Mykenna sat me down and brushed my hair after I got off the phone with the police. At least my dad was safe… now all I had to worry about was to make sure Danny was okay.

"Are you sure you want to cut this?" Mykenna asked after gently

I nodded, "Might as well…" I heard her pick up a pair of scissors and snip them a couple of times.

"Here goes…" she grabbed my hair and made it a ponytail, cutting it as short as she could without cutting herself. When the cut was done, my head felt lighter. I felt the back of my head and my hair felt weird… she showed me the ponytail and I swear the length was probably more than half a foot long. I only nodded and allowed for her to continue. "How short did you want this?"

"Shorter than Bleu's…" I answered her.

"Alright then." Mykenna had a smile in her voice as she cut my hair. I think it had been about… seven or eight years since it was last cut… wait- no, Mom would've had it cut, she didn't like it when my hair got too long. So… six years ago at best maybe. I closed my eyes and let her play with my hair, finally listening to her take an electric razor to it. As it scraped the sides of my head and the back of my neck a few times, I had flashbacks of when Mom cut my hair. I always hated the razor, but she always managed to make it… okay? Or even bearable to allow? I don't know how to put it… all through my childhood up until she died she told me to pretend it was a few bees tickling me. And for some reason, that worked. She knew I had a fascination with bugs at one point. I managed a smile, thinking about the fact that I used to fight getting my hair cut, but my mom made a compromise and got me to calm down.

Mykenna finally ran a comb through my hair, which at first I thought it was her fingers. "You're done." I opened my eyes and looked down at the floor, seeing the little black trimmings everywhere and even on my shoulders. Everything was itchy. I remember that was something I hated about haircuts. I stood up, allowing more of the trimmings to fall off of my shirt.

She escorted me to the nearest bathroom and let me look in the mirror. I was practically speechless- I actually looked like a guy now. My ears were visible, my face wasn't hidden, I could actually see that I had a tiny scar on my forehead, of course away from the band-aids and the large bruise swelling on my forehead. I smiled.

"You like it?" she asked.

"I love it, thank you…" I turned and hugged her.

She hugged me back, "Anytime, Haze…" she pat my back, "Now go hop in the shower so you can get those scraps washed off.

I nodded, then paused.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"No change of clothes…" I sighed, "The hair's still gonna be in my clothes…"

Mykenna thought for a while. "Just go take your shower, take as long as you want, and we'll have a change of clothes for you."

I nodded, "Alright…" then I paused again, "You guys don't have to-"

"We insist." She smiled, "Now go. Towels should already be in there."

I sighed, "Alright…" I finally complied. I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, immediately pulling off my shirt. It was relieving after the itchy hair pieces left my shoulders and back. I looked down at my stomach and remembered that I needed to remove the bandages around my stomach. Carefully I peeled the gauze off my stomach. But even though I was careful, it still stung my injury. I couldn't exactly say that I looked better, but… I don't know… I just ignored staring at I and slipped off my jeans and boxers, stepping into the shower finally after taking off the band-aids off my forehead. I turned on the water and allowed it to run warmly down my back.

I stood there for… I dunno, about ten minutes? I finally tipped my head back and brushed through my hair, thrown off by how quickly my fingers went through it. But it felt nice. It was going to be a lot easier to take care of. The warm water made my forehead and back throb though because of the broken skin. I didn't want to know how my stomach was. But regardless, I turned around and faced the showerhead anyway. My stomach hurt more than my back and head, enough to make me back away from the water and turn down the heat at least. I took a deep breath and stepped back into the water.

I looked over at the shelf and found a brand-new bar of soap still in the box, next to another, barely used bar of soap. I wouldn't have thought much of it, if the box didn't have my name on it. But it did, so I opened the box and rubbed my body with the new bar of soap. I then lathered it in my hands, set it down, and scrubbed my face, being gentle with my forehead. After I rinsed off my face, I went and lathered the bar in my hands again, running my hands through my hair, this time. I know- you're not supposed to use soap for you hair, but I didn't care at the moment. I'd rather get a job and buy my own hair crap than to use up someone else's without their permission. But it did the same thing to me, so whatever. I rinsed out my hair and decided to suck it up and turn up the heat on the water just a little bit. Eventually, the wounds just became tolerant to the warm water. I turned my back against the water again and closed my eyes, folding my hands against the back of my neck.

Eventually I turned off the water and stepped out to grab a towel, wrapping it around my waist and checking myself in the mirror. People were going to have a hard time calling me a girl at school tomorrow. Then it occurred to me… I had to go back to school- Danny was going to be there. I took a deep breath, only hoping that he wouldn't be holding a grudge against me. But I wouldn't blame him if he did… I dried my hair, my shoulders and legs, looking over to see a pile of neatly folded clothes. My old clothes were completely gone. I completely froze, realizing that someone had gone into the bathroom while I was still showering. My face turned red. I grabbed a pair of boxers first and pulled them on, pulling on a pair of pajama pants afterwards. After throwing on a shirt, I hung up the towel on the curtain rod and stepped out, looking down the hall, "Hello?" I called.

"We're in the living room, Hazel, come in and join us!" Bleu called out.

I started down the hall hesitantly and met with the Bleu and the rest of her family. Bleu grew a huge smile, "Oh, your hair looks so good!" she cheered.

"You really cleaned him up." Michelle smiled with approval.

Mykenna smiled, "It does look good, Hazel. It suits you a little better."

I blushed and managed a nervous smile. "Uh- w-who went into the bathroom while I was showering?" I asked.

"Geronimo." Bleu said, "Uh- one of my brothers."

This was news to me. I didn't even know Bleu had a sister much less multiple brothers.

"Are you hungry?" Michelle asked.

I nodded sheepishly, "Y-yeah."

"Well, come to the kitchen. My husband should have dinner ready already." She smiled and stood up from the couch.

I felt more comfortable with this family than any other family I'd been staying with. Even Danny's family. But… then again, I probably pissed them off real bad. Bleu's parents were really nice and even sympathized with what was going on. But… they don't know I'm Acid. I can't tell Bleu's identical twin brothers apart- at all. One's Geronimo, the other is Corey. She only had three siblings, which only made her one out of four.

"So do you have any siblings?" They asked.

I looked up at them, then I looked at Bleu, who had obviously never told them. "No." I said plainly. "My dad's sobriety was so screwed up when I was born that my mom wanted to wait until he was sober before having another kid." I looked down, "But uh… I'm never getting a sibling."

"Because he still isn't sober?" the father, Patrick, asked.

I glanced up at Bleu. She cleared her throat. "His mom, uh… passed away." She said.

The table grew quiet.

"What happened?" Geronimo- or Corey asked, leaning forward to listen.

"Let's not make him go into it." Michelle said.

"It's been years. I've recovered… I can talk about it." I said, "It-it's okay…" I said.

"Are you sure?" she asked me.

I nodded, "My dad got my mom into some drug. She uh… lost a game of Russian Roulette…" I said, "She shot herself in the head… that's all I know. My dad won't tell me anything else." I explained.

The family was in shock. I avoided eye contact with everyone. Mykenna, who sat on my left, leaned over and gave me a hug. After that, dinner was finished in silence. Nothing much really happened after that that was really worth noting, so…

The next day at school was awkward. Of course I had to go to class, and take my seat next to Danny, who still had his hand bandaged. I avoided eye contact with him, and I think he avoided it, too. Tucker and Sam refused to look at me, so surely they knew. All I could do was sink in my seat with guilt. Bleu sat behind me, unsure as to what to do or say to ease the tension. The when the class started, the teacher walked in and looked at me strangely. "Hazel?"

I nodded.

He blinked and shook his head, "Wow, barely recognized you. You cut your hair and…" he took a moment, "Got a new shirt?"

I nodded again.

He nodded, then shook his head, "I'm not even gonna ask about your forehead." He said and went to his desk.

"Hazel…" someone whispered from my immediate right. I glanced over and saw Danny leaning toward me. "Meet me behind the cafeteria at lunch, okay? I need to talk to you."

So he was at least on speaking terms with me. That's good. I nodded, "Okay." I whispered back. I grew nervous. Danny didn't seem like he was in the mood for anything. It didn't take very long for class to go by and for lunch to arrive. Bleu stayed by my side the whole time. I walked out to the courtyard with her and stopped, "I'm- uh… I'm gonna go meet with Danny now…" I told her.

She gave me an unsure look, "Good luck." She said.

"Thanks." I sighed and walked off and behind the cafeteria. There, I plopped myself down and retrieved a cigarette from my bag. Fortunately I had grabbed my dad's stash before I left the apartment. I lit the cigarette and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes for a moment and exhaled a large puff of smoke. I opened my eyes and heard someone walking up to me. I quickly put the cigarette out and hid it.

Danny sat down next to me. His bandaged hand supporting him as he sat down. He took a deep breath and kept his eyes closed.

I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly he rose his hand, "Not a word." He said flatly.

I held my breath, but slowly let it out.

"I thought about what happened yesterday." He said. "And… debated on whether or not to forgive you…" he sighed.

I listened carefully.

"I'll be honest, "I'm furious. I… was furious…" he said, finally opening his eyes and looking at the ground in front of him. "I almost settling with not even giving a shit anymore." He said, "But… Sam and Tucker talked me out of holding a grudge. They're right, you were right… All those fights between us were my fault. I…" he sighed, "I thought I was protecting people, but… it turned out that I was attacking someone that needed the protection. I can't think of a single occasion where you actually tried hurting someone without reason. The only time you hurt someone was to protect yourself. That night that this happened," he held up his right hand, "I pissed you off… you had every reason to be mad."

I sank and looked down. "Danny, it was because of those incidents that I was terrified to tell you. I wanted to confess, but I was scared that you'd…" I sighed, "I dunno… hate me… you're the first friend I've had in years. Since I moved out of Arizona, at least… I was so scared of losing that… Like I said, it's why I tried killing myself that night. I was so stressed out. I almost killed you, I had to choose between turning in my dad or handing you over to Vlad, and of course I didn't want to do either. Then-"

"Hazel." Danny finally looked at me. "The point is… I'm not mad anymore… I had it coming." He laughed, "I'm bull-headed sometimes, I get it from my dad." He said.

I chuckled, "That's alright, I'm half-pushover bitch, half-scrappy motherfucker that doesn't give a shit."

"Which half are you right now?" Danny smiled and asked.

"I feel like a pushover bitch right now." I said. "But, hey- I got my hair cut." I said.

"Yeah, it looks good." He complimented. "Didn't recognize you when you walked into class. But then I saw the bruise and scab on your forehead and did a double-take."

I smiled, "Yeah, you hit me pretty hard."

"Makes us even, I guess." He held up his bandaged hand and formed as much of a fist as it'll let him.

I bumped his fist carefully with mine, "Even." I smiled, "Thank you…"

**So this one was kinda random. Lemme know what you think! Stay awesome folks!**