I rolled myself out of bed the moment it turned six, but this time I wasn't dead on my feet as I walked out into the kitchen. Emma was already doing paperwork at the table.

"Hey, you're up early. Are you okay?" she asked.

"I guess. You leave for work soon, right?" I asked as I sat across from her and rested my head on my hands.

Peeking up from her work, "In about fifteen or thirty minutes. Need something?"

"I was hoping you could give me a ride to a friend’s house."

Her mouth hung open before turning into a full toothed grin as she full on stared at me. "Holy shit." She got up and walked around the table to give me the biggest bear hug she's given me in a long time. I did my best to match her hug, but she was still a lot stronger than me, and I was sitting down.

"Can you not make it a big deal? I'm having a hard day, and I don't need reminders that I'm a freak that doesn't hang out with anyone."

"You're not a freak," she said as she kept up the hug, "You're my sister and I'm so fucking proud of you."

I could hear the joy in her voice, and same for Esmer as Tarmon carried her around.

 

I'm proud of you too.

Again, what we have with Holly could be special.

But remember.

Holly isn't a cure for our trauma.

She can help, but we'll still have a lot of work to do.

 

At least you told me that before I got my hopes up too much…

 

Sorry, but it was never going to be that easy.

 

Emma broke the hug and went back around to her seat. "Are they going to be up at this hour? It's still pretty early."

"Yeah, she gets up early like me."

Emma glanced over. She probably had the same thought I did about Holly going through shit. "Alright, we can leave early. Do you know where she lives?"

I took out my phone and looked it up. "She lives at 4658 Finwood Road."

"Pretty sure that's on the way there. Sure. You should go get ready now though."

"Sweet," I spun around and rushed back into my room to open up my dresser.

 

Does it actually matter what I wear?

 

+++

Not at all. You're going to look ugly as fuck no matter what you put on.

+++

 

I don't actually think it matters.

Holly doesn't seem like the kind of person to really care about how she looks.

 

Taking Esmer's advice, I picked a random black shirt, blue jeans and my denim jacket and changed. The moment I was ready, I marched out of my room and went back to Emma. "I'm ready."

She tried to hold back a laugh, but she put her papers away and got up, "Alright."

"What's so funny?"

"It's just nice seeing you happy like this."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just walked out through the front door and climbed into the front seat of the car. It didn't take long for her to join me, and she still had that stupid grin on her face.

"Seriously, can you stop making it a big deal?"

"And miss out on being happy for you? Not a chance."

 

She's right.

Even if I didn't agree with spending time with Holly before.

This is going to be good for us.

 

+++

You're going to make an ass of yourself and ruin any chance with her, but you already know that.

+++ 

 

Don't listen to him.

Just be nice, and it should go smoothly.

You got this.

 

Most of the drive there was me pretending to not notice Emma smiling. At least it wasn't that far of a drive. Maybe five or ten minutes tops. And when we pulled into her driveway? God damn. She had a really cool house. It was a pretty big one, and it was a lot cleaner than ours was.

"Do you want me to go up there with you?"

 

No, but tell her not to drive off until we go into the house.

And tell her to have her phone ready.

 

"No, but just be ready in case I need to call you. And just wait until I'm in before you drive off."

"I was gonna wait anyway. Hope you have fun, and call me when you want to come home."

"I will," I said, getting out of the car and shutting the door. 

 

Holy fuck. I'm going into someone's house and I have no idea what their family is like. What if they're not safe and-

 

+++

Seriously? Normally I don't mind you freaking out because that means less work for me, but Esmer told you this multiple times.

+++

 

I know! But it's just hitting me now.

 

"Is everything okay?" Emma asked as she rolled down the window. I'd been standing there looking at their door like some kinda creep for at least a minute.

"Yeah. Sorry. Thanks for the ride," I said as I slowly walked up to their door.

With a deep breath, I rang the doorbell.

…

 

Whelp they're not home. Guess I should head back-

 

The door opened, and there stood Holly with a soft smile. "Hey."

"Oh. Hey…"

We stood in the doorway and just stared at each other for far too long.

"Uhh right. Sorry. Come in."

She stepped aside and I walked though. A short hallway opened up into a big, spacious living room, with a couch on the far side of the room and a couple chairs facing a big TV. Light blue walls and huge windows brought in a ton of light from behind the couch.

"You have a really nice place here. Mine's pretty dark which sucks, but- Yeah. Nice place."

"Thanks. So…Do you want a tour of the house?"

"Sure."

She led me behind the chairs and into another room.

"This is the kitchen."

My eyes landed right on this odd looking table and holy shit! It had this big, bright blue streak down the middle that looked like water, but it wasn't painted on. It was actually part of the wood! And it faded perfectly into the rest of the dark brown of the top that surrounded it!

"Where the hell did you get this? I've never seen anything like it and it's really, really cool."

 "Oh, that? My dad made it."

 

—

"My dad made it."

"My dad made it."

"My dad made it."

—

 

…

 

I know what you're thinking.

Just because her father is good at woodwork, it doesn't mean he's safe.

 

+++

And I bet your stupid ass is still going to want to talk to him.

+++

 

Damn right I want to talk to him! Do you have any idea how hard this is? Because I sure as fuck don't! That's how amazing it is! I gotta talk to him and find out how he did this.

 

I understand your excitement, but you still need to be careful.

 

I will, but come on. How could anyone that can make something like this be that bad?

 

+++

That's got to be one of the most stupid things you've ever said. And you say a lot of stupid shit. All of the time.

+++

 

"Is it really hard to do?" Holly asked as she walked up next to me.

"I don't actually know, but it looks amazing and I have no idea how to do it."

 

You said you don't know twice.

 

"You can ask him when he comes home later if you want."

 

Okay, no.

 

A wave of intense fear hit me as black waves came from Esmer and went into me.

 

I might just be a head right now, but I'm still your anima.

 

It wasn't on the same level of terrifying fear that came from Tarmon, but it was still fucking scary.

 

I will not let you endanger ourselves just for some stupid project.

 

I know it's risky but come on! How often do I get to meet someone that can do this?

 

I said I won't allow it.

I can make this fear worse for you.

And I will if you don't drop it.

 

I'm not going to let something like this slip by just because I'm scared.

 

With a deep breath, "I'd love to ask him," I said, digging my nails into my palm so much I was worried I'd make myself bleed.

A moment later, the fear faded out almost completely.

 

How did you…

…

No.

I don't care if you managed to say that.

I'm not going to let you get near him.

 

Being that afraid already makes stay in my room all fucking day. I know it's dangerous, alright? I don't need you to keep fucking reminding me. But I'm going to find out how this was made.

 

…

 

"He comes home later tonight. We can ask him then."

"Okay," I said, trying to hold myself together after Esmer made me feel like shit. What was just as worse was that I immediately ran out of things to say, which led to another bout of awkward standing around. 

"Sure. Do you have any other cool things like that table?"

"A couple, but they're in my parents' bedroom, and I don't really think it's a good idea to bring you in there without them around. You can ask them though." She walked me out of the room to go past the TV, and down another hallway where she listed off the rooms in order. "Bathroom, my dad's study, and my room. My parents' room and another bathroom is upstairs. And I guess that's it. Do you want to play something? I think I know a game you might like."

 

Well she was certainly quick to bring up games.

 

"Yeah. Sure," I said as she opened the door to her room.