Year: 2

Season: Summer

Ib: Age 10

Garry walked along the sidewalk humming a tune as he continued to the convenience store for some groceries a few blocks down. Traffic was fairly light that day, since it was in the middle of the week. He could have driven, but he felt it was better to walk, since the day looked like it was going to stay warm and beautiful as it did when he initially left. Maybe he should have heeded the warnings from his TV before he left and brought along his umbrella... Well, that chance was gone.

He cast another glance up at the sky, and could hear the faint sound of thunder in the distance. No rain yet, but he knew that was soon going to change. He stopped humming his tune and looked towards the stoplight, waiting for it to turn green so he and the growing crowd around him could move across the street and be on their way. Among the people, several already had their umbrellas out and opened above their head, despite the lack of any rain. The light finally signaled for the cars to stop going through the intersection, allowing him to move across the street. He moved a bit quicker than he'd normally liked, but he wanted to get there before the rain began, and if he was lucky, buy an umbrella so he wouldn't get soaked on the way home. Fortunately the people walking along the sidewalk steered clear of him, either because of his tall stature, or they could tell he was in a hurry, and because of that he arrived at the store in a timely manner, and he eagerly walked inside right when the first droplets of rain began falling outside.

"Well," He mumbled to himself as he panted a little, "That was cutting it a bit close." He looked around the small convenience store, noting the store clerk who gave him a polite bow, which he returned. He then went over to grab a basket to shop with. Unfortunately, from what he saw, there were no umbrellas around – which was odd, perhaps they had sold out? Either way, he would either have to suck it up and walk home in the rain, or wait it out in the store.

"Garry?"

He turned to the voice, and raised an eyebrow in surprise upon seeing who had addressed him, "Ib! Fancy seeing you outside of Sunday, It's nice to see you." He smiled as he looked down at the young girl. Unlike him, she had an umbrella tucked away under her arm, and she was holding her purse as well. Also unlike him, she was wearing a yellow rain coat.

She nodded politely, "It's nice to see you too. What are you doing here?"

"Buying some groceries. I've been holding out on doing it for a while, but now I have practically nothing at home..." He explained to her, "my kitchen is a little bare at the moment."

"I see." She replied, looking around Garry at the groceries. She then looked back up at him, appearing thoughtful, with her red eyes narrowing a bit as she crossed her arms. It looked quite cute, or so Garry thought anyway.

"Why are you here? Buying groceries as well?" He asked kindly.

"Mom gave me a list of groceries she wanted me to buy once I got out of school." She explained as she pulled out the list. Garry looked at the paper, and saw that there was at least a half dozen or so items listed out.

Garry looked towards his watch, noting that it was a little past four, so they must have gotten out less than an hour again. "That makes sense, though you seem a bit young to go out to get groceries on your own."

She pouted, and narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm very dependable."

"Yes, I suppose you are." He conceded, trying to hold back his laughter. In an attempt to remedy the situation, he reached towards one of the store baskets and handed it to her, "Care to shop with me then?" She allowed a small smile on her face at that, and nodded enthusiastically. It appeared that she was thinking the same thing - that would explain her thoughtful look earlier. Side by side they wandered the store, looking for everything they needed. Of course, it didn't take them very long, as both of them had been there multiple times before, and because of the fairly small size of the building they could get everything quickly. One incident did occur when Garry reached out towards some instant noodles however.

"Why don't you buy better food?" Ib asked as he took a few packs of instant ramen. She shook her head disapprovingly as she watched, and gave Garry a questioning look after he had put in a few stacks of the stuff.

"Heh, well, I can't cook for myself very well. This is just faster and easier." He explained with a shrug. He reached for another few packs, but Ib tapped his leg, so he stopped and looked down at her.

"Mom says that you shouldn't only eat that, and that it's not good for you and it will stunt your growth." She lectured, waving her finger at him. Again, Garry had to stop himself from laughing, especially since Ib was trying to be serious. Instead, he set the packs back down on the shelf, and knelt down to her level so he could see her in the eyes.

"I suppose I should have had some more of that when I was growing up then." He smiled at her. He watched as she seemed to try and process it for a little bit, looking down at the ground.

She frowned and blinked a few times in confusion momentarily, then her eyes lit up as she took note of his full height, and she smiled, "Yeah." She giggled at the thought of it, Garry really was tall, even for an adult!

"So since I'm grown up, you'll allow me to buy this then?" He asked, reaching into his basket and pulling out a few of the packs. He was sure this would make her reconcile and allow him to do what he wanted, but he was fairly surprised when she had something else in mind.

"No." She disagreed shaking her head, "You still need to eat good food!" She had set her own basket down and crossed her arms to try and appear more authoritative.

"Then what do you suggest I eat?" He asked, setting the packs of ramen back in his basket. He watched Ib reach down into his basket and pull the packs out and set them back onto the counter. While he may have been joking when he asked that, he didn't expect Ib to suddenly grab his hand and wander around the store, putting all sorts of fruits and vegetables into his basket. While she was doing that she would lecture him on why he should eat the things that she was putting in his basket, and it seems she had also took to heart what he said as well, since she steered clear of things that required a lot of preparation or effort to cook. After a while, she stopped, and looked towards his basket, now full of different fruits, vegetables, and other foods that she considered 'good for you'.

"Wow," He whistled peering into his basket, "they really teach kids a lot in school now-a-days!" She blushed slightly at the praise she received, and bowed her head down to try and hide her reddening cheeks. "So is that everything?" He asked, looking towards his and Ib's baskets. His was filled to the brim with different things, and while it cost much more than he initially planned to spend, he didn't have the heart to try and put any of it back after all the work Ib put into it for him. Her basket on the other hand, wasn't filled quite as much, there were only a handful of items here and there that her mother asked her to get.

Ib scanned her list, glancing back and forth between it and her basket, and gave a curt nod, "That's everything."

"All right then." He grabbed her basket from her and walked up towards the cashier, ignoring the confused look from Ib. She chased after him, still holding her list, her red eyes trying to lock onto his.

"Garry?" She asked when he finally looked her way and noticed her confusion. She must have been frowning, because Garry turned around and again knelt down to her level.

"Don't worry, consider this my thanks." He replied to her kindly, and then he stood up and went to the counter, setting down both baskets. He pulled out a credit card and handed it to the clerk as she rang up the prices of their goods. Ib realized what he was doing.

"I can pay for mine." She insisted, pulling out some money from her purse she had brought along, "Mom gave me this to pay with." She tried to show it to Garry, and he only gave it a casual glance and shrugged.

"Don't worry about it." He repeated, "Besides, I've already paid for it." With that, Garry handed her the bag with her groceries in it, and she reluctantly puts the money back into her purse, and accepted the bag that Garry handed to her. She glanced up, and just stared at him for a bit.

"Oh, don't be like that Ib." He grinned, "I did it because I wanted to."

"But mom is going to wonder why I have money still." She replied, with a frown still on her face. If her mom found out that she still had the money... She didn't even want to think about what the woman would do!

He smiled mischievously at that, "She expects the money to be gone, so just keep it when you give her the groceries." He watched her eyes go wide, and her mouth drop open, and he had to again force himself not to laugh, but he couldn't help but let a few chuckles escape here and there.

"That would be stealing!" She chided him. She didn't even think of doing that! She was raised to always be honest, never steal, and never be disrespectful. keeping the money would be going against all three of those things!

"It's not that bad!" He insisted, trying to resist smiling, knowing that Ib was taking the situation very seriously. He watched her pout and cross her arms, again getting a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Here. Take it." She finally spoke up after ten seconds or so, reaching into her purse and pulling out the money her mother had given her, "You paid for it, so you deserve it."

He stopped chuckling, and knelt down to her level and folding her hand back onto the money, "Ib. I don't want your money. I did this because you are my friend."

Ib couldn't understand it, but her face started to blush furiously when he did that, so she quickly glanced away and didn't dare to look towards him, "But dad says never to accept charity." She managed to squeak out, still feeling heat on her face.

"Like I said, I did it because you're my friend." He repeated and he shrugged. As far as he was concerned, that was that. However, Ib seemed to really be troubled, so he let out a sigh, "It's fine, Ib. Friends do this because they like each other. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Can I do something for you then?" She asked, looking towards him again, her blush mostly gone, though her heart was still beating a bit faster than she'd like.

"I don't need anything." He answered, still smiling.

"I want to give you something in return, you are my friend." Ib repeated his words, and crossed her arms defiantly. Her eyes shining in determination, and her lips pursed as she stared at him.

Garry blinked a few times at having his own words thrown back in his face, and he finally laughed, "All right Ib, if you really want to, I have something you can do for me."

"What is it?" She asked eagerly, her intense stare breaking down into a large smile. She genuinely wanted to help him, since he was her friend.

He glanced outside, where it was the rain was pouring like there was a typhoon out there. He shuddered at the sight of it, and turned to her and answered her with, "Let's share the umbrella until we need to part ways."

She frowned upon hearing his words, and Garry wondered if she was going to decline, but she suddenly looked up in determination, "Ok!" She pulled out her umbrella from under her arm, and he noted the problem immediately – it was a children's umbrella, that must have been why she hesitated before.

"You really don't have to-" he started to say, but he shut up when she sent him a sharp look. She then looked down at the umbrella, and then back to Garry one, twice, and then she nodded to herself.

"Stay like that." She commanded, circling around the still kneeling Garry's back.

"What do you plan to-oof" He felt her suddenly jump onto his back, causing him to go forward, nearly tripping. Fortunately, she was still a small girl, and her weight was negligible, "Ah, you're very clever Ib." He couldn't see, but from the way he felt her pressing her face into his back, he assumed he made her blush again. When she lifted her face though, she opened her umbrella above his head, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding her grocery bag and Umbrella where her hands met around his neck. Garry on the other hand, held his bag at his side.

"Are you ready?" He asked her as he slowly walked towards the exit, making sure she was used to holding the umbrella and her bag of groceries as he walked.

"Yeah." She answered, bracing herself, squeezing her legs as tight as she could against his sides as he started moving. He leaned slightly forward so she wouldn't slip off, and he walked out into the rain. While he would still be hit by the rain on the sides, the umbrella covered his head and a majority of his body, so he wasn't complaining too much.

"Just say when you need to get off me to head home." He called back to her over the loud sound of the rain on the pavement. He heard her muttering her agreement, and so he continued to his home, walking in silence as he trudged through the rain. There weren't quite as many people in the streets now, since a lot of the people were opting to wait inside buildings and wait the rain out instead of walking out in it. He would have been doing the same, but it was only a few blocks to his house, so the trip only lasted a little more than ten minutes, and before long, he had reached his residence.

"Ib?" He called back to her so she could hear him over the rain, "Do you live nearby?"

"No." She answered with a shake her head, some of her hair was wet from waving under the umbrella, and Garry involuntarily shuddered as some of the droplets hit his neck, "I live the other way from the store."

"What?!" He asked in surprise, attempting to turn his head to look at her before he realized how stupid that was and stopped trying to do that, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I wanted to pay you back for what you did." She replied stubbornly. Though he couldn't see it, he was sure she had a triumphant look on her face, and he could just imagine the smile she wore. He felt like groaning and laughing at the same time, so he did a little of both.

"You said you couldn't cook?" She asked, ignoring his laughter and groaning, tapping him on his shoulder so he paid attention to what she said.

"Yeah," He answered, "What about it?"

"Maybe I can make you something."

"Please, don't worry about it." He replied, wondering how much further the stubborn girl was going to go with this. He reached into his pocket, trying to find his key in the meantime.

"But I owe you." He knew she was pouting as she said that, and he rolled his eyes.

Holding back his sigh he instead decided to say, "You just came with me all the way to my house even though it was in the complete opposite direction of your own, I think you paid me back for what I did for you."

"Hm." She probably would have crossed her arms in thought if possible, but she was still holding the umbrella and the bag of groceries he bought for her, so instead she just looked intensely into his neck as she thought about it.

"Look, it's still raining right now, so why don't you come in for a little bit?" He suggested, finally fishing the key out of his pocket to open his door. He let out a grunt of triumph as he pushed the keys into the lock, and quickly opened the door, ushering himself and Ib in at the time time. "It's a little small, but please, make yourself at home." Once inside, he finally let Ib down, and the girl gratefully stepped down, closing her umbrella, and then looking around the house with her curious red eyes. "Once the rain lets up, I'll walk with you back to the store," He told her as he walked into the kitchen, "That way I won't irresponsibly let you walk all the way back to your house by yourself."

"I can handle myself." She replied in annoyance, glaring over towards the kitchen where Garry walked towards. She decided to follow him in there, and she started to help him put his groceries away. Garry wanted to tell her to stop, but then thought better of it - telling Ib not to do something for him was futile, so he just smiled and kindly accepted her aid..

Thinking on what she said before though - about the fact that she could take care of herself - he realized that she was right, she could handle herself very well, especially for her age, "Again, you're right. I'm sorry; it just keeps leaving my mind. Especially since we're out of that world and here now."

"It's all right." She replied, smiling as she put some more of the groceries away in the cabinets that she could reach.

"Anyway Ib, why don't you make yourself at home? There's only a few more groceries left, I can handle these on my own." He replied, putting the remaining groceries away in his fridge.

She decided to allow him to do that, and she set her own groceries on the couch in the main room, and wandered around, looking all around the sparse room. There was a television up against the wall with the couch across from it, and a small table in front of the couch and another stand next to the couch, but she didn't see any pictures of his family or friends on the walls. In fact, he had absolutely nothing on his walls. As she wandered, she noticed on the wall what looked like a white square shape, a picture must have hung from there before.

"Where's the picture?" She asked as Garry wandered into the room, watching her look around.

Garry looked to the particular spot she was point at, and he looked away quickly, "It's nothing."

"Garry…" She mumbled, "Is it bad?" She frowned as she again looked back at the spot, and she felt horrible for bringing it up now. She didn't want to hurt him, especially after he had been so nice to her!

"I used to be really into paintings." He finally admitted, when he noticed that she was becoming distressed, "the one that hung there I got from a neighbor, it was a beautiful painting." He walked over and touched the wall where it once was, and he shook his head.

"You are really into art?" She asked. In retrospect, she realized, that would explain why he was at the museum back then.

"Was into art." He clarified, "I can't say I enjoy it anymore." He shuddered at the mere thought, "Remember when you told me that you saw things? Well... I kept hallucinating that they were coming alive from the corners of my eyes, and when I looked over, they were just fine... I couldn't handle it any longer though, so I just boxed them up and hid them away." Ib looked along the wall, and noticed where there must have been at least a half dozen paintings hanging around the room.

"That's kind of sad." She muttered, feeling immensely sorry for him.

"What makes you say that?" He asked, genuinely curious as he looked down at the girl. Her eyes caught his, and she averted her gaze quickly, and she looked thoughtful, as she tried to come up with the words she wanted to say.

"I don't know… I just feel sad." She finally stated, unable to properly explain her feelings.

"Please, don't be." Garry forced out a chuckle and rubbed the back of his head, "Let's try not to talk about this stuff..."

She looked away from the walls back up to him, "Do you still have bad dreams?" Her eyes locked onto his.

He broke eye contact first, and looked away at that, "Let's talk about something else, Ib." He repeated, his voice sounding oddly strained. It had been over nine months since they had been in that world, and Ib realized now why she felt sad for him.

"I have family to help me through it," She muttered. Garry stayed silent, looking at the blank walls, not wanting to talk about this, but Ib wouldn't drop it, and she asked, "Garry, how far do you live from your family?"

"My mom died years ago," He admitted, realizing that she wouldn't stop unless if he explained his circumstances to her, "And my father… I'd rather not talk about him."

So she was right. For the first time, Ib wish that she wasn't right about something. "So you had no one to help you." She stated, her lips trembling as she thought about it. She wanted to be a good friend, but it appears that she hadn't been very good to him after all...

"Before we met, Ib, I moved here to get away from my dad." He let out a deep sighed, "I was stupid, and didn't take any pictures with me, so I started to buy paintings to fill in the gap. I bought anything that reminded me of my mother, it really helped me feel better at the time."

"And now they are all gone."

"Yeah." He whispered.

"Where are they?"

"I stored them in the closet." He pointed towards the hallway where there were several doors. Ib didn't know which one was the closet, but she knew that somewhere over there were the memories Garry locked away due to the trauma he experienced in the other world.

"I see." She mumbled so quietly that Garry was unsure if she even said anything at all.

"Ib," He finally spoke up quite forcefully, shaking his head, "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be talking with you about this. Forget I ever brought it up." He smiled as he looked towards her, but it fell when he noticed she was crying.

"I'm sorry." She cried, reaching up to wipe her eyes. She hiccuped a few times, and looked down to the ground, unable to look towards him.

"Ib!" He fell down to her side, and quickly wrapped his arms around her in a rough hug, trying to make her feel better, "Ib, I really don't mind. It was years ago when I moved away, I am over it now, you don't need to be sorry about it." He said gently.

"No, I'm sorry for not helping you when you needed it." She gasped out, burying her head in his shoulder. Her small hands gripped his shirt tightly, and she continued to let out small sobs every now and then.

He furrowed his brows in confusion, "What?" He couldn't believe that Ib - a ten year old girl - was acting like this over not being there to help him. He hadn't realized how much she valued him, and to see the fact that seeing him in pain tore her up this much made him realize just how valuable a friend she really was. He gently pat her back, trying to make her feel better.

"I had mom and dad help me get over what happened, it feels like it was only a dream to me now, but for you…" She shivered, not even able to imagine how she would have been in that situation. While it had taken her a while to finally confront her parents and accept their aid, they had proved to be beyond helpful in making it so she got over the trauma. She was still frightful of certain things - mannequins, paintings, and such, but she was at least able to bear it and move on... Garry... He on the other hand had no one there to help him. She had learned the hard way that being mature didn't mean that you couldn't accept help, and now she intended to do everything in her power to help him.

"Ib, please, stop talking about it." He whispered into her ear as he tried to calm her down, "It's ok. I'm over it. I swear."

"Liar." She muttered back, though she still held him tightly, and honestly she was beginning to feel better since he was holding her.

He grimaced at that, and sighed, "Perhaps I'm not completely over it yet, but I promise I'll recover eventually."

"I'll help you." She whispered her plan to him, and she felt him go still for a moment. She couldn't help but frown at his reaction - did he think she was going to abandon him to be on his own?

"Huh?" He let out.

"I've been a bad friend, I want to help you." She repeated. Perhaps if she put it a different way, he would understand what she meant. She was positive that was all it was.

"Ib, please, you don't need to do anything for me, I'm an adult – I know how to help myself." He repeated.

"Being mature doesn't mean you can't accept help." She repeated to him what she told herself in her mind not even a minute ago, "I really want to help you Garry, please let me help you."

He was about to deny her again, but seeing her so desperate, not to mention what she said did ring true to him… Something inside of him relented, "I- If you really want to Ib, I…" He sighed, "A friend could do a lot for me right now." He admitted.

She smiled through her tears and wiped her eyes, "Good." She gave him another tight squeeze with her arms, loving the warmth of his hug, smiling as she tried to get rid of the last of her tears.

It was then that Garry noticed sparse sunlight coming through his window, "Ah, look at that." He allowed a smile to cross his face as he pointed it out to Ib.

Ib looked towards the window and nodded, "It stopped raining."

Garry finally let go of her when he saw that she was calming down, and he stood to his full height, "Well, like I said, I need to walk you home now. Your mother must be worried that you're not home yet." He checked his watch, "It's almost five now."

"I'll just tell her I waited in the store." Ib replied. In this case, a little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone, especially since she had learned so much about Garry, and she felt as if she had matured as well... She wanted to help Garry with all of her heart, no matter what.

"That's probably a good idea." He muttered, not even wanting to imagine what he would go through if Ib told her mother that an adult had taken her child in their house. He doubted that even Ib would be able to properly explain the situation to her.

"What should I do with this?" She asked, holding the money her mother had given her, and showing it to Garry. He looked down at it thoughtfully, and shrugged.

"Do what you want with it." He replied, "If you really want to give it back to her, do it."

Ib looked down at the money in her open palm for a minute before she nodded once, and turned quickly towards him, "I'll make you dinner."

"Eh?" He let out, raising his eyebrows as he looked back to Ib, "What?"

"You said you don't cook, so I can make something."

"You really don't have to, Ib…" He let out a chuckle as he watched the stubborn girl begin to pace around, her arms crossed as she began to list out things she could do for him. She then turned around to look at him.

"I just need my mom's cookbook, and I can get the food with the money I have now." She smiled down at the bills that her mother had given her. If she was using them for a friend, then surely it would be all right. Garry could have sworn he just saw flames of determination flaring around her. "But for now, I need to go home." She stated, turning towards him, "I'll be here Saturday night, I'll tell mom I'm staying over at a friend's house."

"W- Wait a minute Ib! You don't intend to stay the night do you?! Do you realize what people will say if they know you're doing that?" He asked, panic filling him. He didn't need to just worry about Ib's mom in that case, but if the neighbors found out, it could be even worse! She just ignored him however, off in her imagination. He felt insanely nervous to have her wanting to do all of this for him, and yet, at the same time, he felt warm know that there was someone who cared about his well being so much. One thing was for sure though; Ib was certainly going to make his life very interesting.

XxXxXxX

CHAPTER 2 REVISED: 6/24/2013 - Added in a lot more detail, and combined a lot of sentences. This chapter had 2.2k additional words added to it.