies and cookies if you want." Ryuu's mom turned away, wandering back where she came. Ryuu lead them upstairs into the kitchen where they found his mom going through the fridge. "We actually just finished putting dinner away, so you might have to warm it up."

"Alright. Thanks." Feferi dropped her bag onto an empty chair, putting the crumpled peice of paper on the table before she wandered over to Ryuu's mom, looking over the door of the fridge to see if she needed help. "I'll eat basically anything, so whatever you're willing to spare."

"Is Raina asleep?" Ryuu asked. Feferi could hear his voice getting distant, she supposed it was because he was walking away, but didn't bother to look.

"No, she should be in her room. But she'll be going to sleep soon, so don't inform her of our guest." Even his mom seemed to realize that his sister enjoyed company.

"So is it just the four of you living here?" Feferi asked. "You, your husband and two children?" She held out her hands, taking a few wrapped plates from Ryuu's mom before setting them down on the counter.

Ryuu's mom was quiet for a moment as she grabbed a plate down for Feferi. "No, just the three of us right now. Ryuu's dad is sick in the hospital. That's why we moved down here, so we could be closer to him." His mom nodded, but the smile on her face was full of sadness.

"I'm sorry, I hope he gets better." Feferi sounded like she was holding back tears. She didn't understand what it was like to lose someone, but she understood what it was like to have someone around who didn't belong. Perhaps the two were the same, but different in the way they were percieved? Feferi averted her eyes, terrified to look at Ryuu's mother incase her sadness made his mom cry.

"I'm sure he will." This time she smiled that sugar and rainbow grin Feferi had first seen. Feferi turned to look back at her, the warmth of that smile washing over her, making her smile.

"She heard Feferi." Ryuu said, acting as a wall holding back a small, chubby face. It peeked around his leg and Feferi noticed she was blonde, her hair tied up into curly pigtails. Raina almost looked like a little porcelain doll, she was so cute.

"Why hello there." Feferi beamed, kneeling down. Raina took that moment to dive through Ryuu's legs, but he was a little quicker and closed them around her waist.

"Nope. She needs to eat first. You can play with her when she's done." Ryuu said, putting his hands on his waist.

"But I need to see her!" Raina's voice was high pitched and her words slightly slurred as she attempted to pronounce them properly. That made Feferi laugh. "Ryuu I need to see her!" Raina squirmed around on the floor, attempting to get out of her brothers hold by pushing on his legs and streching her arms out.

"Nope. Eat before play, you know that." Ryuu wasn't about to bend under this, so Feferi got up, helping to put the food away as his mom started to heat the plate for her in the microwave.

"She's cute." Feferi giggled, closing the fridge door. "I don't know how you can stand not to just break under that."

"Practice." Ryuu said flatly. "Her puppy dog eyes stopped working on me when she was two."

Feferi laughed. "Oh I'm sure they did." She turned when she heard the microwave beep and took the plate of food with a thank-you before she sat herself at the table. She ate with her head in her hand, staring dreamily at Ryuu's younger sister. "So, you're Raina?"

"Yup. And this is Ryuu. He's a big meanie. He eats my cereal every morning." Raina turned a little so she could glare up at Ryuu who only rolled his eyes.

"That's my cereal Raina. Your's is the Fruit Loops." Ryuu sighed.

"No. Mine is the one with the marshmallows in it." Her face turned to one that would've looked angry, had she not been so damn cute. Raina set her legs in motion, swinging them in the air as she layed her face down on the floor, arms outstreched infront of her.

"The Lucky Charms are mine, Raina." Ryuu's voice was bordering on angry as he glared down at her.

"So, what do you like to do?" Feferi asked, deciding that argument was going nowhere, concidering it was between two people eleven years apart, one of whom was four.

"I like to play Barbies, but Ken had a fight with Barbie because she put the brush in the fridge, but really, that was my fault." Raina giggled, hiding her face in her hands. To her, this must've been the funniest prank in the world. Feferi really couldn't remember being so young.

"Oh? Are you going to tell Ken that so he can apologize?" Feferi asked between a mouthful of food. Raina shook her head. "Why not?"

"Because its funny, and I wanna see if Barbie will do something mean to him." Feferi almost choked on her food as she started laughing. She was four, but she was already mature enough to say things like that?

"Please tell me it's your fault she's got this mind-set at four." She looked up at Ryuu. He said nothing. "You're so mean!" Feferi squeaked, covering her mouth with her hand, brows raised to her hairline.

"Just finish your food so I can let her go." Ryuu folded his arms over his chest, averting his eyes. It appeared he was getting tired of holding his younger hostage with his legs.

Feferi nodded, scarfing the rest down. Raina was up and running to her faster than Feferi was able to blink, but she didn't mind. She enjoyed being here, even though it'd only been about twenty minutes. Here was a small ball of life whom was hard to stay mad at, as well as a boy who seemed to be mad almost all the time. Or at least around the little bundle of joy. The two contrasted so much, it was hard not to smile at them.

Maybe her life could get better?