-The next day of the weekend, Brahms asks to leave for a walk. Then, he ends up cutting out a couple of hours of study time to go on another walk. He spoke to Winona for a good five minutes before his false confidence gave out and he couldn't anymore, and I couldn't express how happy I was to see this kind of progress. I show it in desserts however, and he's definitely noticing it.

-I was doing my best to bake up a batch of brownies(failing horribly at it mind you, given I didn't have all the utensils I needed), when he came up and said it outright.

-"We can go to Loki's party." Brahms tells me, and I look up at him with a bewildered expression.

-"..What?"

-"We can go to Loki's party."

-"Why do you want to?" I ask, tilting my head slightly as I set what was in my hands down to the side. "I mean, I can imagine you'd hate being in a room full of people you've never met before in your life.. You do realize that's what is going to happen, right?"

-"No one talks to me anyways."

-"Well it's a party, someone might try."

-"I can be mute."

-"Well I think you ought to know sign language in order to pull that off, and then I'd need to.. Plus, Loki knows you can talk. It's not like we're going out to eat or something as simple as that."

-"I can handle it! I talk to Winona now, and you told me I'm doing a good job."

-I part my lips before I shake my head. "You're not ready Brahms, not at all." He reaches for my pocket and abruptly pulls the phone right out. I reach for it, but all he does is raise his hand up in response to keep it above my height. "Brahms."

-"I'm telling Loki we're going."

-"Why do you want to go so bad?"

-"Because I can." He turns around, and I give up on trying to get a hold of it.

-The date was set in calendar, and of course I was dreading the day, as well as curious and just completely nervous. Each day it moved closer. When the day came, I felt my stomach turn in knots as Brahms had me order a taxi that would take me to the place. Getting there was no trouble at all, even though I was hoping it would be. By the time we got out of the car, the tightest hand in Brahms and I's connection was mine.

-"Are you scared?" Brahms asks me, and I look up to view his nonchalant eyes. "I am too. But you're going to protect me, and I'm going to protect you."

-The childish tone of his voice does not make me feel too comforted, but I smile up at him anyways, forcing my grip to loosen. "I know. Thank you Brahms."

-He nods, and his grip tightens when the door to the house opens and it is Loki who greets us. For the first time I witness them smile at me, arms open. "Hey! Thought you losers were going to chicken out on us."

-"Nope!" I shake my head, and we walk towards the house. "Hey, did you say anything about Brahms at all?"

-"I told them some down bad tall doll man was going to come in to the party with his bestie but I didn't tell them anything about him murdering four different people in his life time and hiding from the police."

-"Alright, cool.. I think." I glance up at Brahms for a moment, and Loki beckons us towards the house. We enter the building and Brahms suddenly steps close to me, his body pressing against my back when some people look at us, stare at him and then look away.

-Oh boy.

-"Allen is in the kitchen." Loki points off to the right. "I'd keep an eye out for going anywhere near hi. He likes to be mean."

-"Thank you Loki."

-"Whatever."

-I press my lips together tight before I take a deep breath and I let it out, looking up at Brahms who seemed far more fearful than he was a minute ago. I can't help but smile about how right I know I am, he's just not ready.

-"Hey, if you wanna go home, we can go home." He looks down at me, stares for a couple of seconds before he shakes his head. I frown slightly at this, but I make myself smile right after. "Well aren't you brave."

-I hear Loki scoff and walk away into the next room, in which I end up pulling Brahms along with me to the empty couch. The party was loud, and everyone we pass looks at Brahms funny, some giggle but some just look away and ignore him. That was until one of them stops in front of him and he freezes immediately.

-"Hey, sick mask dude. Where'd you get it?"

-I open my mouth to speak for him, but then Brahms ends up talking on his own.

-"" He didn't sound angry, and he certainly didn't sound afraid, but with the deep masculine tone of his voice, it caught me off guard plenty.

-"Oh shoot really? You're really good at it then. If I paid you to make me one would you be up for it?" Brahms nods silently. "Cool. Lemme give you my number real quick, Loki said that you two don't have phones."

-"Well, I.." I stop talking when I feel my back pocket, and I furrow my brows. "I guess we don't."

-The kid nods, and I watch him hand the piece of paper to Brahms before giving him a peace sign and walking away. I can't help the smile, and Brahms looks down to catch it.

-"You did amazing Brahms." I whisper to him. "Using your deeper voice was a good move."

-"It is?.. "

-"No, not at all.. It is your real voice isn't it?" He nods. "It's very handsome. Did I ever tell you that?" He shakes his head. "Well now you know."

-"."

-"..Also my phone is gone." He tilts his head. "I put it in my pocket and then it just disappeared, I think I dropped it in the taxi or something."

-"" I nod. ""

-"I'm sorry Brahmsy.. How about we sit down, alright?" I pull him along with me and we sit down on the loveseat sofa, and he keeps a tight hold of my hand while his other hand sits in the palm of his lap.

-I can tell this is awkward for him, and that he's uncomfortable. Unruly music he's not used to, all the talking and the people, I'm surprised he's not covering his ears yet. He's looking around however, taking in all the people and the environment, and he absentmindedly pulls his cardigan over his chest. He's insecure, I can see it, and all I can do is lean against him.

-".." Brahms explains, and my head lifts to listen. ""

-"We're going to have plenty of other Christmases in our future, Brahms. Don't worry."

-"You promise?"

-"I promise."

-He then leans onto me back, and I close my eyes despite the noise. I wouldn't have felt this safe in this house if it weren't for Brahms, I could tell that already. Although his odd appearance is what catches eyes, I know I would be having to deal with the loneliness plus random conversations with strangers if it weren't for him.

-After a few minutes I stand, and I reach down for Brahms to pull him up. He looks at me inquisitively, and I smile up at him before I pull him along to the next room. He stepped in closer to my being and eventually he catches on to the sight of all the people dancing. Or at least in his mind "dancing" has the biggest quotation marks he's ever seen. When I start doing it however, he looks at me like I'm nuts before he casually bounces on the balls of his feet in response.

-"Oh c'mon Brahms, you have more energy than I do!" I poke him in the chest.

-"."

-"All the songs are going to suck to you. C'mon, just dance."

-""

-"Then jump you dork." I jump up in front of him before just doing random body movements, following whatever beat I can even though I don't even know the song.

-He looks around the room before he does what everyone else is doing, just slower and less sporadic. But as he watches me do it, his energy picks up, and finally he actually looks like he's having fun here. I reach for him and take his hands, and that is when he starts to actually enjoy it, stepping closer to me and spinning around with my hands in his. I can hear him laughing, and I'm pretty sure it's the first time he's ever actually laughed out loud, but then again I couldn't be too sure given the room was so loud.

-He reached low and picked me up off the ground to twirl me, and I hugged him tight as he spun me. The people around us looked at us funny, but clearly Brahms stopped caring a while ago, setting me down and absolutely busting moves that look way too much like ballerina reenactments from a newbie, just without the legs being thrown about. I can't help but laugh at him as he tries to twirl and then stumbles forward to catch his balance. He looks at me and I can tell by the way his eyes look that he was smiling, and I reach forward and grab him by his elbows.

-"Careful Brahms, you don't want to fall." I say as loud as I can, and he nods in response to me, before he steps up close and wraps his arms around me in a tight hug. I hug him back, and the feeling of dread is finally passing me by.

-"Loki?" How I managed to be alone and outside is one thing, how I managed to find Loki outside is another.

-They were leaning over the balcony of the backyard porch, holding a data card of some kind in between their fingers before they turned around to look at me. They give me a nod, and then take a look behind me with great effort before giving me a smirk.

-"Seems to me you finally lost your puppy."

-"Well he kinda ran away from me." I say, walking forward slow. "Didn't seem too keen on sticking to me anymore, or maybe he's just gotten so excited.."

-"I'd bet." I look down at Loki's free hand, and I notice the phone that I had lost earlier. They look down at it. "Oh yeah, I stole your phone. Don't worry, all those pictures you had are right here." They hand me the card, and I take it from them, stuffing it in my pocket.

-"Why?" I ask, and I flinch as Loki throws the phone into the pond in Allen's back yard, little fish swimming away from it and then circling around eith curiosity.

-"Catherine Stuart and Henderson Wismith's missing persons investigation was traced here and now they're being looked for, reckon they're trying to track down Candy's phone. Do you have anything of Henderson's that you gotta worry about?"

-"Oh, shit." I pause, thinking before I shake my head. "No not at all. Anything Henderson had burned with him, including his gun."

-"Smart." Loki sighs, looking up at the sky. It was a growing color of orange and blues, and it was ready to turn black. "So, got something I wanted to talk to you about."

-"Alright, talk."

-"I don't think you're in a good position. Maybe you don't know it yet, but where you are right now isn't safe. Sure, our dear rat man has been growing a pair and is willing to leave the house, but I don't think he's going to grow anything else. Like a conscious. Men like that? I have never seen them change."

-"Well I'm not too worried about changing him." Loki furrowed their brows at me, and I shrug. "I like him just the way he is. If he changes, it's because he learned, and that isn't something anyone else notices but me."

-"Are you really sure about that? You know how dangerous he ought to be?"

-"Well, he promised to be good, and he hasn't broken any promises, has he?"

-They're gone. They're GONE. I walked forward too fast? Or maybe they were just looking for the right time to ditch me. By the time I turned around to look back at them, they just disappeared and I couldn't find a trace of them. What do I do? Where do I go? What if I'm going to die here?!

I rushed out of the room and into another, stopping abruptly when another group of people was in my path. I can't take this, there are just too many people and I can't find (Y/N) anywhere. I knew I shouldn't have come here, I knew it. I could tell by the way they were looking at that bitch Loki. What do they have that I don't?!

-I found myself trying to hide in the darkness of the kitchen, sitting in a corner with my hands on my face, sight seeping through the in between of my fingers. I felt horrible, my chest pounding heavy, the breath inside my mask causing me to sweat so much. I would start crying if I didn't already know that I was surrounded by so many people.

-"Ah shit, look at what the cat dragged in." I lifted my head up enough to see a man I didn't recognize crouch in front of me. "You're Brahms, right? The down bad doll man Loki told me about? C'mon buddy, you look scared; and alone. You need some air."

-I pull my body away from him as he reached for me, and he stopped as soon as I flinched. He tilts his head to look at me, eyes wide as they stare at my own and I swear if he doesn't stop looking at me.. He's not going to be able to see anymore.

-"Say, buddy. How about we look for that bestie of yours, huh? We can find them, I can help you!.. My name's Allen, this is my house. If we can't find them then we can tell everyone else and you're mommy will come and pick you up."

-" "

-"Man I meant your bestie. I was calling them your mom-- We need to get you shitfaced, you are just so sad looking." Allen stands up and steps back, opening their arms in front of me, and I stand up slowly.

-"" I tell him, and all Allen does is nod and bat his hand.

-"Cool, cool. Follow me, they're probably in the living room." I follow them slowly, my eyes peeled on the back of his brown haired head before I look around the room in hopes I'd find them.

-It's not like I had never left my mother before, and I couldn't find her. It's happened, but last time I had ever been separated from someone like this, I never saw them again. What if I never see (Y/N) again? No, NO I can't handle that. I can't lose them!

-"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if they just left the party." Allen spoke up, and all of a sudden it felt like he was the only thing I could hear. "I mean, you were called down bad and lost puppy in the same sentence when I was told about you. How sad is that? Actually, how sad are you? I mean, I've met some big losers out in the world but you are something special."

-""

-Allen doesn't listen, as a matter of fact I couldn't imagine he actually heard me. He turned around and just kept talking. "You seem like the type of asshole who sits around on his ass and expects someone to do everything for him. I can tell that much by your white button up and black cardigan, looking all fancy like you own the damn place. You got real nice and dressed up didn't you? Or did someone else dress you up?"

-"."

-Allen hears me this time but all the bastard does is raise his brows at me and keep going. "You are the last thing from a man aren't you? You look like a child with that damn mask on too. Take it off."

-"."

-"My house, my rules. Take it off." His fingers reached over and dug under the porcelain, and I felt my heart go haywire.

I yank back, turning around and facing away from Allen. I must've been aggressive without noticing, because now people were looking over.

-Danger, I'm in danger, and I'm alone. I'm all alone, and in danger. I'm going to die? No, no non nonononono

-I'm not going to die.

-I grab the nearest blunt object, I turn around and his slams straight into the side of Allen's head. There's a scream, and then multiple, a few laughs, and I can't tell if I made them up in my head or if the people around me are making them.

-Think, think! I can't think! Everything is too red!

-I feel myself slamming the blunt object down into Allen's arms as he shielded himself from me, and abruptly his foot goes into my gut and I'm stumbling back into the wall. Suddenly I felt small, looking around the room and seeing a million pairs of eyes on me before I see Allen's. Was I dreaming? I just had to be.. But my stomach hurt so bad, it couldn't be a dream.

-"Fuck me you rat bastard." Allen chuckled. "No wonder why they ran from you."

-I rush at him.

-When I finally managed to get into the room where all the ruckus had been going on, Allen was knocked out on top of his broken living room table, and everyone was talking about Brahms kicking his ass.

-"Seems to me like your dog doesn't just bark." Loki elbows me in the arm. "If you need somewhere to live, I got a room."

-"Loki, shut up."

-"No, I'm serious." Loki places something in my hand, and it's a small flip phone. "My name is Lilly in the contacts, an old name I know, but it's there."

-I look down at it, then up at Loki, but I don't put in much thought before I walk away from them and I start asking people where Brahms went.

-"He went out the front door." Everyone told me the same thing, and I rushed out to the front porch. I look around quickly, and I didn't spot a thing.

-"BRAHMS!" I yell out, stepping off the front porch steps. "BRAHMS WHERE DID YOU GO?" I glanced around the front yard for a moment before I went out into the street and looked around there. "BRAHMS?!"

-I yelped at the sudden amount of weight that hit my back, arms wrapping around me. I turn around in them, and he is breathing so hard I begin to worry that his lungs could burst. My hands go to the sides of his face, inspecting the new cracks that lined the bridge of his porcelain nose. Then his knees started to buckle, and I went down with him as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

-"Breathe, breathe." I tell him, and he breathes in deep with plenty of noise. I begin undoing his mask, and as it comes off his eyes hide in my shoulder, and my arm drenches with what I imagine to be sweat and tears. "It's okay, I got you now. I'm here, and I never left you."

-He starts sobbing heavily, the cry not at all pretty, and we just sit there in the middle of the street. My hands feel along his back as they rise and fall with the width of it, and I feel his hands grasp tight at the back of my shirt. I run my fingers through his hair and I don't dare mind the growing perspiration, before I realize my shirt is getting a little too soaked.

-I push him back and I grimace as the street lights illuminated his bloodied face, his nose the cause of all of it. My shirt was sticking to my arm, but I didn't care enough to put effort into being anywhere near upset about it. I go back to hugging him and I work on bring him back down to breathing.

-"Brahms, I'm gonna kick your ass!" I jump and we both stand up immediately as we turn to see Allen rushing through the front door. I turn around and I put Brahms' mask back on quick.

-"Go down the street, alright?" I tell him, and he shakes his head, his breath choking up but he got back into coherence pretty quick as he looked at Allen power walking towards us. "You're not going to fight him again, we need to go home."

-I turn around in time to spot Loki stopping Allen and holding the man back before I grabbed Brahms' hand and I pull him away.