A/N: Omg, thank you, Red, Dream, Tekirai-chan, DanMat6288, UnoZ, Angel, Uh.. I can't think of a name :P, Lea, and Konoah's Kage for reviewing and giving your feedback on my story so far! X3

Holy hell, sorry for the wait on the continuation of this story, for I was pretty busy for the past two months. xD I'm hoping to be back on track this summer, by uploading a new chapter every 2 weeks, hopefully! xO Yet again, sorry for such a long wait for all of you who have been patiently waiting, and thanks for doing so too! I kept some of the things you guys had said in mind, like I said, critique is more than welcome. I just hope I'm improving! xO

This chapter turned out pretty long, but with not much action. However, there are some key details in this one that might open up a few questions for later chapters. Which is why by this time, I would like to ask you all a big favor and not post your predictions for future chapters, just in case if you do turn out to be right and someone else sees your post, I don't want them to feel like they're being spoiled. xO I trust you guys though ;) If you have any questions though, please contact me via sending me a note on DeviantArt would be perfect, considering I'm on there everyday. My screename is the same as my screename on x3

Well I guess I should stop talking and let you guys read. Hopefully there aren't many errors in this. Thank you all very much! X3

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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It always figured whenever I was sad in school that I would always curl up on Maxwell's rooftop, away from the rest of the world. What was ironic though was while recent events would definitely pop through my head, there was always one memory that would always come back rushing to me. It was a strange, almost scary memory but I held it dear to me and I had no idea why. Maybe it was because of that strange man…

It seemed like a casual night. Mother would always bathe me as usual in my bubble bath with my favorite rubber duck toy. And while I had always giggled at my mom disguising her voice as a duck, I had always focused my eyes on her silky blond wavy hair; hanging down her shoulders and framing her perfect face. I had to admit, her smile was like the golden sun, it looked so happy… magical if that. That was when my father called into the room. He didn't sound like himself however… he sounded more alarmed.

"You better get in here…" He said. Mother cast her eyes to the door and sighed. Putting the ducky in the bubble infested tub, she gave my hair one last scrub, kissing my cheek and assuring me that she would return shortly. I watched the yellow duck as it slowly floated around the tub, all the while hearing surprised voices and alerting sounds of my mom and dad quarreling. But for some reason… they didn't sound like they were quarreling at each other. Nonetheless, I heard someone else's voice too… or so I could have sworn. And after what seemed like minutes, mother came back into the room; tears streaking down her face.

I tried asking her, "Mom, what's wrong?" However, all she could do was finish washing and drying me. And before she slipped my underwear on, she hesitated. It was hard for me to see, but I was soon wrapped into her embrace again. Of course, I was scared at the time, the one person I looked up to was in a broken down state. I held her in response.

She kissed me goodnight as I was placed into my crib. But even after the lights were turned off and the night sky became the new source of light, I still couldn't fall asleep. So I let my eyes and my mind wander everywhere I could go, until I could find a state of peace. I almost got there; I would have if I hadn't heard a settle sound.

Widening my eyes, I scanned the area around me while burying myself deeper into the covers. It was dark… hazy. But I could sense its presence. The barely silhouetted shadow it seemed, lingered beside my bed side. I could remember the musty scent of dusk and rain filling up my nostrils just barely. It was really hard without my glasses to see this form clearly, but for just some reason I knew… he was looking down right at me. I was well unknown of their intention, which made myself bury myself even deeper under my blanket.

I saw a hand, reaching for a moment towards me. I whimpered and backed away, which I hoped was the reason of his sudden pause. He took his hand down finally, a sigh escaping his unsettled lips. Silence…

"I… I can't seem to remember…" I heard a low muted voice. I couldn't reply with anything. I could only stare blankly at him.

"Only faces… who… who are these people? … Do I really have a purpose?" I wasn't sure why, but my fears of this strange man faded off. Why did I suddenly feel comfort?

"… What does this all mean? Why am I here? …Who are you?" This was the last thing I heard from him. I knew then that this moment would linger with me for a long time. I couldn't forget his presence.

… Because the next moment I blinked, he was gone without a sound…

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The Universe Will Die Without You

Chapter 18 Welcome Home

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I was curled up in the snow. By myself. Crying like the pathetic being I was. Even after referring back to my strange memories, it didn't comfort me this time. Father's words still came rushing back to me, even when I tried blocking them away. And the more it tormented me, the more I felt like ripping myself apart into bloody pieces.

… Was this all my fault after all? I thought to myself. Bringing my now purple hands from the snow, I brought one to rub a tear away… but something kept me back. Instead, now sitting on my freezing knees I looked up into the blinding white sky. I couldn't even feel the falling snow, for my skin was already frozen from my tears. It was then that my mind finally went blank for several minutes, just sitting there, drowning in my own self pity.

"Ah…" I was startled when something finally caught my attention. Looking down next to me, I saw what seemed to be that same monkey that tagged along with me when I had first left Snow Wood… unaware of what had happened so far. Bubble Monkey looked at me with its big brown eyes as if he were trying to communicate a message to me. He was probably wondering, or asking in his own language, what was wrong. I wanted to reach out to the monkey and I dared myself, letting my right hand stray from my body to reach to its red fur. However in return, the monkey backed away slightly. And with that I stopped.

The monkey looked back at me with that same look, like he was frowning at me. I was sure I looked at least half dead to him because I wasn't really sure how to respond. It was then that I started to hear faint but settle voices from the distance. When they grew louder and more defined in my eardrums I realized that I had been sitting in the snow for two hours all by myself. The sound of Ness and the other's voice became more than clear to me then.

I didn't want them to see me alone like this, I thought. Finally, I forced myself to get off my knees, which then felt like snapping in half as I stood there, letting my feet sink into the ground. The monkey looked up to me, tilting its head. Finally, I let myself smile, just slightly back.

"Let's go," I told him.

---

About half way down the snowy mountains did I notice how cold I really was. And when my body temperature rose back up again, I felt myself shivering even more. Bubble monkey rushed ahead of me once and a while to make sure I was following him. Once and a while he would take out the gum he still had in his mouth to stretch it out and stick it back in. Wouldn't he have a weird taste in his mouth by now? Or maybe he liked it? I didn't seriously get this monkey addicted to something did I?

I eventually spotted the lab, wanting to turn back the other way as I dreaded every step I took towards the building. I wasn't really going to face him again just now was I? My chest tightened up once more as I clutched at it, hoping for it to fade off. But it only cramped up more- I was scared to confront that man again and it was giving my body negative side effects. My sight waved ahead of me as I widened my eyes. Moments passed by as I stood there, mesmerized in my own fear and lack of breath. When I felt a tug on my pants, my body gave off a violent sudden shiver. Looking down, I met that same expression from that damn monkey as he tilted his head. I closed my eyes and cursed under my breath.

"What am I doing?" I emphasized, though I wasn't sure why. I decided after looking up at the building stubbornly, I turned to walk away again; where I was headed was beyond me. Even then, bubble monkey still followed me.

---

"Jeeeff!" I could have sworn I heard behind me. I shook it off and kept walking, keeping my dull eyes straight forward. I wasn't sure if the monkey was following me by this time or if he had followed the many voices behind calling my name.

"Jeeeeeffff" Ness hollered. I shook my head.

"Jeff come back, where are you going?!" Paula said next. I growled.

"Hey four eyes did your ears freeze off?" Picky yelled. I swore someday that little punk would get it. Something that was to be expected, yet still shook me out of my reverie happened. Feeling the sudden smack of a ball of snow hit the back of my head and had managed to make my glasses fall off.

"Good strike," Ness snickered. I growled again, assuming who threw the ball as I knelt down to feel for my glasses. When my frozen hand could identify the glasses I slipped them on past my ears. Standing up as my eyes came into focus, all three of them who now wore coats, stood around me, all smiling in their own goofy fashion. They found it funny. I didn't.

"Who threw it?" I spoke bitterly, eyes immediately steering towards Picky, who frowned guiltily back at me. However almost instantly, Paula stepped up to the plate.

"I did, I thought it would catch your attention, I'm sorry. Though it did work…" She said looking up at me. I frowned down at her but of course I couldn't hold any offense to her. I could feel Ness's pair of cautious eyes on me. I rubbed my head.

"It just startled me is all," I replied.

"What were you doing out here all by yourself without telling us are you dense in the head or something?" Ness asked.

"I… no! Just no Ness, alright?" I replied. Ness frowned.

"You look really pale," he said. "Like sick pale, your cheeks aren't even pink like Picky and Paula's, are you really alright?" Ness asked.

"And your hands look really purple…" Paula said nervously.

"Nonetheless your eyes especially look pink and disoriented," Picky said.

"What the hell have you been doing out here all this time?" Ness questioned. I flared up my nostrils.

"Well what do you think, Ness? What is the only reason at the moment that could possibly be wrong with me right now?!" I spat.

"You didn't have to come out here and freeze your ass to death though!" Ness said back.

"Guys, don't…" Paula said as she grabbed a hold of Ness's hand. I snorted.

"Look. Maybe this temperature is freezing for you three, but this happens to be my natural habitat that I've been living in for most of my life. I can freeze my ass off as I will," I told them. Ness and Paula frowned at me while Picky had a humorous expression that read, 'What a douche bag.' Ness did nothing, looking back at me with a cold stare as he started to walk away.

"Ness!" Paula said alerting as she trailed behind. Picky chuckled as he started to follow.

"Way to go-"

"Shut up," I snapped at him. Paula looked back at Picky and I.

"So is that it then?" I yelled. "You'll just leave anyways!" I meant that last phrase to be a question. However, Ness said nothing; didn't even turn back. I gritted my teeth. I could start to feel the below freezing temperature creep up on my skin again. Apparently the heated conversation started to circulate my blood again. And after standing there for what felt like minutes just watching them walk away, I trailed behind them.

I really didn't want them to see me like this…

---

So eventually, we made it back to the lab, which I inwardly cringed at.

"Hey, look who followed us," Picky said looking back at me. Paula smiled slightly while Ness still seemed to hold a grudge against me. It was then suddenly that my feet started to stumble a bit. Paula grunted worryingly of course as I quickly found the lab wall for my support. Standing up straight again, I looked at the three of them, all, especially Ness, couldn't look away from me.

"Wait outside," He told me as Paula followed him inside the building I dreaded. I sighed, leaning my back against the wall, letting my eyes stray up to the white sky again. I knew coming to this stupid place was a bad idea. Picky finally said something.

"So what happened?" Picky asked. I turned my now lowered head away from him. I didn't say anything, not because I didn't want to but I couldn't. Picky sighed.

"You know I didn't mean all that stuff back there, don't you?" He asked. Deep in the back of my mind, I had a feeling he had a good side to him, so this bit of info wasn't the least big shocking, especially because of how numb I still was from what had just happened. My voice was hoarse when I spoke again.

"Thanks… I know," I muttered. Staring at my snow covered shoes; I wiggled my now frostbitten toes in attempt to feel them. It matched perfectly with the heart I couldn't feel beating in my chest… no matter how cliché or emo that sounded, it was true. When I heard Ness and Paula approaching the door, there was no sound from the monkeys or father anywhere inside.

"So… he said it was up to us if we stay or not and if we do leave, we'd need to come back in a couple of days. So we have a lot of time to spare," Ness suggested.

"So… are we going home then?" Picky asked.

"Yeah… I have to take you back anyways before we can really move on again. Which also means that; when we do come back, I'll need to go back to that cave. There's something I really need there, I just know it… I can feel it," Ness said.

"How come I can't come? Surely I can be of some help, right?" Picky asked. "If four… I mean, Jeff can go with you guys, why can't I?" Picky asked. Ness shook his head.

"Thanks but… I dunno, this is personal to us… it's hard to explain," Ness said.

"You understand, right?" Paula asked him. Picky nodded slowly, then shook his head no. Paula sighed.

"Maybe you'll understand soon enough," She said. My mouth went dry as a quiet Ness finally stood in front of me with a hot steaming mug in his hands. His eyes hardened as they met mine. He held the mug up to me.

"You need this, drink it up," He semi- ordered me. I frowned at him.

"Make me," I told him.

"Fine," He said as he literally grabbed my hand, which I did not even feel, and forced my fingers around the hot mug. I watched this amusingly in a sense, until my bitter feelings returned as I soon swatted the mug away into the snow; hot liquid melting it down to the ground. All the sudden, my eyes widened as a hand flew at my face. I actually felt the sharp stinging sensation travel across my cheek, making my nose wrinkle as an odd electric feeling traveled to my fingers and my toes. I could hear the sound of someone's snort. Looking down again through crooked lenses at Ness's narrow silvery eyes made something in my stomach turn. What was I doing? We were making no progress whatsoever.

"How long are you going to keep this ridiculous attitude of yours up?"

"I'm not drinking anything from that bastard," I replied.

"Yeah well if you won't drink something from here, you damn will when we reach Onett," He replied.

"Stop fighting!" Paula finally growled. "If you keep this up I… I'll do something you two will regret!" Paula threatened.

"Paula no," Ness told her as Picky kept laughing.

"You know, your laughs aren't lightening up the moment Picky," I told him. By now Picky rubbed his nose chuckling.

"I'm sorry, It's just… it's just… oh man, you two fight like a married couple, it's just ridiculous!" Picky finished. By this time my jaw dropped. Ness looked infuriated as it looked as if his cheeks flared up.

"Come over here and say that to my face Picky and I'll smash you back to Onett like a home run!" Ness spoke in hostility as he grabbed out his metal bat. Picky backed off.

"Ehehe I'm just saying, don't get worked up about it. You two fought nothing like how my parents fought," He replied shrugging. Ness snorted as he put his bat back behind his back turning around.

"Anyways… how the hell do we even get to Onett?" Picky asked. Ness frowned at this, seeing, as I assume, that Picky wasn't too familiar with his special abilities, at least not fully. But was Ness ready? Ness sighed and looked around and walked a certain distance to get another look around. He wasn't serious, was he?

… he was

"What are you doing Ness?" Paula asked.

"Just wait…" Ness seemed to look hard into the distance, probably observing if he'll run into anything along the way. Ness closed his eyes.

"Let me do a test run. Just stay here a moment," Ness told us.

"Ness, don't risk it, what if you can't come back?" I asked.

"I have enough PSI for plenty of trips," He replied.

"I don't get it, what's going on?" Picky asked crossing his arms.

"At least let me come with you so you won't get lost by yourself?" I asked. Ness snorted, looking back moreso at Picky.

"No way, I can't leave Picky with Paula alone together, you babysit them," He told me. Picky's jaw seemed to drop slightly.

"Take me?" Paula asked.

"Nah, I don't wanna risk it…" Ness sighed. I raised an eyebrow.

"Take… me?" Picky asked. There was a pause; Ness shrugged.

"No one will notice if anything bad happens to you. Let's go," Ness replied. I snorted in amusement. Picky waved his arms in defense.

"On other thought, maybe it isn't a good idea," Picky replied. Ness chuckled.

"I'll be right back," He said. I wanted to halt him.

"Wait-"

"But he was gone in an instant. Looking back at Paula and Picky, they looked astonished.

"What the fuck?" Picky swore.

"What… Ness? Where'd he go?" Paula asked.

"Hopefully… uhh… let's just hope he comes back?" I replied. In mid sentence, I could hear an odd sound in the distance, like a jolt of concentrated wind approaching. But on the other hand, a gust of wind blew by, so it probably wasn't him. I walked up to the spot where Ness was standing, looking around through the trees and the distance. Suddenly however, I could hear one's screams of protest in the distance.

"No, not the tree!" I could have sworn I heard a voice holler. However, my eye searching was all in vain.

"Where the-" My eyes widened as Ness was catapulted towards my direction, screaming at me to get out of the way. However, it was too late as the mere force made us tumble what felt like meters away off of our feet. Snow choked my nose and my throat, while managing to lose my glasses in the process. I could feel Ness grip my hand for dear life, stretching it out enough for me to yelp in pain. When the chaos finally ended, both of us lay in the snow, feet away from each other in silence.

"Owww…" Ness complained; mouth muffled in the snow. We could hear snow crunching approaching us quickly.

"Ness, Jeff, are you two alright?" Paula asked scared. Poor girl had no idea yet what he just did. Trying to move, I hissed in pain.

"My head hurts" Ness complained. By this time, I could barely move my left shoulder, and when I attempted, I bit my lip, trying not to whimper.

"Sorry… Jeff," Ness said. By this time, I could sense someone handing me my glasses, which in surprise, still seemed to be in one piece. When my sight was clear again, someone rest a hand on my shoulder, and suddenly my sore left side was refreshed and new again. I rotated my whole left arm.

"Thanks Ness," I thanked him as Paula helped me up on my feet.

"Does that sorry count for when you slapped me too?" I asked.

"Hell no," Ness replied bluntly.

"Ness, was that your new ability? It looks uncontrolled, are you sure we can reach Onett with that?" Paula asked worried. Ness shook the snow out of his hair.

"Onett itself is pretty flat, the neighborhood streets are usually empty and we don't have much to run into. I just had a problem getting here because there are so many damn trees and rocks around," Ness replied.

"And yet, you managed to tackle down Jeff, which would have been at a very low percentage considering he's the only Jeff here. Way to go," Picky said thumbing him up. I exhaled with my lips plastered together.

"I didn't mean to, he was in the bit of open space I was heading to," Ness replied. Paula seemed uncomfortable.

"So… are we ready then?" Ness asked. All of us were pretty silent.

"The question is, are you ready to transport all us?" I replied. Ness pondered a bit, looking out into the distance out into the trees. His expression seemed to be bothered, but his stance was calm.

"I dunno… we won't find out if we just stand here though…" He said.

"True… so are you sure you can give it a go now?" I asked. Ness nodded soon enough.

"Everyone stand in a line over here I guess," Ness replied. And so we all did, standing in front of a tree in the snow; Ness sought in the distance once more to be sure we weren't going to collide into anything.

"I think this is where I was… I guess we should all hold hands," Ness said. Ness, who was in front, held onto Paula's hand, who held onto my hand, who I held…

"But I don't wanna get four-eye coot-" I kicked snow in his face.

"Hey, knock it off-" I kicked more snow in his direction. I snickered as I heard Ness sigh in irritation.

"Picky, get up here," Ness said. Picky kicked snow at me, while I responded the same way, both of us chuckling now. Now Picky was second in line, so I was to hold Paula's hand.

"Kay, let's go," Ness said as he started walking; all of us voicing in protest, but it was all too late as everything around us started rushing faster and faster past us. Paula started screaming, more in amusement however after a few seconds.

There was a moment when we were all flying in the air, thousands and thousands of feet above the snowy capped mountains through the snow littered sky.

Away from him finally, I thought.

---

In a matter of minutes, we were running through the streets of a residential area, hands still clasped together. And even when it was safe to stop, we all kept jogging, trying to adjust to the now still atmosphere. When we finally stopped, all three of us looked around astonished.

"Wha…" Paula said. Picky looked around in a state of shock, until looking at Ness, who just stood there, amusingly observing our shocked states. I was with him the first time he did it, and I was still shocked.

"Holy hell Ness, that was tight! Just think of the amazing places you can go with that! That was… was… teach me!" Picky stumbled over his words. Ness had a half crooked smile hanging from his face.

"I don't think I can…" Ness replied.

"And why not?" Picky asked disappointingly. Ness looked a bit uncomfortable with the situation.

"I won't be able to do that either Picky, and don't talk to loud about it, we're in public," I replied. Picky frowned.

"Oh… that's right," Picky replied, seemingly in deep thought, looking at Ness, almost in observation. Looking between the two, and how Ness had his eyes downcast, Picky knew something that neither Paula nor I knew about. Picky then outstretched his arms over his head.

"Well, I guess I, or we should head back home now. My mom will forget about me and eat my leftover Chinese in the fridge. This definitely is Onett…" He said, becoming in deep thought again.

"Does this mean we can finally meet your mother Ness?" Paula asked happily. It took a moment for Ness to register the question through his head as his eyes bobbed up towards her.

"Yeah…" He smiled. He seemed worried a bit. I didn't blame him very much.

"Well then what are we waiting for? I've always wanted to meet her; let's go see her!" Paula cheered, grabbing both Ness and Picky's hands and walking off down the street. I followed behind deep in my own thought.

I wondered what she was like…

---

Onett was a beautiful town. The weather was perfect; the sun was out, reaching three-fourths of the sky, so it must have been nearing four-o'clock in the afternoon. The people looked normal and friendly in the streets. The plants were green and healthy. Kids were out playing and best of all, no one gave us any bizarre stares; they looked at us with smiling eyes. It was a happy, normal neighborhood. I had always wondered what it would have been like to actually grow up in the one I used to live in.

Paula seemed happy to be on her feet, traveling with us, waving and saying hi cutely to the people that passed us by. Their replies were all friendly; a gesture I had been waiting for weeks, no, years to see. Picky seemed contently happy as well. But Ness's head was held low. Something made him not want to be here, and I wasn't even sure what it was. Nervousness? Bad memories? Eventually, Paula said hi to a man in sunglasses and a red business suit. His blond hair stuck up in the middle like a horn, and his dimples would show when he smiled and waved at us, only to pause a second later.

"You… you're that kid," He said. Ness looked up to the man, as if he was trying to remember something.

"Frank Fly…" Ness muttered.

"I see you're doing well," He replied smiling. Ness seemingly gulped slightly.

"Yeah, I could say the same for you too," He said.

"So… what are you up to these days? Are you still out there, getting after those bad guys you've been vowing to go after? Did you find your friend?" He asked. Something in Ness snapped as he winced at the last word 'friend.'

"I… yeah you could say that," Ness shrugged. Frank studied Ness slightly, lifting up his shades, revealing his hazel eyes. Ness looked back at him, but eventually looked away.

"… Where's your determination boy? You had tremendous amounts of it when you won against me. We made a bet to change our lives for the better, didn't we?" He said. Ness shook his head.

"I-'m just not feeling that good today. I'm pretty tired to tell you the truth…" Ness replied. Frank frowned slightly, the corner of his mouth attempting to curve up slightly, but could not find the certainty to do so.

"Just remember that these obstacles are only temporary if we force them to. If we let the obstacle take control, it will always be there. You've pushed through many obstacles; surely you can push through whatever you're going through now. You're a strong young man and I wish more people could see it. But what can I do?" He explained shrugging. Ness could only reply with a sigh. Paula squeezed his hand.

"Just relax for the day Ness, you've done so much, even for me. Cheer up silly," Paula replied. Frank smiled.

"What a cute young girl," He replied, pulling down his shades.

"If you kids get hungry, come and get a burger in town. I'll put them on the house for you kids. See you soon Ness," He said, making his way again. Ness looked down again.

"Ness what's wrong?" I asked, realizing soon after how stupid it was of me to ask such a question. Ness looked back at me.

"Are you warm enough yet?" Ness asked, strangely looking at my face instead of making eye contact. Did he just crack a smile?

"Slightly. I'll be fine Ness, don't worry about me. Let's get to your house so you can sleep," I replied. Ness's mouth curved up. Soon after, both Paula and Picky cracked smiles as well.

"Ok, what is it?" I asked, flushing slightly.

"Oh nothing," Ness replied.

---

Eventually, we climbed up a street that went uphill, hosting fairly nice homes, all speckled in white-golden sunlight. When we reached the top, curving towards the left, there was another stretch of nice homes settled in peacefully in their own snug lots. When we were about to pass the two story white house with the navy blue roof top, Ness paused in his tracks. The front yard was fenced in cherry oak wood fencing. The flower beds all hosted colorful pansies and daisies, perfect for the normal breezy weather. Golden sunflowers grew among the walls of the house, and on the small porch lay an old white dog, lazily drifting in his own dreams.

"So… this is it," Ness replied. "… My house," Ness replied.

"Why are you so nervous? You've wanted to see your mom for such a long time Ness," Paula started saying until Picky started snickering.

"It must be nice to be this close to your mommy Ness," Picky replied.

"Since when did you start becoming an asshole again, Picky?" Ness replied. It was around this time that someone's head poked out of one of the windows from the top story. It was that girl from Threed, I thought. The girl looked down at us wide-eyed.

"Mooom! Ness is home!" We could hear her holler. Ness growled in annoyance.

"Way to scream it to the world, Tracy," He muttered under his breath. Soon enough, the blond gal, opened the front door and skipped over to greet us.

"Oh and you brought Picky back too, that's good, Lardna was starting to bug us about him. You should go back and see her now," Tracy said. Picky shrugged.

"I'll be over in a little, she won't care," He replied, but Tracy paid no mind.

"You brought home these two as well!" Tracy smiled, immediately wrapping her arms around Paula in greet.

"Tracy what are you doing?" Ness sighed.

"Hi Tracy," Paula smiled. Tracy's grin was big.

"You're so cute Paula- erm… I mean hi!" She giggled. Around this time, the white dog joined us, slightly growling at our intrusion, but accepted Paula's attempt to pet it.

"Em… what was your name again?" Tracy smiled, cheeks flushed slightly while rubbing the back of her head and holding out her hand. I chuckled slightly.

"Jeff," I told her, accepting her hand in a shake.

"Yes, of course," She replied laughing embarrassingly now. I could only laugh slightly with her. Ness frowned.

"You seem happier to see Paula and Jeff than me," Ness replied. Tracy exhaled.

"What? I can talk to you anytime I want considering you're the one calling home every two days," She replied. Ness flushed.

"I do not!" Ness argued.

"Do too, mneeeeh," She said, sticking out her tongue. Ness growled.

"Stop acting as if you're older than me!" Ness grew hostile.

"Then grow up, mama's big boy-"

"Don't call me that!" The front door opened again. In the door way stood a young woman dressed in jeans and a green long sleeved shirt. Her blond hair was short and wavy. When she spotted us, her expression was blank, but when Ness and her finally met eyes, a soft, welcoming emotion washed over her as she smiled contently. From the look of Ness, it seemed as if he wanted to rush into her arms. What kept him from doing so, I could only guess, was so he wouldn't embarrass himself.

"Oh Ness, you look dirty!" She laughed, walking over to us. Ness's shoulders dropped slightly, looking up to his mother, both staring at each other for a moment, until she finally extended her arms.

"Welcome home, Ness," She said. Ness paused for a moment, until eventually crashing into her arms, wrapping them around her back.

"Mom…" He mumbled. Sooner than later, he let go, surprising her by doing so; cheeks slightly flushed, looking away.

"I… I was wondering…" His mother smiled.

"They can stay over too. Stay as long as you need to," She replied, looking over at Paula and I.

"Introduce to me again, Ness, who are your friends again? You know how bad I am with names," She asked. Ness grunted.

"This is Paula, and that's Jeff," He replied. His mother 'ahhed' in approval.

"That's right! Ness was telling me all about you Paula, even before he left to go find you…" She trailed off. Paula tilted her head.

"Oh, excuse me; I forgot you were Paula Polestar! Oh my how embarrassing of me!" She laughed slightly. "Are your parent's okay with you traveling along with my son?" She asked sounding worried. Paula nodded.

"It'll be okay," She replied. Ness frowned slightly.

"We're going to your parent's house tomorrow Paula… if that's what you want," Ness said. Paula shook her head.

"No I don't need to see them, it's more important if we-"

"We're seeing your parents, Paula," Ness stated. Paula froze for a second.

"Oh… kay," She replied. His mother looked at them skeptically, almost worryingly to Ness, then sighed.

"You must be Josh then," She smiled, holding a hand out towards me. I chuckled.

"Jeff," I replied smiling, accepting her hand. His mom laughed again.

"Haha, there I go again. Jeff is it? Thank you for looking after my son, and this beautiful young girl," She replied. I rubbed the back of my hand.

"It's… nothing," I laughed slightly, feeling a bit misjudged.

"Mom, I'm going to bed, come on Paula," He suddenly said, taking her hand. His mom however halted them.

"Oh Ness, you know better than to just drag girls up to your room!" She started giggling. Picky snorted slightly. Ness flushed.

"It's nothing like that!" He spoke nervously. "I'm just… really tired," He said.

"Well I can't let Paula sleep in your room, her parents wouldn't like that," She smiled. "Even though I trust you," She said. Tracy finally intruded.

"She can sleep in my room tonight," She smiled.

"I thought you were inviting your friend Kaitlin to spend the night," She said.

"We can sleep on the floor, Paula can have the bed! It'll be fun, a girl's slumber party, right?" She smiled winking at Paula. Paula seemed a bit hesitant from the offer but soon enough she accepted it.

"Thank you," She said quietly.

"And then what about you, where should you go tonight?" His mother asked me.

"He can share my bed if he wants to," Ness sighed. However, to all of our surprises, she shook her head.

"I can't allow that either," She smiled. "Our couch can fold out into a futon, it would be perfect for you," She smiled to me. I wasn't sure if I was to be grateful or not. But when I saw her glancing to the house next door, I had a hunch that her reasons lay beyond just comfort and room.

"It's alright; the couch is perfect for me. I appreciate your kindness ma'am," I told her. She smiled.

"Just call me Debbie," She said. I could only nod.

"Right," I said. Debbie sighed, smelling the cool breeze that past us.

"Well what do we say that I cook up your favorite meal tonight Ness? I bet you've been dying to give your friends a taste of my special steak. It's a perfect day to barbeque. Now run upstairs, get yourself cleaned off and relax. Dinner will be around seven," She said. Ness finally cracked a smile.

"Thanks… mom," He said. Finally, we all walked inside her house, not even realizing that Picky had already gone his separate way.

---

Ness's house was kept clean and organized, but still held that cozy, welcoming feeling of home. The flowers were real, and they were arranged in multiple colors on multiple tables throughout the house. When you entered through the front door, you were already greeted to the living room, where I had spotted a soft plush couch, directed in front of a normal sized, non-flat TV sitting on a stand on the floor. An orange blanket covered and curtained part of the back rest of the sofa, which seemed to point to the entry way to the kitchen, and the stairs that were just right next to it. Down the hall looked to be a bathroom and the laundry room. I rest my bag on the couch before rotating my shoulders around. Ness had already started up towards his room.

"Oh and Ness, sometime either tonight or tomorrow could you look at this letter that your teacher sent home? It might be really important," She said. Ness nodded.

"Got it," He replied, walking up. Debbie sighed again. "Oh Ness, there you go again without much to say..." She said, walking into the kitchen. I frowned slightly. Tracy looked excited for some reason as she and Paula went up to her room. She seemed to be a big fan of her. It was finally time for me to sigh as I sat on the couch, letting my mind finally wander again.

… and even laying in the comfort zone of someone else's home, his anger still plagued my mind. As my mind wandered to the conversation we had again, I had the urge, the hunger to punch that man. Just the nerve of him to say those words to me was enough to-

"Dad…"

"I finally see my son… after so many years… blaming me… for everything, just because he couldn't hear those three simple words…"

"Dad"-

"… I hate you…"

"But… dad…"

"GET OUT!"

I didn't realize how hard I clutched my fist; white knuckles turning the tips of my fingers red. All the while, I was interrupted by one's friendly gestures.

"Hello Jeff," Debbie smiled, holding what looked to be a hot steaming mug in her hands. My eyes widened, sitting up.

"Ness told me you were cold not long ago, so he asked me to make some tea for you," She smiled.

"Did he really?" I asked, slightly embarrassed. She set the mug down on the coffee table next to the couch.

"Just make yourself at home dear. If there's anything else you need, just tell me," She said, starting to walk back into her kitchen. I looked at the mug with sincerity. It was rare for one to make me such a nice thing, nonetheless, someone else's own mother. Ness didn't take her for granted… did he?

"Wait…" I managed to say. Debbie paused for a moment, looking back at me. I didn't turn my head, keeping my eyes glued to the hot tea awaiting my frostbitten lips.

"… Thank you," I told her. There was a pause.

"Of course," She said. Her tone sounded a bit confused, but happy nonetheless. I sighed through my nose, letting the hot honey-flavored chamomile tea fill my nostrils and warm up my senses, even though they were already warming up in the first place. It still felt night, and for once, my restless mind was at ease. When I set the mug down on the table, my eyes trailed to a nearby family photo. Picking up the frame, I studied the four smiling faces. Ness was a young boy, holding his hat on his head grinning; the sun making his silver-violet eyes sparkle. Tracy was holding what looked like the father's hand. The father himself; looked to be a business man, harmless at best. His smile was just like everyone else's in the family. It was comparable to my own family photo on the beach. Debbie looked lovely, a beautiful catch for the gentleman she stood next to. But deep down inside, though it might sound cruel, I just couldn't think that she was comparable to my own mother. I looked at Ness again, and the adorable smile that was spread across his face.

… Come to think of it… did I ever see him smile like that? Thinking back at all the previous times he's smiled at me, again, something in my chest swirled as I placed the photo back down immediately to pick up the tea again. Stop thinking of him like that, I thought. It's stupid; gay if you will. Time passed again without my notice. Suddenly, there was a knock, from the window. My jaw dropped in annoyance.

Through the window was Picky, trying to get my attention by sticking his fingers inside his mouth, stretching out his cheeks to stick his tongue out at me. I grumbled to myself, placing the tea on the table and walking to the front door.

"What do you want?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Just seeing what everyone's doing, is that a problem with you?" Picky replied. I grumbled to myself.

"We're just resting basically," I said, soon to be cut off.

"Actually, there were a few reasons why I came here. I wanted to give this back to Paula," He said holding out what looked to be a pink hair clip with a heart plastered to it. My eyebrow perked up.

"How'd you get her hair clip?" I asked.

"Because she forgot it at Monotolli's place duh," He replied. I smirked.

"How'd you remember to pick it up for her?" I replied. Something in Picky clicked slightly. Uh-huh…

"Well it's so damn bright and pink how could I not see it?" He said.

"Riiight, I'll give it back to her for you, how is that?" I said, trying to reach for the clip. However, Picky immediately moved it away from me, holding it behind his back.

"No way, you'll give her four-eye cooties," He said, sticking out his tongue. My jaw cracked at his statement. Managing to calm down, I sighed.

"… Come hang with me for a second," He finally said in a serious tone. I frowned.

"What why?" I replied, noticing the mood change in the air.

"You've talked to him right? There's something I need to show you," He said. Pokey was the only person that clicked in my mind, which brought up the other question I held to me before, was he the reason that Deborah couldn't let Ness and I share the same bed?

"What… kind of thing?" I asked.

"You'll see… I think you'll find it very useful," He said.

---

Picky's home overall was bigger than Ness's house. It was conveniently awkward how the both of them lived right next door to each other. But for some reason, while it must have been worth a lot in its prime, there was an unsettling feeling in the air. Was it the un-mowed lawn or the dying flowers in the bed? Or was it the chipping white paint and the rusty old random appliances and trash littering their grounds? Just what the hell happened here anyways?

"My mom's out with her boyfriend tonight and there's nothing in the fridge, so I'm crashing over at your guys' for dinner. Deb's won't mind, she trusts me more than anyone else that's lived here," He said.

"Of course she'd trust you more, you're the only one that still acts sta-" I stopped myself, trying not to say anything too hurtful. It was his family after all. But Picky shrugged.

"Just say it, my family sucks, I know. I don't really care, my parent's never cared. I could only frown.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I told him. Picky opened the door to the inside, and instantly, three cats skittered outside.

"Damn cats, how many does she own now, five?" Picky questioned as we walked inside. Instantly, I could tell the atmosphere held the exact opposite vibe from Ness's house. Both un-tidy and messy, there was garbage to be thrown away, including the many empty pizza boxes sitting on the floor, by the messy couch and some of the broken contents sprawled about. And the air had a strong scent of cat waste and musk; old stains covering parts of the floor, some in which were fresh. It seemed more like a cat's land than a home. No wonder no one wanted to be here, I thought.

"Picky, you can report this you know, this is unsanitary; there are flies everywhere!" I told him. Picky shrugged again.

"It's not like that would change much. This house was doomed ever since we moved here all those years ago," He said. A gray tabby cat right then decided to rub against my leg. Shivering slightly, I shifted a bit. A cat hadn't touched me-I don't think ever.

"That's our real cat, Charles. These other cats started piling in once dad and Pokey moved out. Anyways, follow me," He said. My lungs became shallow because of the foul odor in the air. Once we got upstairs, it didn't get any better. Down the hall there were about five doors. The far left door led to the master. The room across from it we walked towards. I assumed it was Picky's room, which didn't look too bad off hand. Most of the mess was dirty laundry thrown on the ground and a few wrappers and cans here and there, but all in all, he didn't have many things to throw around. Picky sighed, looking though his drawers and closet. Eventually, he pulled out a screw driver and a metal hammer. My eyebrow perked up.

"What are you doing anyways? And why am I here? Why isn't Ness here?" I asked.

"My father banned him and his family from this house, so he isn't allowed over here. Of course the ban isn't as bad now since dad moved away. But another reason why I didn't invite Ness is well- you'll see," He said. Something in my deep stomach turned slightly from those words. We walked down the hall again into the smell again as two more cats passed our feet. We stopped in front of the locked door that I had my eyes on when we walked up here. Posters covered the door, one being a "Parental Advisory" poster.

"This door hasn't been opened well in almost a year, so I'm pretty nervous about opening this door myself," He said. I sighed.

"This Pokey's room?" I asked. Picky nodded.

"Yes and no, he kind of had two rooms to tell you the truth, which I'll show you in a little bit. But what I'm looking for is probably in here," He said, taking the hammer and banging the door handle. I chuckled.

"That's your method of opening the door?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?" Picky replied. I laughed.

"I'll be right back," I told him.

---

Coming back, I brought the Bad Key machine that Maxwell had lent me my first night on my own.

"Wow, so you are useful," He said. I snorted.

"What a shocker, I did something," I told him, unlocking the door. However, neither of us budged the door open.

"You open it, it's your brother's room," I said. Picky sounded disapproved.

"Eh…" He didn't have much to say, but he paused. Finally I gave up, taking the handle in my hand and opening the door, awaiting the horrifying suspense that Picky warned me about…

… Only to be greeted by a normal, organized, ordinary room. Both of us stood there, shockingly so.

"It's… clean?" Picky said.

"Picky, this is the cleanest room in the house, why would Ness be so afraid of this?" I asked. Picky looked a bit dumfounded.

"Wha… it was disgusting the last time I saw it," He said. Looking around, this was almost cleaner than Ness's house, but it had a sense of loneliness the longer I stood inside it. Picky ran away downstairs. And there I was, alone in the room that belonged to a mentally-insane person that wished to kill me. Looking around, I started to feel cold again and isolated. Something about this room… I thought. It made me feel uncomfortable, and I wanted to get out of there. I heard Picky running up the stairs again.

"I'll need your bad key machine for the shed out back," He said.

"What are you going to do with this room?" I asked him.

"You'll see," He said.

"Why don't you tell me?" I asked.

"Don't feel like it," He said, shrugging, walking down the stairs again; motioning me to come with him. I closed the door behind me, feeling a cold chill rushing to my shoulders after walking away from the room.

---

Outside, the sun was already on its last stretch to touch land. Their back yard wasn't any better. It was nothing but weeded dirt and garbage, littered here and there. It was a dump! The toy pool to the side was damaged, old and torn. The tree wasn't dead but it had seen better days from what I could see. And then there was the shed, which beyond me, happened to be important as well. It was a plain cream; door hinges rusted in bright red crust. The roof was old and rickety; I wasn't sure whether it could hold up in the next rainfall. So what was so important about this shed anyways?

Using the Bad Key machine I managed to pop the lock open with a snap- making the top half of the door fall out of line. Picky pushed the door open, only to step back from the collective dust that filled our nostrils as we literally coughed to death. When we could breathe once more, Picky tried opening the door carefully. My eyes widened slightly.

It looked to be another room. Posters covered the walls as well as drawings of the Flying Man. The old rusty looking bed was covered in burnt trash and junk-no… it looked as if someone had tried setting the whole thing on fire once taking another step back to observe the shed, but from the inside out. Who would have done this?

"Pokey tried burning his things before moving away," Picky finally said. "Apparently he didn't want anyone, like us, going through his stuff once he left. I always questioned his motives, but I'm starting to catch onto what's going on, even if it's unbearably confusing to me still." I paused for a moment, taking a piece of lined paper with old math equations off the floor.

"I see… why did he have two rooms?" I asked.

"Whenever he and dad fought, he was sent out here, until Pokey enjoyed it out here more than living in the house," He finally said. Something clicked in my mind.

"Then this…"

"What?"

"…Nothing," I said. Picky looked at me strangely then shrugged again. He liked shrugging a lot it seemed. I looked around the small shed again, seeing all of the random novelties around the room, either set up or thrown down on the ground.

"It has to be here somewhere…" He mumbled, looking in the crack of the old mattress on the floor.

"You don't think he would have taken this… thing would you?" I asked.

"Nah, he didn't take anything, and if he would have it would have been a single yo-yo," He replied. My eyebrow perked up.

"A yo-yo?" How strange I thought.

"Just guessing," he said. When I looked at the pictures both on the ceiling and the walls, held up by chewed gum, I spotted another drawing, similar to the one in Ness's notebook. A drawn picture of the both of them, bound by the phrase "BFF" in large, capital letters.

"You can go back to Ness's if you want, there's nothing for you to do here anyways," He told me.

"But are you sure you'll be fine here digging through his stuff by yourself?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's no sweat, I'll find it eventually, hopefully by the time you guys leave tomorrow. May I borrow your Bad Key Machine though during the time?" He asked. I looked at the machine and placed it on the bed.

"Go right ahead," I said.

"Kay, I'll be over for dinner," He said. "See you then." Taking one final look at the poster above my head, I walked out.

"See ya."

---

The house seemed a bit quiet, but the smell of garlic and seasoned steak filled the air. It started to make me hungry; god knew I hadn't had a real meal since forever. It felt weird, but nice to know that such a thing would be offered tonight. Realizing, after a couple more sips of my now cold bitter tea, I got up to use the restroom, only to find that it was already occupied. So I decided to walk upstairs to find the other restroom, which was vacant. I could hear murmurs from the room right across from it; sounded like girl's gossip to me, something I wasn't used to hearing except in events at schools that required both sex Snow Wood Academies.

The bathroom, while overall was a little hectic from girl products, was kept clean and sanitary. Soon washing my hands, I examined my face again, only to squint at myself, placing my fingertips at the cheek that Ness practically bitch-slapped. My jaw started dropping.

Am I seeing a pink in-print of Ness's hand plastered on my cheek? I thought to myself. It was barely visible, but I could have sworn. I decided to ignore its presence and walked out the door.

And once I did, a skittish Ness had almost bumped into me, with an arm full of clean laundry.

"Oh hi…" Ness said, sounding slightly startled. I somehow sounded a bit startled myself.

"Hi… did you need in here?" I asked. Ness nodded.

"Yeah, just to take a shower," He replied. Both of us paused there, just standing in the bath door way. What were we doing?

"Do you need anything, or is everything going alright at the moment?" He asked; eyes downcast away from me. I shook my head.

"I'm fine, but thanks," I replied. What was ironic was that there were many things I needed to say, but nothing could find its way past my lips. Maybe he felt the same way.

"Well… shower time for me," He said chuckling nervously. I became more aware as I got out of his way.

"Yes of course, sorry about that," I replied. Ness slipped by, rather quickly to shut the door behind him. That felt like an awkward moment, I thought. About to walk downstairs to my small couch to read, I was interrupted by a girl walking up the stairs, who had wavy brown hair tied to the side of her hair. She wore yellow shorts and a white blouse shirt. She seemed surprised to see me. She looked away, slightly and swiftly paced by me to walk into what seemed to be Tracy's room. Opening the door however was Paula, with her hair made into a long braid that wrapped around her neck.

"Oh hi Jeff," She smiled. "What are you doing?" She asked. There wasn't much I had to say to her really.

"Nothing… much," I blushed slightly. Suddenly I heard Tracy's voice inside the room.

"Paula drag him in here for a moment," She said. Paula looked in the room embarrassingly.

"What, why?" She said until Tracy opened the door.

"Hey you, get in here, I wanna talk to you," She said, pointing in her room. I gave her a quizzical look.

Soon enough, I was sitting on the floor, cross-legged in a room with three other girls, something I definitely haven't done, if ever. For some reason, I could feel my cheeks flush slightly, feeling almost less dominant in this new territory of pink and yellow flower patterned pale pink walls with band posters covering them. One happened to be a poster of The Runaway Five, hell I even saw a poster of Lady Venus. And by her window, by my amazement was a photo from what looked to be from a magazine, or Paula Polestar in front of what looked like a Pre-School. The pink and purple bed had fuzzy pillows covering the top half and the setting sun glowed through her window.

"Nice… erm… room," I said. Tracy smiled, laying on her bed, looking down at Paula, the other girl and I.

"You sound sarcastic," She said.

"Well it's just… bright is all," I replied. "I'm not used to it," I nervously chuckled. Paula giggled, sitting next to me.

"So… why am I in here again?" I asked looking down.

"Is that a hand print I see on your cheek?" Tracy asked. I flushed.

"Wha-"

"Yeah, it looks like someone smacked you hard across the face or something," She continued. The other girl looked at me.

"Did you just break up with a girl or something?" The other girl asked. I immediately replied.

"No no, it's nothing like that, I just… leaned my hand against my cheek for too long that's all," I started laughing, as so did Paula. When I remembered Paula knew the real deal, something clicked in my mind that made me quite nervous. Tracy 'hmmed.'

"Nah, I think someone slapped you, it's written all over your face," She smirked. I flushed slightly. Paula started laughing even more now.

"Oh be quiet…" I said looking down in embarrassment. Both of the other girls started giggling.

"Did you do it Paula? What did you do?" She started asking.

"Haha, no it wasn't me-"She said.

"Did you and Ness get into a fight or something?" The other girl, who I assumed was Kaitlin asked suddenly.

"No, no no," I said again.

"Ness slapped you?" Tracy asked. I looked down in defeat; I was sure my cheeks were bright magenta by then. God, why did I feel so embarrassed then? The two girls made an odd sound.

"Holy god, he did slap you… oh my god haha," Tracy started laughing.

"Wait, how'd you make him mad then?" Kaitlin asked. Paula, thankfully, went into my defense.

"No, it was all a misunderstanding you see, he didn't… uhh," Paula couldn't really continue.

"Haha, we can't see the print anymore, your face is as pink as my pillow!" She started laughing as she tossed her pillow to the other girl. I turned my head away from everyone.

"How long are you going to keep embarrassing me?" I asked. Tracy laughed.

"I think it's cute when you blush Jeff," Paula finally said. My eyes drifted over to Paula as both of the other girls 'awwed.' I could only sigh and ruffle Paula's head with my hand.

"How'd you make him mad?" Tracy asked, suddenly interested. I looked up to my right, both trying to think and to try and avoid the situation.

"Uhhh… I…"

"What he do Paula?" She asked. All the sudden Paula sat up straight feeling as if she was on the spot light.

"Uhhh… it was just a misunderstanding," She said, trying to avoid it. I sighed.

"Why am I in here?" I asked again, only to feel my glasses get taken away.

"Hey, give those back!" I said, flailing my arms around like an idiot. "I need those!"

"She's right; you have pretty eyes as well. That's so strange…" She said. "When I look into Paula's eyes I start laughing for some reason. I wonder what my reaction will be to you?" She said handing back my glasses. Something popped in my head then.

"Wait, what do you mean?" I said looking at Tracy straight in the eye. For a moment, all she could do was just stare at me. I raised an eyebrow at her. Suddenly, Tracy jumped up startled, looking away.

"You're weird…" I finally said.

"No, your eyes are weird! Look at them Kaitlin!" She said. However, she shook her head and declined.

"No, I saw them in the hall… it's hard to look into them for a while," She said. I gave both of them an odd look.

"What do you feel like when you look at me then?" I asked them. I could hear Demetri on the back of my mind talking about the special eyes to seek 'evil.'

"Just… like my mind is being invaded or figured out," Tracy said, sitting on the far end of her bed, hugging her pillow. "I might like looking at you from afar, but it's freaky when you look at me!" She finally said. I chuckled, slightly embarrassed. Was that an insult or a hit on? I thought.

"Haha, Tracy, remember when Vanessa went out with Ness and she said she couldn't look at him for very long either?" She said. Shocking news for me then, as I suddenly looked up to them suddenly interested in the conversation.

"Ness had a girlfriend?" Paula asked giggling. Tracy snorted.

"Yeah for like a week but he soon broke up with her. They didn't have much going on between them," She laughed. "Nonetheless, that was the only person he really went out with anyways. Jeez, he had more fun playing with his yo-yo or doodling in his book with Pokey than hang with many girls. Nonetheless they met through me anyways," Tracy explained. I sighed. Was it in relief?

"Yeah, your brother is a nice looking guy it's surprising that he doesn't get out much…" Kaitlin said.

"Well excluding you two at least. He did seem excited to meet you at least Paula, for like a week, you were the only person he'd talk about and he still hadn't met you yet!" She said, yawning.

"But now, or at least what I've seen of him, he's not the happy energetic Ness I knew when we were young. He used to be so happy, but now all he does here is mope around and sleep," She said. I sighed.

"There are many reasons why he could be sad. You probably know more than me, but I think it has to do with what's just been happening to us lately…" I explained.

"And let me guess, you two can't tell us what you three have been doing away from your homes?" She asked. There was a moment of silence as I looked down to the ground. Eventually Tracy sighed.

"Well… whatever it is, as long as my brother laughs through it and has a good time with you guys, I don't mind," She finally said. Paula smiled, nudging me.

"Maybe he'll find the right girl for her along the way," Kaitlin commented. Something in my stomach felt weird from those words. Tracy blew air in between her closed lips.

"Ness? I'm really starting to think he's gay," She said. My face flushed slightly. Kaitlin laughed.

"Gay?" Paula asked. I kept silent.

"If not gay, at least bi," Tracy finished, looking at me.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" She said in a convincing tone. I gulped slightly. Suddenly, out of all of our surprises and to my luck, the door opened, but who was at the door made me look the other way, almost instantly.

"Hey, mom wants you to help wash dishes later…" Ness said trailing off, looking at all of us in the room. There was a pause.

"What are you doing in here Jeff?" He asked with slight annoyance in his tone.

"I wanted him to come in here," Tracy replied, filing her nails. Ness frowned. He looked like he wanted to argue back, but didn't. He eventually sighed.

"Why don't you come in and join us then?" Tracy asked, smiling slightly. Ness shook his head.

"Nah… my head hurts. Just keep it down for me please," He said, closing the door behind him. Yet again, another moment of silence. Tracy sighed.

"I'm worried about him… he never talks like he used to," Tracy pouted slightly. Yet again, we all sat there in silence. Maybe this was a good time for me to leave, I thought.

"I'll see you guys when it's dinner," I said, getting up to my feet and walking out of the room.

---

Should I or should I not? I thought to myself, looking down the hall to where Ness's room resided. I wasn't sure how long I stood in the hallway, just letting my sock covered toes roam the wood floor below me while my senses soaked in the delicious flavor of garlic and seasonings from downstairs. When I heard the three girls in their room talking again, I finally walked down the hall.

Ness's door had a poster of a famous baseball player, or at least I assumed it was Ness's room. My hand went to the handle, but my mind told me it would have been better to knock before barging in. I knocked once, hearing the sound of stirring covers behind the door. Eventually there was silence. So I knocked again.

"Who is it?" Ness said in a tired tone.

"It's me Jeff, can I come in?" I said. A pause.

"Yeah…" Slowly opening the door, I was starting to question my motives. Why was I now going into Ness's room and what did I even want to tell him?

His room was dark-ish considering all the lights were out, but the little bit of light that came through the window kept the room slightly lit up to where I could see clearly around the room. Ness's room was similar to Picky's, but with less black and heavy metal sprawled about. His room instead consisted more of sporty things, including a few baseball bats here and there and a baseball glove by the door. When I found Ness sitting up in his bed, he was dressed in more casual clothing; hatless. He was looking down on the floor, wiggling his feet.

"What do you want?" He asked me.

"Can I sit?" I asked. Ness grunted slightly, moving over on his bed so I could sit next to him. And then we just sat there in silence.

"Sorry… about today," I told him. "… I acted like a complete jerk to you… you were only trying to help me back there. And you still are by providing me with a safe roof to sleep under for the night…" I told him. "I'm just a puke-sack, you know that pretty well by now," I chuckled. Ness chuckled slightly.

"Well… I didn't like how you swatted the mug out of my hand," He said. "But that isn't an excuse for me to slap you hard across the face was it?" He asked.

"Yeah it was actually," I replied. Ness laughed a little.

"Well was that all you came in here for?" He asked yawning.

"Dunno actually," I replied. Ness shifted slightly.

"You don't know why you came in here?" He asked. I tried hard to think of a better way to reply.

"Not really… maybe to get away from the world like you are. But you need your time to yourself, so I'll let you go," I said, starting to get to my feet, only to be halted by a hand on my right shoulder, pushing me back down on the bed in my previous position.

"No… you can stay if you want" He said. I didn't have much to say then though, as we basically just sat there in quiet.

"… My father and I fought. That was why I was so bitter with everyone earlier," I finally said. Ness looked up to me, but I kept my eyes to the floor.

"It's been plaguing me all this time… since I've lived that man has been plaguing my life. And the fact that he admitted… hating me… you didn't deserve how I treated you… the way he treated me," I said. "An honestly, I wish I had the courage to go up and… slap my own dad across the face, though that just seems stupid in my case but perfect in ours," I chuckled. Ness still sat there quietly.

"I'm… sorry…" He eventually said. I grunted.

"Hmm? Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything, you never did," I said.

"I… slapped you?" He started laughing. "I couldn't help but notice my hand print across your cheek, ha ha," Ness started laughing. I sighed.

"… Well besides that, but there's no need to apologize for that, I needed it," I said.

"Oh…" He said. I sighed.

"Well I'll be getting out of your hair now," I said getting up again, only to be halted once more by his hand on my shoulder. And once more I sat by him on his bed.

"I thought you wanted to sleep," I told him.

"I did…" He said. I chuckled.

"Then I want to let you sleep," I told him.

"I don't want you to let me sleep," Ness said.

"Why?"

"I dunno…" This was hopeless and was going nowhere.

"So you just want to sit here and do nothing?" I asked.

"Pretty much," He replied.

"Okay…" There was a moment of pause again.

"You have a big selection of baseball cards over there," I said.

"Yeah I guess…" Another pause.

"I'm… remember when we ran into Frank today in the streets?" Ness asked.

"The man in the shades? Yes I remember him, what about it?" I asked. Ness pondered slightly.

"He said that I had a lot of courage before but now he said I looked like I had none," Ness explained.

"A lot has happened that he didn't know. You were tired and you still are," I said. Ness 'hmmed' slightly.

"… I'm scared of what'll happen next…" He said. My eyes widened slightly.

"We almost lost Paula… I'd go crazy without her at the moment. She's the only person that's seemingly identical to me. And… I dunno, recently I feel like someone is going to die and I'll fail to prevent it… or if something really bad happens and it's all my fault because I failed something, and…" I cut him off slightly by putting my hand on his shoulder now. Ness looked up to me surprised slightly.

"A lot has happened to us, yes. Honestly, I'm afraid like you… though I really can't expect what'll await us in Summers. Nonetheless, we still need to meet one more person to make our team a whole. But… I dunno how or what is keeping me here, maybe it's you and Paula. But… I guess to sum things up for you… when you started this journey, did you realize how big it was going to be? And yet you still decided to step up and take the challenge, no matter how scary it looked. It's still a mystery to me what really sparked your travels, but being able to start it was something I could have never done all by myself. After all, it was your voices from far away I was trying to follow to get here. And now look at us… we've done a lot; we still do. But… we're still alive and thriving, right? Maybe the courage Frank saw in you before was replaced by a different kind of courage, one in which you're afraid, but you'll still face anything in order to help and protect others. … I wish I was more like you, I really do. Maybe things between my father and I would have been settled differently if I would have stood up more to the plate and took my own blame. I was just-"

Ness by this time put his hand onto my own on the bed as I was cut off in mid sentence. When I looked at him, he smiled back at me.

"You talk way too much you know that?" Ness laughed lightly. I blushed slightly, feeling silent for a moment.

"Thank you…" He said looking down. For some reason, I paid attention to the settle sparkle in his eyes from the low density light from outside. After hearing Demetri again in my head and Tracy's blabbering, I finally asked something I was meaning to ask for a while.

"Ness?"

"Hmm?"

"… Can you do me a favor? Or could I ask you something?" I asked. Ness paused for a moment.

"Like what?" I paused for a moment.

"… What do you see when you look into my eyes?" I asked. Ness shifted slightly towards me as I let my eyes look at him sideways.

"I… I dunno…" He replied. I sighed, thinking back at all the cruel things Demetri had spoken of.

"Well…" I said, shifting towards him a little bit. Realizing the awkwardness in the air made my heart flutter slightly as I tried looking at him in the eye.

"What do you see now then?" I asked in a lower tone than I had wanted. Ness paused as he looked at me. I felt like looking away, but I bit the inside of my lip to keep me from doing so.

"Wha… why?" He asked; tone hushed and unsure.

"Damn it… Ness I need to know… it has to do with many things… many things I'm trying to figure out…" Ness finally looked me fully in the eyes, in silence and confusion. And there we were, in his bedroom just staring at each other's eyes. It started to feel like the time he accidentally fell on me back at the hostel, I thought to myself.

…

…

Eventually, all of my words and thought were lost as I watched what looked like the Milky Way, swirl around in his deep blue-violet silver eyes. Something sparked, and it triggered some of my deepest darkest thoughts to feel present in my mind. Love… Hate… Glutton… Desire… Lust… for many things in my life that, in all honesty, was too good for me to obtain.

… I didn't know how long it took, but soon enough, when our noses brushed slightly, I could feel the static electricity travel down my spine again. We flinched, but neither of us moved away. Eyes becoming too clouded in deep blue-silver, I eventually closed them; feeling soft, warm, shaky breath against my lips.

… A knock at the door.

It happened so fast as that sound rung my ear drums as I felt a soft, but forceful object fly and slap me on the opposite side of my head from the already slapped cheek. I yelped slightly, feeling my breath shoot out of my lungs for some reason as I lost my balance almost instantly, falling, head-first onto the floor below Ness's bed.

"Hey Ness, it's Picky. Your mom says it's time for dinner," He said. Ness sounded silent at first as I tried collecting myself from the heart-pounding trauma.

"O-okay, tell her I'll be down in just a moment," he replied. Finally I looked up at Ness, who looked to be in a state of shock, looking down blankly at me with wide eyes and a flushed face. His hand was clutched to the pillow he must have hit me with on the bed.

"S-s-sorry, I'll meet you downstairs," He said with a shaky voice, getting up and rushing out of the room without me. My heart was still pounding. Were we really…? When attempting to get to my feet, my hand rested on something small, plastic and slightly round. Lifting my hand to see the object, I paused.

A simple red yo-yo sat in the presence of my eyesight as I picked the small toy up, immediately realizing that the two wheels on the side were too loose, and fiddling with just my hands alone, it was impossible to tighten the wheels back up again. I fiddled with the small red toy until I heard someone calling my name from bellow. I eventually sighed in defeat, still feeling my heart fluttering, as I stuck the small toy in my pocket and headed downstairs.

---

Everyone was downstairs in the kitchen by the time I made it. The counter was set up sort of like a buffet where you could take what you wanted, and everyone walked outside to eat while the sun was still barely lighting up the young night sky. I stood behind Picky apparently as he claimed a baked potato on his plate. Looking down the counter, there was baked potatoes and baked carrots as well as coleslaw and salad. Of course at the end was a good sized juicy steak that Ness took about a quarter of as he left quickly. Was he trying to avoid me now? I took about a half of the potato in front of me, and a few of everything else. It all looked so good; it was too bad I wasn't much in the mood to eat after what had happened.

"Hmm that's strange. Ness takes at least half of the whole steak…" Tracy said watching him walk out the back door into the back yard. Picky shrugged as he took a tiny bit of coleslaw while Paula in front of him claimed a bit of salad and a slice of steak. I walked out of the kitchen into the back yard behind Tracy and Kaitlin, who were yakking about something I didn't know.

Outside, there were a bunch of patio chairs gathered around in a circle. There was a lantern that hung from the patio roof that kept the place lit slightly. Ness was already sitting by his mom and Tracy decided to sit right next to him with Kaitlin. I decided to just take the chair that was besides Debbie, looking back into the kitchen through the screen door. Picky was speaking to Paula.

"What is he doing?" Ness questioned, setting aside his plate to go into the kitchen to talk to them. However, Debbie halted him and told him to sit back down. Ness sighed in defeat and annoyance.

"I think he's giving something back to her," I said. Debbie smiled.

"How sweet of little Picky, I've never seen him do nice things like that, or at least since before his family broke up," She said. Ness was silent, picking at his steak.

"You know, Picky used to be the quiet one but now he's turned into the annoyingly obnoxious one," Tracy commented.

"No, I still think you're the annoyingly obnoxious one Tracy," Ness said, pointing his fork at her. Tracy huffed.

"Says who, steak druggie," She replied.

"Kids not when we have guests here," She said as Paula and Picky finally walked outside and chose their seats, finally forming a circle on the patio.

"So Paula, do people recognize you everywhere or what?" Tracy said. Paula laughed.

"Not really… thankfully," She replied.

"You family does a good thing for the preschool down there in Twoson, Paula. Even some of the young kids here in Onett look up to you," She said taking a sip of her drink. Paula seemingly looked flattered as she waved a hand in front of her.

"No no, I'm sure they look up to my parents more than me, I'm just there occasionally," She told her. I smiled.

"Don't be silly Paula, there's many people out in the world that look up to you. Heck, even I look up to you sometimes, so don't doubt yourself," I told her.

"That's right Paula, I mean couldn't you tell how excited I was to see you again? Everyone knows you," Tracy commented. Debbie giggled.

"Ness was so anxious to meet up with you too," She said. I could tell Ness gulped down too big of a bite of his steak after hearing that statement. Paula could only giggle.

"Well thank you all…" She said. Debbie took another bite.

"And what about you Jeff? How did you end up meeting with my son and Paula?" She suddenly asked. I suddenly had done the same, chocking on a piece of lettuce. This was going to be hard I thought, how was I supposed to keep my identity a secret? I gulped.

"Well I…"

"You used the train up in Winters, didn't you?" Ness suddenly asked. I looked at him, slightly confused. Through his eyes, I could tell that he wanted me to act along.

"Yeah… I used the train up there. There's not many other ways to travel up there, the roads are almost always covered in snow," I said.

"Why did you live up there Jeff?" Kaitlin asked.

"Well… I've been going to a boarding school up there… best in its nation. My family wanted me to get a good education," I said, inwardly cringing about the family lie.

"What's your field of interest then Jeff?" Debbie asked. I looked to the side.

"Well I… I really like rocketry, but in all honesty I don't know if I'd be good enough for that kind of job. So I might look into mechanical engineering instead," I said. Debbie 'ahhed.'

"You know, I bet someday maybe if you do go into rocketry, you'll become a wonderful assistant of Dr. A-"

"AAAHH!" Everyone flinched slightly at Paula's sudden interruption. As the silence grew, Paula fidgeted more and more.

"Ahhh… erm… I really liked your salad and steak Debbie, may I have some more? I'm sorry…" She blushed. I knew just then that she really wasn't hungry for more. It was a distraction to get her off of the course of what she was about to say.

"Why certainly Paula, go right ahead," She smiled.

"Thank you so much!" She said, almost bolting back into the kitchen. I sighed.

"What was I saying again?" Debbie suddenly asked. When Tracy was about to speak up, Picky suddenly interrupted her.

"Thank you for taking me back home Ness," Picky spoke up. God, even he? I thought to myself. Ness looked up slightly.

"It was nothing," He replied.

"Picky you should know, how was Pokey doing?" Tracy asked. Suddenly the air shifted in the conversation, towards a territory that Ness didn't want to go in.

"Eh… alright? He's fine, that's all," Picky lied. So much lying, how long were we to keep it up? I thought. Tracy looked over to Ness, who was silently chewing his last slice of steak.

"Oh yes, of course," She spoke.

"Well whatever you kids are doing, just be careful. Even if I do trust, even all of you," Debbie spoke. "And be careful when talking to stranger; don't let one of you be isolated from the rest, stick together as a group. I'll always be here if you three need a place to rest," Debbie said. "Who knows, maybe you three will meet some wonderful people, maybe people you haven't seen in years," She said.

"Oh yeah Ness remember? Maybe you'll finally run into-"

"GOD," Ness suddenly spoke loudly, standing up in a hurry, then froze.

"… God? Are you religious?" Kaitlin asked suddenly.

"No no no, I meant… uhh… ummm…" Ness looked at all of us nervously. When his eyes met mine, he froze stiff again.

"I… thanks for dinner mom; that was delicious as always!" He said before bolting out of there. We were all silent.

"Did I scare him?" Tracy asked. I frowned as I watched him put his plate away and walk out of sight. I bit my lip. I didn't just scar him back there… right? No… no, something else was happening. Something I didn't even know of.

"Debbie, this dinner was amazing, I've never had a good home cooked meal like this. Thank you," I told her, standing up.

"You're welcome… did you want anymore?" She asked. I rubbed the back of my head.

"Nah, I'm full actually. I'm gonna take a shower if that's okay with you, and then I think I'll head off to bed. Debbie giggled and smiled.

"Well then good night handsome. Sleep well, see you in the morning," She said. I flushed slightly, thinking that she was poking more fun at the palm on my face rather than being serious.

"G-good night," I said. Paula walked back outside with another plate.

"Night Paula… thanks…" I told her. I could feel her blue eyes on my back as I walked inside.

"Good night…" She said perplexed.

---

I was slightly grateful once I let the warm water of the showerhead soak all of my troubles away. Tonight, all in all was interesting, and I almost forgot about the drama I had with father or the embarrassing moments I had in Tracy's room, or even when…

I let my mind avoid that part. My thoughts instead trailed to dinner and all the interruptions. It seemed like everyone was trying to get things to not be said. I didn't know how to thank Paula for pausing Debbie- even though she had no idea. Most of all though…

"Oh yeah Ness remember? Maybe you'll finally run into-"

Just who was she referring to anyways? Was there someone else? Did Ness know someone he never told me about? I let the hot water run through my scalp, trying to figure that strange boy out even more, until finally I flushed.

Once I reminded myself of that, it stuck to my mind like a magnet. The more I tried avoiding it, the more I rubbed at my scalp, trying to scrub the thoughts away. I shivered once the thoughts felt almost real again.

"Gaah were we that close to each other?!" I asked myself in a hushed tone. I should have known back in the hostel, his eyes were so easy to get lost into. I had an odd sense for desire; desire without care. It was an odd feeling that at the same time felt wrong… but it felt so right. When I realized even more and even more of what happened, I finally growled in frustration.

"Think of something else, something you like now… science… rockets… mom… Tony," My eyes snapped open slightly as I thought of my one true friend that was still awaiting my return back in Winters.

"God damn it Tony, he better not have hurt you…" I started mumbling. I tried remembering all of our times together, and while some were still clear and solid as diamond, some of them were faint. It almost scared me, how even as I thought of Tony's golden smile, Ness's silvery eyes faded in and out of my memories. And then soon memories of the-

I slammed my fist against the shower brick wall, leaning my forehead against it.

"Fuck… when did I start thinking about him like this?" I grumbled to myself. I started thinking of the next time I'd run into Tony. How would I explain it to him?

"I thought I had something growing on only you but apparently not…" I barely spoke. "You understand Tony… don't you?" I knew it was a selfish question. I couldn't say that Tony felt the same way, but judging back in time, there was a high possibility of that. What would he do or say if I had something going on with Ness? I knew he had a heart of gold but still…

And I wonder if Ness even meant for that to happen? Hmmm… Eyes of silver and a heart of gold…

I punched myself mentally, turning the faucet off.

This is so ridiculous…

---

By the time I dried off and walked downstairs, the kitchen light was still on and I heard Ness talking to someone. Trying to be quiet and avoiding, I tip toed to the couch that happened to be not too far from the kitchen. I could look around the backrest of the sofa to look into the kitchen, where I could see Ness talking to his mother, head hung low and eyes slightly hidden. I couldn't hear what either of them was saying; Ness's tone was low and muffled. I turned around and tucked my knees to my chest, trying to listen carefully for certain words. Hearing phrases that included 'scared' or 'confusing' made me wonder what they were saying. I just hoped it had nothing to do with what had just happened in Ness's room. Finally, I could hear the sound of Ness's sniffling.

"I don't understand… why does he hate me so much now?" He said. Was he talking about Pokey? There was a small pause before Debbie spoke in a comforting tone.

"Maybe he doesn't hate you… maybe he's acting rash against you for different reasons, reasons he doesn't want to show the people he cares for the most," She replied. I took this into account. After all, his words still spoke into my mind like a crystal ball.

"Ness? Why would I ever want to kill a beautiful creature such as Ness?" He said in my memories. I leaned my chin onto my knees.

"I… I don't know what to do next…" I could barely hear Ness mumble.

"You're tired Ness, you've had a long rough time, take it easy tonight and get some rest," She said. There was a pause again, until I could finally hear him hiding his bellowing.

"I'm scared… mom…" He wept. I could finally hear a few movements from the kitchen, and by looking around the sofa, Debbie was embracing her son with comfort and sincerity. She stroked his black hair, calming him down with the sound of her shushing.

"Shhh… let your mind go tonight and sleep. You deserve it, my little brave son," She said. I watched the two of them hold each other while feeling a different emotion stir up into my stomach, something I hadn't felt in years. I turned around to finally lie on my back, staring up at the ceiling with my glasses still on. I frowned.

"You have no idea how lucky you are to have her…" My lips formed. Soon enough, I could sense the embrace break apart and I waited as the both of them walked upstairs, turning out the kitchen light and leaving me in my own little pit of darkness. I don't know why, but I left my glasses on that night, my mind wandered again. So many things, yet again, had happened to me that day.

And soon enough, I let the memories of my angry dad, my comforting mother, and the feeling of Ness millimeters away from my lips lure me to sleep.