Az awoke with a skull splitting headache.

He complete his morning routine and made sure to avoid everyone in the house.

He got onto the train and he sat idly as it sped toward station G02.

The train stopped at the station and several people boarded the train.

One of those people was Holly, except she wasn’t in school uniform.

Actually, she was wearing what looked like a pajama set.

Az looked at her feet and saw that she wore a set of ditty bedroom slippers.

Holly slowly walked to where Az was and she sat next to him.

Az’s face twisted slightly as he Holly turned her smelly body to face him.

“Hello, Az.” She greeted with a train card in hand.

“Hello.”

“You… you’re never gonna change, are you? Even with me sitting here, like this. You still look at me with those cold eyes.” Holly said before lowering her head.

“Is this how you look at Zoey?” She asked.

“Is there anything I could do to make you like-“

“What do you want?” Az asked with crossed arms.

Holly a faint sigh.

“You had Zoey over by your house yesterday, right? Could I come over to?”

“Why?” Az asked.

“Do you care?”

“No, but if I going to invite another person into my home, I’d prefer it if I knew their intentions.” Az said as the train stopped at station G03.

The two disembarked and Holly received countless stares from students who were passing by.

“I ran away from home.” Holly said as she and Az stood on the platform.

“Mmm… I’ll help you, but I have to talk to Zoey about this-“

“What? Why does she need to get involved?” Holly asked with a frown.

“Because she’s my friend.”

Holly’s eyes widened.

“Ugh! Forget it, then!” Holly yelled before turning to leave.

Az sighed before walking toward the station exit.

“Oh, come on!” Az heard Holly yell.

She then walked up to him before blocking his way.

She raised her hand to hit Az, but he easily caught it to find that she was shaking terribly.

She didn’t say anything and kept her eyes low.

One of the station’s security staff walked up to Az and Holly.

“Err… is there a problem?” The man asked as Az let Holly go.

“No. It’s just my friend's feeling a little under the weather.” Az said.

“Oh? Ok.” The man said before walking away.

Az sighed before looking at Holly.

“Do you want my help?” He asked.

Holly nodded.

“Then you’ll have to accept the fact that Zoey and I are friends.”

“Simp.”

“Hey, you can call me what you want. I’m not the one who smells like shit and is dressed in almost nothing.” Az said.

“Fine.”

“Good. Let’s go somewhere else.” Az said before leading Holly out of the station.

The two then made their way to a convenience store where Az bought two water bottles.

He also texted Zoey and told her that he was with Holly.

Zoey asked where they were and Az told her.

“I don’t get why you want to he friends with her.” Holly said.

“I can’t say I fully understand the reason either, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about-“

Az stopped as Holly’s stomach growled.

The two looked at each other for a moment.

Holly lowered her head again, prompting Az to go back into the convenience store and bought a pie.

He gave the pie to Holly as they sat just outside the store.

A tear then fell from her eye as she took a bite from the pie.

She then broke into more tears before resting her head on Az’s shoulder.

Az remained silent as Holly wept.

She eventually finished her pie, but by this time, school had already started.

“Now, are you ready to talk?” Az asked and Holly nodded.

“I got into another fight with my dad. He wants me to be his perfect little princess, but no matter how hard I try, it’s never enough. I tried being my real self a couple of days ago and… he didn’t take it very well.” Holly said.

“I’m guessing that bruise-“

“No, I really fell that time. I wanted to run to my room after we argued, but I tripped.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah… I’ve been trying to run away for a while, but there’s not much you can do when you’re a daddy’s girl who doesn’t know much about the real world.” Holly said with a deep sigh.

“And Rapture?”

“How do you know-?”

“I saw you and Ryan talking on the roof.”

“So you were spying on me?”

“I was curious.” Az said.

“Mmm… I just wanted to numb my thoughts, is all. That stuff works fast and I used it whenever my dad and I argued.”

“I see.” Az said before looking up in thought.

“What were you planning on doing after running away? Or had you already planned on asking me for help?”

“No. I didn’t think at all. I just didn’t wanna see my dad’s face anymore.” Holly said.

“When do you plan on going back?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Az nodded before hands through his curly hair.

“Wanna know what I think?”

“Yeah?”

“I think you should go back home. Talk to your dad. See if you can compromise-“

“My dad’s not the compromising type.” Holly said.

“So you’d rather run? I don’t know what you were expecting, but as soon as I brought you to my place, my parents were gonna ask if something was wrong and it wouldn’t matter if we didn’t tell them because they’d investigate on their own.” Az said.

Holly remained silent.

“Holly, what do you want to do with your life?”

“Are you seriously going to preach to me right now?” Holly asked, but Az’s expression didn’t change.

“Ugh, I don’t know. What do you want to do Mr. Smarty pants?”

“Graduate, go to call and eventually get a job. Buy a car, get a house and one day retire. It’s not that hard to think about.” Az said.

“For you. It’s not hard for you.” Holly whispered.

Some time passed and Az eventually stood up.

“So what now?” He asked.

“What do you think I should do?”

“I think you should go back and talk to your dad. See if you reason with him. With his expectations.” Az said as Holly stood up.

“OK, I’ll go. But only if you come with me.”

Az nodded before accompanying Holly back to the station.

The two then waited for the train and made their way to station G02.

Az noticed that Holly was fiddling with her fingers and so her offered her his hand.

Holly accepted it as they arrived at the station.

Holly then led Az to her home.

The surrounding neighborhood was pretty standard looking. Clean houses and large apartment buildings littered the area and Holly stopped in front of one of the houses.

She took a deep breath before walking to the door where she twisted the handle to see if it was open.

The door slowly opened, revealing a dark hallway.

“Holly! Is that you?” A low, thunderous voice asked.

Az’s eyes narrowed as a giant man emerged from the dark hallway.

He was dressed in a bathrobe and smelled heavily on alcohol.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re back.” The giant man said before giving Holly a hug.

Az stood by as the giant man rubbed Holly’s hair.

He eventually let go before looking at Az with his bright hazel eyes.

“I’m guessing I have you to thank for bringing my daughter back to me.” The man said.

“Oh, no thanks needed. I just did what anyone else would.” Az said with a smile.

“How humble of you. Ah, please come in. It’s pretty late and I’m sure school has already started. I’ll contact your parents and apologize for my daughter’s foolishness.” The man said before leading Az and Holly into the kitchen.

He gestured that Az and Holly sit while he contacted the school.

He also contacted Az’s parents and sincerely apologized before walking up to Az and offering his hand.

“No amount of words can express just how thankful I am. Now, allow me to change and I’ll escort you-“

“Dad, we need to talk.” Holly said.

Holly’s father turned around.

“Can’t this wait until your friend leaves?” Holly’s father asked with a nervous laugh.

“No, dad.” Holly said before standing up.

“I don’t want to go to university. I want to be a musician-“

“Holly… no.”

“I’m not asking for your input dad. I don’t want to live my life studying only to end up in a job I’ll hate-“

“Holly!” Holly’s father yelled, startling Az.

“You are going to university. End of discussion.” He said.

“Az, help me out.” Holly pleaded, but just as Az opened his mouth, Holly’s father glared at him.

“Stay out of this.” He hissed.

Az took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing heart.

“I was merely going to say that you might want to compromise with your daughter as it might be your firm hand that’s causing all this… friction.” Az said.

“What?” Holly’s dad asked with a perplexed expression.

“I think it’s time for you to leave-“

“No, dad. If Az leaves then I’m going with him.” Holly said as she walked towards Az, but her father hit her in the face with the back of his hand, sending her falling onto the cold floor.

“Sit down! And you, get out.”

Az squeezed his fists before glancing at Holly, who struggled getting up.

“Sir, I think-“

Az tried saying, but Holly’s father grabbed his collar before dragging out into the hallway.

“No!” Holly screamed before jumped onto her father’s back and hitting him on the head with her small hands.

Holly’s father shoved her to the side, but this was she last straw for Az.

He punched Holly’s father several times in the face before being head-butted.

Az’s vision became blurry and before he could even catch his breath, Holly’s father jumped onto him before wrapping his big hands around Az’s neck.

“Oh, I get it now. You’re the one who’s been corrupting my daughter and not that other little vixen!” Holly’s father spat as Az clawed at his face.

Holly stood up and tried pulling her father off of Az, but her efforts were futile.

“I guess you’re what? Her boyfriend?” He hissed as Az desperately tried kicking himself free.

“Oh no… no. No. NO! Don’t tell me you took away my daughter’s purity.” Holly’s father said before turning to face Holly as he released Az’s neck from his grip.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Az isn’t my boyfriend! Get off him!” Holly said as she tried pushing her teary-eyed father, but he grabbed her hands.

“Ow! Let me go! That hurts!”

“You’re becoming quite the lair... just like your mother. All I want is for you to behave and get good grades. Is that so much to ask?” Holly’s father asked as Az slowly stood up.

“Let her go!” Az said as he painfully coughed.

Holly’s father stood up, with Holly in hand before kicking Az in the stomach.

“No… you’re definitely seeing each other. Tell me, my child. Where did he touch you?” He asked before removing her pajama top.

Az groaned as he tried standing up again, but this resulted in a torrent of vomit flying out of his mouth.

“No, dad! You’re scaring me!” Holly screamed as her father pulled off her pants.

“I just want to know-“

The door suddenly burst open and countless policeman stormed into the house before subduing Holly’s father.

“No! Let me go! This is a private matter!” He yelled as the police held him down.

A pair of paramedics then placed Az onto a stretcher before carrying him outside where he saw a few people standing around the nearby emergency response vehicle.

Az then watched as another duo of paramedics helped Holly out of the house while her father screamed from within the house.