Little Red

SEVENTY THREE

Goldi sighed from where she sat beside Hans, who was deeply concentrated in a puzzle, and said, "Trust me when I say that Dani would absolutely want you to be there with her...but she knows that there will always be someone who needs you much more than she ever will."

Of course, Goldi had been right. At the end of the day, Hans would always come first in their eyes because they knew that neither one of the siblings could live without the other.

Greta rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance. "That doesn't mean I can't at least try to help," she said as she turned to Goldi, who looked at her sadly.

Greta then sighed as she walked over to sit beside Goldi and said, "From the moment we met, Dani and Mikey have always been there for me when I needed them most. And now I just...I feel like I'm failing them as a best friend because I can't be there for them when they need me."

"You know that's not true," Goldi told the girl softly. "I may not always see eye-to-eye with Dani, but even I know that she loves you just as much as you love her...In fact, it's part of the reason why I introduced her to Pinocchio.."

Greta looked over to her ex in shock and asked, "You did?"

Goldi nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, I'm not that heartless," she answered with a slight laugh.

Greta laughed, which caused Goldi to smile before it fell as she said, "She's been through way more than I've ever even thought about going through...and when I saw how bad she was getting at my mom's office that day...I couldn't just let her walk away knowing I knew someone who could help her...She didn't deserve that," she shook her head, "None of you deserved that."

"Wow," Greta breathed out before a hint of mischief flashed across her features. "When did you get a heart?"

Goldi rolled her eyes playfully as Greta laughed at her reaction. "Oh Ha Ha, very funny," she said before they both turned their heads at the sound of Hans speaking.

"Mm, I can't get the puzzle right," he said with a frown as he looked up to the girls. "Can you guys help me?"

Goldi smiled at him as Greta got up to sit on the other side of her brother and said, "Of course, we can, Mausi."

✧

Back at the Richards home, Mikey paced in his spot as he bit his lip in worry for his girlfriend. Michelle clung tightly to David, who had his arm wrapped around her just as tight. On the floor, Frankie still sat by his sister's unconscious body as he gripped her hand with tears rolling down his cheeks and looked at her body in sadness.

Pinocchio sighed as he flipped through the pages of his notebook and mumbled, "This wait is killing me...I've never really been the one to be patient."

Mr.W frowned from where he stood beside Pinocchio and said, "If there's one thing my younger brother taught me."

Dr.S smiled sadly at the mention of their brother and quickly joined in as he knew what was coming next, "Patience is a virtue, and when the thing you are waiting for is worth it, you will learn that it's not such a bad thing to have after all."

Pinocchio nodded with furrowed brows before he pointed between the brothers and asked, "Do you guys always do that?... And do you always sound so wise?"

"Yes," Mikey answered with a small smile as he stood across the couch with his arms folded.

He then looked up to Pinocchio and shrugged as he said, "You get used to it after a while, but boy was Mr.B the worst of them all."

Unbeknownst to everyone in the living room besides Pinocchio, Mr.B scoffed from where he stood and said, "I wasn't that bad."

Janine snorted from where she stood beside the male pig and playfully said, "To who? You were a Yoda 2.0."