Everything seemed to be a blur, lately, and Evelyn didn't know if she should be concerned about that or not. The week after her breakdown over Maruki finding out about her self-harm scars especially seemed to go by in a blur, to the point where she couldn't recall what she had actually done, if anything, in that time. It only serves to make her realize that she's so damn lonely. So painfully lonely, in fact, that she couldn't even bring herself to answer her brothers texts, whenever he did text her. It wasn't out of spite, but she still couldn't help the bitterness she'd been feeling over his life becoming too busy to accommodate her into it. She could never blame him for avoiding her, if that was what he was doing, but that didn't do much to lessen the hurt she felt over it. Still, she hoped he was at least happy, and having fun.

Before she knew it, yet again, it was time for her weekly session with Maruki. It was now her fourth session with him, and considering how the last one had gone, she didn't have high hopes for this one to go any better. She'd have to trudge her way to the session regardless of how much she'd rather stay home and sleep the day away. In fact, she was certain the heaviness surrounding her was immediately noticeable as he welcomed her into his office, allowing her to sit down before asking her how she'd been.

" You don't look so well, Evie. Have you been getting enough sleep? "

She sighs before answering him, almost wanting to laugh, because if anything, she'd been getting too much sleep lately. " Honestly? I've been sleeping too much. I keep finding myself waking up either close to noon or after noon…. "

He looked concerned for a moment, before his expression shifted to a more lighthearted one, as if he were trying to lighten the mood.

" Well, too much of a good thing can still be bad, such as sleeping too much, but I think I've already said that to you, haven't I? "

He had, actually, but she'd forgotten until then that he'd said sleeping too much could be indicative of something else. What that something else could be, she already knew, and she was certain he knew what it could be as well.

" Do you have any hobbies that could fill up your time? Maybe if you found something fulfilling to do during the day you could end up sleeping a little less because you'd be excited to wake up in order to take part in a hobby. "

" I…don't know. I do have some hobbies, but I just have no motivation to do them anymore. Really, nowadays, I don't do much of anything when I'm not sleeping…. "

Again, he looks concerned, but this time he doesn't try to lighten the mood with a shift in expression. " Do you have any friends that you can spend time with, even just to talk to? "

" I…no, not really. I don't….have any real friends, to be honest. Everyone just tends to try and use me for something, so my relationship with people never seems to be genuine. I stopped trying to make real friends a long time ago…. "

" I see….What about your brother? Don't you see him? "

At this, she sighs again, unable to hide the sadness in it, nor the bitter tone to her voice as she replies to his question. " He, uh…I think he's been too busy to come over. It's been awhile since he was able to come over, and I don't want to bother him or make him think I'm nagging him, so I just…. haven't asked him to come over, recently. "

His look of concern only seems to deepen, and she feels a slight pang in her chest at seeing such an expression on him. He seemed to genuinely be in pain from her comments, and she wasn't certain how to feel about that, except that it hurt her to see him look at her like that.

" You know, Evie, I can't say I'm not worried over your lack of contact with people. Humans are social creatures; they need socialization with other people in order to thrive and be happy. "

Of course he was right, as usual, but she couldn't really say anything in reply to him because she just didn't know what to say.

" Maybe you should focus on trying to reach out to your brother? I know he's a student still, but I don't think he'd just ignore his sister if she genuinely wanted his company. "

This made her pause, anxiety springing to life inside her, and she couldn't keep herself from shaking her head at his suggestion. No, she couldn't let her brother know she was lonely, or that she wasn't okay right now. She needed to be the strong, older sibling who was there for her little brother whenever he needed her, not the other way around. Relying on her brother would just feel wrong.

" I don't know if I could do that….maybe I could try reaching out to other people instead? "

He frowned at her response, seemingly looking like he wanted to say something about what she'd said, but in the end he must have decided against it as he shook his head slightly.

" Well, that's a good place to start, at least…but I feel better if I knew you at least had your brother to rely on. Please, at least open up to him a little more. You can do that for me, right, Evie? "

A blush appeared on her face at his request, which she quickly tried to make go away, covering the lower half of her face with a hand as she faked a cough.

" I…I guess so? I can try….at least…. "

A smile lit up his features, which only served to make her blush more prominent. " Great! It makes me happy that you'll try, at least. "

Despite his optimism, she can't help but feel tired at the prospect of having to reach out to anyone, let alone her brother. Still, she nods her agreement to him, hoping it's enough for now and that she can survive another week until their next session.

She goes to sleep shortly after getting home, exhausted as usual. That seemed to be a running theme with her sessions with him, and she had to wonder if that was a good or bad thing.

. . .

Startled awake by a particularly loud electronic ringtone blaring from her phone, Evie clumsily managed to grab her phone from where it had ended up underneath her pillow before looking to see who was calling her. Maruki was calling her. Wait, what? Shit, what time was it?! Had she ended up sleeping an entire week and somehow missed when her next session was supposed to happen? The fact that something like that happening wasn't entirely out of the question unnerved her, but only vaguely. Realizing she had missed Maruki's call because she had simply been staring at the screen because she was still sleeping, she heaved a sigh of relief when her phone's home screen popped up for a second, telling her it was only the next day. Though, it was also almost noon, which meant she had slept in too much once again. Maruki's contact popped up on her phones screen once again and, this time, she wastes no time in swiping across the screen to answer his call.

" Um…hello? Dr. Maruki? "

" Evie! I hope I didn't wake you up, I figured you might be asleep when you missed my first call, hehe. "

" Ah…you kinda did…. "

" O-Oh, I'm sorry! Should I call back later? "

Shifting around in her bed so that she was now sitting cross legged, she made a confused sound. " Um, no, it's okay, did you need something? "

" I was just calling to see if you wanted to spend some time with me this afternoon, actually. "

Surprise appeared on her face, and she couldn't help the "HUH?!" that left her lips as she had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Not that she regularly dreamed of Maruki calling her to ask such things.

" U-Uh, I mean… I… don't have anything going on, so….sure? "

She could practically hear him smile on the other end, and it somehow made her smile as well. " Great! How about we meet in Shibuya, by that book shop on Central Street, at 5pm. Would that work for you? "

" Y-Yeah, that'll….that'll work. "

" Alright, I'll see you then! "

With that, he said goodbye and then hung up, leaving a thoroughly confused Evelyn on the other line. For a few minutes, all she could do was stare at her phone's screen, wondering if that had actually just happened. Was she still asleep? Pinching herself again and muttering a small "ow" told her no, she was not still asleep.

Heaving a sigh, despite the abrupt awakening, Evelyn couldn't help but feel a tingle of excitement deep inside her chest at the prospect of hanging out with Maruki. Maybe it was only because she hadn't hung out with anyone besides her brother since her hiatus had started. Maybe it was because he seemed to genuinely care about her and had seemed to take it upon himself to make her happy. Those were only assumptions on her end, of course, but whatever the reason, Evelyn found herself jumping off her bed and making a dash to her bathroom to start getting ready. The meeting was still about five hours away, give or take, but she found herself wanting to be in immaculate condition for it. Why? Maybe it was because he was just too cute and she wanted to look her best for him outside of their sessions. She wanted to make a better impression on him, she guessed. Oh. Oh no. She knew what this was. In the middle of her shower, the realization that she apparently had a crush on the kind Doctor hit her hard and she almost fell from the shock of it. Dizziness from more than just the heat of the water spraying down on her made her vision swim for just a moment before it disappeared and a blush that wasn't from the hot water covered her entire body. Shit, she was in trouble now, wasn't she?

. . .

The time until their outing came before she knew it, and she found herself fiddling nervously with the hem of her pink shirt. She dressed simple for the meeting, wearing a simple t-shirt with her usual shape wear to hide her scars underneath it. A white tennis skirt and black leggings combined with plain white sneakers were what she wore for the lower part of her outfit, and a pair of sunglasses covered the entire upper part of her face. She had to be careful, being out in public like this. Her hiatus had caused quite the stir in the entertainment industry, and her fans had been especially upset over it. The last thing she wanted was to be mobbed by them or the paparazzi because she had been careless enough to not hide her identity. Though, if she were being honest, her "disguise" hadn't really had that much effort put into it. Nevertheless, her outing with Maruki would be ruined if she were recognized, and that was why she was dressed so plainly. No patterns or symbols were anywhere to be seen on her clothes.

Checking her phone, Evelyn noted it was time to meet with Maruki, and so rushed the rest of the way to the book shop he'd mentioned. He was already there, so she wasted no time in apologizing for being late.

" Ahaha, it's alright! Really, I only got here a few minutes ago myself. If anything, you're exactly on time! "

Smiling softly, she regarded him with a curious look. " So, uh….what exactly are we gonna be doing? "

" Ah, that's right! I didn't actually tell you what we'd be doing, did I? Well, I figured we could see a movie together, if that's alright with you? I've got other ideas if you don't feel like that though! "

Blinking, her smile widened just a little. God, he was so cute, but damnit she couldn't let herself be thinking that when he was right in front of her. " Ah, that sounds fine, actually. I… haven't gone to see a movie in a long time. "

His eyes widened just a little, surprise showing up on his face. " Really? Then, what say we get to the theater and you can choose what kind of movie we'll see? "

Oh, he was giving her the choice instead of having them both decide on something? That shouldn't be surprising to her, actually, considering the nature of the man. Still, her go to choice was always something scary, and she had to wonder if he could handle a horror movie. It took them only ten minutes to get to the theater, which was lucky considering the crowd they had to fight through. She was lucky no one had knocked the sunglasses from her face. It took no time at all once they were in the lobby for her eyes to zero in on a specific horror movie that she'd actually been wanting to see. It was still in theaters? Well, she was certainly lucky! Turning to Maruki and tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, she finally took her sunglasses off since they were now inside a building.

" A-Are you okay with a scary movie? "

His eyes followed hers to the poster she'd looked at and then widened, though she wasn't sure if it was in surprise or something else. " Oh, interesting choice! I didn't take you for the type to like those kinds of movies, but I'm okay with it if that's what you want to pick! "

Letting out a tiny chuckle, she nodded her head to confirm it was what she wanted. The movie wouldn't start for another thirty seven minutes, so they passed time in the lobby by making idle small talk. They were lucky they managed to find two seats side by side when it was time to go into the specific theater for the movie she had picked, though for some reason Evelyn could feel butterflies in her stomach at how close they were sitting. It was just the normal distance between seats, which was always relatively small, but it felt smaller for some reason.

The movie starts and her attention is taken by the movie for a little bit, before she becomes acutely aware of the fact their elbows were so close to touch on the arm rest between them. So distracted by this, she isn't prepared for a sudden jump scare that makes her squeak and instantly latch onto his arm. Her hands gripped his arm tightly for a minute before she realized what exactly she had done and hastily moved to release him. An intense blush saturated her cheeks, thankfully hidden for the most part by the dark theater.

" S-Sorry! " She whispered, looking down at her hands now nervously wringing together in her lap.

A pause on his end, before he gives her a closed eyed smile, replying to her just as quietly. " It's okay. "

Is that a blush on his face as well or is it just the lights from the big screen making it look like he was blushing? It was too hard to tell in the lighting of the theater, unfortunately. The rest of the movie goes on in silence, with Evelyn barely able to pay attention to the rest of it on account of the butterflies in her stomach becoming more intense. The movie ends suddenly, and surprise appears on her face as a result before she awkwardly looks over to Maruki to see if he appeared to be bothered by the movie or what she had done. Thankfully, he seemed to be unbothered, and as they moved to get up from their seats, their knees briefly touched. Another blush appeared on her face, and she looked away to make sure he didn't see it as the lights came back on.

" You know, it's actually been awhile since I last went to the movies, and it's been ages since I last saw a scary one! You truly did pick an interesting choice though, Evie! I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen for most of it, to be honest. "

Letting out a nervous giggle, she lifts a hand to nervously mess with her hair. " Y-Yeah, same! I usually don't have the time to see a movie, since my schedule is usually so busy. "

He lets out a giggle as well, scratching at the back of his neck as he regarded her with a warm smile.

" I really enjoyed it though, and I hope you did too! Can I ask why you chose a scary movie, though? "

" I just think they're interesting, and usually more entertaining than romantic comedies or dramatic movies. I'm not the toughest person, since I can still get scared by them sometimes, but I can't say I don't like the adrenaline rush I get from the scares, hehe! "

" I see, that's certainly an interesting perspective to have on them! Are horror films the only ones you like to watch? I can't imagine you'd be satisfied just watching one genre all the time, right? "

She thinks for a moment, concluding quickly. " Actually, I really like Action movies too! But if I had to choose between the two, Horror movies would still win. "

He laughs then, genuine and warm in its sound, and for the umpteenth time that day, she blushes again. God damnit, why was he so cute? It should be a crime to be so cute! Shaking her head to clear those thoughts from her head, she messes with her hair again before checking her phone. " Ah, it's getting kinda late. You have work in the morning, right? I don't wanna keep you out too late…. "

" Oh, there's nothing to worry about! Even if you were to keep me out late, I wouldn't mind it, since we're friends. Speaking of…why don't you start calling me Takuto? I feel it's only fair since I've been calling you Evie since our first meeting! "

God damnit, not again! Another blush decorated her cheeks but she was too surprised by his request that she couldn't turn her head away to hide it.

" A-Ah, um, I mean…if you're okay with that? "

" I absolutely am! Please, Evie, we're friends, right? "

" Y-Yes? We are… " There's the slightest bit of hesitation in her voice, but she believes in her reply, if only because it made her heart feel warm to acknowledge it.

" Then please, call me Takuto. I'd really like it if you did. "

A blush might as well have been permanent on her face, because she was certain it was still there and wasn't going to go anywhere any time soon.

" Okay, Takuto…. "

Giving her another close eyed smile, he lifted a hand to gently grip her shoulder, his voice warm as he spoke again. " Thank you, Evie! Now! I do think it's getting a bit too late now, so we should probably head back home. Will you be okay going back by yourself? "

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear her mind that was desperately attempting to indulge in a daydream, she gave him her own close eyed smile.

" Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me! "

" Easier said than done, but alright! I'll see you next week then? "

" Yeah, see you then, Takuto! "

Parting ways, she noticed that they had been close to each other during that exchange. Not close enough to really invade each other's personal space, but close enough for her to notice in the first place. It was a miracle she actually did make it home in one piece, considering how much her mind had begun wandering the moment they had parted ways. She could have easily gotten lost or worse, mugged, because of how distracted she had felt. Thankfully, she made it home in one piece, but all she could seem to do after taking her shoes off at the entrance was rush to her room and throw herself onto her bed with a girlish squeal. Little daydreams and fantasies filled her head of her and Maruki-no, it was Takuto now, right? She imagined them holding hands, and then she thought back to her breakdown the previous week and remembered how he had held her as she cried. At the time, it had only been somewhat comforting, but thinking back on it now, she wanted to be held like that again by him. Only, because of better circumstances than because of her having a breakdown. She wanted to just be held by him just because he could.

Squealing again, even higher pitched than before, Evelyn grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, an enormous grin stretching her lips. Was this really happening? Was she really, fully acknowledging the fact that she had a genuine crush on him? For some reason that seemed to both excite her and fill her with dread at the same time. Happy that she now had someone in her life that could suddenly fill her with a kind of happiness she had only experienced once before, but dread as well because this kind of happiness she had only experienced once before and it had broken her. Should she really let this feeling continue to grow, or should she squash it now before it had the chance to backfire on her? She couldn't decide, and she continuously went back and forth over it for the rest of the night. However, before she finally fell asleep, a huge smile appeared on her lips as she breathed his name in quiet delight.

" Takuto… "