Hello :P It is Wednesday and I am back with another chapter. I wrote this quite a well ago now and I think it was partially inspired by one small scene in Chocolat. It's a Justin and Katie focused story but takes place when they're a lot younger - when Justin is an uncertain teenager and Katie is a little girl in school. But it's event that they have a little kinship from the beginning. That's evident even if Mr Hugsy doesn't quite speak for him! I hope you enjoy :3
Ages:
Katie: 9
Justin: 14
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!
As I curled up to sleep on the end of Katie's bed and smiled over at her fondly, seeing her beloved bear firmly in her arms, I shut my eyes and quickly drifted off. It was lovely how attached she was to her furry little friend. They had lots of adventures together. And as we began to dream together, without having to say any words at all, I was informed of their latest incident. They'd certainly had a very busy day!
Katie Ketchum was red in the face as she stood in the playground of her school, her lips pressed firmly together and her legs apart and planted firmly on the ground. She furrowed her brow. She had a bit of emotion bubbling in her throat but she was adamant on ignoring that. She stood her ground. She stood firm. While the other children chatted and burbled all around her, some of them mocking her, she used all of her energy to make a swipe as she tried to snatch her dear friend back.
"Give him b-back!" she cried out and finally moved her feet, springing forward and going on her tip toes, trying to reach up into the air and grab her beloved friend to safety as some of the children decided to toss him about to each other, keeping him out of her reach. She gritted her teeth and bellowed out again. "Give my b-bear back!"
Her cheeks reddened a little more as she couldn't say his name. She didn't dare to say his name. Most of her didn't care that she was being teased; she just didn't want them to make the polar bear toy feel bad for having what she thought was a lovely named bestowed to him many years ago.
The other school children most definitely heard her cries and though some kinder ones scoffed at the teasing kids and muttered for them to leave them both alone, they were drowned out by the persistent children's mocking noises. She wants him back, they chanted. She wants her silly bear back, they cackled. He's not meant to be here, another one reminded. He's not real you know, the last of them ridiculed.
That was the final straw. That was the final straw for Katie. After one of the kinder, most understanding children saw that she needed support and tried to make a jump and leap for the bear themselves, they accidentally barged into the orange haired female instead. She got knocked over. Her eyes pricked with tears as soon as she hit the ground and scraped her kneecaps. But that didn't stop her, no. That only propelled her.
Katie gritted her teeth and clenched her jaw hard. Such a quiet and clever and understanding girl she was in everyday life. But when she was mocked or someone she held dear was mistreated, she turned into a proper fiery thing. And good for her.
Ignoring the stinging sensation on her scratched up knees, she leaped up off the ground and finally had enough. She took a tiny second to see where her dear bear had got to – he was up in the air and in the hold of a very tall, mocking boy. She didn't care. Well, that didn't stop her. Her accidental shove had given her inspiration.
Before she could stop herself or anyone could stop her, she suddenly shoved the boy in the chest with all of her might and then leapt up, trying to snatch her darling polar bear back for herself. She was so close. She was so very close. His fur grazed her fingertips. She almost managed to grab him by the snout. But before she got her tiny victory, her shoulders were suddenly reached for firmly by a teacher.
This was when she froze and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. From her closed and watery eyelids, she could hear the teacher dismissing everybody else, at that point not taking the time to realise that some of them were the instigators of that whole fiasco. Instead, the female teacher took hold of the orange haired female, tugging her gently backwards by the shoulders. Katie sniffed and opened her eyes. When she hesitantly looked up, she was met with a disapproving gaze.
"What have I told you? In this school, we do not strike one and other!" the teacher with round spectacles reminded the eldest Ketchum daughter firmly and with that, she let go of the child's shoulders. She pointed. She pointed for her to go inside. Katie knew that meant to outside the head teachers office - that wasn't the first time that that had happened in recent weeks.
Once more out of habit, Katie's eyes shut all over again as she gulped. But once more, she opened them again after not long at all. Her eyes automatically swivelled around the playground where, although that bundle of belittling had been dispersed, some of the children were gathered in the corner and smirking over at her.
Her cheeks flushed yet again but she focused on looking around for her twin brother, Ben. But he was nowhere to be seen. He was most likely off somewhere else imagining and anticipating great Pokémon battles for the future with his own good friend, Eddie Oak.
The teacher had had enough of the orange haired young girl's rule breaking but she had had enough of her dithering even more. That hand went back onto her shoulder. She squeezed it. And then she firmly pointed towards the doors of the school. Katie twitched into action. She tried to defend herself and her friend, her eyes pricking with tears all over and feeling the grazes on her knees moistening too.
"But… B-But my bear!" she cried, but she still couldn't utter his name. She didn't think any teacher but especially not that one deserved to hear the lovely, soft creature's title. The brunette and glasses wearing female teacher just shot her another glance, pointing towards the school all over again. She reminded the child impatiently.
"He has been banned from this school many times, Miss Ketchum." She responded as she pushed her glasses further up her nose diligently before her hand went to Katie's back, taking it upon herself to lightly push the young girl into the doors of the school herself. However, after walking with her a few paces and turning her in the direction of the headmaster's office, she couldn't help but relent a tiny amount. "He will be tracked down. And you will be reunited at the end of the school day. Providing he isn't seen on school grounds anymore."
But that was the end of the teacher's softness. She made sure her face was decorated with that look of authority once more and this made Katie defeatedly nod and trudge over to the chair outside the head of faculty's office. She sighed but didn't even wince as she sat down. She was too worried about her beloved bear buddy to care about the stinging of her knee caps, let alone them beginning to slowly bleed.
She sat on the chair outside the office, her small feet swinging a good few inches above the ground. She leaned forward and rested her head in her knees. After she furrowed her brow and watched the back of that mean teacher as she turned away from her, she shut her eyes all over again. She allowed them to fill with tears but she didn't allow them to spill. She sniffed.
Katie hated that that had become a regular occurrence for her. She hated that it was a regular thing that she hated school. She had always enjoyed it. Well, she always preferred being at home and with everyone but in her older years, she liked some of the children in her class and the learning that they did. How she loved to learn. How she loved to read and expand her knowledge. Things got easier for her when it came to school the older she got.
But then it started to get harder the older she got as well which was strange. All of a sudden, some of the children and one of the teachers too started to really be bothered by the way that she stammered. That of course made her stammer more. And that made her not want to answer in class. That was one of her favourite things so she stopped liking being there.
It had been made a little bit better when her parents had a meeting with the school who were supportive and allowed her to have little things set in place to make the day easier for her. Things like Melissa Oak being seated next to her – that was a lot of fun. Things like the older children coming to sit with her at lunch – that made her feel special. But the older child – or teenager – that she got used to being around and liked having around got too busy.
When she got upset over that, she was allowed to bring her beloved bear to school with her, as long as he was quiet. That made her feel brave all over again. However unfortunately, some children had a problem with that as well.
They had a problem with it. They made disruptions. Katie had to stop bringing him. So she started sneaking him in instead. Of course, he always got caught. He wasn't as good at sneaking and hiding like her beloved Uncle James always had been! But she loved him anyway.
Katie loved that dear old bear that that very same Uncle James had bestowed upon her when she was a very little baby. She felt safe when he was around. She opened her eyes. She sniffed. Tears threatened to fall but they still didn't. She looked down at her sore kneecaps and saw the glistening blood. But she didn't care. She just wanted to know that her dear bear friend was safe. But unbeknownst to her, there was someone wanting to know that she was safe as well.
There had been someone there on the playground and seeing the way that the other children mocked her and threw her toy around. That didn't sit right with them. They frowned. They gave the situation the benefit of the doubt in case it was innocent child-like game. But then they stopped chatting about football matches and games consoles with their friends to properly review the situation. They slung their backpack over their shoulder and said goodbye to their mates when they worried that it wasn't fun for the orange haired girl at all.
They wanted to intervene but saw it was too late when the teacher sorted it all out. But that person too had been on the tail end of some playground teasing, as well as impatient staff. They knew that things weren't resolved all that quickly. He knew that things weren't resolved all that quickly.
So the person decided to skip the first period after morning break – at least the first fifteen minutes of it or so – and make sure the orange haired female was okay. He was lurking outside of the boy's toilets but Katie didn't see him. Of course she didn't - her mind was filled with worry, the worry of the fact that her dear old bear might be annoyed that she abandoned him. Her throat went dry. She just had to hope he had more faith in her than that.
The teenage boy dithering outside of the boy's restroom and holding his backpack behind his shoulder saw the young girl's face fill with even more anxiety when she revealed herself once again and finally took a step forward, getting ready to approach her. He stopped when he saw some boys in his year walking past him and looking right at him. I saw him swallow and from dreaming, I knew that he was telling himself off in his head. Nothing should stop him from doing the right thing. Nothing should stop him at all.
After taking a step back and lingering for a few minutes longer and watching Katie sit in the seat outside the headmaster's office, swinging her legs worriedly, the teenage boy finally forced himself to take action for good. He put his backpack on properly and held onto the straps. He held onto the straps for a little bit of reassurance as he at last moved and arrived standing in front of the orange haired young girl's feet. He flicked his swooping, tumbling locks out of his face.
"Bad day?" he asked her simply and his toes secretly curled and flexed on the inside of his school boots. He kept holding onto the straps of his backpack. He remained looking down at the younger female.
She recognised that voice straight away and her chest leapt with surprise. But it was a much better surprise than how her teddy bear had been yanked from her arms in the playground. Despite her previous worry and oncoming quietness, she didn't hesitate to look up. She didn't hesitate to look up at Justin.
The deep purple haired teenager didn't smile at her but his mouth pressed into a somewhat friendly line on his face. His eyebrows rose too, making the front swoosh of his hair move. Katie suddenly looked away. She didn't exactly know why. She often ran into him at school and all the time she ran into him around his home. But she hadn't talked to him at school for what felt like months. And besides, she was beginning to feel shaken up by her ordeal.
She remained looking down at her lap, swinging her legs and her below the knee school socks riding up and down her leg. Justin breathed out and wondered why she wasn't responding to him so he tried again. His toes were still dancing in his school boots.
"Bad day, is it?" he asked her again and he allowed her a few seconds for her to answer. However, he was left frowning when she didn't say anything. She didn't say anything at all. He received nothing in response. She sat perfectly still. Justin took his backpack off and placed it down on the floor for something to do. He didn't refrain from speaking of her silence. "Are you not talking to me?"
It certainly appeared that way. It certainly appeared that way indeed. But surprisingly, no amount of hurt or offence took over the older teenager. He seemed to just shrug. And the way that his mouth moved over to the side of his face and his dimple appeared made it seem like he knew how she felt. When he chuckled quietly to himself, it certainly seemed that way. He picked his backpack up once more.
"Okay, Katie." He uttered, holding onto both straps of his backpack for a couple of seconds once again before pushing the swooshing locks from his eyes. After picking at the translucent guard on his teeth just once, he finally smiled at her for real. But it was a polite one rather than an easy one. He got ready to turn on his heel. "I'll leave you to it. I hope you're okay."
And with that, Justin took one step forward and got ready to leave. As I slept, I frowned, and urged him to stay. I rolled over to be nearer to Katie.
She needed someone. She needed anyone. The person she wanted was her dear old bear but I knew that she would have accepted anyone. It wasn't her fault that she was so shaken up. I needed Justin to be patient with her.
But after observing for a few more moments, I couldn't help but feel like Justin was only saying that to get some response out of her. He did get one out of body language when she stopped swinging her legs and crossed her feet together instead. But he didn't get a verbal one. He quietly sighed. I hoped that he would try again anyway. But that started to look unlikely when some more boys from his year walked past him.
In retrospect I understood that he was itching to get a move on but of course, this was the moment that Katie finally decided to speak to him. It was only then that it seemingly hit her that she was being offered the presence of someone familiar to her after her ordeal on the playground and with misunderstanding teachers as well as children. And it was only then that she realised that familiarity was about to leave if she didn't speak up. Her own toes curled in her grey school shoes as she looked over at him once more.
"D-Don't go." She whispered and in my head, I imagined things to occur completely different before I actually saw the truth. I imagined Justin becoming flustered at the watchful eye of fellow teenagers and hurry his way to class, ignoring the young girl. But of course, he couldn't do that. He couldn't do that at all. Despite a secret huge hankering to fit in with the people in his year, naturally he couldn't ignore a person in need. He turned back in his heel to face the young girl and purposely ignored the gaze of people who were watching him like a hawk. But in reality, they were merely only glancing in passing.
"I'll stay." Justin reassured her truthfully but once again, the orange haired young girl didn't say anything in response. Out of shyness of her own – in her eyes – boldness, she went quiet once more and looked down at her feet. She breathed out when the deep purple haired teenager put his backpack on the floor to prove his point. Then she slowly looked back up at him as he continued, pushing his hair out of his eyes so he could look at her properly. "Are you in trouble?"
The orange haired female didn't say anything but that time; it was because she felt like she shouldn't, rather than feeling as though she couldn't. Justin couldn't stop himself from smirking just a little bit, his invisible braces making his grin appear fuller. He shook his head. He understood her silence. He was in the same boat on occasion.
But after thinking things through to himself and Katie looking back down at her lap and it creeping into his mind why she sometimes could be found outside the headmaster's office, he surprised himself by feeling a small surge of protectiveness arising in his body. He frowned. He felt as though he had been right to feel like the playground antics had not been fun for everyone.
"Have the kids been giving you a hard time again, Katie?" he asked and his stance that could often be compared to a cardboard cut-out puffed out slightly. He was a natural older brother and though he wasn't the most boisterous type, he had a watchful eye instilled in him. He remained protective but looked more quietly concerned when the eldest Ketchum daughter's head tilted further more towards her lap. He mumbled. "Did… Did anyone hurt you? Did they say anything about…?"
Justin trailed off. He was going to be the last person to bring up a part of herself that he in times forgot as it was just a part of her to him. He certainly was not going to bring it up and make her feel as though her stammer was a problem, like one of the teachers often made her feel.
The orange haired female's eyes pricked with tears as someone finally asked her what happened, rather than blindly relying on their perspective. And because it was someone close to the family, she couldn't stop herself from answering honestly. Her bottom lip stuck out a little bit and her eyes spurted as she admitted.
"They… They stole my bear from me! And they threw him around! He's p-probably got a headache now!" Katie couldn't refrain from adding before her cheeks reddened a little bit all over again and she shakily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She gulped. I smiled softly in my sleep, despite feeling a lump in my throat at her display of emotion. She always cared about other people far more than herself. That was such an admirable trait. But I hoped that she'd speak up about how the playground antics made her feel, rather than her bear.
Justin remained silent and a brief frown took back over his face. He nodded subtly and silently to himself. So, he had been right to feel as though the playground bear throwing was mean rather than good natured. Even so, he pushed this to the back of his mind and crouched down a little while still standing so Katie could understand the genuineness of his words. His hands slid into his pockets.
"Oh, I think his head will be alright. He's a polar bear so probably has to deal with brain freeze quite a lot." He told her and the orange haired female almost blinked up at him. She had never heard that kind of answer before. But after Justin just nodded his head, believing that he was right, he tried again with making her feel better. "If he's been left on the playground then I will go and rescue Mr Hugsy myself. But I think you need to go to the office as your knees look a little sore."
Katie sniffed and shook her head. She didn't care. She didn't care about herself at all. She only cared about Mr Hugsy. Mr Hugsy. It suddenly entered her mind that the deep purple haired teenager had referred to him by his proper title and she didn't even feel defensive at all. In fact, it made her feel a little bit bashful. Her blush softened to a rosy pink but she distracted herself from this by looking down at her knees.
It was when she did this that she noticed how red and raw and sore they looked. She suddenly acknowledged all of the stinging. She winced. Then her eyes widened at the state of them. Justin quietly chuckled, adjusting his backpack and instead rested it over just the one shoulder. Only I from sleeping noticed the way he checked around for any watchful eyes before his mouth pressed into that polite line on his face and he held his hand out to the young girl.
"Come on. I'll walk you to the office and then personally conduct a solo search mission to locate his royal highness Hugsy. I just hope I don't end up as blue as you were looking when I first saw you sat there!" he spoke to her airily but didn't mock her at all and even lightly used his spare hand to wipe the tear stains from under her eyes while his other stayed reaching out to her.
All over again, Katie's eyes widened at the way the teenager was being so engaged with her and her bear but after a second, she didn't question it anymore. She smiled shyly and nodded her head, taking hold of his hand. And together, they walked to the school office. They were a bit of a usual sight but a sweet one nonetheless and from sleeping, I knew I was very glad to be the only one to see that little duo.
True to his word, the deep purple haired teenage boy walked the young girl to her office and held her hand all the way. He dropped it subtly, however, when they got inside the door. Katie looked a little disappointed but she didn't press it. She accepted his hand on her shoulder instead as he nudged her towards the seat in the little corner of the room for first aid. His hold was a lot more caring than the previous teacher. She skipped as best as she could with sore knees over to the chair and sat down.
The eldest Morgan son looked around the office of the lower section of the school but after he noted only the administrative staffs was around and not any of the nurses, he decided to take action into his own hands. He gave Katie a reassuring glance and plonked his bag on the chair next to her.
"Looks like I'm going to be the one to sort your knees out. That okay?" he made sure to ask and after she blinked but then naturally nodded her head, he bared his invisible brace laced teeth at her, pushing his hair from his eyes all over. Then he pointed to a badge on his tie and smirked a little bit. "Golden boy perks. I'm allowed into the first aid kit."
He informed her and after Katie didn't smile or laugh but scrunched her nose up in a little bit of amusement, he stood over the nurse's desk before bending over it, reaching into the cupboard for the first aid kit. The orange haired female just shrugged and became occupied with looking at all of the band and musician badges stuck to his backpack. Meanwhile I couldn't help but question if the deep purple haired male was telling the truth. But either way, Katie would've much preferred him sorting out her scrapes for her!
And so he began with doing exactly that. At that point I most definitely didn't know Justin to be the paternal or doting type but then I reminded myself of something about him. He was a big brother. He was the eldest brother in his family. Though he didn't put it to practice too often, it was instinct for him to be someone to look up to.
He looked up at Katie and showed off that pressed together line polite smile of his as he unzipped the first aid bag and first of all, got out the antiseptic wipes. Instinctively from watching his father and remembering him doing that with him (not too long ago!), he warned the young female that it might hurt. She found herself rolling her eyes at him. After he tilted his head back at her, he proceeded with cleaning her knees for her. He kept his eye on her but she only winced a little bit, far too focused on reading the names on his badges and wondering if she knew them. She didn't. But she made a point of remembering them.
The deep purple haired teenager saw her reading from his bag and casually started telling her about all the people of whom the names belonged to. She scrunched her nose up but she listened. Justin stopped himself from getting too excited. It was a subject that he really was passionate about.
The orange haired eldest Ketchum daughter got educated on rock heroes of generations before their time while Justin carefully unpeeled plasters for her and clumsily but diligently placed them over her knees. He broke his conversation of musical idols when the secretary peeked over the desk and questioned whether she should be doing that. Katie quietened down at this and she quietened down even more when Justin insisted that "it was fine" and that "they were friends". He went a little bit quiet himself but then asked her about it in between making sure the plasters were stuck down properly on her knees. He looked over at her.
"Still hurt?" the deep purple haired male asked with all the levelness in the world but as he distracted his hands with taming his unruly locks after giving Katie medical attention, he looked at he looked at her with eyes of complete understanding. I understood his ambiguous words. He wasn't referring to her knees.
The nine year old girl didn't catch on but she shook her head. Then she nodded her head. And then she responded with a whisper and a shrug. Her bottom lip came out all over again and she couldn't stop worry from being in her own eyes.
"M-Mr Hugsy…" she uttered and her hands moved away from the badges on Justin's backpack and went into the lap, playing with each other. Her shoulders slumped. She liked that the older teenager was there to her and showing a side of him that even she knew was unknown to other people. Even so, she couldn't help but wish her lovely bear friend was there to witness it all.
And as predicted, Justin understood right away. And he knew that he had expressed an intention to her so needless to say, he was determined to see it through. Even if it ended up in him being outside the headmaster's office also.
He stood back up off the ground and left his bag with Katie. He didn't tell her what he was doing with words. He just smiled in a kind way down at her and turned on his heel. The orange haired female gasped and felt her eyes filling with tears a little bit. He really was intending to go on that solo rescue mission to find her bear after all. She felt the urge to hug his legs but she managed to stop herself.
Instead, she watched as Justin got ready to leave the office and embark on his heroic journey of rescue. But before he could do that, he spotted something. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something. He turned around. He made a note of it properly. He nodded his head. He whispered so as not to gain the attention of the secretary in the room. He knew that she was just doing her job but he hadn't liked her suspicion.
"Mr Hugsy is a lot closer than we think…" he whispered to her but he did so in a way that was almost comical. It was an exaggerated whisper. Katie blinked and at first, she worried that Justin was bluffing so he didn't have to go back out into the playground for her. But after he subtly pointed before pretending to fix his hair, she caught on to what exactly he was gesturing towards. She whispered back.
"Mr Hugsy…" she breathed out and her eyes filled with hope. Mr Hugsy indeed. There he was. There he was sitting on the administrative desk and seemingly under close surveillance of the people in charge of that part of the school. Katie's eyes changed to protectiveness and she frowned. Hopefulness disappeared and determination took over instead. She muttered all over again and prepared to clamber out of her seat. "Mr Hugsy…"
Justin was quick to stop her.
"No, no, you sit back down." He uttered back and he sat on the third seat with her so as not to get attention from anybody else in the room. Katie's eyes softened and went round as she wondered why she was being prevented from taking action by Justin. Then that look of stubbornness took over. The deep purple haired teenager's hand went to her arm as he explained. "No, no I don't want you getting in even more trouble. Let me handle this."
And with that, the tall and slim figured teenage boy slunk back up and out of the chair and left Katie breathing out with hope all over again. As she exhaled, the stubbornness melted away. She was usually very hesitant to let anybody sort anything out for her but she really did like the side of Justin that was just for her to see. She knew that she could trust him. And she was also curious as to what he was going to do. In my sleep, I was as well. I was soon to find out.
He dawdled for a few moments before finally shuffling over to the front of the desk. He lingered some more and drummed his fingers on the top of the counter. This stopped the secretary from double-checking the registers on the other side. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. She shot him a firm but amused glance that asked 'can I help you?'. Justin breathed out and tried not to speak too hurriedly.
"Hi." He uttered at first and froze. Katie raised her own eyebrow over at him as she made a note to herself that although she knew that he sometimes got disciplined by teachers, he definitely wasn't a natural trouble maker! However, she gave him a chance and listened to the secretary sceptically offer a greeting back while she was picking at the plasters he applied for her. "Do you know if the summer ball has musical guests yet? I was thinking that maybe my friends and I could play?"
There was a silence and then the less suspicious lady running the office rustled the papers of the register that she was scanning and then smirked over at Justin. She didn't notice his eyes darting between her and Mr Hugsy just sitting in his reach on the desk. The secretary replied to the teenage boy, tilting her head at him.
"Your name is already down for it, Mr Morgan, remember?" she reminded him and he tried not to duck his head and blush, feeling the even more prominent eyebrow raise from Katie in the corner of the room. He really wasn't a natural bluffer! He tried to hurriedly correct his mistake.
"Of course, of course I remember. I meant to say something else." He managed to get out as he tried to buy himself some more time. He was given a few seconds to think of something as the secretary glanced at the clock, inwardly thinking that he should be in class. Justin finally thought of something and came out with it, distracting himself by pushing his flowing locks from his eyes as he tried to keep his cool. "What I meant is can I have one of the flyers please? Maybe two? I would like to post them to my brothers."
Even Katie held her breath upon hearing this. Truthfully, she wasn't really listening to what he was saying and she was just hoping that he would succeed in somehow getting Mr Hugsy back for her. But even she could see that the deep purple haired male was a likeable student of the school and she hoped that that likeability would make the bear be handed right over to him when he finally posed that question. What she didn't know, though, was that he had a sneakier plan.
The secretary did raise a suspicious eyebrow at Justin's hurried words but after glancing at his (slightly forced) but polite grin, she shook her head and couldn't help but give into him. She shook her head fondly and muttered something to him but she moved away from behind the desk and turned her back to him to reach into the drawer for flyers. And as soon as her back was turned, he sprang into action. He snatched the bear quickly but respectfully too and hid him behind his back. Mr Hugsy was quite a large polar bear but the deep purple haired male managed to conceal him.
Thankfully his scheme had managed to be pulled off because the head of the office's back was turned to him for just a few seconds before she came back over to him and she handed him the flyers across the desk. He tried not to sweat at hoping she wouldn't notice the bear was missing.
"There you go, Justin." She told the teenage boy before sitting down and I couldn't help but feel as though he would get caught pretending to scratch his back as he secretly held the bear and took the flyers from her with his other hand. She added before she went back to marking. "Make sure they don't get lost in the post. I couldn't bear that."
I froze in my dream upon hearing this but somehow, Justin managed to keep all of his sweat in and keep his cool. He just grinned and uttered a hurried thank you before walking backwards, back over to Katie and their little corner. He didn't relax until they were most definitely out of sight. He took a few moments to get his breath back but then he handed Mr Hugsy back over to Katie. He could finally relax. And she could as well.
"O-Oh, Mr Hugsy I hope you're okay." she gritted her teeth with love as she squeezed her polar bear and she held him close, almost rocking him. She muttered to him, stroking his fur tenderly. "I guess you're… you're used to brain freeze so you might not have a sore head from all that throwing. I'm still s-sorry though."
The deep purple haired teenager's breathing still hadn't returned to normal after his escapade but upon hearing this, he couldn't help but smile in a slightly flattered way. He sat back down with Katie and her dear bear. She blushed shyly while she stopped hugging Mr Hugsy and made him gratefully wave at Justin. Justin openly waved at him back.
"You're looking rather unscathed. All's well that ends well." He commented with a sheepish but grin full of gladness. However, upon hearing this, Katie made the bear shake his head and then she shook her own head. She flexed her own legs and then explained, pointing to his cheeks.
"He's all muddy…" she muttered with a bit of a pout and then she started to feel bad all over again, like she had let him down. She sniffed. Thankfully, Justin was there to the rescue all over again. He poked the orange haired female lightly and then gave one to the polar bear also.
"Oh don't worry about that. I have just the thing for him." he told her and Katie's eyes filled with curiosity as Justin reached over her and unzipped his bag, beginning to rummage in it. My eyelids twitched with intrigue in my sleep. The long haired teenage boy pulled out his own water bottle and well and truly got into the swing of things with the orange haired female. "I hope he likes cold showers."
Justin allowed Katie to do the honours. He handed his water bottle over to her and she beamed with gratitude as she took the lid off and started giving Mr Hugsy a small shower. She did her best to wash the mud out of his cheek fur and she did well getting the brown colour out but he still looked a little matted. After the eldest Morgan son asked how he was doing, she couldn't help but mumble and pout again.
"He's a b-bit matted…" she admitted but she tried not to sound ungrateful. But thankfully, Justin was there to the rescue once again. It was lucky that he was quick thinking. And it was very sweet how natural and open he could be when people weren't looking.
Wordlessly and with just a smile, the teenaged boy unzipped a second compartment of his bag and pulled out his hair comb. He didn't say anything as he just handed it over to her but he smiled at her shyly. Katie giggled back as she accepted it.
"I should have known. Your bag is like M…Mary Poppins'." She told him and after he laughed quietly as well, he watched as she stuck her bottom lip out and well and truly combed through Mr Hugsy's fur. And it goes without saying that it was then that Katie was well and truly in her element.
And I was glad that she hadn't been punished, though I worried that it would end up happening at a later date anyway. She didn't deserve to be reprimanded. She deserved to have someone understood how much she came out of her shell when Mr Hugsy was around. Justin was like that as well. And sweetly, he came out of his guarded, uncertain, teenager-y shell when Katie was around.
After the orange haired female thoroughly gave Mr Hugsy a good make over and handed Justin's comb back over to him, she hugged her bear friend to her chest. And then she made him turn around and wave to the teenage boy all over again. The deep purple haired male stopped playing with his hair and playfully shook the teddy bear's paw.
"You're looking very sharp, your royal highness Hugsy. Are you feeling more yourself now?" he asked and because Katie knew her dear bear friend's personality so very well, she made him recoil back into her chest. Justin blinked but the orange haired female just let out a sigh, patting his furry back. She explained.
"He won't talk to you." He began and Justin pretended to show off an expression that was full of hurt. Instinctively, Katie made Mr Hugsy recoil out of embarrassment. She then added further, almost as if she truly believed it. "He only talks w-when… when your dad is around."
Justin didn't miss a beat. He nodded his head and he soon smiled. He had heard her say that before. He smiled understandingly.
"Oh I see." He began and because Mr Hugsy began to feel as though the teenage boy really did understand, he stopped hiding against Katie. The orange haired female patted his back all over again and encouraged him into Justin's hold when he held his hands out to him. He held him reassuringly on his lap. He tilted his head at the bear and the bear's beady eyes looked back at him in return. Justin opened his mouth and got ready to see if he could assist him. He seemingly could not. "Yeah, he's not going to speak to me."
Justin's mouth shut rather comically. Mr Hugsy seemed to hang his head with shame. The deep purple haired male handed the bear back to his trusted friend. Katie patted his head sympathetically and worried that the deep purple haired male would be offended by the bear's lack of talking.
But instead she noticed Justin develop a bit of a mischievous smile and root in his pocket for something. She watched his every move. Mr Hugsy did as well. Justin pulled his phone out of his pocket and then smirked at them both. "It's lucky that I can change that then, isn't it?"
And while Katie blinked and soothed Mr Hugsy's confusion with playing with his ears, Justin tapped on his phone screen and dialled someone's number. It started to ring. As soon as they answered rather promptly, the teenage boy held his phone to his ear. After greeting the person on the other end of it and them naturally panicking a little bit and asking a series of questions, Justin responded with a lot of no's and a lot of reassurance.
He then whispered something down the end and from my sleep, I could hear the person on the other end relaxing and appearing happy to go along with it, despite the initial worry at first. Justin smiled softly. He handed his phone over to Katie and put it on loudspeaker. At first, she blinked but then when she saw the lavender haired male's photo on Justin's phone screen. She couldn't stop herself from showing off a beam.
She held her friend Mr Hugsy in one hand and the phone in the other. And she sat next to her friend Justin very gladly. All eyes were on the polar bear and his refined face filled with shyness but then it filled the knowing that he was among friends. And then he spoke. Mr Hugsy spoke from the heart.
"I would like to thank Justin for looking after Katie. It's good that she has good friends when I'm not around." The polar bear announced in his special way of speaking and the orange haired female scrunched her nose up shyly but she nodded her head in agreement and looked over at Justin. Justin looked rather flattered at her back and cleared his throat. He thought about not saying something but then figured if Mr Hugsy could speak the truth then he could as well. He scratched his cheek but then he said something. And he said something that would only go on to be truer as time passed.
"Believe you me; I'm not the only one who looks out for her. She looks out for me. And we won't stop doing that for each other. That's exactly what special friends do."
And in my sleep, I nodded my head wholeheartedly. I was glad that Katie had found good friends, just like I had done many years ago. And Justin too, of course. My good friends were the reason that everything had turned out so wonderfully for me. And Katie's good friends did the exact same thing for her.
They supported her. They accepted her. They cherished her. They would always be there to speak up about their fondness for her. Even when she stopped speaking at all. Because in actual fact, their love only got louder for her the quieter that she got. She might have stopped speaking but they would never stop loving. They would never stop loving her. And they would wait to hear her voice all over again. And when she spoke up once more, she would speak with the same heart as her dear friend Mr Hugsy.
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 I like that Justin is a little less certain here in moments. It's not really foreshadowing anything really other than him just being that classic teenager! His caring side comes through here now and he can definitely relate to Katie being outside the headteacher's office. Katie's polar bear cuddly toy, Mr Hugsy, has been a massive concept of mine for years now but he's made a good few appearances this year. As you can tell, Katie wholeheartedly believes in his character and his company as well. She's an imaginative thing. It's nice that Justin can join in with that. With his younger siblings all away on journeys at this point, it's probably nice to have that reminder of more innocent times :3 Thanks again and I will be back on the 28th to update To You Both so see you then!
AmyBieberKetchum signing out :P