"Just one more story?" A little boy whined, hiding further underneath his comforter. Miss Kiki giggled and shook her head. Laurence muttered a soft 'Thank Irene,' because he didnt want to hear another story. That would only make all the children fall asleep slower.

"No, Cameron. It's time for bed, so I want all lights out. And you," Miss Kiki trailed off as her eyes landed on the the little brunette boy. "You aren't sneaking off tonight again, you hear me? If you're caught you'll be cleaning all the bathrooms tomorrow instead of going outside after lunch."

"But Miss Kiki! Tomorrow is bean burrito day in the cafeteria! You're not gonna make me clean the bathrooms when they smell like farts, are you?" Laurence whined. Miss Kiki only giggled in response and carefully tucked the small boy's blanket into the cushion.

"If you're caught out of bed tonight you will. I'm coming in here to check up on everyone later tonight, and if I find you out of bed..." she trailed off. Laurence sighed and nodded in agreement, mumbling a small 'Yes, Miss Kiki.' The older woman flicked off the lamp, walking out of the room with a lit candle in her hand.

"Good night, boys. Please behave yourselves," she said before the door closed with a creak.

As soon as the door shut, Laurence threw the blanket off of him and jumped to his feet. He shoved his pillow under the blanket and grabbed his teddy bear and tucked it on top. When he pulled the comforter back to it's original position, it seemed as though Laurence was asleep. He then got onto his hands and knees to reach under his bed. He pulled out a stuffed rabbit that he found in the toy room earlier that day. He also pulled out a heavy flashlight, not turning it on just yet. He began to carefully creep towards the door Miss Kiki had exited through earlier. He peered down the hallway to see if anyone was coming. When we was sure no one was, and stepped outside and shut the door. He tip-toed down the hallway towards the back door. Everything was silent, including Laurence's feet hitting the ground. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Laurence finally made it to the door. He gripped the handle in his tiny hand and began to turn it ever so slowly, in fear that it would make noise that would reveal him.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice asked. The young boy squeaked and jumped at the sudden disruption of silence. He turned around and saw a familiar girl. Her hair grew down to her back, and it almost looked as though fire had grown from her head. She was pale, and had bright blue eyes that were similar to Laurence's. She was around the age of nine, but appeared much older through the way she acted. She wore a long, light green nightgown that reached down to her toes.

"Mother of Irene, Cadenza... You scared me!" Laurence whisper shouted.

"You shouldn't be out of bed. What if Miss Kiki catches you? Or worse... What if Miss Bates finds you? You know how scary she is when shes mad," Cadenza explained. Laurence and Cadenza had grown especially close overtime, despite being completely different ages and being separated a lot. They were both left at the orphanage on the same day, so they spoke to each other first because they were too nervous to speak to anyone else.

"I'll be fine. I set something up in my bed so when Miss Kiki checks on the boys it'll look like I'm asleep," Laurence explained. Cadenza only sighed at this.

"Like that'll fool her... Why do you even sneak out every night anyways?" Cadenza asked. "For all I know, you just go outside at night for a few hours and then come back in."

Laurence thought for a moment. Should he tell her? They've known each other for so long, so they've grown to trust one another. However, what Laurence went outside to do every night was top secret to him...

"I'll tell you at breakfast tomorrow. I really have to go now," Laurence said. Cadenza sighed but nodded.

"Just dont get caught..." she mumbled before walking back into the girls room. Laurence grinned and finally opened the door, shutting it quietly once he was outside. Once he was sure it was closed, he darted out onto the field and towards the back fence that was covered by a long row of neatly trimmed bushes. His feet pounded against the ground as he ran. He began to grow tired about halfway through the field, but he continued running. What was on the other end of the field was worth the struggle. No, it was worth more than the struggle.

Finally, Laurence shoved his way through the bushes. He bent over and placed his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Small giggles were heard from the other side of the fence.

"You seem tired," a familiar voice to Laurence said. The brunette in question finally stood up straight and took in the view of a small blonde boy on the other side of the fence. He had ocean blue eyes that sparkled when he smiled. Freckles dotted across his pale cheeks, and he wore a blue t-shirt and plaid sweatpants. A pair of slippers sat on his feet, little thorns sticking out of the bottoms of them.

"Well, I did run across a whole field to get here," Laurence explained with a smile. The blonde boy chuckled and moved closer to the fence. "I even rolled my ankle a bit."

"Oh, no! Are you okay?" The blonde boy asked. Laurence smiled sweetly and nodded.

"I'm okay, Garroth. Seeing you was worth the run," he flirted. For such a young boy, Laurence was already very flirtatious. He was the kind of kid who said 'I'm gonna marry you someday,' even though he was only six.

Garroth's cheeks flushed and he smiled.

"Well, I'm glad your ankle is okay," he said.

The two boys talked about what they did that day. Garroth shared a story about how he ate the last cookie, and his little brother, named Zane, got so mad at him. Laurence told Garroth about how he snuck into the toy room before bed, reminding him to give Garroth the stuffed rabbit he had grabbed. The blonde blushed at this before thanking him.

The two silently sat next to each other, staring up at the stars. This had been what Laurence had been doing for the past few months. He snuck out at night just to come see this boy he had grown so close with.

"Hey, Garroth?" Laurence spoke up, grabbing the blonde's attention.

"Yeah, Laurence?" The boy replied.