Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. All credit for that goes to Aphmau / Jessica Bravura.

Please don't sue me.

Enjoy!

"Come on, Zane! Keep up!"

The middle Ro'Meave brother sighed in mock irritation as he walked with Aphmau down the sidewalk. The short woman had decided to do some late-night Christmas shopping, but didn't want to go alone because Aaron was out of town visiting his family for a few more days. Zane had asked why she couldn't have waited until he came back, only to be met with a sassy "Well, then he'd see what I bought him!"

Still, he had to admit it was nice: with how busy everyone had been lately with the moves to the new houses, it'd been ages since the two of them had gotten to hang out. Zane adjusted his grip on the bags he was carrying, making sure his own bag was securely hidden among them so the gift he had bought for his best friend wouldn't be spoiled.

Aphmau seemed to be doing something similar with her packages, her head down as she focused on her newly-acquired prizes ahead of him.

Perhaps that was why she didn't hear the tell-tale sound of tires screeching on asphalt.

A car came around the nearby corner too fast, skidding on a patch of ice and losing control. It was headed right towards them...

...or rather, the parked car between them.

Zane knew he wouldn't have enough time to grab Aphmau and pull her out of the way. Instead, he made a split-second decision and hoped for the best.

"Aphmau!"

The next thing Aphmau knew, Zane yelled her name. Before she could even turn to see what was going on, she felt a strong pair of hands shoving her forward towards a nearby shopfront.

"Hey! Wha-" was all she managed to get out before the almost-deafening sound of breaking glass filled her ears and the sight of the parked car they'd been walking by coming straight towards her was all she could see. She closed her eyes and dropped to her knees, hoping the vehicle might somehow miss...

A louder crunch as the car collided with the support struts holding up the shopfront filled her ears, but surprisingly the pain Aphmau was expecting never came. She thought she heard someone yell, but it was hard to tell over all the other noise happening.

After what seemed like an eternity, it went quiet.

To her surprise, she was relatively unhurt. Her hands were a little sore from catching herself on the wall, but her gloves had absorbed most of the damage. The short woman took in her surroundings, noticing how precarious the roof of the porch seemed to be leaning. The car from earlier was wedged firmly against both supports, effectively blocking her in and separating her from -

"Zane, are you okay?!" She heard a low, pained groan from somewhere nearby but couldn't see him through her makeshift cage. "Zane?!"

The sound of scrambling, then a panicked blue eye looking in. "Aphmau! Are you hurt?!"

"N-no. I'm okay. But I don't think I can get out." She let out a shaky sigh. "What happened?"

"Some idiot took the turn too fast and hit ice, then hit that parked car." He shook his head. "Didn't bother to stop, either. No idea where they're at now."

Aphmau made an angry sound. "Well, I hope a jacked-up car was worth it. Whoever owns this one's going to be pissed when they see what happened. Speaking of which..." She gave the car in question a light tap with her knuckles. "What're we going to do about this?"

As she watched, Zane took a half-step back, wincing as he took in the damage. The car had wedged itself firmly between the two support beams, bending them so far out of shape there was no way they'd hold up even if he were able to somehow move the vehicle.

Even as the two of them tried to figure out what to do, the roof of the storefront groaned loudly and sagged a little further.

"Zane?!"

"Just...give me a minute..."

"We don't have a minute!"

"Okay...okay..." He took a shaky breath, meeting her gaze. "If I pull up on the top, can you push your way past that support?"

Aphmau looked to where he was pointing. "I...I think so."

"It's the only way to get you out. I - " Zane was interrupted as the roof gave a threatening lurch, leaning a bit further to the side. "We need to do it now!"

"Okay." Aphmau got a solid grip on one of the bent beams from her side, waiting for his signal.

He took a deep, shuddering breath. "Now!"

Working together, the two of them managed to make a hole big enough for Aphmau to slip through. As she started through, the roof began to shift further. Zane grunted as he pulled up harder, gritting his teeth. "...anytime...Aph!"

"Working on it!" With one final push, she got her other arm through the hole.

Aphmau barely had time to register she was free before Zane grabbed her arms, pulling them both back just as the support beam bent almost in half. They both fell, the latter landing hard on his back as she collided with his chest. A pained grunt escaped Zane, but he didn't let go.

They both lay still for the moment, breathing heavily as they tried to catch their respective breaths. Zane sat up on his elbows a bit, checking her over. "Y-you...okay?"

Aphmau nodded as she carefully rolled off, lying on her back next to him and staring up at the sky. For the time being, she didn't care they were both lying on an icy sidewalk in the middle of December. She heard Zane groan as he laid down heavily next to her. After a few moments of quiet, she tapped his leg. "Hey. You alive over there?"

The near-silence, broken only by Zane's rasping breaths, didn't make her feel any better.

"Zane? Are you okay?" The light from the nearby streetlight suddenly seemed woefully inadequate, prompting Aphmau to sit up and check her pocket for her phone. By some miracle, it hadn't gotten broken or knocked loose during their little misadventure. Turning on the flashlight, she flicked it over towards him.

The sight that greeted her almost made her drop the phone in shock.

Zane's eyes were squeezed shut, his face almost as pale as the snow nearby. His left hand was pressed tightly into his right side, his breathing labored even compared to what it'd been only a few minutes ago.

"Zane!" She was immediately at his side, gently trying to move his hand. "C'mon, I need to see what happened." Aphmau put the phone down next to her, light pointed up so she could see what she was doing. As she moved to pull down his mask, she caught sight of a few spots of blood. "A-are you bleeding?!"

Without waiting for him to respond, she carefully pulled down his mask and loosened his scarf. A small trickle of blood was at the corner of his mouth, but he didn't seem to have any obvious injuries. "What happened?!"

"Some...something hit...me," Zane gasped, his visible eye opening as she unbuttoned his jacket. "Right side...didn't...see it..."

Aphmau took a moment to look around, spotting a dented hubcap leaning against the side of the curb.

Of course.

When the car was hit, one of the hubcaps must've popped off and gone flying. Zane had been too focused on getting her out of the way, plus it had come from his right side...where he was blind.

He never would've seen it coming.

Aphmau carefully pulled away his coat, lifting up the corner of his sweater. An ugly bruise was already blooming over his side, angrily dark against his pale skin. Even as she watched, she could see something shifting with every breath he took.

"O-okay. Okayokayokay." Hands shaking, she picked up her phone again and somehow managed to dial 911. As she started talking to the woman on the other end, she was confused as her vision seemed to be blurring.

It took her a moment to realize she was crying.

As Aphmau tried to focus on what the operator was saying, she felt Zane reach over and put a hand on her arm. "H-hey," he rasped, weakly rubbing his thumb on the sleeve of her coat. "It's...okay. I'll be...okay..."

That only made her feel worse. Zane was lying there, probably with an entire side full of broken ribs, and here he was, trying to reassure her. She swallowed her tears as she gave the address, trying to stay calm as the operator instructed her on how to take care of him until help arrived.

"She said to try and keep you comfortable until the ambulance gets here," Aphmau sniffed, trying to keep it together for him as she hung up the phone. Since Zane was conscious, the operator hadn't seen the need to keep her on the line. "I'm going to wrap you back up. Let me know if anything hurts."

He breathed out the barest hint of a laugh. "Will...do."

She shook her head as she carefully pulled his jacket closed again. "It's not funny." She choked down another sob that threatened to bubble out, then began to undo the buttons on her own coat.

"W-wait...what're you...?" Zane looked confused, trying to sit up.

"Hush." Aphmau carefully put one hand on his shoulder to stop him. "The operator said to make sure you stay warm, so that's what I'm doing." She gave him a sad smile. "Besides, it's not like I can do much else to help."

"N-no..." He shook his head, giving her a concerned look. "D-don't...want you...getting sick..." Despite his objections, he was beginning to shake.

"Zane, it's okay." She gently hugged him, trying to will her body heat into him. "If it makes you feel better, I'll keep my coat on, but I need you to relax. The operator said you might start going into shock since things are calm now, and I don't want you shaking too much." Another choked-back sob. "I already probably hurt you enough when I landed on you after you pulled me out."

"It's...okay..." Zane's visible eye began drooping closed. "I..."

"Hey, none of that." Aphmau gently shook his shoulder. "I need you to stay awake, okay? Can you do that for me?" She frowned when he didn't answer, giving his shoulder a pinch. "Hey, can you hear me?"

"...ow," he murmured indignantly, glaring at her weakly. "Not...called for..."

"Then stay awake and I won't have to do it again." She let out a sigh, looking down the street. "Wonder what happened to the car that hit the other one towards us. Could've at least stopped to check on us..." She furrowed her eyes at the thought.

"They seemed...kind of busy..." Zane's shaking grew a bit more pronounced.

"Are you cold?"

"I...I don't know..." He gave another shudder, grimacing. "Maybe..."

Aphmau carefully manuvered herself so she was sitting behind him, resting his head on her lap. She tried to hug him closer, hearing him give a low pained hiss. "Sorry Zane, but I'm trying to keep you warm."

"It's...fine," he groaned, shivering. "J-just...don't go..."

"Of course not." Despite her best efforts, the tears finally broke through and began to fall. To hide it from him, she carefully ran her fingers through his hair even as she finally heard the sound of sirens in the distance. "I'm right here."

About a week after the incident, Zane had finally been allowed to go home. Zianna had come to fuss over him while he'd been in the hospital, but even she eventually had to get back to work: the Christmas season knew no mercy, especially for businesses.

However, Aphmau had promised to regularly check in on him for her. It was a duty she intended to take very seriously. "Hey, you awake in here?" She knocked on the door as a courtesy, even as she was already opening it and entering the house. "Actually, don't answer that: you just keep resting up."

"In here," came a soft answer from the kitchen.

Aphmau made sure the door was shut, then walked in as she took off her coat. "You been doing your chest exercises? Don't want you healing up wrong or getting an infection."

Zane sighed carefully. "Aph, it's been like a week. I'm going to be fine."

"Yeah, well, maybe I just feel like spoiling you for saving my life."

"It...it wasn't that big a deal," he murmured, blushing as he looked away. He was sitting at the kitchen table, hands wrapped gently around a mug of hot chocolate. His mask was off, but still nearby: it seemed even doctor's orders weren't enough for him to be far away from it.

"My very-unbroken bits would disagree with you." Aphmau put the bag she'd been carrying on the table next to him. "Present for you!"

"But Christmas isn't until next week. Wha - "

"Cupcakes from Kawaii-chan!" She carefully removed the box, presenting the pastries with a flourish. "Seems I'm not the only one who appreciates what you did."

"That, uh..." Zane coughed nervously, immediately grimacing and rubbing at his side.

"Sorry!" Aphmau rushed over, hands floating nervously as she tried to figure out what she could do to help him. "It's just, you know, everybody was really worried about you when you were stuck in the hospital and with Christmas coming up and everyone being so busy and - "

"Aph. It's okay." He straightened up, taking a large (careful) breath before turning to her. "I've been doing the exercises and all that stuff. As long as I don't go out and play around in the snow, which I don't want to, by the way, I'll be fine."

She hesitated for a moment, then put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "I know that, but...you really scared me. Just let me spoil you for a bit. Okay?"

Zane sighed lightly. "If it'll make you feel better, then fine." He turned his attention to the cupcakes on the table. "So, Kawaii-chan made these?" He closed his eyes, carefully inhaling the smell of the chocolate cake beneath the strawberry frosting.

Aphmau watched him, not bothering to hide the smile spreading over her face. For all the frustration he caused her...

...Zane really was a good friend.