Lol, do I even have readers?

The ride to Robbie's house actually wasn't as awkward as I had predicted. The only uncomfortable part about it was the bruise forming on my back caused by Skyla constantly kicking at my seat.

"Skyla, God made the ground for a reason," I groaned, twisting my head to look at her.

She grunted and finally stuck her feet on the ground. I must be more lenient where she's from, but her attitude won't slide here. I already put up with my mom's disturbing personality, I'm not putting up with a mini one.

When we got to Robbie's driveway, I noticed that no cars were there. I get that feeling all the time when I get home and no one's there. It's almost like I've been abandoned again, every time. I bet Robbie doesn't feel that way, but it's just me.

I sat in the passenger seat, just looking at the house. All the lights were off, and no one was in there. It must've looked like I was deep in thought, because while Skyla was getting out of the car, Robbie was looking at me curiously.

"You okay?" he asked.

I smirked and turned my head to face his. "Define okay."

He smiled. Actually smiled. "Still breathing."

"Yup, I'm all good in that area," I replied.

I held his eyes for a moment longer. He looked tired, the last hour of stress making itself known. He has no idea. I may have only had a daughter for one afternoon, but I've been the daughter for over eight years.

I felt myself subconsciously leaning towards him. I found him doing the same. I felt the newly familiar warm escape as his lips touched mine. The one moment that nothing and no one could ruin – With the exception of the little girl on the front step, looking bored out of her mind.

I slowly pulled away and exited the vehicle, feeling her eyes burning holes in the back of my head. I walked relatively fast to the doorway, simply because I've always had this gnawing fear that someone could jump out of a bush at any moment and kidnap me, or in this case, her. Yeah. I was fearing for Skyla's life. Have been since this afternoon.

As I waited for Robbie to find his key in the dark night, I wrapped my arms around myself. I had been so involved in getting Skyla a jacket that I had forgotten to grab my own. But I guess that paid off for her, because she seemed perfectly content in her cowhide jacket, pretending that she was an invincible toughie.

I entered after Robbie and Skyla, closing and locking the door behind me. I was still superstitious, regardless of the fact that it was irrelevant. Robbie flicked on all the lights, and I honestly felt like a plane was about to land. I hate bright lights so much.

He walked over to the kitchen counter and appeared to be reading a sheet of paper. Skyla walked in the other direction, easily finding the coat closet and just throwing her jacket on an upper shelf. I guess it was normal for her to know where everything was. This was her grandparent's house.

She threw herself on the olive green velvet couch, pulling her feet up underneath her. She seemed more sure of herself now than she has been all day. I heard Robbie come up behind me, causing me to jump a little.

"Alright, no one's here," he said.

That paper obviously had some sort of confirmation. It was probably a letter from his parents. I caught him looking at Skyla, and vice versa. I saw that sense of insecurity start to wash over her again.

"Well…" I stated awkwardly, attempting to interrupt their stare-down.

Robbie turned his head to look at me. "Well what?"

"Well nothing," I said sheepishly, trying desperately to hide behind my hair.

"Who's the teeny bopper?" I heard a deep voice coming from the recliner in the corner.

Rex.

"Hi!" I greeted brightly.

He grunted. I watched Skyla slowly turn her attention towards where I was speaking. She took one look at the puppet and her eyes widened like saucers. She pushed herself back up against the couch, as far away from him as possible. I could tell she was holding in a high-pitched squeak.

"Uh… Robbie," I grabbed his arm. I pointed towards Skyla.

He looked at her for a second, taking in the fear on her face. He grabbed the dummy and threw him down the hallway, landing with an audible grunt.

"He's gone," Robbie said quickly.

Skyla poked her head out from behind her large mass of curls. "Good."

"Do you have anything to tell him, Skyla?" I asked her.

"Like what?" she replied with another question.

"Like… How did you get here, where are you from, how old are you, what grade are you in…"

I was only halfway through my batch of questions when Robbie interrupted me. "Just one at a time, Cat."

I inhaled deeply. "Alright. Do you remember how you got here?"

She looked around the room, her eyes darting everywhere. Her nerves were everywhere, overwhelming her. I could see it in her diverted eyes. "Skyla. You don't need to be afraid of us."

She looked at me and then Robbie. Robbie even attempted a smile for her. Her next words were all muddled together, spoken extremely fast."There were a lot of lights and there was a tunnel thingy and I couldn't see anything and I couldn't feel anything but it was scary and I really wanna go home."

"Okay, okay, calm down," I said, trying to soothe her. "It's all right. That's the same as how I got here. It's okay."

I heard Robbie starting to breathe heavily and stumble over his own words. "Okay? You're going to stand there and tell her that everything is okay? Are you kidding me?" he said. Well. Yelled.

I put my hands on my hips. I would be taking no more drama tonight. "At least I'm not shou-ting it," I said, pronouncing each syllable clearly.

"Okay," he said, recollecting himself.

"Okay," I repeated, trying to piece the slightest bit of sanity back into the room. "In other news… While I was in pain today," I took a step closer to Skyla, "You found it hilarious."

"Because it was," she said bluntly.

"It was not!" I defended. My leg was still numb. "Well," I took a step back towards Robbie. I grabbed his arm roughly. "Do you feel anything?" I asked her.

She looked down at her legs. "No."

I let go of Robbie and faced him. "They must have been at a breaking point or something."

"What, and we're not?" he asked, confused.

"It would appear not, we'll figure it out later," I muttered.

Skyla's loud yawn brought us both out of our thoughts.

"You tired?" I asked her.

She nodded, her eyes drooping. I didn't blame her. It was extremely late, especially for her, considering she was… I didn't even know how old she was yet.

"Well," I dropped my hands to my side. "Let's go back to my house, babydoll. You can get some sleep there."

"Wait!" Robbie exclaimed.

"What?" Skyla and I both asked.

"Just… Stay," he said.

I looked over at Skyla, who looked like she was about to pass out from exhaustion.

"I have a guest bedroom," he continued to plead.

I looked back and forth between the two of them. God, they were both desperate for their desires. One of them wanted me to talk to them and one wanted to faint.

I shrugged and exhaled dramatically. "Fine."

I'll be back soon, that's the ticket.