Paulo took a deep breath and knocked on the front door. He immediately looked the other way and held out the small cake he had with both hands. The door opened, and he hastily said, "Take it." The response, however, came from a voice he'd never heard before.

"I'm flattered, but we've never been properly acquainted!" Said a small, but wise sounding, voice. Paulo looked back at the open and empty doorway. "Paulo dear." Said the voice again, and Paulo heard it coming from the floor. He shifted his gaze downward and saw a small brown hedgehog hugging the door frame. He took a brief pause to register what was going on before he spoke.

"Is Lucy around or whatever." He asked, anxious to see her. Lily's expression hardened, then changed to one of mild concern.

"She's busy. She can't come down right now." She muttered.

Paulo felt a little deflated that things weren't immediately going as smoothed as he fantasized on the way over. "Umm, I was hoping to see her personally."

Lily reached up to the cake. "I can give it to her later, it's fine."

Still, Paulo was apprehensive. "Well, I dunno…"

"Hand it over." Lily said sweetly.

Just then, something cold and hard splattered against the back of Paulo's head. "Hahaha! Bullseye!" Laughed Yashy, pleased with the aim of her snowball.

"Yayyy!" Cheered Chirpy.

Lily looked at the rambunctious lizard with annoyance. "Yashy, he is holding a fragile box for-" But another well aimed snowball found its mark on her face, shutting her, and making her angrier. "YASHY!" She yelled, going after her.

With the doorway now cleared, Paulo took advantage of the distraction to enter the house. He looked around for his khao manee friend, calling her name. "Lucyyyyy… Lily willingly let me in so I'm not robbing you or anything." There was no response. Paulo went upstairs to continue his search. "Lucyyy…"

At the top of the steps he called out again. "I'm just bringing ya some cake, okay?" He noticed a slightly opened door and peeked in. It was dark, but with the light of the hallway he could just make out Lucy's shape sitting on the edge of her bed. She didn't look up, she merely stared at the ground in front of her. "Lucy, umm…" Paulo started, slipping inside. His tail rubbed up against the door, closing it a little more so that only a slit shone through. The blinds were closed shut, with blackout curtains drawn. There was a sense of foreboding as Paulo walked closer to the girl. On the opposite side of the bed she was sitting, he stopped. "Lucy?" Still, no response. "I… brought you a cake!" He said, trying to sound cheerful, holding up the little box.

Lucy looked over at him slowly with soulless, melancholic eyes and then back to the ground ahead of her. Paulo felt his heart seize. He'd never seen anyone in such a state, let alone Lucy. The cake was gently placed on his side of the bed and he walked around to kneel in front of her, getting in her line of sight. Despite this, she seemed to be looking right through him. "Luce, why won't you say anything?"

Lucy shrugged. Paulo frowned, looking at her with worry. "Did something happen?" She shrugged again. It wasn't anything to go off of, but something was most definitely wrong. "Let's have some cake. I didn't really know what you liked, I hope chocolate is okay." But the offer of cake still didn't make a dent in Lucy's sadness. "Please…" Paulo took her hand. "Tell me what's wrong!"

Lucy looked away, but didn't withdraw her hand from his. Paulo decided to give her time to speak, and kept quiet. After a while, she did so. Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, but Paulo was listening intently. "Do you hate me?"

The somali blinked, shocked at such an outlandish question. When had he ever hinted he disliked her in any way? "No! Not at all! Did someone say I did?" Lucy stayed quiet, trying to think of a way that it could mean something else. The silence was driving Paulo mad. "Who told you that? Did Mike have anything to do with this?" There was a sense of desperation in his voice as he spoke.

Mentioning Mike had been the magic word. She didn't change her gaze, but the way her despondent face flitted to worry and then back was all Paulo needed to see to confirm his suspicions. "What did he say to you?" Lucy shook her head, and Paulo gave her hand a little squeeze. "Lucy, please, talk to me! What did he say?"

Lucy pulled her hand from his grasp, and Paulo sadly watched it go. Lucy had such soft, gentle hands, and while he felt awful for thinking it, he secretly wished he could hold them every day for the rest of his life. To feel the touch his chest, cup his cheek, caress him. Lucy hugged herself and whispered to him again. "He said you didn't love me." Paulo's eyes widened. The nerve of that little brat! But it only got worse. "He said…" Lucy closed her eyes, tears stinging at the edges of her eyes as she recalled the terrible night in his room. "He said nobody could love me for who I was. That I was a p-parasite…"

With every word, a rage bubbled and broiled inside Paulo. It was a fury like he'd never felt before. He swore if that korat was in the room, he'd wring his neck. "He didn't…" he growled to himself. "That little bastard!"

"You guys aren't going to abandon me, are you?" Lucy said, looking at the somali who was now shaking with hate and rage. Paulo looked up at her misty blue eyes and stood up, pulling her into a hug.

"I promise you, you aren't any of those things he said you are." He whispered, trying to keep himself calm for Lucy's sake. "We love you, Lucy. Mike doesn't decide that for us." Lucy rested her head on his chest, leaning into the embrace. "Fuck Mike. How about we all abandon him instead? Acting like a dramatic mopey wimp, going on about his imaginary girlfriend."

Lucy shook her head against his chest. "That won't make things better… he's right, I'm better off alone… I cause so much drama."

Paulo frowned and knelt down so he could look Lucy in the eyes, his hands on her shoulders. He showed complete seriousness on his face. "That isn't true and you know it!"

"But I do! I've always been mean to you whenever you flirted with me!" She wiped her eyes. "And I used you when things got bad with Mike! I don't want to use you again!"

Paulo thought back to all the times Lucy hit him, and on all the times she hit Mike, too. "Yeah, you do pack a punch… but I don't care about that! I want you to be happy! More than anything! Dammit Lucy, I love you!"

The words rang out in the dark room, and the realization came over both their faces at what Paulo had admitted. He removed his hands off her shoulders and covered his mouth, looking away. "No… oh no… I shouldn't…" he said, horrified. Images of Jasmine flashed in the somalis' mind.

"Paulo?" Lucy reached out to him. "Did you mean that?"

Paulo covered his head. "I did… but… I shouldn't have said it… I'm with Jasmine, that isn't fair to her!"

"What are YOU doing here!" Yelled someone from the door. Both cats in the room jumped at the sudden loudness. It was a very angry looking Jordan. "Get out! Leave her alone!"

Paulo shook his head. "I wasn't… I just wanted to see that she was okay!"

Jordan flipped on the light, seething. He stormed over to the surprised somali. Lucy rolled her eyes. "Jordan, it's fine, really!"

"No it isn't!" He barked. "I don't know what you guys did but I know one of you is responsible!"

"I'll go, I'll go!" Paulo raised his hands. "Geez man, relax."

"Paulo, you don't have to-" Lucy started, but Paulo smiled and waved her off.

"Naww, it's okay. I just wanted to drop off the cake anyway. I hope you like it." He said as he let Jordan escort him out the room. "See you Monday?"

"Bye Paulo. See you Monday." Lucy almost seemed a bit more cheerful.