The world of Artime was silent, everyone sleeping peacefully in their rooms. Everyone was asleep. Even Simber, along with all the animals and creatures outdoors. It had been a long and tiring day after the fight at Warbler.

The sun had set hours ago, and everyone had fallen under the spell of sleep except one girl: Lani Haluki. As much as she tried getting sleep, she couldn't. She kept replaying the events in her head. They were all horrifying and hopeful. Being rescued by Alex and the rest of the Unwanteds was like a dream. The fight with Warbler had been terrifying and desperate. But when they finally returned home, she was edgy yet happy. She half expected to be captured again. It was a relief to finally be off that island. She'd admit she thought Alex would never come.

But her worries wouldn't stop hitting her like a bullet. What if she hadn't been rescued? What if she'd never gotten those horrible thorns off? And worst of all: what if Samheed hadn't gotten home with her?

She shuddered at the thought. She hadn't realized until the passed few weeks of her and Sam's relationship. It was a bond that couldn't be broken. Sure, he may have used to been a jerk, but now he was...something else. He had changed, she could tell. But nothing made sense. It didn't explain why she felt her heart pounding in her chest whenever she saw him, or why her happiness rose to dizzying heights whenever he said her name. Nothing made sense with him anymore. And it was a wonderful and confusing feeling all together. It was a feeling that made her heart beat faster, and she was already pretty sure their platonic friendship had gotten on a much deeper level over the past month.

She remembered what everything had once been before Warbler. Before Warbler, Alex and her had basically been a thing. They hadn't really done anything, though. All she knew was that she had a crush on him, and he most likely had a crush on her. That was all. If anyone asked her about it, she would just reply, "she liked him."

Lani had never really thought of her romantic feelings. Her mind could be compared to a lake. Before Warbler, she only skimmed the surface of her emotions. She never really looked at the big picture. All she knew was that she liked Alex. She always preferred to just skim the lake and think nothing of it.

But then a reality check came into place. She was pulled under the lake's waters, as she was kidnapped for a month, and her emotions were hardly in check. And she started to realize the feelings she was developing were much deeper than just a skim over a lake. She was pulled under the lake's surface and she immediately was aware. She forgot about her crush towards Alex altogether and focused more on someone else. And it was obvious who that 'someone' was. She and Samheed had much more than just a 'crush.'

Thinking of her and Sam was a whole confusing process altogether.

Lani had no idea what was going to happen between them. She was scared during her time in Warbler, and her means of survival meant clinging to Samheed. He was someone she could never loose. Ever.

She did know one thing: she cared about him and maybe even loved him. She really didn't want to think about that, as she hardly had any idea of love and the meaning behind it. Her feelings were something she was certain of, though. If there was a word that was a mix of scared, amazing, happy, and worried, that would be what she was feeling.

But besides all of those, she was mainly feeling restless.

Lani groaned and tugged at her hair ferociously. She sat up, pulling the covers off of her. She felt exhausted, but no sleep would come. Her worries wouldn't stop pestering her, one after another. She attempted to lay back down, but the restlessness just wouldn't cease. A frustrated sigh came from her mouth. She looked around her room once more, and back to her bed. She rubbed her eyes a few times and let her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room.

There was no way she could fall asleep now.

"I'll go see Sam..." she whispered to herself. "Just to make sure he's safe."

Only then, she decided, would she be able to sleep.

She got out of bed and put on shoes and a shirt that wasn't sticky with sweat. She shivered a few times as the drafty air from the air vent blew into her. She grabbed a jacket from her closet and raced out of her room. Since her room was one of the last ones in the hallway, it took her a little while before she finally reached the end of the hallway. Her hopes deflated as suddenly as they had come. Only until she looked around did she realize she couldn't see the boys dormitories. For some reason, she had forgotten that little detail while she was in Warbler.

"I guess all go see him tomorrow..." she muttered, her heart sinking.

"See who?" a voice asked loudly.

Lani screamed and jumped about five feet in the air. She turned around to fight the person off only to find Samheed standing there.

Laughing his head off.

She glared at him. "Don't scare me like that!"

"You should've...seen...your face!" he said in between fits of laughter.

"It's not nice to sneak up on people in the middle of the night," Lani said.

"It's still funny, though," Samheed said a smile that made her heartbeat quicken. "What are you doing out here in the middle of the night, anyways?"

"I-" she said, starting to come up with a cover story. She sighed as she saw his expression. She knew she could never lie to him, and he knew it too. "I came to...umm...well... I came to see you."

His happy smile faltered and his expression turned to something she couldn't quite recognize. He leaned back against the railing of the stairs and looked like he wanted to say something, but Lani opened her mouth before he could.

She quickly shook her head. "But I have now! So I'll just be going to bed."

She started to turn around to go back to her room. As much as she wanted to talk to him, he didn't seem to want to talk to her.

But he surprised her. He walked over to her before she could enter the girls' hallway and gently tugged at her arm. "Hey...why don't we take a walk on the beach?

Lani nodded, letting out a silent sigh of relief. She was already feeling a weight lift off her shoulders.

They exited the mansion and walked outside. Lani was in awe of how many stars were really in the sky. It was beautiful here. It was always beautiful, here, and she had seemed to take a little of it for granted. Here, she had freedom, and on Warbler, no one did. For a month she hadn't seen the sun or the moon, and had hardly been able to tell what time it was. She hadn't even seen a glimpse of the outside world. It was horrifying. Everything about Warbler terrified her.

It was far, far worse than Quill. She bitterly remembered back in the day when she had thought of how Quill was such a horrible place. Although it still was, it was a far cry from Warbler. She liked Artime much better, of course. She knew where she belonged, and it was here. She was safe here, right? Well, as safe as the life of any unwanted.

"Sam, why were you up in the middle of the night?" she asked breaking their silence.

"I couldn't sleep," he replied simply.

"Me neither," she said.

They took a seat on the beach, leaning their backs against a large palm tree and digging their feet into the sand. Lani opened her mouth.
"I-I was really scared. I am really scared."

Samheed was quiet for a little. She looked over at him and saw a frown on his face. He sighed and looked back at her. She could see the exhaustion and fear engraved in his orange eyes, the same expression she had. "Yeah...me too."

She began stating her worrying thoughts. "I just keep thinking...what if you didn't come back with me? What if you were stuck on that island? I'd never see you again. I-"

She was cut off as Samheed pulled her into a tight hug. She leaned into him, noticing he smelled of chocolate. Probably because he had eaten some right before he went to bed. She put her arms around him too and shut her eyes tight.

"Lani, I'm not leaving you," he whispered into her ear. "I promise I'm not going to ever leave you."

"B-but what if-" she started to say, but Sam cut her off again.

"No," he said firmly. He pulled out of the hug and put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't think that. I'm here, okay? I'm here. I won't ever let anything happen to you, okay?"

Lani stared at him. She'd never heard words like that come out of his mouth. He was never really the 'deep talk' type of person. But here he was now, saying things he'd never said to anyone.

She leaned back into his chest and put her arms around him again. After a moment, he did the same. She closed her eyes and hoped she wasn't going to suddenly cry. But even if she did, she knew he wouldn't judge her. She really couldn't live without him. She was thankful he was still here, breathing and alive. She could hear his heartbeat pounding in his chest at a fast speed.

"Do you think things will go back to normal?" Lani whispered. She prepared herself for his answer, and was a little scared to hear it.

Samheed let out a small laugh. "No, no I don't."

Lani smiled.

They leaned against each other. Lani rested her head on his shoulder, and for once, she felt peaceful and safe. They stayed like that for a while, and if she had to be honest, she really didn't want to move.

Moments later, Sam began to snore. She glanced over to see his eyes closed and his breathing calm. She usually never saw him like this. Peaceful.

She smiled to herself and leaned her head against his shoulder again. She liked this...strange feeling a lot. She closed her eyes and grew more relaxed each passing moment. Restlessness would no longer haunt her right now. For now, she had her best friend, who was possibly, without a doubt, turning into something more. There was no way they would ever be separated. They might've had their issues, but for now, they were together. A smile graced her lips, and she sighed contently. Tiredness was finally taking its toll on her. Her eyelids drooped and she finally felt the exhaustion from the day's events.

And, counting the seconds until she could see him again in the morning, she fell into a deep and blissful sleep.