Freeze Frame

Chapter 29

Third person pov

Both Lillian and Hitoshi passed out around six in the morning or so, the boy having introduced Lillian to the wonderful world of memes. They'd collapse on Hitoshi's bed, both of them snuggled up against one another. The look on Mihoko's face when she peeked in at around ten was priceless. Seeing her son with his arm around the small girl's shoulders. Her head leant against his chest. Their legs, overlapping and tangled in the blankets. Lillian wearing her son's hoodie.

"Just a friend my ass." The woman whispered, slowly backing away to go hunt down a camera.

At first, Lillian hadn't been sure of vines. Hitoshi had climbed onto the bed and plopped down next to her. He'd pulled up a video titled "Vines that cured my cancer" and offered her an earbud. At first she'd been a little lost. She hesitantly accepted it and let her eyes shift to his phone. Hitoshi was grinning like he knew something she didn't.

By the time this ten minutes were over, she couldn't feel blood on her hands anymore. With shining eyes, she turned towards Hitoshi, which was grinning hopefully at her.

She felt her lips stretch into a grin as well.

"Another?"

Hitoshi had looked overjoyed.

And so started a two hour marathon consisting of Vines, Vines, and more Vines. A lot repeated, but those were the most iconic ones, so neither could complain. Hitoshi could practically feel Lillian coming over to the dark side, and it made him grin. He didn't really have ant friends aside from her, let alone any he could watch Vines with. He knew she'd just been through some mad trauma, but he still couldn't help but feel a little giddy.

He almost screamed when she muttered "yeet" under her breath. He wanted to cry, but not in a bad way. He'd been very worried that maybe she wouldn't like them, or perhaps she'd be uncomfortable. He'd been... well, he didn't want to scare off his only friend. He took the risk, and he didn't regret it. Lillian seemed to be getting into vines and memes just as much as he currently was. She'd even whispered "bitch lasagna" to herself. It made him feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy.

Sleep crept up on them like a ninja in spandex. At some point, the two teens had sort of melded together. Like two people trying to sit in the same chair or something. He normally wasn't one for physical contact, but he found that he quite liked it. More than he thought he would, anyway. It felt... comfortable, and warm, and at home. He even felt himself begin to drift off somewhere between I coulda dropped by croissant and I won't hesitate, bitch. It was hard to pinpoint the exact moment it started.

Lillian was out first, her head falling against his chest. She had rolled over a little, half on top of him, and half not. It made it impossible to slip away and roll off the bed into his futon. So he didn't. Instead he sat and let himself drift off, his head lolling to the side. He realized just as his consciousness faded that he had an arm around Lillian. He didn't remember holding her ever, but he really didn't care. He was too tired to.

Mihoko returned and took around twenty, maybe four-hundred photos or so. Most were from angles that shouldn't have been humanely possible, but Mihoko was a resourceful woman. This was a monumental moment. Shinso had never really had a friend before, nor had he ever outwardly admitted to having a crush. He'd never even shown interest in a girl before, or a boy for that matter. But now Lillian was here, and well...

Mihoko was pretty much ready to start looking for a wedding venue. 

Hajime Shinso left early for work around noon, wanting to check up on Eraserhead, who had been placed under his care. He'd gotten a few more concerned texts from Lillian's parents, most long and drawn out, begging her to come home. He was just glad they weren't spamming him, because they really could if they wanted. He appreciated their restraint.