I take another calming breath but it's interrupted when Slenderman slides off the hood making the whole truck sway up and down. Slowly, he comes up to the window beside me and gently knocks on the glass. Turning a lever, the window gradually opens letting Slender lean his head in and cross his arms on the door. I notice how he didn't open the window himself but see if I'd let him in or not. Water from his head and soaked shirt drips into the truck. "…I'm sorry." He eventually starts. "I said I wouldn't force you to do anything but, that's exactly what I've done." I realize how close our heads were despite him looking down.

"You show kindness in a weird way." I say. And for the first time, a small chuckle escapes Slenderman as he puts his head all the way into his arms. I made him laugh… I smile broadly as though I've reached an achievement.

"Blaye…" He starts again, his laughter nowhere to be found. "I can't guarantee that I won't force you against your will again." Butterflies hatch in my stomach as he raises his head and looks at me. My smile is gone. "That is unless of course, we stop seeing each other all together." My widened eyes look back at him. "Which I understand…" He stops as though to keep himself from chocking on the sentence. "-you might want to do… especially after realizing that you're probably just a replacement for Elizabeth." Immediately I respond without a second thought-

"You're not defending it anymore." I feel him tense up as my feeling of surprise grows.

"…Right now, I can't say for sure yet, I think you may be right Blaye. This entire time I've been using you to indulge myself into a fantasy where Elizabeth is still alive." I was right, but why admit it so easily? "And now every action towards you might just be a subconscious action towards Elizabeth." What…? "I apologize, Blaye; I didn't mean to take advantage of your existence. Neither do I expect you to continue letting me do so." He chuckles again. "I would just end up being a fake friend." So this is what he's been thinking about on the hood and probably on the way here.

"Slenderman… were you in love with Elizabeth?" There's a short silence before he answers.

"…Yeah."

The thought of Slenderman having loved someone so deeply… it's nice yet, that's all that he sees me as…? I don't like it. After this I have a weird feeling in my chest, one that makes me want to sulk. I feel… used.

This sucks; he's just been taking advantage of the way I look. He's just trying to preserve my face like this fragile jewel. And every time he popped up in my room, he only came to see me. And by that, he just wanted to look at me… and all the times he held my face… all the times he'd kiss me like it was nothing…

"Did- did you ever even like me!? The real me!?" I demand shaking.

"I don't know." I take a scared breath. I want to cry.

"I want to go." Right away I hear both doors unlock.

"Of course." He opens the door wide for me.

-Seven Hours Later-

Pouring a single dose of cough syrup I mumble quietly to myself: "How can a cold catch on that quick?" It's only been seven hours since I had came running back up the forest's path to my house, and I'm already coughing up a storm. And I'm already… wondering if I'll be able to bring myself to draw Slender again. A few painful coughs later and I'm lying in my bed after turning off my light. It's ten p.m.

In the end, I did cry. My eyes started to water thinking hard on my way to the fence. I was tearing up climbing over it. And by the time I was only a quarter ways to my house, I had already cried thoroughly and had wiped all my tears away.

Wasn't it just yesterday that I saw him for the first time? Wasn't it just the other day I ran screaming from him? And now every time I find myself leaving his being, I'm only crying. How can someone I just met already have this effect on me!? How is this even possible? Is it always like this with people you meet? Well how would I know!? I've never made a friend before! I've been tutored my entire life- And NOW, I run into this MONSTER, Who I just so happen- (Don't cry.) to have their previous lovers FACE- (Don't cry.) And ends up taking advantage of that… Tears roll down as I press my face into my pillow and curl up into a tighter ball while giving out a contagious cough every other thought.

It's kind of silly. So why am I crying? And thinking so hard about it? Forget him. We were never friends. He never stole my first kiss. He never let me borrow his jacket. He never let me live. He's not a monster-

Wait, what was that? What did I just think? He's… well he isn't a monster. He surely doesn't act like one enough. So many inhuman things he's said, so many things he's said to Elizabeth.

I'd be glad if you spent some nights here.

Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.

I like it when you speak.

Visit me every day.

Did I hurt you?

All the emotion he expressed through little words to her. He's only done this because of me. Because:

Your face has brought many human emotions back to me.

And his reaction to my dream, no wonder it angered him so much. For I to have a dream of him killing me. But before he knew; when he appeared in my room after I had it, he couldn't express it. How quickly he showed up, how quickly he came to my- her rescue. In case I was hurt, in case… she was hurt. He was going to be there, despite the bad timing, despite it being out of the blue.

And all the other times he shows up randomly, possibly… desiring to see her face just one more time. The sick feeling in my stomach just reached a high score of how much it could make me suffer. But is it really from the rain that's made me sick? Or just from these thoughts that keep flying around in my head? …Both.

-Morning-

A dry, scratchy pain rises in my throat. How stupid can I get? Being out in the rain for that long; what was I thinking? Oh that's right… I reach for my clock that I had turned around in annoyance of its bright red letters. I wanted to stay out there to be with Slender besides my- "THEN LEAVE ALREADY!" parents…

They can't be doing this. They can't be doing this. Not when I'm sick, not when I'm finally hurt from something other than them. I can't do this. Getting out of bed I slip on one of my hoodies and find my way downstairs. At the bottom I stop. Wait- what am I doing? They're in mid fight. I can't stop them now, I- Just then, my dad starts his way down the main hallway towards the front door, towards me. I panic; I don't want to look at him, his face during these fights, it's disgusting. In a dash I run back up the stairs and lock myself in my room. The fighting immediately changes to this, it changes to me. No, no, no, no. Don't argue about me. Don't argue about whose fault it is, don't argue… please…

Dad, don't yell I'm scared of mom. Mom, don't say I'm scared of dad. Stop blaming each other. It's not anyone's fault… it's not…

"Please… Stop…" I whisper soft enough to where someone standing next to me wouldn't even be able to hear. I held my fists close to my chest backing away from the door. Tears now fell for a different reason. No, no, no, no. "Stop it…"