"What's up with teachers just not turning up today?" Leo sighed, leaning back in his chair as the French lesson went on and on without a single tutor in sight, it had been like this for three out of the four lessons so far. They knew a majority of teachers had substitutes for the day, they knew there was a reason for this, but it didn't stop the day from being boring without anything to do. Most had taken the chance to either chat or study, treating their time as a free period. Hazel, however, was using her time to simply rest. It wasn't like any upcoming exams would affect her at all, she didn't even technically go to the school.
"I just want to do something." Ryan groaned, leaning across to rest his head on Hazel's desk while she aimlessly fiddled with his hair.
"You could read," Leo said, a smile on his lips as he glanced towards Hazel subtly for only a brief second, watching her gently play with his friend's hair. "Didn't you recently buy a new one?"
"I only have physical books with me," Ryan sighed, his voice quietening so others couldn't hear. Hazel listened curiously as he argued with himself in his mind. "I finished my last one on my phone already..."
"Then just read a book," Leo pushed, forcing the boy to shake his head.
Similar to Hazel, Oscar watched silently, his left ear filled with music as one earphone hung from the wire and the other was sitting comfortably in his ear.
"People would see though."
"So?" Hazel said. "It's none of their business how you spend your time."
He didn't respond, simply glancing towards Leo who nodded in agreement.
With a short breath, the silver haired boy retreated to his own desk, his hand reaching for his bag and soon enough, it was placed on his desk and blocking his view from everyone and everyone's views of him. He dug through it, carefully bringing a book out of the heavy looking bag and he hid behind it again, opening the book and ducking behind the bag.
Truthfully, it confused Hazel how they avoided their hobbies out of fear of criticism when she knew that if people found out they enjoyed things like reading and the arts, it would likely garner them a lot more silent admirers... Maybe that was part of the problem?
Leo turned, now facing Hazel with a smile on his lips. He whispered a short 'thank you', glad she was able to convince him as easily as she had and he sat comfortably, watching Oscar now bop up and down in time to the song he listened to.
"Osc," Leo called this time, grabbing the boys attention quickly. "Come here. We're gonna help you study."
Oscar didn't argue, instead, he did as he was told and shuffled across the small distance without lifting himself from his chair, instead, he held the seat and hopped forward, never leaving the plastic surface. Soon enough, he was sat between Hazel and Leo, glancing between them both with his constant smile.
"What d'you want to learn?" Leo offered him a choice.
"I don't know... nothing?"
His choice was wasted.
"We'll learn biology then, you've been struggling with that." Leo decided for him, taking his choice away. "Tweetie, are you any good at biology?"
"Yeah, mostly," she nodded.
"Will you help? He actually listens to you."
She nodded, watching them both shuffle their chairs to her desk and began to pull out the materials they needed. Textbooks, sheets of paper and a biology book to work through as well as a neatly organised pencil case that Leo provided. It didn't take long before they were able to get to work and teach Oscar how the human body works and functions.
"You seem to like learning, Leo," Hazel said, her voice softened so as to not distract Oscar too much from the work he did, going through a textbook and answering a number of questions.
"I do," he nodded, leaning into the desk and resting while they waited for Oscar. He held his cheek in his palm, watching Hazel mimic the same actions. "I want to get high grades, but I won't be able to do that in this school. So I do it myself. I like just learning new things in general too, so it's a win-win."
"Oh I understand," she perked up, her bright smile never shifting through the day. She had managed to stay as happy as she was when she was at the cafe. "I like learning new things, but they're never the types of things you're taught in school so I'm left to go learn myself. It's easier to learn when you want to do it yourself and you're not forced. That's probably why I could never learn to play the violin."
"Yeah," Leo agreed, "when you're forced, it takes the interest out of it. I mean, its always reminded me of times when you're doing something good like tidying, then somebody comes and tells you to tidy up, making you not want to do it anymore... If that made any sense."
"It did, it did," Hazel assured him with a quick nod of her head, "I guess it depends on the teacher too. I used to have a teacher who would let us go off topic a little as long as we were learning. I thought that was a good way of teaching... Then my parents got them fired because the teacher said during a parent-teacher meeting that they needed to pay more attention to me rather than work. That sucked."
"They did that? How?"
"Money. Nobody really wanted to ever upset my parents, it never ended well." Hazel shrugged and sighed before moving on. "I think you'd be a good teacher though."
He tried not to linger on it.
"I'd like to be a teacher," Leo smiled, glancing over Oscar's work to see how he was doing. "I know that the pay isn't so good. But, teachers are important, y'know? I want to help people learn."
He was only just able to finish his words before he was cut short. Sure, it might be a random and unimportant conversation to others, but it was important to Leo. It was his life and his goals. He rarely talked about them as it was. Though, from the way he was cut short from hearing the passing conversation, it was understandable why he kept those conversations to a minimum.
"-I didn't think he was so boring."
It was obvious that 'he' referred to Leo, especially when considering the girls only a few desks away had caught Hazel's eye more than a few times when their watching eyes fell onto Leo as he and Hazel spoke. Their words were supposed to be hushed, but the timing fell awry and as things quietened down for just a few moments, they decided to speak, not thinking about whether they were loud in comparison to the room or not.
Aggravated, Hazel furrowed her eyebrows and tried to ignore Leo's lowering gaze. He knew they meant him too, and unfortunately, he wasn't as willing as Ryan was to stand up for himself. But, that didn't mean others weren't.
"There are some people who could really use a decent teacher. Too many people aren't learning respect and common decency these days," she turned, ensuring to make eye contact with the girls before turning back to face Leo who now lifted his gaze, surprised Hazel could be so passive-aggressive. He parted his lips, but he was unable to form any sentences as he let a smile creep onto his lips, thankful but still mildly shocked.
"Take your fucking judgement somewhere else and mind your own business!"
They turned, facing Ryan who shoved his bag off of his desk and lowered his book which was now visible to everyone along with his scowl which oddly, Hazel was now able to tell was softened. She never thought she would see a soft scowl in her life, yet there she was, looking at exactly that. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips formed the usual frown that lived on them, but his eyes weren't quite as harsh as they usually would be and instead, there was a subtle warmth to them you wouldn't see unless you had seen both of his angered expressions and gentler, calmed expressions.
The girls sank, their bodies lowering into their seats as they began to regret their words.
"Osc," Ryan pulled his chair to the group, "hurry up and finish, I'm sick of this. We're going back to the cafe."
"Oh," Oscar lifted his head, only moments away from finishing, "can we go to that field nearby while it's warm and nice?"
"I guess," Ryan nodded, turning to face Leo and Hazel, "that okay with you guys?"
"I need to go see Fox before we leave, but yeah," Hazel agreed, earning a vivid smile from Oscar and a nod of a head from Ryan.
"D'you wanna go see him now while we go through Oscar's work?" Leo suggested this time, taking the sheet from the boy, "we can meet you at the gate."
"Sure, but I don't know how long I'll be."
"We can wait," Ryan said, not at all bothered.
She nodded, quickly grabbing her things, but she stopped as Ryan spoke up again.
"We'll take them for you if you want?"
"...Are you sure?" She dropped her bag, secretly thankful because honestly, her bag was filled with so many random books and files, it hurt to hold it on her shoulder for more than ten minutes at a time.
"Yeah, yeah, just go see Fox and we'll carry it. It's obviously heavy."
"Ah, thank you," she smiled, pushing herself up from her seat and stepping back, "I'll see you soon."
Hazel sat, her body slumped forward and warmed beneath the constantly glowing sun that had come out of hiding for the day. It glared down onto her as she sat in the stalls around the field used for a number of different sports, though, as it was clear to her now, it was mostly used for baseball.
Under the same sun as her, a group of boys ran and swung their bats, enjoying the sport while a coach watched not far while sitting with a seemingly younger group all dressed in the same sporty uniform as the older group. They cheered the older group on, showing as much passion for the sport even when they weren't playing it.
In the seats, there were a few others scattered around, spread out far enough that it was difficult to count exactly how many. They were there before Hazel had arrived so she did the obvious thing and sat as far from them as she could. In fact, she was sat on the opposite side from them, but the silence to herself was nice for once.
She watched, noticing it was now Fox's turn to bat as he glanced her way, already knowing where she sat after watching her take her seat in the first place. He sent a smile both confident yet speckled with a nervousness, but to shake the fear, he added a quick wave which she returned with much more enthusiasm, earning a brighter smile from the often bored-looking boy who now beamed with only confidence, remembering that no matter what, she would be happy so long as he was.
He began his play, hitting on the first try and darting around. It was obvious that his tall height was quite the advantage when it came to running, his legs took him further, completing his run with ease and immediately after he leaned over, breathless from pushing himself more than he usually would. cheers were heard around, combining those on the field and those in the seats as well as Hazel's own cheering.
The game continued as every so often she and Fox would exchange odd hand gestures that could mean anything. They had hoped to speak through waving hands, twirling fingers and dramatic expressions, but it became evident that the conversation was more of a game of charades than anything else and neither was very good at it.
Eventually, the game switched, the older team left the field, roaming away and shoving each other as the younger group stepped forward, ready to play with bouncy steps and endless amounts of enthusiasm. Fox left the field entirely, exiting through the fence and quickly jogging around to approach Hazel with a brighter expression than usual.
"I think having that much talent should be considered cheating," she said loudly as he took long strides up the steps towards her.
"I'll keep that in mind next time then," he chuckled, dropping next to her and taking a deep breath. "Hi."
"Aloha," she smiled, watching him sink. "You alright there?"
"Yeah," he said, nodding with his eyes closed. "Just tired. I've been stood all morning."
"Do you get a break now?" She asked, her head falling to her shoulder the moment he sat up and opened his eyes with his smile reappearing.
"I'm finished now, actually," he watched her lips part, surprised by this new information. "For the afternoon, the juniors are practising. Coach thought we were alright for the game."
"Oh good!" She beamed. "We were all gonna go sit in a field or something, Oscar's request, I was worried you wouldn't be able to join."
"Thanks for thinking of me," he smiled, genuinely warmed by her worries for him over such a simple thing.
He stared out at the field, seemingly losing himself in the game for a while as she watched his expression shift from a happy one to a calm and soothing one. It wasn't until he began to speak again that she realised his thoughts were far from the game.
"You know," he began, still not looking at her, "if you think about it, we haven't known you for very long... But it feels like years."
She sat up, not speaking a word until she had heard all he had to say, taking his voice in as he continued.
"It's weird, but you have that kind of effect on people that just makes them feel as though they can trust you with anything, it's as if you're an old friend. I don't know what it is, the understanding you give? The trust you show? Maybe it's literally nothing and really, it's just your personality. But when I talk to you, it feels like you already know everything about me so I tend to forget that you don't actually know anything about me or my history, then when I remember that fact, it makes me all the more curious about your own past."
"Oh?"
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting you to tell me. I know that can be difficult to do, probably more so for you. I just," he paused, thinking his words through for a moment longer. "I just want you to know that it's an option. You've been through a lot already and it's only been a few weeks, so thinking about the eighteen years you lived, I can't even begin to imagine what else you've seen. I mean, in only a few weeks, we've seen you get a black eye from being attacked, had your house broken into, been harassed by girls, we even saw you get put into a hospital. It's a lot."
She could laugh. Not because she found his words funny at all, in fact, it was a little sad hearing that this was what they saw. In reality, there was far more. Not only did she go through the things he listed, but she also dealt with the media, evidence and work, sleep deprivation and a constant state of stress. And that was only in a few months. Hearing his words only helped put things into perspective. Hell, from those few weeks, she earned herself a new scar on her forehead which only now began to scab and more scars across her hands.
"I hate to say it, but I've had worse happen. I'm just a really unlucky person, honestly. But because of that fact, it takes a bit more of a push to really knock me down, you know? But really, I'm alright. I get a headache every so often from the knock to the head, but that's about it. I just worry for you guys."
"I don't think you need to worry about us so much," he said, pulling his usual lazy but comfortable smile back to his lips, "you might not see it, but the guys are all changing quite a bit. I mean, Ryan is like an entirely new person at this point."
"Really?" She tugged her own smile to her lips.
"Yeah, totally. Never in my life have I seen him speak about books in a place as public as a hospital, and I got a text from Leo earlier today saying that he was reading a book in class. That's not something he normally does." He sank an almost unnoticeable amount. Almost. "Seeing that he is changing, it makes me want to push myself a little more too. I'm trying to speak up more, be a little more energetic. But it's still hard."
"You don't need to force it," she was quick to remind him, hoping to speak to him as much as she could in the time they had. "There are things that don't need to change, and if you try to take away the things that make you who you are, it will only bring more problems. You could try to take away the suns light, but it won't be the sun anymore. What you see as flaws are what others see as strengths. Be proud of the want to change because not everyone can do that, but remember that want and need are two separate things."
He fell silent, shifting his gaze down to his lap as he took the words in, nodding his head gently in an attempt to show that he wasn't necessarily upset with what he was told.
"...I guess. Just, I hate to dump things on you like this, but I can't explain without telling you."
"You don't need to worry about that at all."
"Thanks," he nodded, sitting up a little with fiddling thumbs that rubbed over his knuckles in an attempt to keep his eyes focused on anything but her. "When I was younger, I lived with my parents. They kicked me out. I'm over it now, but I remember at the time that it was the most painful point of my life. When they kicked me out, it was because I disappointed them over and over, constantly failing to be what they wanted. The only time they'd pay attention to me was when I finally did something they wanted, when I got a step closer to being who they wanted. I knew I couldn't keep it up because it wasn't who I was. So they kicked me out, using my bad grades and bad reputation. After the guys and I got into a fight with Ricky's friends and I came home with a busted nose being escorted by police, they just sort of... gave up, I guess."
He shook his head, recalling the memory and finding that it still stung, no matter how he looked at it. Sure, he moved past it, but the fact that it even happened was painful.
"There were no real consequences from the police, but my parents saw it as an opportunity to finally kick me out. My grandparents heard about it and after a few weeks of staying with Leo and his family, they contacted me and took me in. My point is, because I couldn't be enough for my parents, its become an ongoing thing where I feel like I'm not enough for anyone around me. They hated me and everything about me, so I do too, even the good things that I don't see. Even changing my name wasn't enough to get over the doubt they caused me, the guys know about all of this, but, you've probably noticed that we aren't the best at really helping, emotionally I mean. Leo's pretty good, but he has his own worries."
Hazel turned from her lap towards him, having the words he said ingrained in her brain. To think, somebody who seemed so carefree and relaxed had been through so much. And it stung her in particular, reminding her of her own history she, unfortunately, couldn't tell him. But comparing what he had been through and what she went through, there weren't many differences.
"I-" she stopped herself, still mulling her words over. "I understand. I really really do, so much it's almost scary. I think the difficult part is remembering that now, you don't need to please your parents and give them what you don't have to give. They aren't worth pleasing, and you don't need to give what they don't deserve from you. You might not have been good enough for them, but you're good enough for us and it's up to you to decide which really matters more. Past or present, present or future. The things that you need to think about are the things that matter to you, not them. It's your future that the things you change alter."
"As long as you guys think I'm good enough, I'll be happy." He answered without hesitation, his answer set before the question was even brought to mind. "Maybe instead of trying to change specific things about myself, I'll focus more on accepting what I have first. If there are still things I don't like, I'll see about change then, but only when I'm sure and I recognise that there are always going to be things I don't like."
She smiled, then she beamed, happy to see him set a goal for himself.
"Thanks, Tweetie. I know it's going to be difficult and it's easier said than done, but I'll try, for both of us. As long as I remember that I'm doing this for both me and somebody else, I'll be sure to keep going."
"I'll be cheering you on every step of the way." She beamed. Though, her face fell for a brief moment as she realised something she probably should have remembered to begin with.
"Something wrong?"
"No- maybe... I just realised I left the others waiting for me this whole time," she smiled sheepishly, her panic evident. "They said they'd wait though, so..."
He laughed, pushing himself up and turned to her, watching as she also lifted herself from her seat. Carefully, they made their way down the aisles of seats, reaching the bottom as he left for a moment, returning only seconds later with the bag he had abandoned and before she could begin walking again, he stopped, dropped the bag onto his shoulder and began to speak.
"Hop on," he smiled, turning and allowing her to jump onto his back so he could quickly go to the school's entrance. She didn't hesitate. She would be the first to admit that she was lazy, and when there was an opportunity to not get the exercise she needed, she would certainly take it.
"Count yourself lucky," she laughed, securing herself on his back as he began to walk much quicker than she would ever be able to, "I don't have my bag and that things as heavy as a whale."
"Actually," he said, casually walking as if she wasn't on his back. "Not to comment on your weight, but I'm a little worried. Are you eating properly? You're scarily light."
She found this a little odd. Not because he decided to make a note on her weight, but because she never really weighed herself and finding out that she was actually light like he had told her in the past was a little surprising. She knew she was unhealthy and rarely ate, but not to the point of it being noticeable.
"I've mentioned I'm busy a lot, right?" She said, speaking into his ear as he nodded. "Well, when I get busy, I tend to forget that I'm not a robot and that I actually need to stop and look after myself. I'm trying to get better, I'm just not very good at it."
"Then I'll keep watch," he decided. "I'll make sure you eat lunch and at dinner, I'll text you reminders. Okay?"
"Okay... That would actually be a big help. Thank you."
He smiled, walking past classroom windows where random students watched them in their unexpected situation. Really, to the people who didn't know him, seeing him with a smile was shocking, let alone with a girl sat on his back beaming brightly. They turned, speaking words they couldn't hear through the glass and soon enough the pair were out of sight, rounding the corner towards the front of the school.
"How come you'll give her a piggyback but not me?"
"Because you're an idiot and you always try to do something dumb," Fox rolled his eyes towards Oscar who sat on the wall, his legs swinging while under him, Ryan rested against it, Hazel's bag swaying in his grasp as he looked up at them and smiled. The four of them were now outside of the school walls and hidden from view, except Oscar who actually sat in plain sight. But, no teacher cared. They weren't paid enough to get the group back and the day was already tough with so few teachers there.
"No I don't!"
"What about last time when you thought you'd sit on my shoulders and hang yourself upside down?"
"That was fun!"
"And dumb."
The pair bickered, leaving Hazel to rest on Fox's back, her arms hanging over his shoulders and lazily swaying by his chest as her chin sat on his shoulder beside his ear, too comfortable to lift her head. Her gaze fell back towards Ryan, a question in her mind but really, she knew that if she spoke, she would be forced to move and she was too comfortable to do that.
"He got Joel and they went to the shop," Ryan said, already seeing the fact that she wanted to say something. She hummed and nodded gently, accepting his words before going back to her seemingly tired state. He let a scoff escape him, not a harsh one but a scoff all the same at the sight of her state. "Could you look any more like a cat? Seriously, next, you'll be purring."
"If you listen carefully," Fox said with a short laugh, "she is."
They all fell silent, smiles of anticipation falling onto their lips with raised eyebrows, listening.
"That might just be me snoring, actually." She laughed, taking care not to be too loud when she was close to Fox's ear. "You're really comfortable."
"So are you. You're kinda like a blanket right now."
"Do you think I can become a blanket for a living?" She asked, watching Oscar push himself off of the wall and land inches from Ryan. Her question went unanswered as the two boys turned to each other.
"Dude," Ryan said, his eyes widened, "be careful would you? You could'a killed me."
He let a sharp breath escape him, his eyebrows furrowed in irritation for only a moment before Oscar nudged him, letting a laugh escape his lips while Ryan immediately nudged him back. Before they knew it, they were nudging each other, pushing back and forth and smiling in entertainment as they avoided each others hits.
"Quit it before you hurt yourselves," Fox shook his head, taking Leo's role as mother while stepping past them and carrying Hazel along with him, unbothered by her weight, "we're going to the shop to meet Leo and Joel."
The pair didn't respond. Instead, they continued pushing, letting laughs escape as they attempted to walk and fight at the same time. Eventually, it became too difficult and they quickly decided to opt for trying to trip each other up. Clearly, this was a little more dangerous as every few seconds, one would stumble, moments from falling before catching their balance.
"Please be careful," Hazel called, turning slightly on Fox's back to look at them, "you'll end up falling into the road if you're not careful and I don't really want to deal with the funeral costs."
"Watch it," Ryan retorted, "I'll take you out of my will and you won't get my money when I die."
"Are you kidding me?" She laughed, "how much money could you have when every other day, you'll make someone else pay for your coffee?"
"I change my mind," he responded quickly, "I'll pass my debts on to you. You'll have to pay back all the money I owe for coffee."
"Oscy," She turned, "flick his ear for me, please."
"He wouldn- Ouch! dude!"
"Sorry, she asked."
"Well, you didn't have to-"
She turned, letting them continue without her as she went back to resting her head on Fox's shoulder.
"Hey, Foxie?" Hazel shifted, directing her attention towards Fox as the two boys began to play fight again, knocking each other back and forth like two rocking horses butting heads. "You mentioned Fox being a new name earlier..." He tensed beneath her, his expression shifting subtly as he prepared for a question he didn't want to answer. "I was just wondering, where did the name Fox come from? It's a nice name, I like it. It reminds me of X Files."
His steps slowed slightly as he felt a need to pause and let a short breath of relief out, thankful that she hadn't asked for his real name. Truthfully, he preferred to put that behind him with the rest of his past, he preferred to keep it as just that, the past. However, asking where his name came from was like asking a parent how they thought of a name, sometimes it was a nice memory and in this case, it was a reminder of the new start he was so lucky to have received.
"It's actually from my grandma," he admitted without hesitance, "I had a weird obsession with foxes when I was younger, she'd always make me little fox plushies and I took them all everywhere. That was before things with my parents turned bad. Eventually, she started calling me her 'little fox' and a little after that, she called me 'Foxie' which stuck with both her and my grandad. They thought the name Fox suited me so I picked that up when I started high school. Though, granny still calls me Foxie."
He smiled, fond of the origins of his name. Of course, it sprouted from times with his parents, but that was when he was young and naive and had no clue as to what was happening. They were times when he was happy and couldn't have cared less.
"Ah," she faltered, acknowledging his last words with her own realisation and worry, "would you like me to stop calling you Foxie then? I'll understand if it's a name you only want her calling you."
"No, no that's alright. It reminds me of home when you call me it," he smiled, turning his head slightly so she could see the curve of his lips, "though, I won't let anyone else call me it. If the others start, it'd end up getting annoying."
"Aha, I feel privileged." She beamed, tightening her grasp around him in an attempt at a hug, despite the fact they were already in an odd form of a hug. Though, he acknowledged her attempt and brought his own hands to hers that she had intertwined around his shoulders to keep her from falling and quickly, he squeezed, giving her his own silent thanks.
They came to a stop as Hazel felt Fox's steps slowing until they stood outside of a small corner shop and the two boys behind exchanged glances, having heard the conversation between Hazel and Fox. It didn't take a genius to figure that if she knew that Fox wasn't his first name, then she probably knew about everything that happened with his parents.
"Your grandparents sound nice," Hazel said, realising they were just going to wait outside of the shop until the two inside were done.
Fox let a subtle breath of a laugh escape his nose, glad the girl thought well of the people he cared about more than anything.
"They are," he paused, "In fact, my grandad wants to meet you after seeing you that one time after school when we talked on the wall. He said you seem friendly. He even bought you some slippers for if you visit."
"Really?" She beamed, "awh, that's so nice, my heart is all warm. I still remember when my grandad was around," she continued to smile, dropping from his back and moving towards the low wall to sit on. The three followed after, still listening as she simply rambled on thoughtlessly, "We'd bake every weekend at his little bakery and he'd always tell me to put a teaspoon of honey in, no matter what we made. He said the spirits would make it taste nice, and it always worked... Really, he was just a really good chef. But it was a nice thought."
"Why honey?" Ryan asked, resting against her shoulder as he listened to her speak calmly.
"I don't know, dear." She laughed, forcing a breath of a laugh out of him as he nudged her for the ridiculous joke.
"Seriously," he smiled, "why?"
"My grandma used to love honey. She had a bee farm and everything... which was kinda funny to see since she was always cooing over them as if she wasn't so intimidating being a pretty big lawyer. After she passed, he'd put it in everything to keep her happy. He didn't like honey much, ate it too often, I think. But he'd do it for her..." Her face twisted slightly and Ryan felt her shrink a little under his arm. "I don't have time for baking, so I can't do it anymore. But, I'd like to... God, my grandad would be so disappointed to hear that I don't bake anymore."
They fell quiet, taking in new information about their friend and reliving fond memories as clear as the day they had happened. She cared for both her grandmother and grandfather more than she would care for anyone, the pair had helped her through a difficult time and she had easily been able to relate to the smile Fox wore while speaking about his own grandparents. But she always felt a pang of guilt that tore her apart.
"Does that mean you didn't make a cake like you said you would?" Another voice asked from behind them, forcing them to turn to meet the eyes of Leo and Joel who held a white plastic bag each. One filled with food, the other with random bits and pieces.
"No... I haven't been able to find any time. But I'll try to eventually, maybe it'll be next year... but that's okay."
"Yeah," Leo nodded, watching them all get up from the wall with a fond smile on his lips, "as long as you get to make it eventually, then you'll have something to hold out hope for."
"Right," she agreed.
But still, the clock was ticking and she felt like her time was running out.