The girls had finished their dinners and were watching luchador wrestling when 505 reentered the room.
Melanie and Sadie looked over at him and saw the tears flowing down his face.
"Oh, no," Melanie said, telepathically pausing the TV and getting up to her feet to go to 505 while Sadie flew over behind her. "You and Flug got in a fight. Didn't you?"
"Over speaking through the phone, I have no doubt," Sadie added.
505 nodded.
"You want to talk about it?" asked Melanie.
505 looked at his phone and paused. He was upset and so, so sad, but he didn't know how to put it in words.
"It's okay," Melanie said. "You can just talk later if you want to."
"Do you want to show us your chat history?" Sadie suggested. "We can read what you typed before and guess what happened from there if you don't want to type anymore."
"And we can ask yes and no questions if you don't mind us asking them," Melanie added. "Yeah, how about it?"
505 handed the phone to Sadie without hesitation.
"Okay, lad," Sadie said. "Give me just a moment."
Melanie led 505 to the couch where she got to sit down next to him.
Sadie soon got the app's history open, and she and Melanie read over everything 505 said. They then asked the bear enough questions to get a pretty good idea of what happened.
"Dios mio," Melanie said. "All that happened because I tried to stand up to Flug?"
"And because I gave you a voice?" Sadie added. "What a gobshite! You just wanted to talk, but he had to make a holy show of it for no reason."
"I'm sorry, 505," Melanie said. "I didn't know standing up to Flug would make him lash out at you like that."
"He needed to hear it though," Sadie said. "He's loyalty is to his master Black Hat above all else and that gobshite thinks you don't need a voice. It's all bollocks. It really is. If Flug really cared, he'd make a way for you to communicate anyways. I guess he never loved you at all. I guess he only loves his master."
505 sulked down on the couch even more.
"Wait, Sadie, that's not true," Melanie argued. "I've seen Flug with 505. He loves him like his son. He's raised him since he was a baby even though Black Hat thinks he's worthless. Flug loves 505 more than anyone else."
"Then why won't he let him talk?" Sadie asked. "That sounds pretty cruel and heartless to me."
Melanie thought for a second and said, "I think it's kind of like why my parents and Papi are leaving me with Black Hat till I get sent to the institute in August. They care about me, but they're super wrong about what they think is best for me. They think being evil and obeying Black Hat is the only way to live. They don't understand that I've found something so much better. I don't think they'll ever understand that. Flug is the same with you, 505. He can't see that there's anything better than obeying his master, so he thinks that's got to be what's best for you, too."
505 nodded.
He then gingerly took his phone and typed, "Then what can I do?"
Melanie thought for a moment and said, "If they don't want to listen to what you have to say, I say you've got to go your own way and decide what you think is right for yourself."
"I can agree with that one," Sadie said. "You're the biggest expert on that matter."
505 nodded to show his agreement and smiled at Melanie. Now that he knew Melanie knew how he felt, 505 didn't feel alone anymore.
Melanie smiled back and gave 505 a hug. Sadie joined in and the three shared a loving embrace.
After a few minutes of silence, Sadie asked, "So, do you want us to sing a song to make you feel better?"
505 looked at his phone, looked at his new friends, shook his head, and gestured to the television to ask if they could watch that instead.
"Sure, no problem, 505," Melanie said. "We were watching luchador wrestling. Is that okay?"
505 nodded indifferently, not caring one way or the other what they were watching.
Noticing his sadness, Sadie looked at Melanie and said, "Hey, 505. Why don't you help us find some snacks and sodas?"
505 perked up in confusion. Melanie did the same.
"Sadie, this isn't the right time to ask 505 to do things," said Melanie. "He's feeling sad."
"That's why it's the perfect time to do it," Sadie explained as she flew in front of the television. "Don't you see? We need a pick me up. We need to forget where we are for a while and act like we're free again, so we can forget about our problems and clear our heads for a while. Let's act like we're having a sleeping party at my house. Let's get blankets and pillows. Let's get popcorn and soda. Let's have some fun and raise our spirits before reality tries to force them down again. What do you say?"
Melanie and 505 looked at each other and smiled.
505 got up and it didn't take long for him to come back. Given his strength and size, he was able to carry a lot of things. He found what he could in the kitchen's cupboards and raced into his room for some pillows and blankets. They were probably a bit big for Melanie and Sadie, but it was better than nothing and he figured they might even enjoy the giant pillows.
505 reentered their room with all the blankets, pillows, sodas, and bowls of popcorn.
The girls instantly got off the couch and moved over to the bear to help him out.
"Dios mio! These pillows and blankets are so huge!" Melanie squealed as she took the blankets and pillows.
"Good Lord, me boyo, you found some good stuff!" cried Sadie, taking the popcorn, sodas, and the other snacks. "Now, we're ready for a party!"
"Come on," Melanie said. "We'll show you how we set things up at Sadie's house."
Melanie and Sadie laid the blankets on the couch, giant pillows on the couch, and blankets piled on top of them.
Sadie then evenly distributed the bowls of popcorn and soda cans on either side of the couch.
"TA-DA!" both girls yelled in unison.
"How do you like it, 505?" asked Melanie.
505 clapped, got out his phone, and typed, "It looks so cozy!"
"I know, right?" Sadie said, sitting on the comfy couch with a blanket wrapped around her. "We have our couch set up for maximum comfortableness."
"Is comfortableness even a word?" asked Melanie as she sat down next to Sadie.
"Surprisingly yes," said Sadie.
"Come sit with us, 505," Melanie said.
It was somewhat of a blessing to have 505 join them. He sat down in the middle so now both Melanie and Sadie had a living pillow to snuggle with.
Thus, the group settled down together for a night of comfort. 505 looked at his new friends. They looked at him and they sighed contentedly knowing that at the very least they had each other.