sunshine

two

"S-Scout..?" Lenny repeated, her voice trembling slightly with disbelief. No, no- maybe she just heard wrong. Maybe Scout had said the wrong thing- she was after all more than a bit undead. No one could've been this cruel to her- making Scout real but at the expense of not knowing who she was? That was just inhumane of anyone.

Lenny gingerly extended her hands out as a show of good faith and that she had no intention to hurt her, but Scout let out a shrill shriek and immediately used her drenched pink blanket to cover her eyes as she cowered away, turning her back towards Lenny, confirming what she wished with all her being wasn't true.

"Scout, please...," Lenny mumbled, withdrawing her hands and wiping water away from her cheeks whether it was the rain or her salty tears. "I'm not going to hurt you, just... just let me help you-"

"No!" Scout screamed, to which Lenny had to restrain herself from reaching her hands out to console her, but she knew it would only make her more terrified of her current situation. Scout turned around, pulling the blanket away from her eyes but still atop her head covering her ears. Her eyes were welling up with tears, making Lenny struggle even further to stop herself to try and help. "Where is Len? Len should be here!"

Lenny's breathing hitched and more tears welled into her eyes as the fluffball asked for her, unbeknownst that she was in front of her. "I'm Lenny," she stated, trying to keep her voice even, but her voice wobbled anyways. "It's me, Len-"

"You not Len!" Scout exclaimed angrily before her face quickly turned shocked and guilty for lashing out and more tears welled up into her eyes, Scout quickly rubbing them away from her face. In a quiet voice, as if scared of what was coming, she stated, "let Scout see hands."

Confused, Lenny showed Scout her hands, palms facing the sky. After she had shaken her head, Lenny turned them over so her palms were now facing the ground and Scout jabbed a slightly chubby finger at her hands accusingly. "See? Len is not you! Lenny has color rings and you not. Scout wins."

A look of victory flashed across her face and Lenny smiled at how happy her win had made her. Suddenly, Scout gasped and her hands clapped over her mouth, her blanket falling away from her head as she scrambled closer to Lenny, her hands on Lenny's bent legs that were pressed against the ground and her face close to Lenny's who was surprised at the sudden closeness. "Pretty girl! Will help Scout find Len, pretty please?"

The corners of Lenny's small smile dipped down in disappointment. "You still don't believe me, do you? You don't believe I'm Lenny?"

Scout leaned back, taking her hands off Lenny and crossing her legs as she took the blanket that had fallen in her pursuit of help over her head again. "No, course you not Lenny. You too pretty to be Len. And Len is way tall, too- you too tiny!"

She had stood up with the blanket loosely over her shoulders, stretching her hand as far as she could to demonstrate how tall Len was. Scout giggled at that and Lenny didn't know whether to feel complimented or insulted by her remark, but she smiled anyways, softly laughing at Scout's adorable reaction. "Well thank you, Scout!"

Scout's body went rigid and she stopped giggling, her face frozen in a state of shock. She slowly wrapped her blanket around her body "H-How does pretty girl know Scout's name? Is you a... a... um..."

Scout struggled to figure out the correct term that Len had taught her. "Stalker?" Lenny supplied, seeing her struggling to find the word.

"Yeah, that! Is pretty girl stalker?" Scout exclaimed in a frightened tone. The thought of Lenny being a stalker made her wanted to laugh, but she found that it was an inappropriate time for that. Although Scout had been using third-person multiple times when regarding herself, it was as if she hadn't realized those times or the earlier times Lenny had used her name.

Why did I make her such a cinnamon roll, goddammit, Lenny thought, a short string of curses following the thought.

"No, no- I'm not a stalker," Lenny exclaimed, trying to reassure her, but Scout didn't look convinced. "I really am Lenny! I don't know why you won't listen-"

"YOU'RE NOT LEN!" Scout exclaimed loudly, her eyes shut tight and her ears covered with her hands as if it could shut out Lenny's words and the world. Tears were streaming down her face. "STOP SAYING YOU LEN. LEN... LEN IS OUT THERE LOOKING FOR ME. SHE WOULDN'T ABANDON ME. B-BECAUSE IF YOU SAY YOU'RE LEN... it means she don't care about me... that she left me...."

Finally unable to take it anymore, Scout started to sob, curling into a ball with her legs pressed to her chest tightly. Lenny didn't know what to do- she had never imagined that their conversation would lead to this (but in all fairness, she had also never imagined that Scout wouldn't remember her either).

"I-I know I'm not the Lenny you remember, but I am her in a sense," Lenny replied, hesitating and pausing for Scout to have ample time to stop her and argue, but she continued to sob more. "I know it's confusing, but I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you."

"You... you won't hurt me?" Scout inquired in a scared voice in between her sobs. Her eyes had dilated and her tails had poofed up in fear a while ago and more than ever, Scout looked lost and was giving Lenny her trust, hoping she wouldn't crush it.

Lenny gently took Scout's face in her hands, hoping this gesture would reassure her and she wouldn't be so scared. "I couldn't hurt you if I tried," she admitted. "You're my child- I'd never, ever do anything to hurt you."

Scout's breath caught in her throat. "Len," she breathed out, tears of joy instead of fear or sadness now brimming her eyes as Scout began to smile. No one but Lenny could talk to her in such a loving way. Tears brimmed Lenny's eyes and she nodded, not trusting herself to say anything in fear she would start sobbing. She hugged Scout to her chest, choking back a sob as she rested her forehead against the top of Scout's head. "Len, it you! I-I thought I lost you-"

"Oh, Scout, my baby, you'll never lose me," Lenny mumbled into her hair. "You're home now. You're home and you're safe. That's all that matters."

But for how long would she stay safe was the real question.

---

Back from my lil visit from Procrasti-Nation and I have a new chapter to present

Okay, not really actually back but y'know I'm getting there

This chapter feels really OOC (which it probably is ngl) but it might be because I'm not a big fan of pure dialogue like this or something like that idk I have this reoccuring pattern where I have a good, well-written first chapter that took me weeks to write and prefect and I'm very very proud of it but then I get to the second chapter and I'm basically like why what happened to that first chapter vibe

Hopefully I can get the third chapter out before the contest ends but we'll see we'll see

This chapter was not as emotionally crippling as I'd want it to be but hey that's just life