Aphmau's POV

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Rather pathetic of me to crawl triumphantly away eh?

I managed to get up, brushing off my scraped knees and run.

I wasn't even sure where I was going.

I just ran.

Ran.

And ran.

That's all I did.

I rounded a corner and came across a small brown shack hidden behind a small canopy of bushes. It blended in perfectly.

Yes.

I jumped into the wilderness, ignoring the scars the bushes scratched onto me.

I opened the door and inside was an old rotting ground covered in a fine red carpet.

It had clearly been inhabited at some point due to the crushed soda cans and chip bags laying everywhere.

A small intact bean bag lay sadly on the ground, abandoned.

I squished myself onto the plush and started crying.

I didn't care anymore.

About Claire.

About Andy.

About Jay.

About anything.

I focused all my emotions into a single sob that wracked my entire body.

I tried to steady my breathing but it would pace faster each time it got close to cooling down.

Tears spilled onto the floor, leaving dark spots in their place on to carpet.

My hair was like straw, everywhere and messy.

It clung to my head, as sweat from the humid room stuck it in place.

I probably looked like a mess right now.

Insane eyes.

Wild hair.

Crying.

Dirty clothes.

Huh. I looked like a hobo.

I sung a few saddened lyrics.

"Since you've been gone,

I've been singing this stupid song

So I could ponder..."

I looked up to see who had joined my song.

Jay.

His clothes were dirty and his hair messy.

"Jay? What are you doing here? How'd you find me?"

"I wasn't trying to find you actually. More like I stumbled upon you singing while running, I mean, walking."

"Running? From what?"

"Uhh...your friends." He muttered.

"MY WHAT?!"

"I know right! I'm not sure what got them so worked up about me, but I was just walking down the sidewalk, when four of them dragged me into an alleyway and demanded answers and where you were while waving a book in my face."

"Oh..."

"I punched the brown-haired dude and knocked out the blondie. The blue one got away but the girl stayed to fight. She got me good in the arm."

He unrolled his sleeve and revealed a purplish bruise.

"Jay...I screwed up." I mumbled, burying my face in my sleeves.

"What else is new?"

"No, I wrote some stuff down in a journal...stuff that shouldn't be on paper."

"What? Oh....Wait, WHAT?"

"I didn't know they would steal my journal! Heck, I thought my friends of all people would trust my word!"

"Was that Travis dude part of it?"

"No."

He sighed with relief.

"Good."

"Why's that?" I asked suspiciously.

"I told him."

"WHY?!"

"He deserved to know. He figured your strange behavior had something connected to Freddy's. I'm not sure what shot him in the right direction, but he seems trustworthy enough."

"I see." I grumbled.

"Aphmau, you're going to have to tell your friends eventually. This can't be kept a secret for long. They're stubborn, but persistent, I'll give them that. But they just don't know when to bug off sometimes."

"I know, and I'm trying to work up the courage to stand up and talk to them, but their umm... 'encouragement' isn't exactly boosting my self-confidence."

"Well, they'll figure out a way to make you cough up. Whether it's persuasion or force, they will find away."

"Yep...I don't think it's safe for me to stay at my house."

"Agreed, maybe you could stay at Aaron's house for these next few hours. At least until the party starts."

"Wait, say what now?" I asked, bewildered.

"You're going with him to the prom, are you not?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Y..yes...wait, HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!"

"I have my ways." He grinned.

"Stalker."

"Am not!"

"Fine. That is a good idea though."

We stayed there in silence for what seemed to be an eternity.

"How do you do it?" I asked softly.

He blinked. "How do I do what?"

"Be so...normal. After what happened to you. Act so casual like it's no big deal. How are you still....sane." I whispered the last part.

His confused amber eyes turned to a deep thinking.

"You're breaking, aren't you?"

"Yes." I croaked, unable to carry my voice.

"To be honest, I don't even know myself sometimes." He admitted.

"Then, how? Jay, my brain has been in a fragile condition ever since that place. I can't look back without going into a messy fit. I've managed to keep my sanity in one piece, but it's not going to last long. My strings are unknotting and falling apart. I can't keep this up any longer."

"I find it helps."

"What?"

He stared at me for a long moment, his orange eyes fixated on me.

"Talking. Whether it's friends, family, or especially, someone you trust. Someone who would never betray you even if they had a gun to the head. Somebody who's there when clouds cover the sun. Somebody who's there when it rains, to hold an umbrella above your head. Somebody who's there to give you a hug an assure you everything will be alright."

I thought for a long, hard moment before whispering the only person I knew who would do that for me.

FC.

"Aaron."

Jay nodded, approving of my choice.

"Go. Talk to him I'm sure you've got a lot of things to tell him."

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