I am so sorry I never update, you guys- But here it is, chapter 8! Only. . .three more :o Or four. I forget.

Reviews are like tiny little Christmas presents!

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Lettuce woke up four hours later when the thunder started.

Pai was still sleeping several feet to her right, lifeless as a rock, and Pudding was. . .nowhere in sight. Every few seconds a bright flash of light would fill up the room, followed closely by the crash of thunder. Staggering blindly in the dark, as the fire had gone out, she noticed that her glasses were missing.

Lettuce felt along the walls until she reached the bathroom. She knocked. There was no answer. She continued to inch along the living room, and tripped on something in the process.

"Darn it," Lettuce murmured irritably (she was incapable of swearing from birth), realizing it was Pudding's love test upon closer examination with a grimace. She tossed it to the side, smiling to herself as it landed with a satisfying thud. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark corridor, as the lightning wasn't visible from the windowless hallway.

"Pudding. . .Where are you," Lettuce called softly, checking her bedroom. She didn't hear or see anything unusual until she reached her parents' bedroom, where the door was slightly ajar. The green-haired girl instantly noticed a shivering lump underneath the covers.

"Is that you, Pudding? It's me, Lettuce-" she carefully pulled aside the blankets, revealing a shaking Pudding. Curled up into the pillows, she was staring at the closet, her eyes wide. Lettuce gasped as she placed a hand to her forehead.

"Pudding, I think you have a fever- What happened?"

Pudding pointed slowly at the closet. "Pudding heard n-noises, na no da, so I came to inv-investigate. I think I killed it."

The poor girl was hallucinating. Lettuce tried to look sympathetic, but it was difficult. Standing up slowly, she made her way to the closet door. "There's nothing in there, Pudding, look-"

She opened the door. Lying on the floor was an unconscious Taruto, a huge bruise on his forehead and his limbs splayed in all directions.

This was not what Lettuce needed right now. She shut the door.

"See, nothing there!"

Using all her willpower not to freak out, she managed to pick up the feverish girl, sheets and all, stumbling out into the hallway. She cautiously started down the stairs, when she heard approaching footsteps. She winced, terrified that Taruto had regained consciousness. Her first instinct was to reach for her pepper spray, before she realized that she didn't own any.

To her immense relief, it was only Pai. He started to say something, but realized Lettuce's grip on the small blonde was slipping, and Pudding, who was dangling dangerously by the sheets, was on the brink of tumbling down the steps. He took Pudding form Lettuce and turned to continue down the stairs.

'It's weird how that even though he's only been here for a week, I've gotten kind of used to him. A week ago, I would never have trusted him, but now. . .' She smiled and followed him.

Pai set Pudding down at the kitchen table, where, miracle of all miracles, a single light was working. It was actually a candle, but still.

Lettuce grabbed some blankets and put them around Pudding, who was still shivering. She sneezed.

"Do you want some hot chocolate, Pudding?"

Pudding nodded tiredly, and Lettuce got out the mix. She put the drink in the battery-powered microwave "Could you check her temperature, Pai-san?"

Pai put his hand on her forehead and stared at it for a second. "She'll be fine- She only has a cold. Her temperature's not even a hundred."

"How can you tell?" Lettuce asked incredulously, setting the hot chocolate in front of Pudding, who sipped it eagerly.

Pai shrugged. "It's basic training on my planet."

Lettuce nodded. "That makes sense." She sat down next to Pudding, who had finally stopped shaking.

"Are you going to be okay, Pudding?" Lettuce asked, drinking her own hot chocolate. She had handed a mug to Pai, who was leaning against the counter, looking out the window (it had begun snowing along with the rain).

Yeah, Lettuce onee-chan na no da," Pudding said. "Thank you, Pai onii-chan."

Pai looked up. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't worry, it's a good thing," Lettuce said, smiling up at him. A flash of lighting lit up the room. Pudding's head drooped, and she fell asleep against the table.

"Would you mind taking Pudding upstairs? She can sleep in my bed. "I'll just sleep on the couch again."

Pai felt a pang of guilt, an unfamiliar emotion for him, causing him to feel, uh, guilty.

"You can sleep with me," he said. Only after Lettuce's blue eyes grew considerably and she became bright red did he realize what had come out of his mouth.

"I meant that you could sleep in the guest room and I'd take the couch-"

"It's okay, I get it, d-don't worry, I'll just go, and-" Lettuce stammered, running straight into the opposite wall, before hurrying away to the guest room.

'That went well.'

With a sigh, Pai picked up the snoring Pudding, and carried her up the staircase, before gracelessly tossing her on Lettuce's bed. She slept right through it. He left the room as silently as possibly, heading back downstairs.

"Pai-san?"

He turned to see the green-haired girl in the doorway of the guest bedroom, biting her lip as she kept his gaze.

"Yes?" Pai said, trying to keep his face blank.

Lettuce took a few steps forward, looking down. "Um, thanks for the help. It's actually been nice having you over. It was no trouble at all. And I just wanted to say-"

Lettuce closed her eyes, scratching her head.

"To say-"

And Pai in one moment of total insanity did something so strange that it shocked even himself, and practically killed Lettuce. He reached out and hugged her, wrapping his strong arms around her slim frame.

"So, I should thank you. I'm glad that there are humans like you. People who are kind, and caring, and go out of their way to help others, even if they are enemies. And I think that with you around, there might be hope for the earth after all."

Lettuce smiled into his shoulder, hugging him back.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me."

She decided not to tell him about the unconscious brunette locked inside her parents' closet.