It's time to understand just how attached one can be to the love of their life...

Mira woke up at about 3:17 in the morning. She had been waking up and falling asleep off and on while clutching one of Baxium's shirts she had stolen from his closet, unable to completely rest as she worried herself with what could be going on on Homeworld. From the silence of the news and her phone, she guessed nothing bad had happened on their way there, but she had no idea what Baxium could be doing right now.

As she stared at the ceiling, her eyes freshly dried from tears, she gave up on thinking she could ever sleep without knowing he was safe. As much as she hated it, she just grabbed her phone and opened up apps to help take her mind off of everything.

When the sun came up, Mira's eyes were sore and she was finally exhausted enough to reconsider sleeping as an option. Just as she put her phone away to try, it vibrated.

All the exhaustion left her body in a snap as soon as she saw the name attached to the message- Baxium.

Hey sweetheart, just wanted to tell you everything's fine here. I can't talk about what's going on, but I knew you'd be worrying about me. I hope I'm not waking you. I love you very very much, and I can't wait to come back home to you. Miss you, love you! 3

Mira's eyes welled up with tears again as she read his message. She was so happy everything was okay and that she was able to hear from him, she almost forgot to reply to his message. When she did, it began and ended with a slew of happy and lovey emojis.

3 3 3! im so happy i get to hear from you! i miss you youd better come home soon! Be safe! Love you! 3 3 3 3

As soon as she sent it, she allowed herself to cry some more. A combination of happy and sad tears fell from her face as she was without her first long-term boyfriend for the first time, and she had no idea when she would see him next.

Don't sit around all sad, baby. I'll be home soon so make sure you hang out with your friends and stuff. I wanna hear some weird and wild stories when I come home. ;)

Ill try, but you know im going to worry about you until youre home safe

I know love, I gotta get going but I love you! I'll talk to you again soon.

Okay! Be safe! I love you so much! 3 3 3

When he didn't reply, Mira knew that he really had stepped away from whatever he was using to talk to her. She hadn't a single clue what the Triceratons could be doing up there or how they intended to respond to the threats. She wondered if they would simply go with a Big Stick policy, or if there would be actual fighting involved. She sighed and laid back in bed. Then, her alarm went off.

With a coffee in hand Mira walked up a steep sidewalk with four dogs in tow. She was thankful for her own smarts that she had downed a quick double shot espresso before going about her day with the extra boost. Mira was also thankful that out of all the dogs she could have started the day with, it was a pretty chill group.

Though she was able to distract herself with cute and beautiful dogs all day, her mind always wandered back to Baxium. What was he doing? Was he okay? Was he getting enough food? Was he thinking of her? Sometimes she'd glance up at the sky, knowing she'd never see it, but hoping she might catch a glimpse of Homeworld.

From 10AM to 2PM Mira ran around the borough of Manhattan walking dogs for people with too much money on their hands. She had almost no complaints either, since she was able to pay all of her bills off and still have money left over for herself. The one thing she would complain about, though, was the commuting. She hated how packed the subway was, even if she missed both the AM and PM rush hours, there were always people on the trains with rarely any space for her to think.

She stared out the window and let her mind wander as she tried to avoid being near anyone. The train she was on was the same line she took home with Raphael, who didn't leave her side until she asked him to. She wondered why he felt so compassionate that day, as it was a side of him she very rarely saw.

—

"You're my friend, Mira. And so are Traximus and Baxium. I want you to know I'm here for you as long as you want me around."

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I've always been like this," he said, though it seemed like he didn't quite believe it either.

"Says the guy who literally called me names from 2nd to 5th grade before you moved away," she replied with a roll of her eyes, still trying to hide the final tears that refused to stay inside.

Raph was quiet for a moment. "It was a hard time for us then, but that aint an excuse." He shrugged as he let go of her shoulder and pulled away from her. "I don't wanna be that jerk anymore. I'm NOT that jerk anymore."

Surprised, Mira stared at him, taking in his sincere words and expression. She had't expected something so close to a confession and apology as he was giving her. "Raph, it's okay. You weren't even that much of a jerk you know? ...Except for the time you stole my favorite pack of stickers and gave it to Mikey." She gave him a smile and he softened up.

"Hey, you had that comin after putting that bug on my head," he retorted with a grin.

—

Mira's stop came sooner than expected and she stepped off the train to walk home. She couldn't shake the confusion she had about Raphael. He was kinder than he had ever been to her before, and she wanted to appreciate it but remained suspicious of his motives. Was it possible he knew more about what was going on than she did? After all, Traximus was a very high ranking officer who would have probably known more than Baxium would even know right now.

She stopped at a crosswalk and shook her head to clear the loud thoughts. When she looked up, she realized she was walking toward Baxium's apartment instead of her own. She sighed, took a moment, and turned back around. She refused to cry alone in public like her eyes wanted her to, and she kept her head up as she strolled home.

Ashley was laying on the futon watching videos on her phone when Mira arrived home.

"Hey, how was your day?" she asked as she stood up and headed over to hug her friend.

Mira accepted the hug with a grunt and returned the affection halfheartedly. Beside her, their cat was pawing at her leg and meowing.

"That good huh?" Ashley asked. As she stepped away and let Mira get settled in she continued. "I'm trying to do laundry, and I can also make us dinner if you wanted?"

"I'm not all that hungry."

"Not at all?"

Mira shook her head and placed her shoes on the bench before removing her socks. "I'm just gonna go lay in bed until I pass out."

"You're not gonna sleep tonight if you do that," Ashley said.

"I'm not gonna sleep tonight anyway, I might as well sleep while I can."

"Okay..." Ashley replied as she watched her friend disappear into her room. Ashley looked back at the kitchen before returning to the futon to watch a couple more videos.

Mira plopped onto her bed and buried her face in the mattress. She felt overwhelmed from all the feelings she was experiencing lately and she just wanted them to stop.

She turned her head to face her dresser and her eyes instantly fell onto the picture she put up of her and Baxium on one of their dates. She smiled, felt tears welling up again, and buried her face back into the mattress.

'Stupid feelings, go away,' she groaned to herself. Once she took control over her tears, she looked back at the picture and remained void of expression. He'd be home. He can message you, and there's no news stories about anything going on. He's going to be fine.

Through her attempts at reasoning away the sad emotions, Mira was able to find some kind of peace so she could think about what was going on without feeling emotional. She missed Baxium, but he'd be home soon. She just had to be as sure of that as Baxium was.

Am I actually foreshadowing or is it just one big fake out? Who knows? :-)