Tweetie

19

"Thank you, Stewart," she sighed, carrying herself around the counter and towards the closest table.

She dropped, sinking down and shut her eyes for just a minute. But, she faltered, scrunched her face up, and opened her eyes again. She seemed to sink the more the silence washed over her. When there weren't any sounds to distract her from her head, she sloped further and further into the table and her gaze became more distant, it turned glassy.

Fox wasn't a boy of action in these types of situations, he preferred sitting back and silently supporting. But, this wasn't the time for it and he could see that. So, he sent a single glance to Oscar before he dropped his chair onto all four legs and got up.

His steps were heavy compared to the silence, something that happened over time thanks to Ryan and Fox's subtle ways of helping to make his presence known to him. Sometimes, the habit was frustrating, sometimes he would be walking through a silent room and realised that, yes, he was being loud. But there were times when he was thankful for it, like now. He didn't want to sneak up on her, not after what she went through already. So when he slumped down into a seat opposite her and her eyes followed him, he was at least confident in knowing that she wasn't surprised or frightened in the slightest.

"Hey," he said simply, knowing that he wasn't the best at talking but he could do it if it was needed, "you okay? I heard what happened."

"Mhmm," she nodded, sitting up a little in her seat, allowing the smallest smile onto her lips to let him know that she was grateful he asked, "stressed."

"I can imagine."

It felt a little bit ridiculous. He wasn't nervous, but he felt like he should have been when he pushed himself as he did. He knew he was intimidating, he knew part of that was because his hat hid his eyes a little too much under a shadow. He adjusted the hat so that the cap allowed enough light onto his face to show that he wasn't glaring.

"Try not to think about it," he continued, "nothing like that'll happen here, so at least take solace in the fact that you're safe here."

"Ah, that's right," she hummed, letting a long breath escape with a nod, "I'm too used to feeling on edge no matter where I am, that pushed me a bit too far. I was always worried my home would end up being another unsafe space." Her voice drifted and, under her breath, she uttered a small, "It was kind of inevitable..." he assumed he wasn't supposed to hear and an even smaller 'oops' after when she heard herself and the words she was spilling without meaning to.

He was admittedly curious about why she was constantly on edge. But given the situations she had been in already, he could imagine. Her luck wasn't the best.

"Try to distract yourself if you can."

She let a short laugh escape.

"For most of the morning, I've been thinking about that one scene from Shrek 2 where the Fairy Godmother sings Holding Out for a Hero."

That, to be frank, caught him off guard. Enough to force a laugh out of him. It was a breathy laugh, one that was more air than it was voice, but she smiled a little brighter as she heard it and they both turned, hearing a yelling voice that approached quickly.

"That's the best scene!" Oscar hopped over, forgetting his fear of girls for the sake of talking about Shrek. He dropped into the seat beside her, pressing his hands on the table while he smiled a bright toothy grin. "Okay," he said, "which Shrek movie is your favourite?"

"Second one," she said without hesitation, "it had the extra on the DVD that was an American Idol rip off but it was the best. It had Simon Cowell and everything."