I felt so lost walking these city streets and yet, not completely. It was like my mind wanted me to know where to go but not without throwing me a couple of curveballs. I took a deep breath, rounding the corner and carefully placing my hand on the Jake, the small guy in my pocket. Yeah, that's not too weird, right? I couldn't say for sure I was falling for him, I was just... concerned for him. I wanted him to be safe. Okay, so that wasn't completely true... I kind of did have a thing for him which sounds crazy considering we just met but... ugh, life is crazy. No crazier than me being 4 inches tall not too long ago and now walking the streets and feeling like I had just escaped prison.

I know it's a different set of circumstances but it almost felt the same as an inmate being told they could leave. All of a sudden, everything they had known about their life, even in captivity, was gone and they had to adapt to being one of the "people" again. That's almost how I felt as I passed a mass of strangers.

All the while, little Jake napped in my pocket. He started dozing off while he sat up on my shoulder, just behind my hair. He told he he needed a nap so I let him rest, naturally. I'd pretty much let him do whatever he wanted at this point. Hey, get your minds out of the gutter.

The fact of the matter was, if we were going to get anywhere, we needed money. Not a lot, but I decided to check my debit card at the nearby bank branch that was still open to see if I had anything left. It would also give me a good idea of what the date was so that maybe I could kickstart some more reminders and remember just how long I had been in that museum as a doll sized person.

I didn't know if I planned to tell Jake about my real name. I had caught a glimpse of her ... well, me, when I opened my wallet earlier and saw my ID. I always just figured my real name wasn't Lillian and I don't know why I hadn't thought to look at my own license, I guess being 4 inches tall really takes its toll on a person. That's why I felt even worse about what happened to Jake. What was I going to do?? I would have to tell his parents, I would have to somehow find him help... they'd blame me. Everybody would point their fingers at me and say it was my fault... I could go to jail, I think frantically as a tear forms in my eye. As hard as it is to think of, I can't turn Jake in... to anyone. He was right at the museum when he said our best chance of finding help was to leave. Anybody who saw Jake as he was would either suspect me for it or "best case" scenario would abduct him for some kind of experiments. I just wanted to see him get better... and he doesn't need that kind of stress. Also, the poor little guy just got dumped by his girlfriend. I've been through my fair share of breakups (usually I'm the one doing the breaking up though, except with my last ex) and I know they can hurt. I couldn't imagine the pain the little guy was in, physically and emotionally. This was all my fault, I repeated in my head.

At last I arrived at the bank and walked up the few concrete steps to get inside. The only reason I kept one hand lightly pressed on Jake is so that he'd stay in place and wouldn't be awoken by my steps and from rolling around in my pocket. As I keyed my PIN number in on the screen, I worried if he'd be able to breathe in there with such a tight space, and if he'd even be able to tell me if he was having trouble breathing.

To my surprise, there was still some money in my debit account. I had been late on my last 2 car payments and figured my lien holder would've just sucked out what was left. Before they had a chance to, I decided to take it myself and ordered the full $120.00 out of my account in cash. I sighed deeply as the crisp 20 dollar bills fell into my waiting hand and I hastily folded them in half and inserted them into my wallet, leaving from the ATM branch quickly, eliciting a couple of stares from strangers. It must look weird when someone quickly exits an ATM like that. Especially someone who looked like me... shit, I looked like I hadn't showered in weeks and my hair was all mussed up like I had a hot night of sex and didn't have any other clothes to throw on. I was probably just overthinking it though, I doubted anyone had time to notice me, a random bystander passing through.

The memories kept coming to me though. Maybe it was the quiet time I had been given but for whatever reason I was starting to put it together, and remembered more and more about what had happened, and everything before that. I didn't have my purse on me that day, in fact, it might've been at my ex's house which is unfortunate because it had my phone charger, cosmetics, car keys, and more. That's right! My car! My purple Hyundai! Damn... they've probably had it crushed into a metal cube by now with how long I'd been missing... and what about dad? How long has he been looking for me?

"I gotta... I gotta... I gotta call my dad" I told myself, feeling really nervous all of a sudden. My phone was dead for the longest time but maybe Jake's phone still worked. Oh, who am I kidding? Jake's 4 inches tall, his cell phone would be the size of a button... but maybe I could somehow still use it?

I stop walking in such a frantic behavior and sit down on a nearby bench. I watch the crowds of people pass by, most of them not even making eye contact with me as I looked down at my recent receipt from the bank. The date was November 20th... it was winter already but the weather wasn't too too bad. It had been about 50 degrees out and the sun was starting to set so I would've guessed October or November for the time of year. I don't know why but I can vaguely remember it being the early stages of spring when Kevin and I had gone to the museum. It was so long ago it seemed, I can't even remember why we went there in the first place.

My stomach rumbled as I thought about the fact that I hadn't eaten in over a day. In general, I'm not sure how my body kept itself running on what little food I had managed to find. I began to become more and more aware of my actions from the past 6 or so months and it disgusted me. At the same time, I realized that when you're in a "must survive" situation you will do some crazy things to eat but I was beginning to feel mentally (and even physically) ill thinking of those nights I had to dig under tables for leftover food, or worse... the times I gave my body up to others for a chance at their potato chips. I felt so disgusting and violated... but never with Jake.

Jake... geez, I talk about the guy like I've known him for years. I don't know him, I don't know his real reason for being there. Maybe he was one of those guys looking for a 'good time'. Maybe one of the other males there told him about me and he went to see for himself. It's possible that maybe once he saw how pathetic I looked he had a change of heart.

No, no that's ridiculous. Nobody had ever offered to help me ... NOBODY. Let alone do what he did. Jake's a hero... a really tiny hero, but still a hero in my eyes.

Speaking of, I could feel my tiny savior gently nudge my finger as he began to move a bit more. I had sensed him moving in small increments (heh, some pun intended) earlier but wasn't sure if he was ready to come out or not. The idea of having this little man in my possession was honestly terrorfying. At first, I had some fun teasing him but what if this really was his life? Could I really care for another human being at that size? I struggled even keeping pets!

I could hear him trying to talk but it was barely audible. I glanced down with a half smile on my face. It was the kind of thing you do when your cat is trying to get into your room but the door is closed so he/she does something adorable to get in the room. You're not laughing at them, per se but you kind of are. That's what I felt like as Jake seemed to be climbing up my finger tips. I could feel his tiny motions as if an ant had found it's way onto my hands. It's a good thing I knew him, because I actually hate bugs.

I gently slid my finger all the way out of my pockets, keeping my other hand nearby in case I dropped him. He looked up at me with a sheepish smile. It was kind of weird actually, he appeared to have more energy than before. A lot more. And he had only slept for not even an hour. He beamed up at me.

"Hello, dear" I said with a nervous smile, "sleep okay?"

He nodded, as if this was a perfectly normal arrangement. I hope he didn't expect me to give him a bottle next because I have no maternal experience... far from it.

He began moving his lips but I still couldn't hear the small man so I raised him up closer, careful to keep him protected by curling my other hand around him so he were contained in a small makeshift cup between my hands.

"Lil..." he murmured, "What's going on? Any progress with...?"

"Um... yes, yes.." I said, nodding slowly and deliberately, trying to maintain my status as a "caretaker" as best I could. "...I um... actually found some money"

Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Found some money... geez, I must've been out longer than I thought" Jake said.

"Heh, no no, not really, not even an hour, Jake" I replied, "but it turns out my debit card actually still had some money on it, so I took some cash out and now we have something at least to eat and to get transportation"

"But where are we going?" Jake asked, "to your parents?"

"Umm... maybe... actually there's something I need to tell you" I said quietly, watching in awe as he stood attentively, not once breaking his focus on my overbearing eyes.

"Oh? Okay?" Jake said, looking worried.

"I mean... yeah, we can... we can go to my parents... but um... Jake, it's actually... just my dad" I said with an uneasy smile as I explained this to him.

"Oh? Your parents got divorced?" he asked.

"My mom died when we were kids..." I sighed, "I had a brother... well, have a brother, at least as far as I know. Assuming not much time has passed, my dad's still living in Valleydale and I know the address because well... I lived there too"

Jake nodded his head slowly, a sad look crossing his face at the news of my mom. I hadn't known her too well and didn't have much to offer him in terms of details. She passed when I was very young, probably 5 or 6 years old.

"I uh shouldn't talk in the past tense" I chuckled, feeling silly, "I uh... I'm still alive and so are you, so I shouldn't talk like... yknow, like our lives are over"

Crap.

What the hell had I just said that? Of course our lives weren't over! I just felt like I'd be starting over in so many ways, trying to talk to my dad and tell him what happened without starting a big commotion and maybe even trying to talk to Kevin again and see if he still even cares about me or if he knows what happened. I mean, of course he cared but... ugh, I still shouldn't have said what I said, even if our lives are different. It was Jake's life that I worried about. Was his live over?? I really hoped not. But if it was (which it may not be) I wanted to do anything I could to make him happy. Again... mind out of the gutter, people!

"Jake that was... that was stupid" I chuckled, trying to laugh away my mistake. Jake didn't feel much like laughing. He sat down in my hand in despair. I didn't blame him.

"No, I know... I know what you meant, Lillian and it's good... I know... it's not over, never over..." he said, his tiny voice trailing away as he talked, I looked at him inquistitely. I was beginning to lose the ability to hear him as he went into a mumble.

"Jake?" I asked, "I'm not trying to be mean when I say this but please speak up"

"Oh! Oh, yeah.. no, it's no big deal" Jake said, "yknow, just never give up... and we won't... and also I wanted to say something... well actually there's a lot I want to say to you"

I shot the tiny man a confused look back. What could he possibly have left to say to me at this point? After I ruined his life?

"I just wanted to say first though, that I'm really happy for you... I'm happy I could help you" he said, smiling briefly before peering down at my hand again. He seemed to not want to look at anything for a moment because I saw him close his eyes as if he were going back to sleep.

"Jake, please..." I said, choking up "You're going to make me cry and I didn't tell you any of this to make you cry... I don't know why I told you this to be honest... my point is, we can catch a subway, get to my dad's soon enough and maybe go from there? Or is there somewhere you need to go? Honestly, Jake, we can do whatever you want, I promise you. I.. I..."

I stopped short from finishing my sentence and for good reason. We were both getting emotional. I didn't want to overcomplicate things at this time.

"Um no, Lil, it's fine" he said, standing up and giving me a reassuring pat on the finger. I smiled a little bit. "The first thing we should do is yknow, get you back home, there are probably a lot of people wondering where you are right now"

"Yeah..." I said, my voice trailing off now as I couldn't even look at tiny Jake in my hand. "...a lot of people..."

"So? Where to, Lil?" Jake said, returning for the moment to his usual personality. He had a certain laidback quality to him that not too many people had. He wasn't laidback in the uncaring way but he was laidback when things got really bad and you really needed a laidback person to calm you down. "You're kind of my taxi for tonight since... well..."

"Oh? I'm your taxi?" I said, smiling as I got up off the bench, once again falling for his infectious sense of humor, "So then you owe me some money, huh? I've been walking you around for a long time, Mister..."

"Um... do you accept... really little money?" Jake asked, actually going into his pockets for his wallet.

I smiled and let out a chuckle. I decided to be more playful.

"No... but I accept kisses" I smiled, bringing him up to my face. He looked up at me puzzled. I let him pause a second before things got a bit awkward. Finally I blurted out "what? have you never kissed a girl before?"

Jake didn't say a word. Instead he planted a very small kiss on my cheek. The kiss was almost imperceptible but I could tell it had really made him happy. I brought him back towards my lips and eyes so that I could hear him better when he spoke.

"Yknow..." he said, his voice growing more michevious again, "You walked me a pretty far way and just ONE kiss seems kind of..."

"Oh stop it!" I said in kind of loud tone, bombarding the little guy with a blast of my hot breath as I spoke. He seemed startled and I quickly apologized as he got himself together. "S-Sorry... no, you were fine, dear. I was just messing with you anyway... you're pretty easy to mess with, huh?"

Jake nodded.

"My friends always found me to be easy 'pickings'" Jake admitted.

"Yeah but how many of them actually picked you up?" I asked with a smile.

"You're the first..." he laughed, "actually, Lil... um..."

I looked down at him questiongly as he stopped speaking.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I um... I have something else to say..." Jake said, sounding even more nervous than someone in his position would be expected to act.

"Okay, well go ahead... I'm right here" I smiled.

"Lillian I um... I know we don't know each other very well but I know you said or maybe I said... yeah it was me..." little Jake stammered, "I said I wanted to get to know you better and you seemed down with that, yknow?"

I nodded as he fumbled for the words in my hand, looking as cute as ever right now. Maybe I WAS falling for him. Who was I kidding? Of course I was.

"So I mean... I know we should get to your dad's and stuff..." he said, the small beads of sweat starting to form on his face, "but yknow... we're probably hungry too, I mean I know I am... and maybe we could grab a bite to eat? Y'know... just us?"

"Well, of course it'd be just us" I quipped, "not too many restaurants will seat little tiny gentlemen... but continue..."

"Heh, Lil... I don't know why this is so hard for me, but do you want to go on a...?" he began.

"A date?" I asked, my eyes a bit open with surprise. This was a bit more than I expected from him, but I had also said I'd do anything to make him happy and it would make me happy too to get to know him. It just didn't feel like the right time. But damn, he was so cute in my hand right now, asking me out. And I had been kind of hungry...

"Yes, Jake. Yes, I'd like that, let's do it" I exclaimed, "the date, of course... let's do.. the date. Let's go on the date"

It seemed all the tension dissolved off of him as he relaxed instantaneously.

"Really? Yes, awesome, yes, let's do this, and... thank you" he said, remaining ever so courteous as he almost appeared to be bowing in my hand. If we actually did hit it off, I might be bringing a guy home to dad... not exactly in the way he planned though. "Oh but... shoot, you know what?"

"What?" I asked.

"My wallet, all my money is useless... I..." Jake stammered.

"Oh my gosh, Jake, it's okay!" I laughed, "Obviously I'm going to pay for the both of us. Really, it's no big deal"

"Right..." Jake sighed, "but hey, as soon as I'm back to normal I can get you the money. Actually... yknow what? I have Bank of America... if we go somewhere with a computer, Ill give you my password, I can wire you..."

"Jake stop" I smiled, a wide toothy smile as I watched the little man attempt to be a perfect gentleman. "It's okay, seriously. I'm going to treat you, Jake, since you've been such a great friend"

"But it's still a date, right?" Jake said, quick to bring that question to the table.

"Yes, it's still a date" I smiled.

Guys.

Gosh, this was crazy, to think I was having a dinner in one of my favorite childhood restaurants with a gigantic girl like Lillian -- well, I guess at this point all the girls in the city would be "gigantic" but still. Hopefully I hadn't made too much of a dork of myself while ... wait a minute, what was I saying? I had so many other things to be focused on. How would I ever be returned to normal? Would I become a fugitive like Lil, running away from the people and hoping to be rescued? At this point, I'd just settle for figuring out how to eat a damn slice of pizza. I awkwardly tore at the mile wide slice of cheese and sauce, feeling it pull apart in my hands as I tugged at it. I yanked with a mighty grunt and ended up falling on my back, trying to laugh it off as the giant Lillian did the same, letting out a stifled giggle in between her bites.

"We really didn't think this through, did we?" she asked, wiping her mouth with a nearby napkin as she watched me struggle.

"Heh, what do you mean?" I asked, standing still and gazing up at her again.

"How are you going to eat a pizza like that, Jake?" Lillian asked, her eyebrow slanted down with curiosity as she watched me as if I were a puppy at the local pet show. "I mean, it's kinda cute watching you try but..."

"I can figure it out" I said defiantly, getting down on my knees again and gently scooping the unyieldy slice of dough in my cupped hands. I took a small bite and smiled, portraying some sort of false confidence while I looked into the eyes of my giant date, who rolled her eyes before taking another bite of her own slice of pizza. She looked so much more graceful while doing so. I was like a caveman trying to light a fire and she was a sophisticate with a working lightbulb.

After a few more moments of awkward silence, Lillian spoke.

"So, have you always been this small?" she joked, casting a couple of her fingers down on me. From my vantage point I could see small sparkles of where colored nail polish may have been.

"Funny" I smirked. "Have you always been this ... uh... fast of an eater?"

Not my best comeback.

"You trying to say I eat too much?" Lillian gasped with a mock sense of offense, "I should just leave you right now!"

Lillian briefly extended herself from the rickety steel chair, standing straight up towering miles above me before settling back down into the seat and continuing her low tone of laughter.

"I'm just messing, of course." Lillian laughed, "I can't leave you now, how would feed you, then?"

"Feed me? I don't need to be fed" I scoffed.

"Oh? You're not doing so great on your own, there. Here, let me at least cut it" she said, grabbing the adjacent fork and knife and lowering her mighty hands down before me to make a few incisions into the pizza pie. With a few quick motions left and right she had conquered the beast and divided it into manageable sizes. I picked up one of the smaller pieces and nodded.

"Much obliged, miss" I said, in possibly my worst wild west accent. She giggled.

"I don't wanna be here all night watching you eat that same slice of pizza" she laughed. "But seriously, thank you for everything"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Thanks for saving me from the museum, and thanks for my date" she said with a wink.

"Not much of a date" I frowned, "I still owe you for the meal by the way"

"Oh yeah, certainly, I'll be tacking on interest" Lillian replied, "No silly, you don't owe me, trust me, you've done more than enough. Seriously"

"Lil, cmon isn't it embarassing enough that I'm small enough to fit on your tray and you just had to cut my meal for me? At least let me do SOMETHING on this date" I chuckled, but I was feeling truly embarassed. I wasn't sure if she could tell but I was pretty certain I was blushing.

"Hmmm...okay..." Lillian said, suddenly being tenative about her actions as she gently lifted the fork from the table and guided it towards me, "if you'd like, you can help me out, I've got some of this lovely pizza sauce on my face"

I didn't say a word as her fork snaked its way under my leg and propped me up off of the ground. I felt a bit nervous, I'll admit when the fork began making its way upwards at an angle towards her giant mouth. Now I knew what the last thing pizza saw was before it was eaten.

With her other hand, Lillian tore up a little napkin square for me and placed it at the base of the fork close to me. I picked it up and gently wiped the surface of her soft skin as soon as I was close enough. She giggled briefly which caused the fork to wobble a bit. I was instantly startled but she steadied her hand quickly.

"Aren't you a gentleman?" she said softly as she held me close to her mouth. I watched as her lips widened into a smile before she gently pressed them closer for a kiss. The whole time I kept my balance on the fork ensuring that I was always gripping some part of the surface before she had lowered me safely back onto the table.

It's a good thing Henry's Original Pizza was usually deserted this time of day. In fact, they didn't really do much of a business in the area which is why it had been so remarkable that they had even stayed in business. I'm glad they had, because once I spotted the place again, I knew this is where I wanted to take Lillian on our date. I used to come here a ton with my dad as a kid. When I got older, I actually had my first ever date here with my first girlfriend, Alex but that was many years ago and I just figured Henry's had closed due to lack of interest. Apparently not.

So now, here we were. Me dollsized, and her... well, not, having a not so formal get together at my childhood restaurant.

Almost as if she were reading my mind, Lillian nodded her head for a moment before saying "This is a pretty cool place, Jake, thanks for taking me here"

"I didn't take you here" I chuckled, "You kinda ... carried me here"

"I guess I'll have to have you 'to go' then" Lillian shrugged. "My point is... thanks again"

"Sure thing" I smiled, "You hadn't been here before, right?"

"If I have, it's been forever" Lil answered, "I may have but I don't really remember, honestly."

"So, if you don't mind... tell me more about yourself" I said.

"Well, let's see, my name's Lillian, I enjoy long walks on the beach and um... eating little men" she laughed, leaning in close.

"Wait, what?" I chuckled.

"Um... nothing, wanna go to the beach?" Lillian chuckled.

"Actually that'd be nice... wait, you were joking..." I replied.

"Yes and no, I do like the beach but you're not really my type... too gamy... I like a man with a bit more... um... meat on him" Lillian laughed, "I also like when they scream, and you seem... hmm, a bit too laidback for my tastes..."

"You're still joking, right?" I chuckled.

"Yes..." Lillian said, shaking her head in disbelief. "You didn't really think I'd eat you, right?"

"No, no, of course" I sighed, "but seriously..."

"Seriously, I'm a girl named Lillian." she sighed, "I live up in a 'do nothing' town, I don't do much, I used to work as a waitress and..."

"Waitress? Where at?" I asked attentively.

"Um... O'Reilly's diner... it was this little place up by..." she started.

"Oh? Never been there. But I'll have to check it out sometime" I said, "Oop, sorry if I interuppted"

"No, y-you're fine" she chuckled. "But I mean, really Jake, there's not much like... yknow, remarkable about me. I mean... geez, back when I was little I could at least say that was something about myself that was different in some way but then you had to and take THAT from me... psh"

"Hey hey, you're quite awesome, Lil..." I said, "I mean, I just don't know much about you and I was just..."

"I know, I know and I went off on a tangent, I'm sorry" she said, "I'll try to be more... I don't know the word... but I'll try to be that. Let's see, I like to read, I was actually just finishing 'Command Authority' it was the last book by Tom Clancy... I'll be honest, I kinda haven't finished it because I'm sad about him dying... I feel like if I just leave the last few pages alone, it'll be like he still has more to write, yknow?"

I nodded. I wasn't too much of a reader, to be honest, but I definitely respected the medium.

"Well, what about you, Jake?" Lillian said after a few moments, "what's uh... good in the world of Jake? Where did you go to high school?"

"I went to Valleydale actually" I replied, "It was weird because I was in the middle of this big move and stuff, I had been going to East Valleydale and normally I would've had to finish my school year there since that's where my parents lived but because of the circumstances, the board of education let me transfer midway through, so I went to Valleydale High for my sophomore through senior year, I prefer to think of it that way because honestly, I hated East Valleydale High"

"That's where I went to high school" Lillian frowned.

"And... you didn't let me finish" I laughed, "I hated that school because the girls there were so damn attractive! It made it hard to think, yknow? I couldn't get anything done... I think there was this one girl, you may know her... uh... dark hair, about 'yea' high... think her name was Lillith... Lillian?"

She shook her head again, a half smile on her face.

"I was kidding. I mean I did go there but I know what you mean, EVH wasn't... eh, it wasn't the greatest school but I can't complain, I made some friends there... in fact..." Lillian said, stopping briefly, "Hmmm..."

"What?" I asked.

"Well, I mean... I don't know why I just thought of this but my friend Jess used to live in this area, I don't know if she still does" Lillian said. "Jess and I were actually best friends..."

"Why do you talk about it like you're not anymore?" I asked. "I mean we don't know how long you had gone missing and people don't just ... forget people"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry" Lillian said, gently reaching her hand down near me. "Jess and I... heh we go way back... I can still remember... the park by her house when she lived in Valleydale and... heh, it's silly but anyway... she may still live in this area... in fact... yeah... 3012 Northwood Drive... DUH!"

I smiled as I watched Lillian's memories seem to repopulate her mind quickly. She had definitely taken a turn for the better in the past couple of hours. Other than my size being reduced, everything seemed to be getting better for both of us. I thought this would end up being another boring night back home. While I still worried about how I would get home, I preferred getting lost in the moment to thinking of a darker reality.

"I'm sorry, Jake, I kinda cut you off there" Lillian said, softening her voice a bit as she had gotten louder momentarily. "Why did you move, again? From East Valleydale?"

"My parents got divorced" I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Jake" Lillian frowned. "I know that can be tough"

"Yeah... I mean, it was... it was what it was, yknow? I still see my mom sometimes, but things are tense, between all of us" I explained.

"Did they remarry?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah, I actually prefer my stepmom to be honest but I'd never say that out loud obviously" I said.

"You just told me" Lillian said.

"Yeah but... I don't know, I feel like I can trust you...plus..." I sighed.

"What?" Lillian asked, a sudden tone of concern.

"Nothing, it's stupid" I said, trying my hardest not to lose the smile on my face but I could feel it inevitably slipping away in the gaze of her beautiful face.

"What, Jake? What's wrong?" she asked. Now I almost had to speak up.

"It's nothing... well actually" I sighed, "Lil, I've always been an easy going guy, I got along with guys at school, I got decent grades and..."

"And this is a problem?" Lillian chuckled.

"No, not that just... it's fake" I sighed.

"What?"

"It's fake, it's all fake. I'm not easy going, I have worries about stuff... part of me is still angry about the divorce and some other stuff... and... it's like... now that ... this has happened to me" I sighed, "I'm letting all of it go because..."

I paused, trying not to cry.

"...because... I don't know how much longer I'm going to be alive" I sighed.

"What? Oh gosh, please Jake, don't cry" Lillian sighed, wrapping her nearby hand around me gently. I looked up at her and nodded, burying my face in the flesh of her open palm. "You're going to be fine, really and truly, okay?"

I smiled and nodded.

"I know, I know... but in case I'm not... I just want to tell someone... everything, yknow?" I sighed, "is that weird?"

"No. No, Jake not at all... and even though I know we just met and you may feel weird telling me stuff... I'd like you to know that... of course you can tell me... anything you need to" Lillian smiled. I didn't stop crying immediately but I felt pretty relaxed by her statement. I took a long, deep breath as she slowly released her grip on me.

"Thanks. Thanks Lil" I sighed, "I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to..."

"Think nothing of it, Jake" Lillian smiled, having all but abandoned her plate of food, as had I. "Should we get going?"

I nodded.

"Sure, Lil" I replied. "Did you wanna maybe check out that address you mentioned? See if your friend Jess is still in the area?"

"I mean, we don't have to" she said, appearing at least curious by the prospect. "If she was home though, maybe I could find out some things, yknow? See how long I've been gone, see... about... things..."

She appeared nervous as she spoke. I couldn't blame her. But I wanted her to feel just as comfortable as she had been making me feel. In order to do that, I had to be 100% supportive no matter what happened, and I had a feeling I might be hurt in the process but I was willing to take that chance.

"Of course Lillian" I replied, putting on the biggest possible smile I could, "I'm down for anything, so if you want to stop by there, of course we can!"

Lillian got up from her chair, taking the tray (and me) with her. She smirked as she said, "I didn't realize I had to ask your permission, little Jake"

I blushed.

"... but thank you again" she smiled, pulling me up from the tray just before she dumped it. "This has been fun."

She brushed her hair aside and carefully rebalanced me on her shoulder. I held onto her neck as she walked out of the restaurant and back into the waiting city.

I nervously skim the sides of my eyes with the fine, grainy pencil. All the while I can see her staring at me, her gaze casting judgement upon me. I'd like to see her do better, psh. Now she's looking at me with a look of slight annoyance on her face. I lean in closer, as if I'm going to really confront her, but instead I focus on my appearance, applying the rest of my eye makeup. I put the eye pencil down on the counter and sigh. It's been a while since I did this, I thought to myself with a half chuckle.

It was so weird having my life back ... in a sense. I mean, things would never be the same... how could they be? As I made my way from the bathroom back to my adjacent bedroom (oh how I missed having facilities so close by!) it was impossible for me not to look inside my purse and see little Jake inside sleeping. It was admittedly cute and the more I had gotten used to this strange sight, the more I began to feel emotional about seeing him go.

Still, as his friend (and in a way, his caretaker) I knew what I had to do, even though I really didn't want to. I walked away from my purse and Jake and went into a quiet room, just across from my dad's room. It was still fairly early so my dad was still asleep and I should be able to get on the phone real quick without waking anyone.

Understandably, it had been a turbulent couple of days and nobody had really slept, not myself, not my dad and not even Kevin from what I could tell. He had sent me a couple of sweet messages the past night or so, just making sure I was okay. He was beyond concerned for me and it almost made me wonder where all of that love was during our past relationship. While I wondered this, my mind inevitably wandered back to Jake and how Kevin knew all of this in the first place and didn't tell me. I felt kind of lied to concerning that strange pepper spray and I couldn't help but feeling that Kevin knew more than he let on. If he was keeping that a secret from me, what else was there?

As all this went on within my head, I almost missed the sound of the lady on the other end answering her phone. After several awkward moments of waiting, I was nearly caught off guard by her response.

"Um, hello...?" the girl said, sounding somewhat bewildered.

"Hi," I said, feeling nervous myself. The brief moments in between my phrases seemed to drag on forever, but that was probably just me experiencing that awkwardness. "Um... is this Kendra?"

"Yes..." she said, taking another eternal pause. "...who is this?"

Who is this? I thought in my head, my mind suddenly racing. Who is this? Who am I? Damn it, just answer her. Wow, really? I'm really thinking this hard about this? Who is this? I'm uh... the girl who owns Jake, no the girl who shrunk your ex boyfriend. I mean, really? Ugh, answer her... this is getting weird.

"I'm uh... I'm a friend of Jake's" I said, almost a little too non-chalant. She'd never buy that.

"Jake...? Why didn't he call me himself? You haven't hurt him, have you?" Kendra asked, almost sounding defensive all of a sudden.

"What?" I snapped, my voice raising a little. How dare she! "No... I have not hurt Jake and I would never... and..."

"Okay okay, calm down" Kendra said, her voice softening a little, "I just... I'm a little bit skeptical of everything he's told me..."

"Wh-What ... has he told you?" I asked, almost afraid to know.

"Well this is going to sound crazy..." Kendra explained, "but Jake told me... he was shrunk and that some girl named Lillian was taking care of him, he wouldn't give me more details than that but he said he was going to call me or something... did his phone die?"

I hesitated to answer. I think it had but I honestly hadn't checked. Did it really matter, though?

"Y'know I'm not sure..." I said nervously. "I know that he wanted to see you though and as weird as THIS will sound... I was wondering if you'd like to meet up sometime... so I can um... give him to you"

God, I felt weird saying that. Not just because I was letting this girl in on our secret, but just everything I said made me feel worse about the situation. 'Give him to you'... like he was stuff, or something. I felt horrible about this but what choice did I have? I vowed that if Kevin ever was more clear about a cure to the shrinking drug or even some kind of solution that I would let Jake know, no matter where he was or who had him. I wasn't content with giving my friend away and watching him spend the rest of his life as a pet. I couldn't and wouldn't do that to him -- especially after all he had done for me.

"So um... I take it you're Lillian?" Kendra asked after a long pause. Again, I was speechless.

"Yes" I chuckled, "Yes, I sure am... I am... Lillian..."

"Are you always this awkward?" Kendra asked with a laugh.

I almost wanted to slap this chick if it wasn't for the fact that I knew Jake cared for her. Plus, she would hopefully treat him right. Again, I felt like I was treating my friend like a pet... putting him up for adoption...? Maybe I didn't want to do this... but I had come this far.

"I'm uh... just a little nervous" I said, jostling the phone in my hands while I sat up and placed it gently on my shoulder, letting it rest against my face. "I um... I guess you could say I owe Jake a lot and I want to make sure he's taken care of"

There was a long pause on Kendra's end. For a while I looked at my phone in disbelief, wondering if we had lost signal. Finally she spoke.

"I'll take care of him, I promise" she said.

She seemed sincere and it was the first time she seemed speechless for a while so I took it that this was her real personality and not the snarky bitch that had picked up the phone. I think she was understandably skeptical but now that she understood the gravity of our situation, she was more responsive to help. I smiled a bit, reassuring myself that I was doing the right thing.

"Thank you Kendra" I replied, "so when and where would you like to meet?"

"Anywhere, anytime's good for me" Kendra responded without much hesitation.

It was like she couldn't wait to get her hands on her ex-man. This made me a bit uneasy again but I decided it was now or never. No need to get Kevin or anyone else involved... I wanted to do this before I changed my mind. Even if he wouldn't admit it, I think Jake had wanted this too. I know he cared for me and I cared for him too but he'd feel much better being with someone he knows. This is what he had wanted, right?

"Okay" I said, clumsily retaining my phone after nearly dropping it, "what are you closest to? I could meet you at Michael's Diner in a half hour if that works? Or somewhere else?"

"No, that'll work" Kendra said, sounding like she was on the move already. "I'll be there in 30"

There was a click on the other end and the line went silent. She was gone -- already en route to meet me there. Was I sure about this?

I returned to my bedroom and saw the purse sitting peacefully on my desk. I peered inside and saw Jake still sleeping, tossing about a little bit but generally peaceful as well. I frowned and slowly lowered my phone next to him. I zipped up the purse slowly, trying not to wake him, but the sound of the zipper may have caused him to stir. I decided it would be best to continue on this path before I got "cold feet"

I quietly slipped out my front door and jogged down the front steps, only briefly remembering what I must be doing to Jake. As soon as I made this realization I came to a complete stop, setting the purse down on the back of my car and looking inside to see Jake, disoriented.

"I'm so sorry" I sighed, "Wow, I'm an idiot sometimes. Are you okay?"

Jake took a few moments before nodding weakly.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm good..." he said, shaking his head some more, "but what's the hurry?"

"I'm uh... taking you somewhere" I said, trying to maintain a smile. I felt like such a horrible person for saying this, "We're going to see Kendra now"

"Oh" he said, not appearing as happy as I had hoped he would, "Okay"

He seemed utterly scared shitless and stiff to be honest. Anything but happy.

"If you don't want me to, I don't..." I started

"Oh no, it's all good" he said, trying to keep cool but I could tell there was something on his mind, "Th-Thank you... for calling her"

I nodded.

"I said I would" I said, "and I just figure... she'll take better care of you"

"I don't know about better care..." Jake frowned, "she knows me better but that doesn't mean much, Lil... I mean... Kelly"

"Yeah, we'll have to talk about that too" i said, slowly bringing my purse into the car with me and setting it down on the passenger seat. I knew I wouldn't be able to hear Jake from his current position at his current size, so I gently lifted him from the bag and set him on my shoulder, brushing the hair away. I took a brief glance at myself in the rearview mirror. Shit, I still looked pretty lousy... and I needed some work with the eye pencil to be sure.

I don't know why but I cared what I looked like for this girl. I didn't want her to think some total loser was taking care of Jake.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Jake asked nervously, his voice briefly gracing my ears.

"You uh... told Kendra, my name was Lillian..." I said

"Yeah, um... I mean, we don't have to..." he stuttered. He could be so cute when he was nervous. Of course he had nothing to be afraid of but I could understand his apprehension. I don't know what I'd do if somebody so giant was in control of me. Oh wait, yes I would... I was once in his position not so long ago. I'd probably run for it if I could. I actually found it remarkable how trusting Jake was with me. I only hoped he'd be just as trusting with Kendra or whomever else took care of him. My gosh, what had I done? I had reduced this poor guy to a pet... he may always need some kind of supervision from now on and it was all my fault.

"Jake it's okay" I said in a hushed tone so I wouldn't startle him too much. I had also gotten good at being the 'giant' one and making sure I didn't overwhelm little Jake. After all, I knew what that was like too. 90% of the people who found me didn't give a shit if they scared me or mocked me... in fact they seemed to live off it. Jake was the only one who showed any genuine care for me as a person. Of course I owed him at least that much back. "Like I said, we can do whatever you'd like... you could've told her my name was Bob for all I care"

"That'd be a lousy name for a pretty girl like you" Jake laughed. I almost instantly blushed. In fact, the more I thought about it and realized how easy it would be for him to notice my blushing, the more red I could feel my face getting. It was a good thing I was alreay focused on the road and not Jake or I would've found it nearly impossible to make eye contact with him at this moment. Was he hitting on me? Did it even matter? I already found him cute in his own way, but that brought forth another question. Did I find him cute because of him or did I find him cute because he was small? Admittedly, on more than one occasion, I had been intrigued by his small stature and wanted to just take him in, in all of his tiny glory, as awful as that sounded. In fact, to an extent I could figure out why some of the museum patrons and others who found me gave me such "hungry" looks. It sounded and felt awful but there were times I felt the same about cute little Jake.

"So... is this goodbye?" Jake asked after a long pause. I started becoming emotional but maintained my focus on the road. At least it was only a little further because I didn't know how long I could make it like this. I was constantly being attacked in my mind by thoughts of turning back. But then what? I couldn't keep the poor guy in my purse forever and this wasn't fair to him. I had to do this. We had to do this.

"It's not..." I said, slowly, "it's not goodbye Jake... in fact I want to hear from you as much as possible, okay? Do you have my number?"

"No," he frowned, "I gave you mine earlier"

"Yes, yes you did" I smiled, remembering that fact from just last night, "I'll text you, okay? I want you to be okay, Jake... I'll let you know as soon as I find out anything pertaining to this shrinking business... in the meantime, please be okay... will Kendra take you back to your family?"

Jake shrugged,

"Yes... I mean, I think she will" he said.

"You're sure this is what you wanted?" I asked, as I slowed my car to a stop and threw it into park. I looked out at the diner and took a deep breath, exhaling and reaching for Jake on my shoulder. I gently lowered him into my other hand, getting a good long look. It just may very well be my last.

Jake just nodded.

"Yes, kelly... thank you" he said, sounding very business like. I fought back my tears and slowly lowered him into my purse, making sure he was okay. I was almost tempted to kiss him but I decided against it. I didn't need this getting any weirder.

As I walked towards an empty table, my legs felt like they were getting heavier and heavier with each step. I wanted to turn back so bad but there was no choice. I had to do this. I sat down and was about to text Kendra. I took out my phone and typed 3 letters before my focus was diverted elsewhere, and then -- there she was.

This skinny girl with dirty blonde hair took her seat across from me at the table. She was wearing a blue ribbon in her hair and had a vibrant red lipstick on (although it was kind of uneven and certain parts of her lips lacked the same level of glisten). She was wearing a black sweatshirt with an exotic logo on it. It was the logo for the Rotten Rose, a biker bar from in the city. She had a light perfume on and admittedly smelled good. She made me feel instantly unattractive, but she seemed pleasant enough. I couldn't say I blamed Jake for wanting to see her.

"Hi" she said, in a light tone. "So you're...?"

"Yes" I said, smiling and shaking her hand. "I'm Lillian"

I felt weird saying that but I figured, why the hell not? It wasnt like I'd have to be "Lillian" that much longer. Plus, it was probably better if Kendra didn't know my real name.

"Hmm, I thought you'd be taller" she said with a smile, "Nah I'm just messing... I'm only going by Jake's description"

I forced a smile.

"So... where is the little guy?" she asked.

I took a deep breath. Please forgive me, Jake, I thought to myself as I calmly unzipped my purse and lifted him out. Almost instantly the blonde girl's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas.

"Oh my gosh, Jake!" she squealed. I looked around nervously to make sure she wasn't attracting any unneeded attention. "He is... so small"

I nodded.

"Please..." I said, making eye contact with Kendra, "Be careful with him. Please."

Kendra nodded and slowly took him from my hand, keeping him safe between two fingers before dropping him into her other hand. He stared up at her with a dumbfounded look on his face. I bet he never thought this petite girl would be towering over him. I thought I was short but this girl seemed a good few inches shorter than me -- she couldn't have been more than 5'2. I glanced down at my empty hand and instantly felt like I had lost perhaps the most valuable thing -- person, I had ever held.

"I will be super careful with him, don't you worry" Kendra said, looking me in the eye. She then turned her attention to the little man she had perched in her palm, "and don't you worry, little Jake! You are so cute!"

I sighed uneasily. Now what? I couldn't just leave her with him but what else was there to do?

"You sure you don't mind doing this?" I asked Kendra.

"Not at all" she smiled, and slid Jake into the side pocket on her hoodie.

"Is he... going to be okay in there?" I asked, watching her get up kind of quick. She may have accidentally hurt him

"Of course" Kendra smiled, keeping her hand tucked in the pocket with Jake so he didn't fall out. "I will handle this, Lillian, don't worry"

"If -- if you say so" I said, already watching her walk away. This was moving way too fast. Should I stop her?

"Hey, no worries" Kendra muttered, already heading for the door, "Thanks for keeping him safe for me, I'll call you if I have any questions"

Kendra left pretty quickly with Jake secured in her pockets which got me to worrying even more. I instantly had to get up and leave the restuarant. Not even a minute had gone by since that whole ... thing and Kendra was nowhere to be seen. Had she taken off with him already? Jake... what had I done?

I went into my car and shut the door. As soon as I was sure nobody was watching, I broke down and cried, leaning my head against the dashboard of my car. Jake... I'm so sorry, I thought to myself. I resorted to my phone and typed him a text message.

"Jake, I will always love you..." I typed.

I paused. I didn't want to say that -- even if it was true.

I deleted it and re-typed the message instead.

"Jake, please let me know you're alright asap. Let me know what happens with Kendra. Thank you so much for everything =) "

I sent my message and let my phone fall to the floor as the emotion seized me.

Goodbye, my friend.

I ran back to my car and slammed the door, wiping the tears from my eyes. I sat down and took a moment to compose myself. Kendra would be able to make it home given how close we were to her apartment anyway. The question is, was I really willing to do what I did? Part of me was tempted to go back and explain the whole thing to Kendra... maybe she would understand. Did it really matter, though?

I shuffled through the texts I got from Kelly.

"Oh shit." I muttered.

Most of them were only fragments of text or the words "Help me, please". I couldn't imagine the pain she must be in... having been small before and now shrunk again. Had something gone wrong in our incident at the museum? Maybe her re-growth was only temporary... would that mean I would shrink down too? I wouldn't be of any use to anyone like that... not to mention Kendra would probably relish the opportunity to squish me under those massive heels if that happened.

I finally decided it was time to get down to business. I hurried and dialed her number.

"Kelly?" I asked, starting my car. I needed to know where she was, and head there fast. She was still heavily breathing.

"Jake... you called me back..." Kelly sighed, sounding out of breath.

"Of course I did" I said, juggling my phone on my shoulder as I steered my car.

"Jake... I... ughh, this is so embarassing..." Kelly shrieked.

"Take your time, Kel, okay? I'm here for you" I said, driving further and further away from any chance I had with Kendra.

"Jake... I'm... I'm...." Kelly stuttered.

I waited in anticipation.

"I'm shrunk under Kevin's bed, Jake" Kelly sighed.

I felt my heart drop.

What?! I thought inside. You're calling me because you shrunk while having sex with your boyfriend? Of course that's what I thought but I didn't want to say anything. Instead I slowed my car down and came to a complete stop, trying to compose myself again. I definitely wanted to go back to the restaurant now. I didn't want to seem cold, but Kevin could've helped Kelly if anything really bad happened.

"Um... Kel... why can't Kevin help you?" I said, admittedly sounding testy, I'm sure. I didn't care.

"BECAUSE KEVIN'S FUCKING SOME OTHER GIRL RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" Kelly sobbed. I had to pull the phone away from my ear for a moment. My God... I couldn't believe it.

"What?" I said.

"YES!! I'm here, under his bed, Jake... I'm scared and ..." Kelly sobbed.

"I'll be right there" I said, growling under my breath.

"Don't you want the address?" Kelly asked nervously.

"Text it to me." I said, "I'll be there as fast as possible"

"Jake... be careful please... and thank you so much..." Kelly sobbed.

"Kelly, hang tight" I said, "I will be right there"

I set my phone down until she texted me some few seconds later. The address was about 5 minutes away. That was more than enough time for me to get pissed and think about what I needed to do. I don't know how this all happened and I'm not sure I wanted to know but this burned me up. It was enough to make me want to take all of this rage out on one person.

Kevin cheating on Kelly? I just couldn't believe it... what kind of scum was he after everything she had already been through? I still didn't know all the details, either. Maybe he had shrunk her on purpose and made her watch? The possibilities made me sick, but not as sick as thinking about poor little Kelly trapped under the bed. I wasn't going to stand for this.

I'm not normally the "tough" kind of guy but I stormed into Kevin's apartment building and made my way up to the fifth floor to find him. As soon as I was sure I was at his door, I stopped and thought about how I'd get in. I was mere seconds from banging down the door with a battering ram if I had to but I got a text from Kelly.

"He keeps a spare key in the flower pot across the hall from his door." Kelly said in her message.

I took a deep breath, collecting the dirt covered key from the pot. This was going to get ugly. I was sure glad I didn't have time to think about it. It all happened so fast. I unlocked the door, and once I was sure it could open, I kicked the door in. I walked about 20 feet down the hall to the half exposed bedroom.

A red haired girl gasped and looked back at me, scared. Kevin got up, not wearing a shirt and came storming up to me. I intercepted him before he could land a punch and I smashed him in the gut. Man, that felt good. The girl looked at us both with a skeptical look on her face.

"Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend right now?!" I yelled, slamming Kevin's face against the dresser. He yelled out and punched me square in the face. It was nothing compared to the pain I know he had put Kelly through.

"I can't! Because of you, dipshit!" Kevin sneered, "I figured she was out fucking you, anyway"

"What?!" I gasped, "Have you lost it?"

Without saying another word, Kevin thrust me into the dresser this time. A small perfume bottle fell to the floor and shattered. Kevin gave me a startled look, avoiding the broken glass on the floor which prompted the girl to leap up out of the bed.

"Um... Kev, we should probably go..." the girl said, a nervous smile on her face. As I watched her retreat, holding his hand, I couldn't help but think that she looked familiar. That didn't matter right now though. In the aftermath of my fight with Kevin, I had to focus on what really mattered...or rather who really mattered.

Once the 2 "mad lovers" left the room, I focused on the matter at hand, but the pungent aroma of perfume soon filled the area. Geez, that stuff was strong, I thought. It was making me feel a little woozy as well...

I got down on my hands and knees and looked under the bed. The space appeared cavernous to me and I saw no sign of Kelly.

"Kelly?" I said, in a loud whisper. "Kelly?"

I was suddenly getting a pounding headache again. Don't tell me it was the wine I drank... that couldn't be doing this though... I was feeling completely out of sorts at the moment. What an awful time to feel sick... I felt my muscles tense up and become numb at once and then a strange tingling overcame my body. I tried to speak through it but it proved useless. What was going on?

I buried my head in the carpet and closed my eyes, trying to block out the horrible feeling. Kelly needed me... I needed to help her... without looking, I crawled forward on the carpet. Much to my surprise, I now fit entirely under the bed. I wasn't even hitting my head. Oh no.

I opened my eyes, faced with nothing but the permanent surrounding of carpeting as I had my head leaned into the carpet. I rubbed my aching head and looked up.

Yep. Definitely didn't want to do that.

I was stunned at the sight of a giant Kelly standing over me. It looked like yet again, I was the one who needed her.

Kelly looked down at me breathless. I couldn't tell what her emotional state was. It was so dark but I could perceive her shadow, standing tall over me as she watched my frightened face look up at her. The whole thing was so surreal, I almost hoped she'd pick me up or do something just to not scare me further.

"Kelly!" I screamed, my pitiful little voice barely reaching her massive face. Still she acknowledged me with a slow nod. She then gently lowered her soft hands down for me, her arms peeking out through the short sleeves of a trenchcoat as she kept one hand under me for support, using the other one to gently keep me from falling out of her trembling palms.

So here I was again... toy sized to a toy sized woman.

Kelly stared down at me in her hand, shiny tears welling in her eyes. She didn't say a word. Instead, she lifted her hand up a little bit, just close enough to line me up with her lips and she smooched my entire body. She then walked slowly out from under the bed, exposing us to the light of the room.

"Jake... I figured it out" Kelly frowned, "It was the perfume... that shrunk both of us..."

I looked at the fragments of the perfume bottle and realized she was right. I inhaled a lot of that perfume and I'm guessing she had too. Why was I so pathetically small then?

"I only took in a little..." Kelly explained, almost reading my mind and answering my question, "but you just inhaled a whole cloud of the stuff..."

"Well, with any luck" I scowled, "Kevin got a taste of it as well and he'll be shrunk by morning..."

"It's not Kevin, I'm worried about, hun" Kelly sighed, lightly grazing my body with her fingertips. She let each finger touch me with care, ending with a light stroke of the side of my face. "I'm worried about you, Jake"

"Me?" I asked.

"Yes..." Kelly sighed, "Look at you, Jake... so tiny..."

"You're not exactly Godzilla over there" I chuckled. Kelly laughed but it was a half sad laugh.

I fell back in her massive hand and sighed.

"I just can't believe this has happened again..." Kelly said, shaking her head, "this is all my fault... if I hadn't..."

"Hey stop it" I said, talking up to the big face in front of me, "I'd be here for you any day of the week, no matter how big or small the issue"

"Interesting choice of words, Jake" Kelly said, tears still fresh on her beautiful face. I was glad I was somehow able to make her smile.

"So what happened?" I asked.

"The whole thing is so dumb, Jake..." Kelly sighed, "I came over here to surprise Kevin and..."

"I'm sorry to interuppt" I said, "is that why you're wearing the trenchcoat?"

Kelly gave me an awkward smile, looking like a little kid who was trying to get away with something. This made me even more interested.

"Yeah... about the trenchcoat...." Kelly sighed, unable to look me in the eye. She then set me down on the floor carefully, using both hands as a transport advice to set me on the carpet. I looked up at her questioningly. She then pinched at the troublesome buttons on her trench coat until they detached, and she took off the trenchcoat in front of me.

The heavy trenchcoat fell harmlessly to the floor revealing a gorgeous gargantuan beauty. Kelly's long, shapely legs sprawled up in front of me, as her silky pink nightie only covered just below her waist. Above that, the lacy material wrapped around her curvy bust line and shoulders, covering only the bare minimum. I looked up at her, trying to keep my jaw down. She was so gorgeous and had such a brilliant face.

"So yes..." Kelly admitted, her face turning a light shade of red. "That's why I was dressed like this..."

Kelly then knelt down (being careful in the flimsy material not to bend too much) and picked me up gently off the floor, bringing me up to her face again.

"What do you think?" Kelly chuckled. The moment had very obviously overcome me as I struggled to hide my erection. "That's what I thought"

I felt so embarassed... in this giant girls' hand. Actually, she wasn't really all that giant but I was downright tiny... and trying to hide a hard on that was so very obvious. Kelly had already spotted it but she didn't even seem to mind. She looked at me for several seconds, her eyes wide. I wasn't really sure what to make of this.

"Jake?" she asked in a soft tone.

I nodded.

"I never got to thank you properly for what you did for me" Kelly said, half smiling. I was a bit confused as to what she was referring to.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean just now, silly" Kelly said, "You were really brave coming in here like that and rescuing me..."

I felt a bit of a sense of irony as she praised me further, calling me "her hero".

"I don't feel like much of a hero right now..." I sighed, looking glum as I gazed down over Kelly's hand, trying not to make eye contact with the giant cavity between her breasts. Kelly gave me a warm smile as she kept me cradled in her hands.

"Well you are my hero" Kelly smiled, and kissed me softly again. "and I don't care what size you are... especially since it seems like you change sizes so often..."

We both chuckled a bit at her last comment. She kept me held out in her hand, her giant eyes seemingly checking me out. I didn't know what to make of this.

"Jake?" she repeated in a soft tone, "I'd hate to have this outfit go to waste..."

I turned flush red, looking over her giant body. I felt the same way.

"So..." Kelly said, lifting me into a precarious position, just above her right breast. "You're not gonna... freak out or anything if I put you in here, right?"

"What? Me? No way!" I said. She lifted the hand a little more and slid me in between her breasts.

"Okay, just making sure" Kelly chuckled, watching me flail into the crevice between her two breasts. "I could even understand why that would make you nervous... they must be so big to you and all"

The truth is I was a little uncomfortable but not incredibly so. I was wedged in between Kelly's breasts for Christ's sake. Of course I was loving it!

"Yknow, funniest thing, Jake" Kelly said, peering down at me as she walked. Her breasts bobbed up and down slightly with each step, "This nightie doesn't really have any pockets so I had nowhere else to carry you...I'm sure you don't mind..."

"I think I can deal" I chuckled.

"What was that?" Kelly cooed, slowly pressing her arms against the sides of each breast, causing the warm flesh to flex in around me. I pushed against it as hard as I could, feeling my erection grow. I whimpered as she walked, feeling more and more aroused. I quivered as I clutched gently at the orbs of flesh on either side of me.

Kelly reached a finger down her shirt and teased me by poking me lightly.

"You okay in there, little guy?" she asked. "Y'know, we're going to have to figure this out...but first..."

Kelly allowed me to grip onto her massive finger and used it as a way to prop me up onto her hand so I was once again front and center with her face, practically down on my knees trying to keep my erection hidden. I turned flush red and turned away from her, wanting to cry from containing the pleasure.

"...well c'mon Jake..." Kelly smiled, giving me a light kiss, causing me to tingle all over, "Of course I'm going to finish you off"

"Wh-What?" I asked.

"You heard me" Kelly smiled, "It's the least I can do... really"

"Is...is is this hot for you too?" I asked, feeling guilty.

"Yes... yes Jake... very" Kelly said, panting herself, drenching me in her warm breath as she held me in her hands. She gave me yet another kiss before she had me back up against her finger, hugging it tightly. "Okay Jake... I don't wanna do ANYTHING you're going to be uncomfortable with, so you need to let me know now if this is too much for you"

I shook my head no. I was willing to do anything to turn her on and keep her that way.

"Okay well... um... I'm going to finger myself..." Kelly said, looking incredibly nervous to be saying that to me, "and I want you to help, okay?"

I nodded, kissing her finger lightly.

"Okay, Jake... and don't worry, I'll get you out of there before things get too messy" Kelly reassured, and began lowering her index and middle fingers down under her panties with me resting on the curve between them.

"Okay...you ready?" Kelly sighed. She couldn't hear me anyway but I was pretty much screaming yes.

With that, she gently curved her finger inward and I was rubbed slowly against the outer wall of her vagina. She let out a loud moan, panting and breathing rhythmically, every few breaths producing a louder moan as I was stimulating her just by touch. It was mostly her doing the "fingerwork" but I took advantage of my time inside her to thrust my body into her a few times. She quivered and let out one great moan as she released, pulling me out in time as she had promised.

For me, it was already too late, I had "finished" just a few moments earlier. I lay spent on her open hand as she smiled down at me.

I couldn't help but watch the adorable little man on my hands stand up slowly, looking as if he had been in a valiant battle. Now, maybe he had been hurt in his altercation with Kevin (it sounded pretty violent), but I don't think that's what gave him that big smile on his face as he let himself stretch out in my open hand. I took this opportunity to poke at his cute little body as it lay dormant. He twitched a bit when I poked it but I was hopeful that I hadn't hurt him since he barely made a noise. In fact, he seemed as though he wanted me to.

"So Jake... that was fun for you?" I asked, realizing I was purposely throwing out a silly question. But hey, he had deserved it.

Jake nodded, but still looked worried.

I suppose I should've been worried too... very worried. I was only 4 inches tall, heartbroken and confused. What were we going to do now? No Jake to bail me out this time -- well there was, but he was a little... incapacitated at the moment. It was so surreal though, being in Kevin's room at miniature size and just thinking about everything that happened. I was certain that at one point oranother I would break down and cry and before that happened, I knew we needed to find somebody else to help us -- it was inevitable.

"Kelly..." Jake mumbled, trying to look more serious as he looked up at me. "...that girl..."

"I don't want to talk about her" I snarled. What a bitch.

"...I think I may know her..." Jake said.

"Really?" I asked, surprised. What would a cool guy like Jake be doing knowing a slutty girl like that? I wondered if Kevin even told her he had a girlfriend. Like she would've cared...

"I don't know this for sure, but she looked a LOT like one of Kendra's model friends..." Jake admitted, "I forget her name though, Felicia... Fania... it started with an F I'm pretty sure..."

I hung my head in shame as I thought about it. With each attempt Jake made at the girls name, I could only think of the rumbling above me not too long ago... the fury with which they... ugh. The screaming and noise that I heard would be disgusting at any time but at my size, it was like having a front row to a porno that I wanted nothing to do with. Worst of all, I fit right in, with my skimpy little outfit. It wasn't supposed to be this way... I thought... and before I knew it, small tears were streaming down my eyes. I knelt down, keeping Jake safe in my hand as he gazed back with a look of concern.

"Kelly? Kelly? Are you alright?" he asked.

"No, I'm not alright!" I sputtered, accidentally casting some spit particles at the little man. "I fucked up big time, Jake... and I got you into it too... it wasn't supposed to be this way...I messed up everything"

I felt increasingly embarassed as I slurred my words and sniffled like a big baby in front of little Jake. He knelt down and gently massaged the palm of my hand, trying to make me realize that everything was going to be okay, but was it?
I didn't have any freakin' clue.

"Look... Kel... forget about the girl, okay?" Jake said. That was easy enough. "My point is, somebody may be able to help us... but I don't know if now is the right time..."

"Who can help us, Jake?" I asked, fixating my eyes on him crouched down in my hand. We needed a miracle.

"Well.... you're not going to like this but Kendra had some growth... stuff... that's what made me normal size again" Jake explained.

"Hey, wait a second..." I said, giving him a suspicious stare, "I thought you told me you just grew back again... you said it just wore off somehow..."

"Um well.... it did..." Jake said, looking really guilty right now. I always had a feeling that story had some holes in it. "...after Kendra gave me the growth serum"

I gave him a deadpan stare.

"But my point is, she might have more" Jake exclaimed, his face appearing noticeably more excited than it had just a few moments ago. "And we could both return to normal, Kelly... wouldn't that be great...?"

"Hmmm... yeah" I said, thinking out loud. This seemed too easy, "But what did you mean... when you said this wasn't the best time?"

"Oh... yeah... that" Jake groaned. I looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "We're kind of uh... broken up..."

"Oh..." I sighed, feeling more guilty, "I'm hoping that wasn't because of ... me..."

"No, no Kelly, it's not" Jake said, sounding serious, "but I also don't think that she'd be too happy to see or hear from me right now... considering... everything that just went down"

I took a deep breath and sighed.

"You don't think she'd... hurt us... do you?" I asked. Jake had put some nerves into me with that last remark. Actually, I felt really nervous about the idea of Jake's ex-girlfriend handling us... especially with Jake even smaller than ever. Would anybody even be able to see him besides me?

"I...I don't know..." Jake said, after a long bout of thinking. "but I'm not sure I want to find out"

"Well, we gotta do something" I suggested, "are you sure you don't want to at least give her a call? Explain what happened?"

"I...I don't think it's a good idea" Jake said, flashing me a nervous smile as he paced on my hand.

"You sure? I'd even let you call her from ... down here..." I chuckled softly, lowering Jake between my breasts again.

"I really don't think she'd like that to be honest" Jake chuckled, tickling me slightly as he pressed up against my boobs. "But hey, you could call her.. you still have her number... maybe you could explain everything"

"Hmmm... I don't know about that idea either" I sighed, beginning to get a real headache. This was going to be a pain to figure out. The first step was going to be for both Jake and I to get past our embarassment. We didn't want anyone to know about this but we had come to a point where we truly had no choice. We needed our closest friends more than ever.

That's when it hit me.

"I could call Jess" I said, with a nervous smile.

"Your friend Jess?" Jake asked, his voice a bit hard to hear whenever he plunged below my neckline so I carefully fished him out and placed him back on my hand. "I don't know..."

"We have to tell someone about this, Jake... I don't want to either, but Jess has been my friend since forever... and she still won't leave me alone about what happened the last time I went missing..." I said, "speaking of which, what are your parents going to say about this?"

"More like my sister" Jake replied, "I mean, my step mom loves me and all but my real mom is off somewhere and my dad barely sees me... I told my mom and sister I'd be out late tonight so as far as they know, I'm still with Kendra..."

"Same with my dad and Kevin..." I replied tenatively. "Did you want to call your sister? Maybe she can help us..."

"I want to keep as many people out of this as possible... right now, the only one who knows about all of this besides us is our um... ex lovers... and I think it's safe to say we're both done talking with Kevin, right?"

I nodded, but I wasn't really sure how to take that statement. I didn't want to see or hear from Kevin again but I was also extremely emotional and I realized it. I was also feeling very desperate by the circumstances and wanted to know more about that... stuff that shrunk us. Was it Kevin's plan? Was it just coincidence? Too many questions remained but there was no way I was going to address Kevin so soon after everything he had put me through.

"Also, that perfume..." Jake said, talking very quietly, even for him. "...that could be a key to figuring this out."

"I agree" I said, looking cautiously at the pile of broken glass on the carpet, "but we can't get near it... either of us... it could shrink us further. We need to have it analyzed or something..."

"This is just a guess, and I could be completely wrong but I think the perfume belonged to Felicia... or whatever her name is..." Jake said, appearing deep in thought. "I'm not saying it couldn't have been Kevin's... but I just think, given all of the trouble he's potentially in for owning that other shrink spray, I don't see him owning some kind of proprietary perfume with shrinking abilities..."

That was a curious point. The stuff Kevin had was some kind of untested pharmaceutical. This chemical could very well be the same thing but it was in the guise of a perfume bottle. The more I pondered it, too, the more I realized that it wasn't even a real brand. It was an elegant looking bottle (before it broke) and was a lush gold color on the top but the actual brand was nothing more than a non-sense logo and some frilly colors. I agreed with Jake that Kevin wouldn't take his chances twice on shrinking technology... but then... why would the girl?

"Okay... so... we've learned a couple things then..." I said, "One... it's apparently easier to get this shrinking, growing stuff than I would've thought... and two... we're both incredibly unlucky"

We both chuckled at that.

"I can't say I'm terribly unlucky" Jake said, "I didn't think I'd ever return to normal the first time and I did... and now I've found you again... so really... could be worse"

I blushed a little when Jake said that. Okay, a lot. Maybe it was the moment speaking but I got daring as I held Jake out in front of me, hoping he felt the same.

"Jake?" I said, waiting until he acknowledged me before I kept talking. "Whatever happens... if this works out... and everything's okay... I want you... to be my boyfriend"

Jake turned flush red. I hope I hadn't made things worse.

"I... I think that's great... it's just..." Jake whimpered. I looked at him confused.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I wanted to be the one to ask you that..." he said, appearing embarassed.

"Oh... well then" I said, smiling. "Sorry if I uh..."

"No, it's fine..." Jake laughed and then got down on one knee like some kind of 'Romeo'. "Will you be my girlfriend, Lillian... I mean, Kelly?"

"Geez, can't even get my name right!" I chuckled, a loud hearty chuckle that most likely startled him. I reassuringly pet him with my index finger. Of course I was just messing with him. Hell, at this point, I kind of preferred the 'fake' name. It had history to it, and couples often called each other pet names.

"So...?" Jake asked, noticeably nervous, "Will you... be mine?"

"Hmmm, I don't know..." I chuckled, narrowing my eyes on Jake. "I mean, no ring or anything... and you're kind of little... yknow? Can't very well take you back to my dad..."

Jake took it like a sport, standing up and shrugging.

"...but of course... of course Jake. I will be your girlfriend" I said proudly, bringing him up to my lips for another quick smooch. "Your giant girlfriend who beats you at sports and has to reach everything for you for the rest of our days."

Jake chuckled.

"Are those supposed to be wedding vows?" Jake chuckled, "don't rush me, Kel"

"Call me Lil" I cooed. The truth is, Kevin used to call me Kel and it still held some venom for me.

I then slid my hand over Jake's tiny body again, loving the way he felt against my skin.

"I don't know, Jake... no offense to you or anything but I just don't see anybody else being into you like this..." I teased, "I mean, some girls like short guys, but this? This is asking a bit much, don't you think? Face it, I'm the best you're going to do"

"You are the best" Jake smiled, kissing my finger.

"I'm just teasing, Jake" I chuckled, "I'm not the best.. far from it, but I'm glad you want to be together... and so do I... I really do know you'd be a great boyfriend because you've already shown me so much about yourself that I like... and we've never even spent any real time together as two normal sized people..."

"Yeah, it's uh... almost like that old proverb..." Jake mused. "...you never really find out the value of a man until he's tiny"

"I don't think that's a thing, but it should be" I chuckled. "You're worth more than your size in gold, hun"

"Same to you, Lil" Jake smiled.

"Okay... but the fact remains, Jake. We do need to do something... I'm going to call my friend, Jess... I figure we could have her pick us up... so to speak. Then from Jess's place we could call Kendra and see what she can do to help us long term..." I explained, noticing Jake's demeanor diminish as I spoke. He was truly afraid of Kendra. "...Jake, I know you're not happy about involving Kendra but so far she's the only one either of us know that seems to have some kind of growth serum... and if Jess is involved, she won't let anything bad happen to us, I promise"

Jake nodded. With that, I deposited him between my breasts again while I made the call. Every now and then I could feel his movements as he shifted in my bra and made me briefly tingle. It wasn't a nagging thing but just something that needed getting used to.

I held the phone with a stonecold look on my face, worrying about this. I contemplated hanging up but I let it ring. Finally, there was a click on the other end and then some awkward silence.

"Jess?" I asked.

Finally, she spoke.

"Hey Kelly" Jess said, "What's up? Wasn't expecting to hear from you tonight... how are things going?"

"They've uh... been better..." I sighed, starting to pace around, laughing internally at Jake's reactions to my motions as my breasts unpredictably bounced him from side to side. He had a fair amount of weight for such a tiny thing. Only an ounce or two but I felt him down there. "Jess... are you alone right now?"

"Yeah" she said, "You should know I don't usually have wild party guests over on Saturday night"

"Just thought I'd check" I replied and took a deep breath. "I really need your help, Jess... like really, really..."

"What's the matter? Is everything alright?" Jess asked, adopting a dead serious tone. "Is it Kevin... did he hurt you?"

"You could say that..." I sighed, playfully nudging the underside of my breasts, to Jake's surprise. He smiled up at me. "Jess... things got really screwed up... and..."

"Kelly, you need to tell me what's happened... I can be there or wherever you need me to be... seriously, what happened?" Jess asked.

"You'd never believe me if I tried..." I sighed, biting my lip. Jake looked up at me confused. "I just need you to come down to kevin's place, please... you'll get all the explanation you need there..."

"You're at Kevin's?" Jess asked, "well, where is he?"

"He's gone..." I sighed, "and he won't be back ever again with any luck..."

Unfortunately that wasn't the case. I had no idea when Kevin would show his face again but I could only imagine and I didn't want to still be in the room when that happened. I couldn't bear to see him again, especially like this. Jess I trusted, but she was one of the few I could truly trust.

"Kelly, you need to be honest with me... did he hurt you? Are you defending him?" Jess asked.

"No, trust me... I'm doing anything but defending him" I said sternly, glancing down again at my little "honey" down in my breasts. I had definitely made the right choice, emotional or not. "I need you to come down to his place though, I'll give you the address, but you need to be here as fast as possible okay?"

"You know I've got you, girl" Jess replied, causing me to feel so much better at that moment, "I'll be right there, I promise..."

"Jess, one more thing?" I said, feeling more afraid all of a sudden. She waited on the line. "When you come.... walk slowly... watch your step... and maybe bring a magnifying glass..."