It looked like he was having a hard time with it, but Ain was trying to read one of his books when I fell asleep. I didn't know why, but I was tired. It was only 7:30 then.

When I woke up later, it was still dark in Ain's room. The clock on his bed table said 3:30. I'd been asleep for six hours if I counted right. Yeah, it was still really early.

Ain was sleeping in his sleeping bag again. When I looked at him, Ellie was kneeling over him. Ain looked like he might've been cold.

"Ellie?" I whispered. "Is Ain having one of his bad dreams again?"

"Yeah." Ellie was gently rubbing his back. "I'm trying to give him a good one, but it doesn't always work."

Ain had always had problems with bad dreams. They never tried to hide that. I wasn't sure if it would've ever worked. I wondered why they happened though. I wasn't sure if they ever told me.

I got out of bed and laid beside him. It seemed like cuddles always helped when one of us had bad dreams.

"I'm going to put you in the bed if you fall asleep, alright?" Ellie brushed Ain's hair out of his face. "I don't want you to sleep in the cold and get sick."

"'Kay."

I didn't get why Ellie felt like that would happen, but I didn't feel like arguing. I was still tired.

I hoped Ain would sleep better if I did this. He'd feel better and it'd help T even if she still needed more sleep tomorrow.

***

My head hurt when I woke up. The sun was up now. The rest of me didn't really wanna move. I blinked to try and make my sleep leave.

Ain took his headphones out of his ears. "Morning, bud."

Ellie gave me a hug. "Morning."

"Morning."

I got up to take a shower. I wanted to wash away my sleep and loosen up. Plus, I didn't have the chance to take one last night.

I came out with a towel on my head. My hair was still wet.

Ain ruffled my hair. "Did you enjoy your shower?"

"Uh huh." I looked at our sister. "Is T any better yet?" I looked at Ellie. "Is there really nothing else we can do for her?"

Ellie used her glowing hand on T's forehead before she gave me a hug. "Watch over her like we've all been since she fell asleep."

I kind of expected that answer, but I didn't like it.

"Is there anything either of you want to eat?"

"I think Mama bought me food when we went out yesterday." Ain put his hands behind his head. "If she did, I'm gonna eat that."

Ellie looked at me. "What about you?"

"I think I want to eat pancakes..."

"Sounds good." She smiled. "I might have some myself. Don't think I've eaten any lately."

Ain had a red bowl and a plastic pointy spoon. Ellie came back with two plates of pancakes.

Ellie made good pancakes. They were soft and fluffy. They didn't need syrup or anything either. Had she made them for me before? I couldn't remember...

My phone started ringing just as I finished my pancakes.

Ain picked it up. "Noah's calling you."

I took the phone from my brother, pressed the green button, and went into the hallway. "Hey, Noah."

"Hiya, Phoenix. Did you want to hang out with me for a bit later?"

Did I want to hang out with Noah? I did. Should I, though? T still hadn't woken up yet. What would happen if I wasn't there when she did? Ain and Ellie would be here, but would it upset her if I wasn't?

"It's alright if you don't." Noah went quiet for a minute. "Did something happen?"

Ain come outside. "Hey, Noah."

"Was that your brother?"

I felt sweat on my forehead. "Yeah..."

"Go have a little fun." He looked into my eyes. "Noelle and I are here. Everything will be fine. it'll be a while before T can wake up."

"He wants you to say yes?" Noah took a breath. "Know you don't have to. It's up to you. What do you want to do?"

"I-I wanna hang out with you."

There was warmth around me. "I could come by in a little while if you want, bud."

I shook my head at Ain. I didn't want him to take me. I wanted him to stay with T.

"I could go with you if you want." Duke came out of the doorway. "I need to get out of this house before I lose all my marbles."

Ain looked at him sideways. "Do you even know where Hannah's house is?"

"I know how to read a map, Brainiac!"

"People don't exactly use paper maps much around here."

"Phones have maps, too!"

There was quiet.

"Want me to text you a map or...?" Noah hesitated. "It's up to you. I can do whatever."

Duke put a hand on Ain's shoulder. "Stay with your sister. I need the air."

"Fine..."

"You good?" Noah asked.

"Yeah..."

Noah took another breath. "You wanna head over now or no?"

"Yeah."

Ain followed me and Duke to the front door. "Here." He held out my jacket. "I think it's supposed to be cold or rain sometime today."

I let him help me put it on.

Duke tied his own jacket around his waist. "Can't be worse than what we Engrads have to deal with the first week of December."

"Seeing as I can't remember what that's like, you're probably right."

Duke looked at Ain sideways but didn't say anything.

Ain put his arms around me. "Go have your fun. It'll be okay here. I promise."

"Love you, Ain."

"I love you, too."

***

Duke and I left after that. I let him hold my phone since I was the one who had the map. I couldn't tell if he was listening to it, though, cuz I couldn't really read.

It didn't feel like it took that long to get to Noah's house, but I couldn't be sure... I wished I could keep a watch in my pocket. That way I didn't need my phone to know.

Duke let me ring the doorbell.

A girl who looked to be around the same age as Ain's girl friend opened the door. "Noah!"

"Len." Noah didn't seem to want to look at her eyes. "Take a chill pill."

The girl rolled her eyes before she left.

Noah had sweat on his face. "Sorry you had to see that."

Duke shrugged. "You guys gonna be alright?" He looked at the way the girl went. "Who is that and what does take a chill pill mean?"

"We'll be fine." Noah took a breath. "That's one of my big sisters, Len. Take a chill pill basically means calm down."

"She's annoyed about something?"

"Probably."

Duke fixed his jacket and looked at me. "You guys gonna be alright?"

I nodded. The scary girl looked like she probably went to hide in her room.

"Have fun then." Duke waved. "I'd rather not get caught in the rain. Text us if you need anything."

Noah shut the door behind him. "You want anything? We just got a whole bunch of groceries."

"I'm okay."

We went into the kitchen. Two of Noah's brothers were there. I thought their names were Star and Del.

Noah looked at them out of the corner of his eye. "What were you talking about?"

"Star and I were just talking about how we wanted to go bowling."

Star went red.

"That does sound like fun."

"Have you guys figured out what you wanted to do yet?"

"Not yet. We didn't really talk about it when I invited him over. Plus, I wasn't sure if it was gonna rain yet or not."

I tilted my head. "What's bowling?"

"Basically, you throw a ball at these tall white things called pins. You try to knock all ten of them down in two balls," Star said.

"If we do that, we can show you how it works, too," Noah added.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I wanna try that."

"Should we really all go, though?" Noah looked at his brothers. "En's busy making sure Hannah's getting some sleep. Wouldn't we be leaving the monkeys alone with Len otherwise?"

"Is she in a mood again?" Del asked.

Star looked at one of the doors. "They wouldn't be alone. Ivy's here too and if I'm right about what's wrong with her, she'll let Len have it if they make any ruckus."

The boys turned away.

"Ye of little faith..."

Star and I jumped.

Del put his hand over his face. "Jeez, En... Don't do that."

"It's not ideal to have to take care of Hannah and everyone by myself, but I can manage. I can call Ame if I really have to anyway." He looked at Star and Del. "We both know he needs a good excuse to get out for a bit, anyway."

Star made a weird face when En mentioned "Ame". It felt like he didn't like them for some reason. He went red when En said he needed to get out, too. I could feel his warmth.

A dog came into the kitchen. It had a red vest in its mouth.

En crossed his arms. "Yes, you should take her with you. She is your dog."

"But it's not like I'm gonna be by myself. Plus, she could help with Hannah or Len."

"She is your dog."

Noah smiled and gave Star a pat on the back. "Give it up, big bro. En's not gonna let you argue about this."

"Have your fun. I can keep this place together for a couple hours."

Star and Noah told En, "Good luck," before they headed for the door. Del and I followed them out.

Del put a blanket in the bag the dog had on her side.

"It's not October yet," Star said.

"Hannah's probably gonna let us have it if we don't take it and an umbrella. Especially if it does rain."

Noah nodded. "Might as well since Honey likes carrying things, anyway."

"I guess..." Star picked up this thing that was attached to the dog's vest. "You win..."

"Anyway." Del opened the door for us. "Let's get out of here before it rains."

I followed them out. Del locked their door behind them.

Del and Noah were talking without words. I couldn't tell what they were talking about, though.

"Have things been all right at your house?" Star asked.

What should I say? I didn't know. Should I tell them about T? Ain probably didn't. What would they even say if I did?

"It's alright if you don't wanna say." Noah looked at him sideways. "Star just took an interest in your brother."

"You guys don't wanna give me a break today, do you?" he shouted.

Del nudged him in a different direction. "It's better to go the other way if it's gonna rain today."

"It's not like it's a bad thing, Star. It's always good to have people around," Noah said.

I decided to stick close to Noah since I didn't want to get lost cuz I didn't know where we were going.

Star looked at Del. "Did we pack any of the spare leashes?"

"There should be one in her bag somewhere. I didn't take it out."

Star pulled this long green thing out of her bag. He clipped it to her vest. He looked at me. "You wanna hold onto this?"

I took it from him. I couldn't tell what it was made of. What was it even for?

"Dunno what things are like where you're from, but most people have their dogs on a leash when they take them places." Star patted the dog's head. "That way, it's easier to handle them."

"How long have you had your dog?"

Star scrunched his face. "Honey? A good few years by now."

"How did you find her again?" Noah asked.

"I found Honey soon after I left to go to work. We were both living as strays at the time. She's been with me since."

"Work?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "Sort of like how Ain came to take us home?"

Star smiled. "Something like that."

"Why did you name the dog Honey?" I asked.

They looked at each other before Star answered, "Honey is a blonde dog. Her fur reminds me of honey."

Huh... I wasn't sure if I'd seen honey before... That was interesting.

***

Thoughts on Alain and Duke? Eni? Noah and Star and their siblings? Theories? Predictions?

Part 2!

~Shino out!