The pain in his head was getting worse. Almost as if a small, angry man was jamming a red-hot sword repeatedly into the back of his skull. A man who acted as a second conscious that kept him from the lustful thoughts that had started to slip slowly into his mind. Especially now, the angry man wasn't letting up as his fingers ran through Shelby's dark hair and their tongues grappled so flirtatiously. He had handled well in the beginning, when they were new to their –whatever this was- he had fought the urge repeatedly smash his head against a wall whenever it started up. But now, farther down the road the pain pestered like a migraine that never ceded, telling him to think twice before he kissed her, before he gave her that wanting glance that caused her to go red in the face just now.

But as much as it pissed him off, as he wanted it to go away, he wanted even more to know why.

But those were issues to be contemplated later. Now his only focus was on the redhead that had slowly begun to wrap around him. At least she was, until Sydney broke it up.

"Alright, alright guys, break it up. I get it; you're nuts for each other and want to get naked together, blah blah blah." She interjected with a snippy attitude.

Shelby snapped away to give her friend a horrified look.

"Sydney!"

"Please, don't even try to pretend. It's all over your faces, especially his."

He forced it to go blank.

"That's not even any of your business!" she retorted, blushing harder by the second.

"It is when you're out here. Now break it up and help me find food before I kick your combined asses, dammit."

Taking his eyes off the redhead climbing out of his lap, he caught the stony gaze that came from the other female. A gaze that said clearly, 'We need to talk'.

Grabbing his blade from the tent he'd had made for him, Herobrine twisted the hilt into his tearing belt loops. He stopped for a second to take a good look at himself. Damn, he looked terrible. Even after banishing the thick coat of netherrack dust off his body, the extensive time he'd spent in the other dimension had disastrous effects on his clothing. Not to mention the streaks of greenish infection that had once crept through his right arm, the massive gashes on his arm and leg. Fortunately, none of these things were getting worse; they seemed to have been at a standstill since he'd… died. In retrospect, it was shocking Shelby had even given him a second glace based on appearance alone.

"Hey! It's not going to be day forever! You two slept all morning and then you decided to set on fire for an extra hour, so c'mon!'

She never stops talking does she? Herobrine thought and trudged over to the two girls.

"How long was I gone?" Shelby asked just as he got over to them.

"Babe, it was spring when you 'left' and now it's fall. But hey, you got to skip all the sucky hot months, right? The plain biomes get so stuffy, it's one of the reasons I stay in the forest."

"Wow," she muttered, "A whole season just… gone."

"Your mom well she flipped a little." Sydney added quietly.

"OH MY-is Kate okay?! Tell me she's okay!" the redhead spluttered, and her friend placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Your sister is fine. From what I heard, Madi and Ada took her until Marie settled down."

"What do you mean, 'settled down'?" Herobrine asked, his mind whirring with possibilities that just didn't work with such an overprotective other. He didn't really know the woman, but she never seemed like she could possibly harm her daughters.

"What, Shelby never told you about Marie?"

He thought about it for a second, processing through as many of their conversations as he could remember.

"She never mentioned her family."

Shelby sighed and started quietly.

"Well, I know you've at least met Marie and Katelyn, so that's a start. Mom is 38 and Kate is 7, almost 8 now. I practically raised Kate because mom was… she was useless.

"Useless isn't the word I'd use." The brunette growled. He gave her an asking look.

"I think the proper description would be… abusive, insane, or man-hating, I'm torn between those three."

"What did she do?" Herobrine asked stiffly.

Shelby replied by adjusting her clothing to show the long scars crisscrossing over her back and spine.

"Sticks and stones broke my bones and the words never stopped hurting."

"I wish…" he started hesitantly, but had no words to follow. "I'm sorry"

"Most of those were for Kate, but I-I protected her." a tear ran down her face and she quickly wiped it off.

"Enough pitying me, let's just find something to eat." Shelby walked off quickly and Herobrine followed.

"Hey."

"Whaddup?" she replied, attempting to sound casual. Herobrine took her hand.

"I had a dream about an old girl-… a girl really close to me. We had an argument about our -standing- and when I turned my back for just a second, she was killed." He muttered uncomfortably.

She looked up at him sadly, watching him try to hide the sadness on his face and in his voice.

"Why are you telling me this? I mean… I appreciate it, but why?" He shrugged a reply.

"It was only fair. You tell about something personal in your past, I do too." Shelby smiled appreciatively at him, choosing to show in her eyes the affection that went along with it.

"Thank you. I can tell you aren't used to talking to anybody else."

"No." he replied simply. She squeezed his hand and gave that same smile, one he'd never forget.

Sydney caught up with them and started the glare up again, but it was noticeable more sad now.

"Is that an apple tree?" Shelby questioned, and excitedly broke off to confirm her statement. Herobrine slowed to walk next to Sydney. She grabbed his arm and forced them both to a stop out of Shelby's hearing range.

"You need to stop this," the sturdy young woman muttered, failing to sound as stern as she wanted.

"Stop what?" he asked, knowing full well what she was going to say.

"You and her, it has got to stop. "

Herobrine stood straighter and crossed his arms defensively.

"Should it now?"

"Yes." She retorted firmly. "You are bad for her, terrible, honestly. I know this for sure now. I always thought you were a little off, and that's probably why she was initially attracted to you. But all this crazy shit with the fire? I won't tolerate it."

He didn't like it, but her point was well taken. This new thing he could do? It was the worst among the other strange things, and piling them all up together… even Shelby had admitted that it bothered her. The main problem was that he didn't know everything that he could do and may end up hurting her down the road.

And it showed on his face.

"Good," Sydney sighed, a tired edge to her voice. "You understand."

Herobrine forced his face blank again, something he'd mastered over the years and watched as she spoke.

"I don't know if you really care for her or are just trying to bed her, but either way you'd be better off taking her back home."

Herobrine glared at the woman in front of him, almost embarrassed at how insulted he was that she could think so horribly if him.

"H-How could I just… leave her?" he muttered, startled by his own dedication as well as the pain that was raging throughout his head, yelling at him for the possessive emotions that were now spewing from his mouth.

Sydney gave him a depressed look.

"Just do what you know is best for her.

"Hey guys! Look at all these apples! I- … guys?" her face fell at their expressions and the way that Sydney so quickly left as she came up to them.

He forced a lighter tone, saying, "That's awesome. I swear I'll never eat another mushroom again."

She tried to brighten up but was still thrown completely off guard by them.

"Y-Yeah! I can't wait to taste these!"