The sound of pencil on paper is always welcome to Red's ears—a gentle scritch, scritch that fills him with joy. That simple, peaceful sound always puts Red in a state of ease, no matter what the circumstance. At least, I hope so. There are plenty of circumstances I haven't experienced yet. Red believes that no matter what, this sound will soothe him.

Yes, it goes without saying that art class is Red's favorite time of the day.

"I am so sorry, Ms. Ketchum!" (1)

Red smiles to himself. The voice is familiar. He knew Ruto was at school today. This isn't the first time she's been late—at this point, she's on the verge of a detention. Red isn't happy about that, though. I'm happy because she's here.

In less than a minute Ruto is grinning, heading to the back of the room with her white leather bag slung over her shoulder. She slides into the desk next to Red, and he glances up from his paper, smiling at her.

"Hi Red," she greets, setting a large sheet of paper onto the table. A checker pattern is splashed across half of the otherwise-empty white canvas. Red gives a quick glance at his own complex floral pattern, hardly resisting the urge to grin like an idiot. I'm pretty proud of myself, to be honest. Instead, he looks back to Ruto, who's sharpening her pencil and eying him wildly. "Got off scott-free."

Red tries not to smile, showing disapproval. He knows it isn't working. "Again?"

Ruto looks over her shoulder, as if someone might be eavesdropping. "I was adding an extra protective layer to my nails. I did them yesterday."

Red meets her eyes as a simple, "Let me see."

Ruto holds out her hands for Red to look at. Her fingernails—long and smooth and rounded—are painted a dark blue, with assorted stars, and a crescent moon on one thumb. Lucky. Red has always been a bit jealous of girls like Ruto—nail art can be really pretty if done right. And Ruto definitely knows what she's doing. This isn't the first time she's done her nails. She does them few weeks—watermelons, rhinestones, marbled, stripes, polka-dots. She's never failed to impress Red.

"I can see why you'd want to protect those," he says as Ruto turns back to her checkers.

"Thanks. They're for the dance."

Red hardly hides his smile. "The dance…," he echoes. School dances at Red's school are great. There's music, a DJ, punch, snacks, light shows, and of course dancing. The Halloween dance will be Red's first time going, but Green told him all about it. It's going to be so great going there with friends, Green had said when he e-mailed him. Real friends, I mean. Plus I won't have to have an internal war every time a slow song comes on. I can actually dance with Zelda for real. =) It's not just Red's first time going, though. Blue, Vio, and Shadow have never gone, either, which isn't a surprise.

"So Red," Ruto begins, smirking slightly, "what's the scoop?"

Red smiles a real, genuine smile. This is why he likes talking with Ruto—she listens, and she's actually interested. But who wouldn't be interested in a bit of gossip? "Well, this is just what I heard, so don't go spreading it around or anything, but…"

He starts off simple—Cawlin asked Karane out, which prompted Pipit to do the same. No word yet on who Karane's chosen. Apparently Ralph and Mido have both chosen the same costume to wear for the Halloween dance, and both refuse to choose a different one. Speaking of Ralph, somebody supposedly saw him kissing Agitha (Red wouldn't be surprised). Vaati got a haircut, the Know-It-All Brothers are fighting, and Midna—

"Hey, Red?"

Red looks up from a tangle of grayscale flowers and vines. "Huh? Oh. Y-yes, Malon?"

"Can I borrow your pencil sharpener?"

Red's gaze darts from his cherry-red pencil sharpener to Malon's orange-red hair. "Oh! Yes!" He quickly and swiftly hands it to her. She begins to turn away, but stops when she's halfway there—at a perfect profile to Red. She really is pretty. It's too bad about what people say—she's more than just "some girly hick."

"Oh, and Red?"

"Y-eees?" Red says, dragging the word out.

"What about you and Blue?"

"Huh?"

"Have you been fighting, I mean? Not that I want to be nosy, but—"

"N-no, we're fine. Why're you asking?"

She looks back to him with wide, slightly frantic eyes. "I'm worried."

"Huh?" Red repeats, feeling clueless.

Malon wavers a little. "It's just, you're so nice, and Blue's so…"

"Blue," Ruto finishes for her, and Malon gives an enthusiastic nod.

"What do you mean?" Red says. In another life, his anger would have flared, "What's that supposed to mean?!" spewing from his lips instead. But I'm not like that. That's… Blue's thing.

Malon gives him an oddly wary look. "He's, I dunno… violent? Troublesome? Rude? Hot-headed?"

Red smiles a little. "He's all of those, to some extent." But I love him through that.

Malon doesn't smile, though. She frowns, and it looks ugly on her fair face. "He's no good for you," she says simply, and it's a sharp bluntness compared to her earlier behavior. "A good boy like you should be with a boy just as good."

Or a girl, Red wants to add, but doesn't.

"He doesn't deserve you, Red. You're sweet, soft-spoken, artistic. He's aggressive, loud-mouthed, and cocky. You're too good for him," she meets his eyes, giving him a stern look. "Ya got that?"

Red doesn't say anything. He can't. Everything Malon said was, in a way, true. Blue is everything Malon said, and Red can't deny it. At the same time, he knows Malon isn't giving him enough credit, but then again… Am I giving him too much credit? It's not unlikely.

Malon shoves her pencil into the sharpener, twists a few times, and yanks it back out. She holds the sharpener out for Red to take, but Red's arms have gone limp. Malon sets the sharpener back on the desk, and Red just stares at it in petrified silence.

Malon turns back to her desk, leaving only the burnt orange of the back of her head in view.

Ruto clears her throat, pulling Red back into his senses. "Oh, right," he continues. "So apparently Mid—"

"She's kind of right Red."

Red looks at her, but he doesn't really see her.

"Y'know?"

Quickly and swiftly, Red averts his gaze, staring at the mess of ivy and petals on his paper. Pencil meets paper, and Red feels peaceful, but not at ease.

AN- Um, wow. I really love how this turned out. Much longer than I expected, and really, really good. Am I right?

(1)- Somebody figure out the connection. I'll love you forever.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMET!

I've been looking for ways for you guys to communicate with me better. Ask questions about the story, find out what's going on, etc. So I decided to do something about it.

Introducing Break My Fall's tumblr blog! *trumpet noises* I've recently become a bit immersed in tumblr. I thought it would be stupid, but it's really quite fun. If you don't have an account, I strongly recommend getting one—it's a GREAT way to kill time.

Anyways, the blog will include behind-the-scenes, fun facts, fanart (from yours truly and others), quotes, maybe some sneak previews… But most importantly, questions! Even if you don't have a tumblr, you can still ask plenty of questions about me and the story! I'll answer most questions, as long as they aren't rude or overly obscene. I think it'd be a great way for you guys to get advice and a insight on this story that I love so dearly.

The address is 4s-breakmyfall . tumblr . com

Please at least drop by and check it out! It would mean so much to me!