You awoke with a start as you heard yelling a ways away. You jumped out of bed and lightly hit the floor without a sound. You got dressed and pushed a strand of hair out of your face. Looking out the window, you saw Cora and the others beginning to leave.

You rolled your eyes at the false alarm, but got ready for your day. You walked outside munching on an apple. It would most likely be the only thing you ate that day. Not that you meant to you just always forgot.

You grabbed your bag and went to leave but hamegg caught your shoulder. You hissed in pain and pulled away. Hamegg stared at you worriedly, but you only tested your shoulder and smiled back nervously. They must've twisted your arm more than you thought.

"No fights today." Hamegg sounded more like he was begging than telling you. You could really only smile reassuringly then leave. You were walking around the robotic graveyard looking for parts. You knew it was a stretch but it was A better  plan than being in pirate territory.

Suddenly you heard someone call your name. You jolted going into one of your many fighting stances but relaxed upon seeing Astro, cora, the twins, and Zane. Cora was smiling at you and Astro was looking at you oddly.

You smiled and waved back and just then you saw Astro's eyes land on the picnic robot.

"Hey I think I found something!" Astro called excitedly running in that direction.

"That thing has been dead for hundreds of years. We used to have picnics in it's head! What are ya gonna do? Carry it in your backpack?" Cora called sarcastically. Astro didn't seem to listen as he probably wanted to inspect the robot.

You only shrugged and went on looking for parts. You were only looking for a minute when you felt the ground shake. Flipping around you saw the picnic robot stand up. Your jaw fell slightly as the picnic robot offered to carry the kids home. You blinked in shock as the robot reached for you.But you recovered and dodged the outstretched hand.

"I'll work on getting dinner." You explained as they all looked at you confusedly.

"Have it your way." Cora called as the robot straightened. "No fights!" Cora called in a warning.

"I'll try." You called back waving goodbye to the robot as it walked in the opposite direction.

You had only walked away for a few seconds before you heard a clatter behind you. Thinking it was trashcan you turned only to see two boys walking behind you.

"Oh no." You mumbled walking backwards suddenly your back hit someone's chest.

"Hey kid." You jolted at the voice then flipped around to face the it.

"Todd I don't want any trouble." You said walking backwards with a threatening tone.

"What a coincidence." Todd responded grabbing your wrist and pulling you back against his chest.

"Neither do we. Just got a couple questions." You ripped away.

"Don't touch me! And take your questions somewhere else, what I know is none of your business." The boys behind you grabbed your arms and held you still as Todd hummed.

"Fiesty today aren't we?"  He asked walking around you.

"How bout you call off your goons and I show you fiesty." You growled, then you remembered hamegg's orders.

"Tempting but we're here on business." Todd said with a smirk.

"Look, just let me go. I don't have anything you want." You said trying to find a position where their grips on your arms didn't hurt.

"Sure ya do." Todd said pushing a loose strand of hair behind your ear. " How'd your friend wake up sleeping beauty?" He asked simply.

"I don't know." You said truthfully trying to pull away.

"I think you're lying." Todd retorted with a smirk. Now that was a lie. He knew you had no clue but this was some how fun to him.

"Just let me go!" You yelled thrashing in an attempt to get away. It didn't work of course and Todd only scoffed as though it was cute.

"Just tell me the secret and I'll let ya go." Todd offered.

"I already said I don't know. Look, I have stuff to do." You said trying to talk your way out.

"Last chance doll." Todd warned flicking out his pocket knife and staring at you with half lidded eyes. You groaned inwardly as yesterdays wound flared in remembrance.

"You know I don't know." You said seriously. " I wasn't even looking in that direction and- Gah!" You screamed as he flicked the knife over your right shoulder.

"That's for the round house." Todd said simply.

You glared and sealed your lips. You would not scream again. Todd wouldn't listen to you. He just wanted to put you in pain. But you would not give him the satisfaction of you screaming.

"Don't think I don't what you're doing babe." Todd said simply. "I can read you like an open book. And trust me ya don't wanna take that road." You remained silent and Todd smirked at the rebellion.

"Dumb move." Was all he said before punching you in the gut where your previous cut had been. You jerked and fell limp in the boys' grip. Gasps escaped your lips but not screams. A victory to you.

"You gonna talk?"

Silence was your reply. Another slit to your other shoulder. You squirmed and clenched your teeth.

"Ya know what?" Todd asked his friends. "I don't think I ever got that kiss." Your gut twisted at the thought. You prayed he wasn't that low. Maybe he'd just knock you around some more and let you go.

Unfortunately for you though he snapped and his friends released you. You barely caught yourself from hitting the ground. You wanted trying to get the energy to run, but Todd didn't give you the time. He grabbed you by your forearms.

"Tell you what. Give me a kiss, a good one. And we can forget all about this, try again, and the pirates will leave you be." You were pushed against his chest.

He was taunting you. This was his way of saying that you were literally defenseless now. He could keep you here with or without his goons. His message was simple, you needed his help. You kneed him and ran away without a word. 

"Get her!" You heard Todd yell behind you as you ran. You ran all the way back to the house. You made it about ten feet away when you stumbled and hit the ground with a thud. You panted loudly trying to get your breath back, but it wasn't working. You glanced at your gut and saw it was bleeding. 

Pain shot through you as you tried to stand. Suddenly a voice hit your ears. "(Y/n)?" Someone asked timidly. You looked up quickly and saw the twins staring at you worriedly.

"Hey guys!" You Said with a large smile. "What's up?" 

"Are you ok?" Widget asked. 

"Jus fine." You said hurriedly covering your gut and forcing your body to stand. "Lets go inside." You said ushering them inside. Glancing over your shoulder you could see Todd standing a ways off. You expected him to look angry but he had a smirk. 

You looked away and walked inside. You went straight to hamegg but he was busy with Zog. So you went to your room and fixed yourself up. Finally night came and you declined the lullaby. You hardly felt good enough to sing right now. 

Going outside you saw Astro and Cora talking. With a frown you walked away. You wouldn't interrupt. You had a hunch they liked eachother. And for some reason you hated that. You sat on the roof thinking to yourself and sketching the night sky when suddenly a voice sounded behind you.

"Mind if I join you?" You jolted at the voice then glanced back seeing astro. 

"Huh? Oh not at all." You said gesturing to your side. Astro sat next to you. 

"So uh what happened today?" Astro asked kindly. 

"What do you mean?" You asked glancing at him.

"You were bleeding again. And your shoulders-" astro cut himself off and seemed to inspect your reaction. You flinched.  

"You saw that huh?" You muttered. 

"Yeah." Astro's voice was gentle and quiet. 

"My ex he was...well he wanted to know how you fixed zog." You explained quietly.

"Yo-your ex?" Astro asked with a confused frown as he blinked. 

"Yeah, I dated this guy Todd for three months." You said simply with a scoff. "He was cheating on me. And I found out. Now he won't leave me alone." You mumbled simply.

"Does hamegg know?" Astro asked worriedly. 

"Not the whole story." You said truthfully. "But if I tell him he could get hurt so I don't plan on it." 

Astro fell quiet. And you regretted saying anything. You stood and kicked a stray pebble off the roof with a forced laugh. 

"Look, uh sorry about putting that on you all at once. Don't worry about it." You said quietly about to leave. 

"No wait." Astro said standing himself. "I want to know. Does he always.." Astro trailed off. 

"Yeah." You stated simply but threw a smile over your shoulder at him. "But I'm ok. I'm pretty tough ya know?" Astro gave a small smile.