乇卩|乙ㄖ́

匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺 ㄒ山乇几ㄒㄚ-ㄒ山ㄖ

I woke up the next morning, hearing the sound of a tv playing.

I opened my eyes to see the light from the tv filling the entire room. It was playing a show with real people. There were six of them sitting in a coffee house.

I wasn't really paying attention to what was happening. I was just staring at the tv until I started to wake up fully.

I let out a small groan, finally able to pick myself up.

I realized that there was now a pillow under my head and a thin blanket over me.

Fucking Griff.

I chuckled a bit, pulling the blanket off of me and placing it on the chair.

I caught a glimpse of Griff, noticing that he was still asleep. I heard small snores coming from him, not too loud, but enough to know that he was knocked out.

I decided to take that as an opportunity to get changed. I noticed that all the clothes in the closet were from the bags we brought. One side had all of my clothes. The far side had all of Griff's.

I took some boring, comfortable clothes, quickly putting them on before Griff could wake up.

I finally put some socks on before slipping out, gently shutting the door behind me.

When I got outside, I heard sizzling coming from the kitchen. The smell of meat quickly overwhelmed me. I haven't had a homecooked meal since I was like two.

"Hey Kama! I'm making some breakfast. Do you want some?" Aino greeted me, seeming a lot happier than yesterday.

"Sure, what did you make?" I asked, leaning over the counter to look at him.

"Well, the secretary Amara Grey came up here with food. She gave us a bunch of ingredients since we're feeding three now. I know how to cook from working on a farm, so I decided to make you guys something to celebrate. I made boiled eggs, sausage links, and pancakes with a bunch of fruit," Aino smiled, seeming proud of what he did.

I smiled a bit as well at his positive manner. God, I missed him.

"That sounds awesome, I'm excited to have it," I spoke, walking around the island to join him at the stove.

"You should be! I put all my skill into it," he spoke, seeming shocked when he turned to see me close.

I peered over his shoulder, watching the raw pancake batter slightly bubble in the pan.

"Doesn't that mean it's ready?"

"Uh— Yeah,"

When he glanced back at the stove, I stole a piece of sausage from the pan, walking back to the counter.

"Hey, now we won't have enough," I heard him laugh behind me, obviously noticing that I took one.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't take anything," I shrugged, not trying to hide the half eaten sausage at all.

He rolled his eyes, laughing a bit as he flipped over the pancake.

I laughed as well, stuffing the rest of the sausage in my mouth.

"Is Griff awake yet?" he asked, turning as he let the pancake cook.

"Oh, he isn't. When I woke up, he was snoring," I sighed, leaning on the counter again.

"Man, he never wakes up after any of us. This must be taking a toll on him," he frowned, walking over to where I was so we could be face to face.

"Well, it's no suprise. He's back at the place that caused all his problems. He probably wants to get out as soon as possible. Also, we finally got you back after so long. It's felt like forever," I responded, watching him walk over to me.

Somehow, I didn't even notice that he was wearing nothing but overalls. You could tell that this dude used to be a farmer.

The ripples on his skin showed through the sides, the straps hanging so low that it felt like he was wearing just a towel.

God, what was wrong with me.

"Yeah, and I'm glad you guys got me back. Things can finally feel somewhat normal," his response snapped me out of my thoughts, noticing that he was leaning on the opposite side.

The space between us was completely closed in now, only inches between the two of us.

I nodded in agreement, reaching my hand out without thinking.

I grabbed ahold of one of the buttons on his overalls, rolling it between my fingers.

"So am I," I whispered, my eyes glancing up at his.

I noticed his mouth gap a bit, his Adam's apple bopping from a gulp.

We stood silent for a bit, only the sound of cooking pancakes filling in the space.

I smirked a bit, leaning to the side to glance at the stove.

"Doesn't that mean they're ready?"

He still stood frozen in place before my words finally made sense to him.

"Oh— yeah," he mumbled, quickly rushing to take the pancake out.

I chuckled a bit, heading over to the seating area.

Aino finally got it all on plates, heading over to serve me one.

"Hope you like it, I haven't cooked for other people in a little while," he sighed, sitting down with his own plate.

"Thanks, I'm sure it's better than canned goods stolen from abandoned Walmarts," I joked, taking a bit of everything combined.

It felt as though my tongue was overwhelmed with flavor. The eggs and sausage were well seasoned, and the sweetness of the pancakes and fruit contrasted it well.

It was way better than canned goods stolen from an abandoned Walmart.

As I finished my first plate, Griff finally came out of the room. We said our good mornings while Aino went to talk to him privately.

I went to get more pancakes and a lot more fruit, making sure I'd save some for Griff.

I tried not to listen to their conversation to be respectful, but it was kind of hard when they were right by the kitchen.

I tried to hurry up and yell in my head in the meantime to tune them out.

I quickly went back over to the living room, but I caught a few words on the way.

It sounded as though they were talking about Aino's decision to stay. It's something that's been on my mind, after all. It was most likely on theirs as well.

I didn't know how I really felt about it either. This place was nice, and this was the first time I had a fresh meal in so long.

On the other hand, I now knew what they've done, and they never denied it. Aurelio tried to kill us over the secrets that Griff knows as well. That shows that they're untrustworthy and that they'll cause more harm in the end.

Griff and Aino's conversation was wrapped up, and they sat down with their food beside me.

I couldn't help but think about it still. Before I knew it, I had to give Aino the rest of my fruit because I had lost my appetite.

This was definitely hard.