Natallia had done a lot of stupid, stupid things in her life.

This incident was nowhere near the top, naturally. But, were she listing off dumb things she'd accomplished in front of someone she didn't know too well, and thus wouldn't want to alarm with some of the higher contenders, this would probably be one of the first incidents to mention.

What was she hoping to accomplish through this, again? Letting out some pent up feelings? Yeah, right. That was dumb and she knew it. She wasn't even legitimately upset over anything to begin with! But no, forcing herself into tears sounded like a wonderful idea.

And now she's here. Sobbing.

She didn't have to actually go through with this. It felt like some sort of ill-timed joke. Except for the fact that she was the only one here, of course. The only one to laugh. What's the point of telling a joke only you'll find funny? There IS no point, unless if it's to confuse someone else, but she hadn't told anyone about this yet, either.

So, she very obviously didn't have to actually go through with the passing idea of a "Cry Appointment".

And yet, here she was.

"Fuck, I'm so dumb…" She choked out, biting desperately at her pillow in an effort to muffle her sobs.

It'd started out well enough. Whining about her brother to herself had been somewhat entertaining. And sure, it sucked no one wanted to be friends with him, but if that wasn't an issue with him, there was no reason to worry about it too much. He talked to people online pretty often, anyway, so he'd probably end up perfectly okay, maybe, probably!

But goodness, did things escalate from there.

She really shouldn't have picked a family member as a starting point for this, in hindsight. Not when there were so many bad memories tied to that subject.

And as it turned out, crying alone was way less fun when you're thinking about your own failures, and your own flaws, and all the things you've done wrong, and how much of a fucking idiot your shitshow of a self is, and-

Just as Natallia began to chant the words, "Useless" to herself over and over into the pillow, her phone began to ring.

"Weak," She croaked out in reply to the noise.

The ringing didn't stop.

"Urgh, fuck…" The girl mutters to herself, realizing that yes, that's a phone, you remember what a phone is Natallia, that means someone wants to TALK to you.

So, hesitant, she answered.

"... 'llo?"

"Ah, Natallia!" A familiar, kind voice yipped. She barely held back a groan.

Of course, it had to be him. Why'd she decide to answer when she'd literally just been crying, anyway? God, she was so dumb.

"How're you feeling?" He asked, sounding a tad concerned. She could practically see his small, worried frown already.

… Did he call just to ask her that?

The honey blonde girl didn't trust her voice not to break, so instead of a proper reply, she merely hummed questioningly.

"Oh, well, you sorta ran off pretty quickly after the show ended…" The boy began. "And you didn't really seem too up to talking, either. I didn't really see much of you today, which was weird, since you spent the whole night with me… We didn't really get to talk one-on-one too much, you know? I wanted to check in to make sure you're okay and everything, I guess… I-I dunno, maybe I'm just clingy, but... I just… I care about you, you know?"

Silence rang out over the other line.

Natallia bit into a closed fist to stifle a pained cry.

Damn it. God, DAMN it.

"... Y' realize that's, like, the f-fifth time you've 'ad to check on me this week, right? Y' sure you're not j-jus' clingy?" The cobalt-eyed figure slurred out, trying her best to sound light and teasing in order to distract from the fact she'd obviously been weeping.

This, of course, does not work.

"Wh- Have you been crying?!" A now very-obviously panicked voice squeaks.

Natallia is disappointed, but not surprised by this reply. "Doesn' answer my question." She pointed out.

"I'm coming over there RIGHT now!" The dog exclaimed, continuing to ignore her.

She blinked.

"Wait, don't."

"Too late! I'm going!"

"No, seriously. Do not. Y-You know I'm gross when I cry…" She murmured, gripping her blankets slightly closer to her face.

"What, that doesn't matter?! Who cares, that's not important!" The boy insisted.

"Y-You shouldn't 'ave to see me l-like this…" She replied worriedly.

"No, that's dumb! I'm your friend! This is what friends do!" He cried out.

"N… No?" Natallia suggested helplessly.

"Yes." Bones insisted, deadpan.

The human was beginning to get worried now. She really, really didn't want her crush seeing her all gross and emotional like this, especially over something so stupid. Surely this'd only end badly, right?

"... Really, d-don't."

"I'm coming over there, and you're gonna let me help you feel better." Bones told her matter-of-factly. He then hung up.

The girl held the phone close to her head for a moment longer.

"... Fuck."

Panic set in.

"Shit, shit, what do I do?! My house is a wr-wreck! I can't lock him out, he has a key, and I can't barricade the door, he'll t-t-totally break the window!" She wailed. "Should I set a trap?!"

Understandably, no answer to her musings came.

"No, no, I can't set a trap, he'd fall for it, for sure, and then I'd f-feel bad.." She continued. "So maybe a distraction? If I set up something weird enough, maybe he'll forget about me lo-o-ong enough for my gr-grand esc-scape?"

Adrien meowed worriedly from the corner of the room.

"That's it, you're a genius! I gotta get this s-set up!"

…

Bones burst into the house without knocking, immediately making his way through the clutter of the first floor. He couldn't help but notice a new set of stairs leading down into the newly-built basement, but he elected to ignore them for now, deciding there were clearly more important issues at hand.

Setting his eyes onto the stairs up to Natallia's bedroom, he couldn't help but notice a trail of rose petals.

"... Ah. Is that how we're doing this?" He murmured to himself, having a feeling he knew where this was going. "Well, too bad, that won't stop me…"

He continued up the stairs, undeterred. He entered the kitchen on the second floor. The trail continued to the final staircase, the one Bones knew led to Natallia. He followed it without hesitation.

Reaching the door to the girl's bedroom, he inhaled deeply, bracing himself for whatever weirdness would await on the other side of the door. Slowly, he pushed, opening the entranceway to reveal…

… Nothing.

The trail of petals led to Natallia's bed, and the dim room was lit only by candles. However, Natallia herself was nowhere in sight.

What WAS in sight, though, was a small scrap of paper, folded up and lying atop the blue sheets.

Curious, he picked it up, unfolding it.

He looked carefully at it, eyes narrowing in confusion.

It was a badly-drawn portrait of Natallia, reclined across the ground with a hand on her hip and a rose in her mouth. In messy scrawl across the top, Bones read the words, "Alone on a Friday night? God, you're pathetic."

"... It's afternoon…" The dog spoke to himself. A long pause followed, before the white-furred figure shook his head and put the paper back onto the bed.

"Okay, I know you're here somewhere. Come out already. You're getting a hug whether you like it or not!" The canine called. Only silence answered. He glanced around the room for any signs of activity.

It was then that he noticed the open window.

"Oh geez," He yelped, eyes widening, "You did NOT!"

Frantic, he rushed over to the open window. He didn't see anyone around from here, but he knew this was the only way Natallia could've snuck past him. He scanned across the treetops, before noticing the edge of a nearby cliff.

"Oh, dang it!" He growled. From the other side, Adrien let out a pitiful meow, eyes strangely sympathetic.

"Where'd she go?!" He asked. The cat did not reply.

He sighed, before rushing back down the stairs and out of the front door, making his way up the cliff's edge. Adrien stayed still, as though waiting for him. He scooped the cat up into his arms, and whipped out his phone, calling the honey-blonde girl once more.

It took two rings before she picked up.

"Eyy!" She called out in greeting, smugness evident in her voice.

"Where did you GO?!" Bones growled.

She cackled. "You'll never catch me, baby! Master of escape! The enigma of evacuation!"

"JUST TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!" He cried.

"W-Woah, g-g-geez, no need to sound so ups-set at me…" The cobalt-eyed girl spoke, voice suddenly growing quiet and tremulous.

Brown eyes widened in turn, worry overtaking frustration for a moment. "I-I'm sorry, but please!" The canine requested, brows pinched in concern.

"I-I didn't e-expect you to be so m-mad at me, c-c-can't you appreciate a good master plan?" She whimpered on the other line.

The figure sighed, voice lowering into an ever-gentler tone. "Natallia, please."

"I went thr-rough the window…"

"Yeah, I figured as much." He deadpanned.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to run before you g-got here, because knowing my luck, we'd totally r-run into each other, and since I had no idea where you were, that'd be way too ris-risky. So I had to wait until you g-got here. While I was waiting, I drew that nice picture as a dist-traction!" She hiccuped, seeming to regain some confidence. Despite the signs she'd been crying, it was obvious by her tone of voice that she was smiling to herself.

"Uh-huh." Bones muttered, pinching the bridge of his muzzle in frustration.

"Then I wa-watched out the window, and when I saw you coming, I book-ked it!"

Again, Bones sighed. "And THEN where'd you go?"

"Out the window!" She smirked.

"I know that part!" He barked. "Where'd you go AFTER that?!"

"That's a secret, I can't say that until I'm ou-outta town!"

"What?! Wait, you're going out of town?!"

"Oh yeah. I'm going into hiding. F-F-Forever. Or, well, at least until you pinky-promise not to look at me while I c-cry or ask about my feelings anymore." The honey-blonde girl explained, her voice shifting to something mock-condescending.

The boy's brown eyes widened. "Oh my GOD, I was right to be worried about you this whole time, wasn't I?! You've been hiding something from me! Something big!"

A heavy silence fell over the other line.

"... I was seriously okay the first time you asked that. Really. Some bad things h-have happened to me, y-yeah, but I thought I was over that… P-Pretty dumb of me. C-Can't get away from trauma that easy, I guess."

"Natallia…"

The boy heard some shuffling on the other side, as though his companion were moving somewhere. His brows furrowed.

He waited a moment before she began speaking again. "... So now… The b-bad things are on my m-mind again, haha. But you don't need to worry about that. Nothing you can do to fix it, s-so..."

"... I can't undo whatever happened-"

"See, I'm ri-right!"

"-But I can help you get through it!" He exclaimed, a hint of desperation in his tone.

A long silence followed.

"... S-Stop that."

"No! I'm not leaving you alone like this!"

"J-Just let me handle this by myself, Bones." His friend spoke. Her tone felt unfamiliar, meek in a way the boy hadn't heard before.

… He didn't like hearing her hurting like this.

"Listen, I understand that some people deal with their issues better alone, I get that! Really! But I don't think you really want to be alone with this, do you?!"

"... Y-You don't know that…"

"But I do! If you really didn't want help, you wouldn't have answered my call!"

She paused. "I… I r-really don't know why I did that..." The girl began, tentative.

"And yet you did! Twice! A-And you're telling me your 'm-master plan', and…" The boy sucked in a sharp breath, bracing himself. "And you're still not hanging up, even after I've said all this!"

A heavy silence rang out. Bones watched his phone worriedly out of the corner of his eyes. Now that he'd brought up the idea of her hanging up… Maybe she'd do it, just to prove her point?

No… She wouldn't, right?

He couldn't be wrong about this. He couldn't. If she were going to try to run, she'd do it earlier than this, surely...

He could tell Natallia must've been thinking along the same lines as himself now, judging by her prolonged silence. Deciding whether to stay or to leave, deciding whether to come to him for help or to go off on her own.

He knew she needed his help, and he hoped that she'd accept it. Yet, as the silence on the other line grew ever-more-deafening, he felt his confidence beginning to die down. Adrien shifted in his arms uncomfortably, as though sensing his tension. He felt his shoulders beginning to sag.

And the quiet only continued.

He cut back a small whimper in the back of his throat.

"Please, don't leave." He begged internally, grip on his phone tightening desperately. "Don't leave like this."

"... I'm at the bus stop." Came the weak, near-inaudible reply.

Bones's eyes widened, shooting upright. "What?!"

"The bus stop. T-That's… That's where I am."

"What bus stop?!" The boy questioned, frantic. A small, curious hum sounded from the other line.

"... Th-The bus stop...? You know, th-the place where b-buses are? The bus st-stop."

"Where?!"

"H-Here!"

"Here?"

"Here! In Lavryn!"

"W-Wait, there's a bus stop here?!" Bones questioned, eyes widening.

"You didn't kn-know that? O-Oh my god, no w-w-wonder you didn't chec-ck here as soon as I s-said I was leav-ving town. I c-can't believe you don't kn-know where the bus stop i-is!"

"Wha- Well how was I supposed to know?!"

"How could you n-not?! How'd y-you even g-get into this t-town, anyway?!"

"... My parents helped me move here…"

"Of course. You didn't even know there was a bus line through h-h-here, did you? G-God, and I th-th-thought I was d-dumb."

"H-Hey!"

A small, watery chuckle sounded from Natallia's end, and Bones grew quiet.

"... You really did want me to come find you, didn't you?"

"... Y-Yeah." The teary girl choked out from the other side, voice raw. "Yeah, I th-think I did…"

"I'll come get you right away then, okay?" The white-furred figure spoke, voice gentle and tender. "Just tell me where the bus stop is."

Natallia stopped, clearly holding back a snide remark, before answering, "B-By town hall."

"Okay, that's all I needed to know. Thank you."

"... G-G'bye…"

"Bye."

The phone in the boy's paw beeped, signalling the end of the call.

Okay, hi, oneshot time! So this one's based on a Tumblr post. What can I say, they come up with some great writing prompts over there! I don't have the link to the exact post, though, I'm afraid...

College AU! Bones, Natallia, and everyone else are college students, studying for finals and exhausted.

One Shot Four: College, Stories Of The Coffee Cryptid

Bones sighed in a show of aggravated, exasperated exhaustion.

He'd been spending a good portion of his nights studying for finals as of late, and it was taking its toll on the usually chipper doggo.

He wasn't the only one either, if the look on his, best friend, Carmen's, face was anything to go by.

The normally energetic bunny was holding her face in her hands, leaning against the table. Her ears looked droopy and depressed. Probably from, you guessed it, lack of sleep.

Bones glanced to the other side of him, to where he assumed another student was but wasn't entirely sure because he wasn't paying attention. It was before class, and he and Carmen had gotten there early.

Coincidentally, so had Natallia, which Bones had no way of knowing, considering he didn't even know of her existence. Until now, that is, as caramine eyes locked onto her figure.

Bones's eyes widened as he took in the appearance of a student who looked worse than anyone else he'd seen so far. Well, in terms of exhaustion, anyway.

The girl was pale and looked like she'd given up halfway through brushing her hair that morning. She had a noticeably red carnation in said hair, which matched in color to the reddish pink heart in the middle of her pale pink shirt. The girl's eyes were closed, weighed down heavily with dark bags, and she rested her head on her arms, whispering to herself and trying to accept that she had another horrible day of school ahead of her, which she must have been denying up until this point.

A white-furred cat was next to her as well, tired but clearly not as much so as the poor human girl, trying to console her.

"Maybe you can take a quick nap before class starts?" Bones heard his feline classmate ask.

"Nope, too late to salvage this trainwreck of a day now, no going back!" The girl chirped with false cheer, sitting up suddenly. She rummaged through her backpack, pulling out a Monster energy drink.

Her eyes, which Bones now saw were a stunning shade of blue, glimmered with an almost masochistic, suicidal gleam.

"Woah, are you okay?" Bones couldn't help but ask, sleep deprivation throwing aside all boundaries he'd normally have talking to a stranger.

She turned to him, grinning maniacally. She replied with a negatory hum. He watched as she took off the lid to her coffee, which looked to be from a gas station, and pulled the tab of the Monster, which opened with a hiss.

"I'm going to die!" She responded with fake cheer as she poured the Monster into her coffee. She filtered in as much as she could without overfilling it, swished the liquid nightmare fuel around in the cup a bit to make sure it was well-mixed…

… And chugged it all at once for the sake of impressing this random stranger.

Bones now understood that suicidal look in her eye.

"Holy fuck!" Natallia's own best friend, Purrl, exclaimed.

"Oh my god.." Carmen, a person she'd always wanted to be friends with, muttered under breath.

"What the heck..." Bones, who Natallia thought was attractive and had a great sense of humor but she didn't know all that well, murmured disbelievingly at what he'd just witnessed.

Natallia wiped some of the nightmare fuel that had gone astray off her chin self consciously.

"I FEEL NO PAIN!" She cried out, coughing miserably and popping a couple of breath mints into her mouth to wash away the taste.

"What the heck." Bones repeated again.

"Fuck Natallia, why?! You're gonna crash so hard later!" Purrl cried out in disbelieving concern.

"Got no time to knock, I'm a Dead Girl Walking..." The girl that Bones was now able to identify as Natallia sang softly in response, still coughing.

"...I got all of that on camera." Carmen announced, gesturing to her phone.

… Huh. Carmen must've been less tired than he thought if she'd been able to see that coming. Or maybe Bones was more tired than he'd given himself credit for.

"Sweet, I'm gonna go viral." Natallia croaked sarcastically.

"I… Just… What…?" Bones murmured, attempting to process what he'd witnessed.

Natallia grinned at him proudly, although her sense of pride seemed to be horribly skewed for her to find joy in such an act.

"I feel no pain." She repeated once more, sipping from the rest of the can of Monster.

… She hated Monster.

For the record, she did, in fact, feel a horrible sense of anxiety mixed with her pride and embarrassment. This would surely live down in her memories, though whether positively or not she had yet to know.

...

Before she left class that day, she'd given her contact information to Bones. As it turned out, he was actually quite curious to know about the lunatic who'd decided to send herself into cardiac arrest for a stupid bit, so they'd been chatting quietly through the whole period.

Natallia had listed her contact name as "Kardiac Kid" on his phone. She decided that the small chuckle she'd gotten in return had made today worth it.