The next morning, the massive bruise that had developed on my side woke me up abruptly.

Pain isn't the most pleasant way to start the day, but it's surely efficient against drowsiness.

I sat up in my bed, and noticed that a bit of orange light was filtering through the window, hinting that the sun was just rising.

I scanned the room, that was already starting to become familiar: the only things that were out of place were the little bed where Rob was snoring, which Rachel had brought the night before, and the enormous bed in the distance, which was empty.

Oh, right, that happened... it didn't feel real. I still was coming to terms with it, but i honestly didn't undersand. There were too many things that just didn't add up.

On one hand, both Alexis and Rachel, who surely knew Laura much better than me, were certain that she didn't dislike me, and the fact that she apparently seemed genuinely worried about me after the incident seemed to point in that direction

On the other hand, that look she gave me... i shivered, gripping my left arm with my other one. 

Nobody, in my entire life, had ever looked at me with such pure disgust, hatred and rage as she did. I would never forget that expression.

Just recalling her eyes caused me such anxiety that i started to gag, so i decided to go to the bathroom to freshen up. Even after that, i was feeling restless so i strolled to the living room as usual, before everyone woke up.

In the meantime, someone else awakened between the arms of a sleeping Alexis.

Laura blinked a few times, feeling the skin on her face near her eyes a bit funny, then she realised it was the usual feeling of dried tears.

She sighed silently, and nuzzled herself nearer the older and gorgeous friend, taking comfort in her soft bare skin. 

After a few minutes she was fully awake, so she huddled in the sleeping Alexis and whispered in her ear softly "thank you", and then she extricated herself from the tight embrace.

She felt numb, and sad. Without a goal, she went to wash her teeth, then she absent-mindedly strolled to the living room as well.

There, as her gaze roamed around the room, she noticed my hunched over form, dangling my legs over the edge of the dining table, which i had climbed a few minutes earlier. 

Suddenly, she halted, feeling her heart skip a beat, and opened her mouth to call out a name... but she closed it. That tiny person was not Leo. It was me. 

It couldn't be him... after all, Leo was...

"Hi..." my greeting interrupted her train of thoughts.

Laura tried to answer, but at first her voice just didn't come out, until she managed to mutter a weak "Hello..."

She sat down on one of the chairs, facing the same direction as i was, and looked down, her hands awkwardly try to find a proper position on her legs. It was a very different sight from the intimidating pose she had when we first met.

We were both unable to say anything to each other, much less look at the other, so for a couple of minutes we just stayed there, staring at nothing in the same direction.

The silence was broken when i asked a simple question.

"Do you hate me, Laura?"

Her head shot up, a decisive word forming spontaneously on the tip of her tongue, but once again it wasn't spoken. 

After a few seconds of silence she answered, sincerely "I don't know"

She paused "I don't know how i feel towards you" 

It was true, she felt many emotions towards me: suspicion, interest, hate, hope, disgust, fascination, nostalgia, sorrow, sadness... all of them were there but she didn't understand them at all.

She didn't understand even if they were her own, if they were directed at me directly, at the tinies in general, at someone no longer in this world, or at no one at all.

After a longer pause, she finally said "... But i want to know"

Then, our eyes finally met for the first time since the day before. 

I felt like falling and losing myself in those gorgeous puddles of green and gold, as i was unable to turn away from her sad and beautiful face that hinted a shy smile.

After a moment that felt like an eternity, we both lowered our gaze, blushing a bit. 

I felt a bit of warmth inside. i felt like we had just reached an agreement. It was good enough for me.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I really am" She continued, lowering her head further, and placing a hand on the tabletop

"And the things i said... I ... didn't actually mean them... or maybe I did... I ... I don't know, but i feel like i should apologize"

She looked up and noticed that i had stood up and was now directly in front of her, next to her hand 

"I'm sorry for scaring you so much as well. They told me how worried you were if i was hurt. It really means a lot to me" I apologized as well, placing a hand on her index finger and softly rubbing it,

"... I also want to know more, about you that is. Will you let me one day?" 

"I.. " she started, but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening, coming from the corridor, announcing that the other members of the household were waking up. 

At first the atmosphere felt a little tense, but it eventually eased up as they noticed that there was no apparent resentment or bitterness between us now. Sure, we were still cautious of each other, but it was promising.

It wasn't until later that i realized just how embarrassingly i had acted before. At the time the mood was so heartfelt that it felt just natural, but i had basically confessed to her! 

Blushing furiously, i hoped for the earth to open up its maw and swallow me up. Little did i know that someone in that room last night had dreamed of doing just that.