While her understanding of social etiquette was slim, Lucy liked to think she was good at picking up signals. She could tell when someone was annoyed with her mere existence, she could tell when the smile Kevin gave her was real and when it wasn't. Something she picked up on was that while her friend was always picture perfect, he only seemed to worry about the untidiness of the rest of the world on occasion.

She had started carrying extra clothes in her backpack. Sometimes Kevin would get overly anxious about a stain or a crumb on her shirt, and she change to make him feel better. Other times however, he was the one making the stains; flicking her with paint during art class and starting an all-out war they'd gotten a stern reprimanding for.

All of this didn't bother her of course, she was just happy to have a friend. Someone who not only noticed that she was there but actively sought her out. Someone who'd rather spend time with her than do anything else in the world. She certainly wasn't about to start complaining. Still, these behaviors peaked her curiosity, and one day she found the courage to voice her thoughts.

"Hey Kev?" she asked, swinging her legs on the bench they'd settled on during their walk in the park. Lucy knew little about Kevin's family, but it seemed they wouldn't notice him missing any more than her dad would notice her missing. It was a sad thought, but it allowed them to spend time together outside of school.

"Yeah?" the boy looked over at her.

"How come you act so backwards sometimes?"

"Whatdaya mean?" he frowned, eyebrows drawing together.

"I mean that sometimes you're shy and sometimes you're tough like the big kids. Sometimes you freak out when there's a stain on my shirt and sometimes you couldn't care less."

Kevin's eyes dropped down to his feet, and Lucy saw him tense. "It's nothing…."

"Doesn't seem like nothing." Lucy said, noticing the change in her friend's behavior. She had learned early on that there were things he didn't like talking about; if she asked the wrong question or brought up the wrong topic, he shut down. Closed in on himself despite how much he had opened up around her.

"I don't wanna talk about it okay?!" he snapped, something he never did. Lucy saw his eyes shift again, and he sat up straighter, looking stoneier.

"Okay." Lucy shrugged, making the stern expression she'd been receiving drop.

"Okay?" he asked in that deeper voice.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I was just curious, but if you don't wanna talk about it, we don't have to." She shrugged. "Just…." She bit her lip slightly and sighed. "Y-You know that you can trust me, right? And you can always talk to me if something's wrong, you can always come to me, for anything."

The steely look on his face faded and her sweet, shy friend was back. "…..You thwear you'll never tell?" he asked in a voice that was barely a whisper.

"Pinky promise." Lucy said, holding out her little finger to him.

He smiled slightly, linking his pinkie with her's. "Okay…" when their hands dropped, he sighed and looked extremely nervous.

"I-….I've got this, other person, in my head. He's older, and thtronger. He protects me."

"Protects you from what?" Kevin's eyes went glassy and he pulled his knees up into his chest. "Kev, hey, look at me." Lucy placed a worried hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's okay. It's all okay." She wrapped her arms around him and after a few moments he relaxed into her embrace.

"Thanks Lu….." he said in a small voice.

"Anytime. Look, like I said if you don't wanna talk about it –"

"No." he sniffed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "You deserve to know. My mom, thhe uh….thhe's not nice…." Lucy got the message immediately, reaching out to take Kevin's hand in her's. This seemed to help, as he took a deep breath and continued. "Dennis, he takes the hurt. So I don't have to. He protects me."

"Dennis?" Lucy asked. "Is that his name."

"Mm." Kevin nodded. "….He likes you. He thays you're thpecial."

She smiled. "Well tell him I said thank you. And I'm glad I have his approval."

"Y-You're not gonna leave?" he frowned.

"Why would I? Now I've got two friends."

Lucy adapted surprisingly well to Dennis. Granted, she spent most of her time with Kevin, but whenever something made him afraid or upset, Dennis would come out. Lucy quickly realized that he was much older than the body he inhabited; she'd put him in his thirties at least. As such, he didn't care for the games she and Kevin usually played, but he was happy to spend time talking to her, or even just sitting by her peacefully on a blanket they'd spread in the grass. Lucy liked Dennis, and it fascinated her to no end how different he was from Kevin. She had done some research on the school computer, but in the end the details of it didn't really matter. She was happy just to exist with both her new friend and her old one.

Time passed, both children turned seven. They lived in a world where they were the only two – well, three really – that existed. Very little else ever crossed their minds. They did however, have to go to their respective homes when the sun began to set, and that was where the dream shattered.

Both Lucy and Kevin spoke very little about their home lives. The topic was avoided because they both knew whoever brought it up would have to share in return.

Lucy came back to her apartment well after school had ended, only to duck down and let out a startled screech as her father threw a beer bottle at the door the second it shut.

"It's all gone!" he shouted.

"W-What is?"

"Everything! Every drop of booze in this apartment has suddenly disappeared!" he suddenly trapped his daughter against the wall. "What the hell have I told you about taking my shit?!"

"W-wa? Papa, I-I don't –"

"Don't lie to me!" he banged on the wall next to Lucy's head, making her jump and cower into the cheap plaster. "You've been out there every day, drinkin' and partyin' like a dumb whore! Just like your mother!"

"My mother?" he had never mentioned her mother before.

"I won't have it!" he yanked hard on her arm.

"Papa you're hurting me!" Lucy cried, stumbling to keep up with his broad steps as he pulled her along.

"Good! Maybe it'll teach you not to swipe my booze!" he pulled her into her room and violently yanked open the closet door. He shoved Lucy into it and stuck a chair under the handles.

"Papa!" Lucy shouted, her little fists banging on the door.

"You'll stay in there until you learn!" she heard his footsteps retreat.

"Papa!" Lucy continued to bang on the door, trying to get it to open, but to no avail. "Papa! Papa…." She whimpered and slid down the back wall. Other than the small line of light under the door she couldn't see a thing. There was a draft coming from somewhere, and the walls seemed far tighter than usual.

Lucy pulled her knees into her chest. What she was supposed to be learning, she had no idea. She certainly hadn't taken her father's drinks, she was usually the one who kept them stocked. Spending time with Kevin and Dennis had made her sloppy; she didn't keep track of things as well as she used too.

Lucy reached up blindly until her fingers wrapped around her winter coat. She tugged it off its hanger and draped it over her shoulder in an attempt to block out the draft. She was extremely grateful she kept her emergency stash in the closet, as this was definitely an emergency.

The line of light under the door was her only sign of time passing. It went away at night and came back during the day. By her current count, Lucy had been in the closet for four days.

As the fifth day drew to a close she watched the line disappear, curled up under her winter coat. Her emergency stash wasn't that big, and Lucy wasn't sure how long she could last in here.

A sound from outside startled her, making her jump up into a sitting position. She heard footsteps and faintly saw the closet door shift. There was the sound of something being dragged away, and then the silence returned.

Cautiously, Lucy raised a shakey hand to push on the door. To her immense relief, it opened allowing the moonlight coming through her bedroom window to pour in.

She nearly jumped for joy, crawling out of the closet and stretching her stiff limbs. She shook the pins and needles away and ran for her bedroom door, stopping when she heard laughter.

Peering into the living room/kitchen, she saw her father sitting around the table with a handful of men who looked eerily similar to him. From the looks of it, they were playing poker.

Lucy instantly deflated. She hadn't been let out on purpose, someone had just come looking for an extra chair and had taken the one keeping her in. She rubbed angrily at her eyes, turning around and grabbing her school bag, which had been locked up with her all this time. Shifting things around, she shoved what clothes she could into it, along with the money from her emergency stash. She grabbed her pillow, hung her blanket over her shoulders, and made for the window. Pushing it open, Lucy took a second to lean out into the fresh air.

She shut her eyes, breathing deeply. The evening air was cool, and crisp. Somehow this cold was far better than the draft in the closet. Balancing herself on the window sill, she climbed out onto the fire escape. She glanced back into her room only once, a mix of feelings she couldn't name making her chest feel tight and bring a fresh wave of tears to her eyes.

Turning away, she climbed up the floors of the apartment building until she reached the roof. Dropping her bag on the concert, she laid her blanket and pillow down and collapsed onto it. The night was reasonably clear, and Lucy couldn't believe how many stars there were. She could hear cars passing below, and birds having conversations on electrical wires.

She shut her eyes and let the openness envelope her. And for now, everything was alright.

Lucy awoke to the chirping of birds and the light of the sun. She didn't know what time it was, nor did she care. She laid under her blanket and watched the clouds drift across the sky until her stomach grumbled, wanting breakfast.

After changing her shirt and pushing her hair back with a headband, she paused and looked to her blanket and pillow. She really ought to take them back to her room, but just the thought of going back made her feel sick. She skimmed over the expanse of the roof and spotted a tarp someone had left there. Tugging it towards the corner she had slept in, she draped it over her things before slinging her backpack over her shoulder and heading down the fire escape.

When she got to her window, her throat seemed to close and the outdoors suddenly didn't feel very open. She pushed herself down to the lower level, stumbling when she reached the bottom and landing hard on the concrete.

She winced and looked to see that her hands had been scraped up. Not mention there was now dirt on the knees of her jeans. Dennis was going to be mad.

Dennis didn't seem to notice her jeans when he spotted her eating breakfast at their table in the cafeteria however. Instead, he ran up to her looking extremely worried.

"Lucy where have you been?" he demanded, the deep voice assuring her it was him and not Kevin asking. "You haven't come to thchool all week! We thought thomething horrible happened!"

"I'm fine Dennis…." Lucy muttered, keeping her eyes fixed on her tray.

"H-How are you fine, you don't look fine." His blue as skimmed over her, stopping on her arm. "Are those bruises?" he asked, reaching for her wrist which she quickly snatched away from him. "Lucy, tell me what's wrong…."

"Papa got mad. Not like it's a big deal." She shrugged, shoving another hash brown into her mouth.

"If he hurt you –"

"It's just the one bruise." She cut him off. "He uh…he locked me in my bedroom closet. To teach me a lesson." Her chest suddenly felt tight again.

"That's where you've been all week?!" Dennis exclaimed.

"I'm fine." Lucy said, though the crack in her voice didn't even have her convinced.

"Lucy…." Dennis sighed. He sat down next to her and pulled her into his side. Lucy cried into his jacket, but he didn't seem to mind the mess for once. "It's okay. It's all gonna be okay. You've got me to protect you."