~Sorry about rushing this story! Most my reviews said I was rushing, so I'm sorry! *-* Oh, and thanx for the reviews. I only got 1 bad one, but the rest were super. Well, here's the next chapter.~

'So what! Everyone does!'
Atlas's words rang out in Rock's head. He was in Atlas's bed, while everyone was cooking. "I'm not like everybody else," he muttered to himself.
The door opened quietly, but Rock heard it. He looked up and saw Tomi. She was wearing a sky blue dress that stopped at her ankles, and had tied her hair into a ponytail with a white ribbon. Her white ankle socks and light blue sandals.
"Oh, you're awake!" Tomi said. She smiled warmly as Rock felt himself blush. She gasped as she saw Rock's icy blue eyes for the first time. "You're eyes are so nice, why'd ya wear sunglasses?" Rock went even redder. He swallowed hard. Tomi switched the subject. "You hungry?"
"Oh, um, ah, y-yeah," said Rock, looking down in embarrassment.
Tomi plopped down onto the bed next to Rock. Rock stiffened, and then relaxed a little as Tomi checked his ribs.
He tried to push her hands away from his ribs, saying, "I'm alright. I'm okay. Don't worry, seriously." But Tomi ignored him and checked anyway.

While Tomi examined his ribs, Rock looked at his surroundings. A window was on his right, with red curtains. The door was also on his right, farther away from the bed then the window was. On his left was a closet and a desk. A very messy desk at that. Above him was a portrait of a flower field, with tons and tons of different flowers. Rock wasn't interested in anything but the desk.
"All done, and all right!" Tomi said, breaking into Rock's thoughts.
"Oh," Rock jerked his head away from the desk, which he had been leaning towards. "How long have I been here?" he asked.
Tomi thought about it for a minute. "Let's see, um, about a week. Why?"
"Shit," whispered Rock, pulling the covers off him and going for the door. A pang of pain shot through his body. Tomi caught up with him, and helped him outside to the living room. She set him down on a couch.
"You're in no condition ta walk, ya know," she lectured.
Rock smiled crookedly a little.
"Oh, so the Marduk is up, eh?" they heard a voice.
Tomi and Rock turned theirs heads towards Atlas. "Duke Red," Rock murmured.
"So that's what you were worried 'bout?" Tomi said in disbelief. She gave out an exasperated sigh. "Don't worry, we got things covered, alright?"
Rock raised an eyebrow.
"Ya ain't wearing your sunglasses," chuckled Atlas. "Anyway, the duke left for Europe to see a colleague. Or some'em like that."
Rock nodded. He sighed in relief.
All of a sudden, they heard a burning sound. "Ah! My octopus is burning!" Atlas shouted.
Tomi giggled as Atlas ran into the kitchen.
"Hey, that ain't funny!" shouted Atlas behind his back as he rushed out of site.
When he was out of earshot, Tomi turned to Rock, still giggling. "I hoped that Atlas would forget."
"You knew?" Rock said in surprise.
"Yeah."
"Don't you get, like, um." Rock didn't know how to say it.
Tomi raised an eyebrow. "Oh, punished. No."
"Lucky. But why didn't ya tell they were burning?"
"I hate octopus!" Tomi made a face.
"I heard that!" shouted her older brother.
Tomi covered her mouth, and started laughing. Rock soon joined, and then they heard Atlas. Tomi ran into her room, and soon was redressed.
She was in white caprice and a gray shirt. "I hate dresses," she explained to Rock. Rock nodded slowly. "Let's go for a walk. It's kinda smoky in here."
"Kay, but wait a minute, let me go get my sunglasses."
"They're on the desk in Atlas's room!" called Tomi as Rock hustled into the direction Tomi had pointed. He found the sunglasses, and put them on.
A feeling inside him told him to look at the papers scattered over the desk, but he didn't. He didn't want to keep Tomi waiting.
In mid step, he stopped all of a sudden. Someone was watching him. 'No,' he thought. 'I must be dreaming.' He walked out of the room and caught up with Tomi at the front door.
"Ready?" Tomi asked.
"Yeah." Then they headed out into the snow, while dusk was falling. They hadn't seen the shadow that had been watching them inside and outside the house.

~Am I rushing still? If I am, please tell me. I hope you like it so far. It was kinda a dull chapter, so please don't say anything bad about it. Thanx.~