Thomas and Carter walked home together on a bright afternoon, the warmth making Thomas feel even sleepier than he already was. "I'm sorry, Carter," Thomas murmured, rubbing his eyes, "But I'm knackered as all bloody hell," He mumbled. "I'll just crash once I reach home,"

Carter turned to his friend, his face creasing with concern. "You alright? Oh! I almost forgot—how did it go with Mei and the others?" he asked, a spark of curiosity in his tone.

"Well... it was... interesting," Thomas replied, a bit hesitant.

"Interesting? Spill! What happened?" Carter pressed.

Thomas managed a small smile. "I think I made friends with all of them... at least, I hope I did."

Carter smiled. "Really? That's amazing!" He said.

Thomas couldn't help but smile at his friend, but he didn't know how to word what had happened. "Did you all do the experiment together?" Carter asked.

Thomas nodded. "Yeah, we did... B-But... um..." Thomas didn't know how to say it.

Carter tilted his head. "What's the matter?" He asked. "Did something go wrong?"

Thomas blinked. Carter looked down, then back at Thomas. "Tyler wasn't being a bitch to you, was he?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, he was being a little mean at some parts, but that's not the problem."

"So... what is the problem? You can tell me."

Thomas sighed, then stopped walking. Carter did so as well, and turned around to his friend.

"This was the first time I felt really happy in a while. Aside... from being with you a lot of the times." He said. He looked up, and saw Carter blushing a little bit. Carter looked away, seeming like he was trying to hide his blush.

"O-Oh... uh-huh... thanks..." He said, making eye contact with Thomas now, smiling. Thomas smiled back, but it went away when he was about to talk about the problem. "It looked like, this new happiness, the feeling of me getting new friends, was too much for me to handle."

"Too much? What do you mean?" Carter asked, his concern deepening.

Thomas looked down. "My... my engine came out."

Thomas heard Carter gasp. He picked up his head to look back at his friend. "D-Did they see?!" Carter asked, looking shocked.

Thomas shook his head. "Fortunately, no."

Carter looked confused. "How they didn't see? Didn't you always say your... Engine-form can damage everything around you, especially if it's a small space?"

"Yes, it can. But, thankfully I felt it coming on, so I quickly excused myself from the classroom to go to the 'restroom' and just before I could enter the yard in the back, I couldn't hold it in anymore," Thomas explained. He then shook his head. "I held the engine in for six years. I thought I was in the clear..."

He stared down at the sidewalk, feeling the weight of his past attempts to manage something so much bigger than himself. He could never fully grasp it, and would frequently damage his room, and the house. When he got a littler older, he realized that enough is enough, and instead of learning to master it, he leaned to keep it in. But now, it seemed as if he didn't teach himself hard enough. Thomas felt Carter put his hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Carter closer to him.

"Maybe... maybe keeping it in wasn't the best solution," Carter said softly. "I mean, trying to bury things only makes them come out harder later."

Thomas just listened to Carter. It made sense. "I know. And you're right. It's just that I'm so terrified that I'm gonna-"

"Crush someone. I know..."

Thomas closed his eyes. "I felt so... so terrible after that accident. I always felt like it was my fault."

"Well, it's not. You couldn't control it. None of it, was your fault., at all,"

Thomas sighed, then started to walk. Carter walked along with him.

They walked in silence the rest of the way to Thomas's house. When they reached his door, Carter hugged him tightly. "Say hi to Mr. Hatt for me," he said, pulling back with a grin.

"See you Thomas!" Carter called out to his friend as he walked down the sidewalk.

Thomas smiled, then turned around, face to face with his dad. "AHH!" He screamed.

"Oh... Sorry Thomas. Didn't mean to frighten you. You and your boyfriend aren't gonna hang out today?" he teased.

"Daaaddddd..." Thomas whined as he face blew up in a red color. "He's not my boyfriendddddd..."Thomas blushed. "H-He.. He is just one of my mates..."

"All that hugging says otherwise. Come in, I've made your favorite." His dad turned to enter into the house.

Thomas walked behind him. "Thanks dad." He said.

They both walked into the house, and Thomas quickly set his bag in his room. "So how was school today?" He heard his dad say from outside his room.

"Oh... it went okay..." Thomas took of his shirt, and was going to change into more casual ware for home, and then he realized his chest, down to his stomach were still gray.

He still had part of the engine still on him. The magic didn't fully clear out of his system. "Oh crap!" He said to himself. "I can't let dad know!"

He looked frantically for a shirt that wouldn't accidentally show any skin if he where to stretch or something. He finally found one and walked out to the living room. "I.. um I've got some new friends."

His dad looked surprised. "Really? Wow, that's amazing. How many?"

Thomas thought. "Um, five new friends..."

"Five?! Wow, When I was a young bloke I only had two lad's to call my mates," his father said.

Thomas just chuckled. "You're a cool person, how you had no friends?" Thomas asked as he sat at the dining table.

"Just like you, son, I was a rail fanatic. Still am. Back then, if you liked anything out of the ordinary, you where called a geek, nerd, dork, all that. And back then, those words really hurt," He walked out from the kitchen. "Nowadays you will have people to back you up in case anyone tries to tease you for your interests. And don't get me started on how many famous people today are 'nerds'," He said. He set the plate down on the table.

"Yeah... I guess your right," Thomas said.

His father smiled. "Eat up, you look really hungry. Today must of been really tiring."