😭😱😱😱TWENTY FUZZIN CHAPTERS! TWENTY! I'm freaking out right now, guys. I never thought I'd have twenty chapters! This is so crazy... Please vote and add to your lists and share and comment and enjoyyy

   Jim heard Douxie's soft breathing, calm and uneven. He'd insisted on sleeping on the floor of Jim's room stubbornly, so that's where he was, his silhouette unmoving. Archie was curled up at Douxie's side, watching the two of them with eyes half closed.

   Rolling over onto his side, Jim stared down at him.

   Douxie placed his hands under his head, meeting his eyes. "Talk to me,"

   "How would you feel about staying here more often... Like, living here," Jim said bluntly.

   Sitting up and scooting closer, Douxie ran a hand through his hair. Jim could tell that he was nervous, even in the dark. "I don't... I'm not sure how I feel about it. Why do you... Why are you asking something like that?"

   Jim pushed off his duvet and sat on the floor next to Douxie. "Do you ever get lonely?"

   "I'm more of an introvert..."

   Jim scoffed. "You know what I mean. That flying hunk of rock isn't the most comfortable place to live, especially when you work every day down here. It'd just..." Jim shrugged, "make things easier for you."

   "Mmm..." Douxie's eyes were wide. He was surprised, though he probably shouldn't have been, knowing Jim.

   "I owe you big time from last year, and when was the last time you had something that even resembles a stable home?"

   Douxie's mouth fell open. "Um. A long time," he said in a way that told Jim that a long time wasn't just a long time. He was trying to hide the pain and isolation that must have stretched on for centuries. Jim couldn't even imagine what it felt like to have to be around hundreds of people with families all his life and not be able to ever be like them, happy, content, having normal lives.

   To have to be around people like Jim, even if Jim's life was beyond weird. He, at least, had a mother, and he didn't miss the nervous and complicated glances that Douxie threw around. Maybe he'd been thinking about how different he's be if he'd been raised by a mother.

   "I know some part of you want to. And being introverted doesn't work like that, Douxie."

   Douxie grunted, but Jim pushed on. He wouldn't let Douxie away without a real reason. He needed this, even if it seemed pushy of him to insist. "This isn't pity, Doux. You're my friend. You're valuable to the team. You matter."

   Douxie looked up at him. "Yeah? Lemme think about it, Jim."

   "Of course."

   Neither spoke for the next few minutes, Douxie shifting to lean against the side of Jim's bed. He pulled a knee up to his chest, taking deep, steady breaths. Jim's blue eyes flicked to Douxie, his expression calm and patient. 

   "Hey." Jim said softly, leaning slightly toward his friend.

   Douxie blinked silently and ran his fingers through Archie's fur. "Yeah?"

   "You don't need to decide. I mean, not now at least."

   "Oh. A'aight. But Jim... why are you doing all this? It can't just be because you're such a good person."

   Jim leaned back on his hands, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully. "I think this house could use some more people in it, y'know?"

   Douxie's eyebrows inched upward. "That is your truest reason to invite me to live here?" He narrowed his eyes and his fingers sped up so that Archie started to purr deeply. "That's... surprising."

   "Why is it surprising? It's not like I hate you or something."

   "Well. It definitely isn't." At least, I hope, Douxie thought morbidly. "I'm just not used to generosity like this. But you're trustworthy." 

   Jim shifted again, leaning forward with a puzzled look on his shadowed face. "Right. Okay... well, get some sleep. We don't have to talk about this anymore,"

   Douxie nodded, lying down as Jim climbed back into his bed and pulled the covers over himself. His eyes immediately fell closed as his head buried into the pillow, leaving Douxie the only one awake.

   He shifted quietly, feeling restless and too anxious to sleep. Archie sighed in the dark, and lifted his head. "Douxie, you need to sleep. Breathe."

   Douxie rolled over, a hand still in Archie's fur. "Arch, what's going to happen now? What do I do?" his voice wavered slightly, and he silently counted the seconds as he breathed in and out, trying to calm his heart. "This is unexpected."

   "Leave it to Jim," Archie said, cuddling  closer. "I hope he never stops being this way. You need soemone like that in your life."

   "Need someone like what?"

   "Someone who'll be consistent in a good way, which could be read as unpredictable from your perspective, given the way you see your friends."

  "I guess it is a good balance to have in your life. But... You want me to stay here, don't you?"

   "You're an astute one, aren't you?" Archie muttered. "Of course I want you to stay. And can't you see that he needs you as well?"

   Douxie stared up at the ceiling, taking in a sharp breath. "Oh? I didn't think..." Douxie sputtered, earning a sharp "shush!" from Archie. "But... Why? He has Toby and all of his friends. And he just said that I would just sleep here anyway. He didn't say anything else."

   Archie lowered his head onto Douxie's arm, wrapping his soft paws around it, and his Wizard scooted closer to scratch his fur. "He doesn't want to scare you. He's being careful because he cares what happens next."

   Douxie buried his face in Archie's fur, his next words softly muffled. "Maybe I'm overthinking it. Maybe I'm not thinking straight." 

   "You aren't... Go to sleep, Douxie."

   "Am I gonna live here?"

   "Yes."

   Douxie shifted again, pulling the covers farther over himself and shivering. 

   "Close your eyes."

   He glanced up at Jim's still form, and a quiet feeling of certainty bloomed in his heart. He knew that he could depend on Jim, and if he couldn't, that would only be his trust issues making an appearance. 

   Taking deep breaths, he finally let his eyes drift closed and the world darken.

   In the next room over, Barbara Lake shifted under her covers, lying awake and thinking about Jack. He was a mystery, and she wasn't sure if she could trust him.

   Seeing him brought back painful memories of her ex-husband, especially since he looked so much like him, and Jim too. Just blonde and with slightly rougher, sharper features and bluer eyes than James had. 

   He left his number on the fridge, probably expecting some sort of follow up. But when would she ever need to talk to him about anything? 

   She sat up and glanced at the electric clock on her bedside table. It was half past midnight. Barbara sighed, then fell back down and wondered about the future. Jim was a determined young man that was stubborn when he wanted to be, so Douxie would be sticking around for a while, no matter how challenging it was to follow through with his offer. 

   She'd been willing to support so many of his choices... and then she found out that he was the Trollhunter, and things spiralled, but they pushed through together. She believed in him, no matter how reckless he got sometimes in his many selfless or dangerous endeavours. Even if it gave her a couple extra grey hairs.

   He wanted this to happen, she saw it in her eyes. He wanted to take care of Douxie, expecially since he had saved Jim's life and the lives of their friends. For a long time, he hadn't demanded much from her... but now there was soemthing he really wanted, for himself. 

   And Hell if she wasn't gonna do everything in her power to give her son what he wanted. 

   She turned onto her side and texted Walter, who immediately texted her back, commanding her to sleep with a gentle scolding. Barbara smiled at the screen, then turned the phone off and placed it on the table beside her and leaned back, the simple communication with the man she loved enough to make her feel warm and sleepy.

   Tomorrow would bring good things.