"If you were an animal, what animal would you be?" Shay inquired as she drew in the dirt with a stick.

The two of them were sitting on an old log in the forest near Hunk's home. Shay always told him about how much she hated breathing in the city air, that she always felt so oppressed by the negative emotions and the harsh expectations of the customers and public she had to face nearly every day. He wasn't going to lie, he hated being in the city but only because he would be deprived of moments like this one. Being able to watch as Shay carefully brushed aside a piece of her long brown hair as she focused on drawing the little cartoon lion she always doodled.

Hunk twiddled his thumbs as he watched her frown a bit as she concentrated on drawing the little face on her creation. "Maybe a worm? I know it sounds weird but-"

Shay giggled a bit and dug the stick into ground creating a muffled little shup noise. She turned her caramel gaze towards Hunk and rested her cheek in her palm. "Animal, not bug. And a worm of all things, that's kinda lame," she stuck her tongue out playfully before she looked down at the little toon lion she had created purely from imagination. "I think I'd want to be a lion. They're so brave and they have this weird aura of hope when you see one in person like 'wow, something this beautiful is still fighting its way through life' it makes me want to try even harder at achieving my dreams."

Her dream? Well, Hunk had only heard it about a gazillion times by now. She wanted to be a special ed teacher. She loved all types of children but she always said that the ones given extra challenges from life are the ones that needed a little bit of extra love and care.

Hunk pouted a bit as he tried to think of a better answer for Shay. Normally people would say a cool animal like foxes, tigers, wolves or anything like those but not him. He liked to play it safe. "Armadillo," he stated as he pressed his hand to his chin and furrowed his brows, "I think I would like to be an armadillo because they can protect themselves from predators."

Shay gave Hunk the look. The look was a look of pure disappointment. She just stared at him with a face that many people had given him and he felt his heart beginning to race in his chest ad he began to worry he had said something wrong.

"I mean, they're also sort of intelligent so-" a bead of sweat formed on his brow and he suddenly became fully aware of the summer heat.

Shay shook her head before she angled her face up at the canopy of leaves looming above them. "Why are you like this?"

He was actually puzzled by her question. "What do you mean?"

"Anxiety. How did it even start?" She asked.

Hunk felt his palms become clammy. It was an easy answer. He knew exactly when it all began but he never liked speaking of that day since it ruined his entire life and doomed him to fail at high school.

He frowned and dropped his gaze down to his lap in nervousness. "Well, when I was a kid my parents would let me run around at the park unsupervised because they thought I needed some freedom to really be able to be a happy kid," He began, his voice shaking ever so slightly.

Shay peeled her brown eyes from the trees above them and stared at Hunk without saying a word. It was as if she were studying this specimen in a science lab. He felt so exposed out here in the middle of the woods with a girl staring at him without breaking her gaze for even a moment.

He gulped down air as he carefully picked at his pants. "Well, this guy began to visit me day after day like clockwork and would sit down on a bench and talk to me whenever I walked by. I don't really know how the parents at the park never picked up on the suspicious activity but soon enough he began to actively walk back home with me. His name was Reese. My parents they uh," his jaw clenched slightly as he remembered the guy from his past.

Shay's gaze softened as she gave a tiny, warm smile. "It's okay, I'm the only one with you right now."

He knew he couldn't just stop telling Shay about it. He had already started and it wouldn't be right to cut it short despite the tightness he felt in his chest. "My parents thought the man I told them about was an imaginary friend so they didn't think anything of it until I didn't go home like I normally did one day."

Shay nearly jumped off the log the two of them sat on as her eyes buldgw out of her skull. "Wait," she leaned in really close to Hunk making his stomach twist up into knots, "you were kidnapped?" She exclaimed in bewilderment.

Hunk nearly tipped over the edge of the log and went toppling onto the ground in surprise as he tried to scooch away from her. "W-well he told me he found a puppy and wanted to show me it so I followed him being the stupid kid I was. He made me wear a blindfold and before I knew it I was in his car. I don't remember much from that but I know he didn't do anything too bad to me, only hit me now and then when I cried but within a day I was back at home in my parent's arms..."

"So, you have issues with people because you trusted to easily?"

"Well, if you don't trust anyone, you won't get far in life and you'll just be lonely all the time..." Hunk mumbled in embarrassment. He didn't become an entirely different person from the kidnapping, it had only made him wary around strangers.

Shay titled her head back and let out a loud little laugh. "You're so stupid!" She managed to wheeze before she leaned over and wrapped her arms around Hunk and squeezed him tightly. "You're right though, it gets lonely when you don't trust people. I'll be sure that no one takes advantage of your kindness, okay?"

Hunk felt his anxiety fade away a bit but he could still feel the sweat in the palms of his hands and his mind going berserk with worrying thoughts. "I-I guess?" He managed to stutter as he held his arms up to avoid touching her out of fright that he may make her uncomfortable.

Shay laughed in his chest before she squeezed him even tighter making his heart thunder inside of his ribcage. "You're supposed to hug me you big dummy. Also, I'll take that as you giving me consent to protect you like your knight in shining armor."

She was a strange girl but Hunk liked strange. He smiled down at her and cautiously wrapped his arms around her but he didn't dare squeeze her in case she got hurt. "I'll be the damsel in distress for you to rescue I guess," He joked out loud and gave an awkward little laugh as his cheeks became hot.

Shay pulled away and shook her head smiling at him, "You're not helpless so I wouldn't call you that. You have what it takes to keep yourself safe but you just don't know how to use those tools to your advantage just yet a d I'm here to make sure you figure it out so in a way you're a king and I'm your right hand man."

"I'm royalty?"

"In my eyes, you're more than that. You're a rarity that even aristocrats couldn't afford," she smiled and gently pressed the tip of her nose against his. "I guess that makes me like you."

"Y-yeah, I mean uh... likewise?"

This was more to address the questions surrounding Hunk's anxiety. Sorry it wasn't much but I haven't had a day off in almost a week :(

Tell me what you expect in the future and what you want to see. Please, have a good night's rest or a positive day, okay? You all deserve to wake up or go to sleep with a smile and for whatever reason it may be, if you're crying just DM me with "what's today's joke" and I will tell you this really long and really stupid joke that will 100% make you smile or at least make your worries seem a little less bad.

Smile, okay? You deserve joy :)

-Anri