Emojellyace08 - Yourlocalemo🖤💀🥀

Okay I might come up with a rant right now...

(Warning: SPOILERS AND SENSITIVE CONTENT READ AT YOUR OWN RISK)

Just read Vin Jin's backstory and I honestly felt bad for him. Bro deserves better.

And announcement that I wouldn't write Taejin because he's a messed up motherfucker. I kind of cringe when one time I wrote something for him before it was revealed what kind of person he really is (he r**** Vin's sister). I would make edits and remove him. I also wouldn't write for the fake Baek Hangyeol (the fake doctor). Probably other characters as well? I don't know I might take considerations but I would be picky choosing what to write.

So far I will write for J-High, Big Deal, God Dog, Vin Jin, (I like writing good and sane characters lol) probably Gun and Goo? James might be considered but I'll still think about it (if he's ever really Charles Choi's second body I would go nuts and won't write him anymore since it will be very fucking weird). For Workers I am really picky as well.

I might be picky doing writing with the other characters.

And for the request and posting schedule!

I would write fluff, aus (I really love the crossovers and requests you guys make. I might do a zombie one with my own art since I'm in my L4D phase rn lol) and angst (probably less smut but that doesn't mean I won't write it anymore, I would just be picky about what lies on that category and if it is morally acceptable).

And I won't write weird ass stuff either.

Posting schedule isn't finalized yet but either around Thursday to Sunday (depends when I'm active). But I'll be probably be posting in Fridays first? I'm busy with my personal life right now.

Request Lists (that I haven't done yet)

Lookism (J-High AU) with reader (Part 2 for the Gen 0 ver.)

Fem! Gojo Reader x Lookism (Part 2)

Johan x Female Reader (feel free to add more information about how I will write it).

Gun x Female Reader (requested by rukuk)

(Feel free to add ideas if I left something on the list and requests might be done REALLY late since I got to focus on my studies. But I'll prioritize the other first requests before doing the others. But I already have saved drafts, just unfinished).

I'll try to post maybe later or tomorrow (I'm cramming right now so yeah. Wait for other announcements and posts for now. Thank you!)

"Lookism Men x Female Reader (On Her Period)"

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐀/𝐍: 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐨

He would spoil you (like a lot)

This men would definitely get worried when your tummy started aching. He would offer you a massage if you like to! And he would place lots of kisses on where it hurts so bad to calm you down. He'll also buy you your favorite snacks and sweets to satisfy your cravings (and other personal needs). But if you want space because of your mood swings, he would leave you for a while even though at times he would come out as clingy but he will definitely make sure that you are eating and sleeping well. If you accidentally stained the bed and your clothes, no worries he'll genuinely wash up the mess even when he's tired since he doesn't want to make you stand up especially if the pain is stinging you right now. He might also insist to watch your favorite movie or television series or taking a walk at night to sweeten up your mood though.

𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐋𝐞𝐞, 𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨 (𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐞), 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝐉𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐰𝐚𝐤, 𝐄𝐥𝐢 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐠, 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐞, 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐁𝐚𝐞𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐲𝐞𝐨𝐥 (𝐍𝐨.𝟏 ; 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐇𝐮𝐥𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞), 𝐘𝐨𝐨𝐣𝐢𝐧, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐚𝐩𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝐉𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐰𝐚𝐤

He would panic because he doesn't know what to do

They would rush in your room the moment you called on them to massage your body if you asked for their help. He feels like he's doing a terrible job at taking care of you right now, but trust me he'll be super gentle with you. The way he touches you and asks you if you're feeling well sends those familiar butterflies in your stomach. He'll be the type to search at Google at first how to take care of a girlfriend who's going through a period lol. He'll also insist to wash up the sheets and your clothes if you accidentally stained on it (He may get a little disgusted or weirded out at first at touching the- y'know but he'll get used to it. These men is too hard-working). If you asked him to buy him some extra necessities and toilet trees, he may panic and ends up asking the cashier for those stuff because at the end of the day he's still a man who's trying his best. He'll definitely cuddle with you if you asked him to. And if you don't mind, he'll ask to have a piece of your favorite candy even if he's in a diet while preparing the pillow fort to set up the mood and make you feel special.

𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐋𝐞𝐞, 𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨 (𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐞), 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝐄𝐥𝐢 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐠, 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐞, 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐊𝐰𝐨𝐧, 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐮 𝐇𝐚𝐧, 𝐆𝐨𝐨 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐚 𝐑𝐲𝐮𝐡𝐞𝐢, 𝐕𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐢𝐧, 𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐲𝐞𝐨𝐧, 𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞, 𝐉𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐰𝐚𝐤, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐚𝐩𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐢𝐦

It doesn't look like he cares at first, but he's pretty concerned when you're having mood-swings

He may seem distant as your boyfriend, but he has his own ways in expressing his love for you. It may seem different or weird, but it's just him being him. Since he's mostly busy he expects you to know your schedule when the visitor comes. But if you accidentally stained the bed, he may get a little bit pissed off or disappointed at first since he's tired from work. But he doesn't want you to make you feel belittled and ashamed for having the time of the month, so he will just brush it off and comfort you that's it's okay and he'll wash the sheets on the laundry and your clothes so you don't have to do it and get exhausted. He seems to know what to buy when you ask him to buy your necessities and cravings. If you asked him to cuddle or watch a movie with him, he'll tag along with it. Though if you want space he'll give you your own time.

𝐆𝐮𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐞 (𝐃𝐆), 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐨, 𝐇𝐮𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐡𝐧, 𝐓𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐨 𝐌𝐚, 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐢 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚, 𝐎𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐠, 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐤𝐝𝐮 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐠, 𝐉𝐢𝐡𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 (𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐜), 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 (𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢)

Would piss the hell out of you but he actually cares for you lol

I just feel like he would make those goofy ass face and corny jokes. It's just him trying to lift up your spirits but it just ends up him getting annoying and funny which leads to comical arguments lol. He would also be REALLY CLINGY which is somehow confusing for you even though he's always been like that. Kissing you on the cheeks down to your neck on the bed is his favorite pass time, so he'll definitely do it on your mood swings to break the tension between the two of you. He may get a little bit hesitant to wash up the clothes and bed sheets if you accidentally stained them leading to another dramatic argument between the two of you. But he gets the job done anyways. He would also somehow force you to go shopping at 12am to buy on convenience stores to binge on your favorite junk food and staying up at midnight to watch horror or action movies.

𝐆𝐨𝐨 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝐕𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐢𝐧, 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐞𝐨𝐛 𝐉𝐢, 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐚 𝐑𝐲𝐮𝐡𝐞𝐢, 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐮 𝐇𝐚𝐧, 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧

Feedbacks would be appreciated!

Feel free to make Lookism x Reader requests (I'm brain dead right now or having a mental block). I maybe post around Thursday to Sunday because I'm busy during weekdays because of school activities. Sorry if this is shorter than the other ones I recently did but I'll do more one-shots or longer posts with your favs. And I'll do more of some forgotten requests if I ever have the extra time. Ty!

𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 @𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐚𝐜𝐞𝟎𝟖. 𝐑𝐞-𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐲!

Chubby Daniel: would you date me if I was skinny?

Y/N: bro i'd fuck you now

Hola its me Daniel's simp! Am sorry if am annoying u or anything!! Can we just have Daniel reaction of..reader just being down bad for him. Like When I say down bad I mean it like Xufdfiodpiydoy HOW CAN WE NOT BE DOWN BAD FOR THIS MAN 😭 LIKE SOMETIMES HE'S THE REASON I GET UP EVERY MORNING DIYODIPYIDYDIY..sorry about that. Idk wtf am saying nor doing sorry if am being weird! Also gave a nice day/afternoon/evening or night! ❤

Daniel Park x Reader (Being a simp for him)

𝐀/𝐍: 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐢𝐝𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐀𝐇𝐀𝐇𝐀𝐇𝐀𝐇𝐇𝐀𝐇𝐀 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞!: 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐭, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐥. (𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐥. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝. 𝐓𝐲! :)

If you ever met this man on middle school when he's being bullied. You're lucky. Y'know that Daniel has lots of trust issues and anxiety especially in this era. So you gotta be nice to him ;).

I don't know, but at first he just seemed to be REALLY hesitant at making friends at first and warming up because of his past trauma. But once you accepted each other's strengths and flaws he'll definitely become more open about what makes him happy and upset.

(Maybe it's just me that I love the friends to lovers trope more than enemies to lovers trope? HAHAHAHHA). But he's such a gentleman. He's often polite, respectful, yet have that fun and chaotic side of him that will make you MELT. If you like softie guys while still having that balance of masculinity you will like him a lot.

I think Daniel knows and loves to ride a bike. And if you don't know how to (like me), he'll happy to teach you out! Y'know those cheesy romantic scenes in love stories? That's what I am talking about he'll definitely push you to learn (but if you're uncomfortable he will stop of course) and once you mastered it he'll ask you out for a biking race at the sunset as long as it's safe and there's not many vehicles moving on the road.

Jamming in his apartment while his mom is out, listening to your favorite music while dancing around like idiots, eating at your favorite food places while comically arguing who's going to pay the bill, doing other silly things, and opening up to him are the most fun activities to do with him in my opinion. You know this guy is very empathetic and a very good listener since he's been through tough challenges in his life. Being friends with him is not just about spending your time and creating fun memories. It's about opening up to him as he does to you since you trust each other. I think that's one out of the many factors you're going down bad for him man. If you tell a sad story in your life, he'll cry. If you tell about an embarrassing and cringy memory on your school, he'll laugh his ass out yet with a gentle giggle. Same goes to his second body. The taller male is so similar to him that you almost feel like he's Little Daniel. They're both so humble yet so fun to hang out with. I don't know I'm word spilling rn but I just love him so much.

He may not realize it but he also dresses well in any fashion like KL:HDLK:HLAHSLA:. He might ask for help for fashion advices!

This man used to have those issues about opening up so be prepared when he's gatekeeping so if you are helping him out whole-heartedly in his issues he'll definitely fall in love with you.

He's really surprised and GETS REALLY NERVOUS when you suddenly jump on his back for a piggy-back or when you hug him from behind. And he would hide his face with his hand while he's blushing (especially when you compliment him not only about his looks but when he does a great job at something). He really also likes your company so once his feelings developed more into something deeper, he'll be more awkward around you (in a good way he's so anxious that he'll mess up lol).

He may be the type to ask your friends that knows that you're crushing on both Daniels. He may have that 0_0 face all the time because of how thick and weird the atmosphere is while your friends have that ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) face because they can see how nervous you are around him. It may take a while for the both of you to confess but you'll be both blushing once you both found out that you're crushing on each other the whole time. Once he's courting you he'll give you your favorite flowers and chocolates before going out on a movie or cafe date or just plain cuddling at your or his place. Or if that sounds too cliché for you, he'll luckily listen and accept your date ideas as long as both of you are safe, it's affordable, and both of you will have fun. And the rest is history.

Bonus!

𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐲-𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲.

"𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬." 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. "𝐘𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚." 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲. "𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬." 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭. "𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐜𝐞𝐥." 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

"𝐎𝐢 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥!" 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐙𝐨𝐞, 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚, 𝐉𝐚𝐲, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡. 𝐓𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝟑-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬.

"𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐘/𝐍." 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 (𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲) 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥.

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬? 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲?" 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐲-𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐙𝐨𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚.

"𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥, 𝐘/𝐍 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠!" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐙𝐨𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥.

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?!" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐇𝐢𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬. "𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡. 𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞."

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲. "𝐒𝐨, 𝐡𝐨𝐰'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲?" 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. "𝐈-𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠." 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞. "𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫- 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬!" 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥. "𝐍𝐨! 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭… 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞." 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. "𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩! 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐨…" 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐦. "𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐬." 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠…" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲. "𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰? 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝." 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡." "𝐇𝐮𝐡?" "𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞. 𝐒𝐨 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞." 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. "𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫? 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥? 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. "𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐈'𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬, 𝐈 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭-𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐦 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈'𝐦 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐮𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲, 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞-𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬. 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫."

"𝐀𝐡, 𝐈'𝐌 𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐘!" 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭. "𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐧, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬." 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫. "𝐈'𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰." 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. "𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. "𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚?" "𝐔𝐡𝐡𝐡 𝐧𝐨, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧." "𝐎𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡… 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭." 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐱𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭-𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 (𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡). 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐙𝐨𝐞!" "𝐍𝐨! 𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝." "𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘, 𝐈𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐙𝐎𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐋𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐄!" "𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞." "𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲?" "𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞…" "𝐉𝐨𝐲?!" "𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞." "𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥?" "𝐌𝐞𝐡, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬." "𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?" "𝐔𝐡, 𝐧𝐨. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲'𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞."

𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 (𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬) 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭?!" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐲𝐞𝐭. "𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈'𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡!" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧. "𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡." 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧. "𝐘𝐞𝐩. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬." 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐲𝐞-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫. "𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐙𝐨𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥." "𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦." "𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐨?"

𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 (𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥) 𝐚𝐬 𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬. "𝐘/𝐍! 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥! 𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦!" 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. "𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐒!" "𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐕𝐀𝐒𝐂𝐎 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓!" "𝐒𝐡, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬." 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬. "𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬, 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞." "𝐍𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚." 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭. "𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞-" "𝐘/𝐍!" 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬' 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞. "𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞? 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞." 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. "𝐘/𝐍 𝐖𝐄'𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐌 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐘 𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐈 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐒!" 𝐙𝐨𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝, "𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨! 𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐊𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬!" 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫.

𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩. 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥." 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬, 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟/𝐜 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬. "𝐈-𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈-" "𝐎𝐢, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?" 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲."

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭/𝐬 (𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧/𝐬) 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝?!

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭, 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥'𝐬 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞.

"𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐘/𝐍, 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈'𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭, 𝐘/𝐍. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝. 𝐀𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈'𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐀𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐬. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨! 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐘/𝐍, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭."

-𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 :)

Feedbacks would be appreciated!

Other requests will be done! (I'll make a smut version of this and the other Gojo Fem! reader)

𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 @𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐚𝐜𝐞𝟎𝟖. 𝐑𝐞-𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐲!

What kind of man is this and does this have something to do with mental illness???

Answer truthfully.