It has been a few weeks since Badboyhalo has taken me to town to buy clothes for me. It was honestly a nice experience, actually going out and browsing through the shops. The event seemed to get Badboyhalo to loosen up as well, since he always seems very serious before going to work and after arriving from work. I now have a nice pair of shoes and enough clothes to last for each week.

I really enjoyed going outside, but I haven't gone out again after going to the shops. It may seem silly, but I still don't have enough courage to ask if it's okay for me to go in and out of the house as much as I please. But since I enjoyed being outside very much last time, I've become much more drawn to the outside, which results in me sitting on the living room couch, staring out the window for a long time every day. It's actually what I'm doing right now, staring out the window while sitting on the couch. Badboyhalo arrived home from work a while ago, and the sun is starting to set on the horizon.

As I watched the outside through the window, I heard some shuffling and footsteps going to the living room. I soon feel someone's gaze on me, more specifically, Badboyhalo. He stays quiet for a moment but then asks, "Do you want to go outside?"

I slightly tense up at the surprising question. I quickly turn my head to look at Badboyhalo. I say with my eyes slightly widened, "What?"

"You- spend a lot of time looking out the window. So I just thought that- you know- you want to spend some time outside or something. So, if you do want to go outside... you are free to do so anytime. It's not like I'm forcing you to stay inside the house after all."

I just stay there sitting in silent surprise for a while. Soon, I get snapped back to reality after processing the full depth of Badboyhalo's words. I say, "Really? I can go outside?"

Badboyhalo smiles and says, "Of course. You are always free to do whatever you want."

A pleasant feeling fills my heart at hearing those words. I... truly am free right now. It sometimes still feels hard to accept, but it's true. My gaze falls on the front door, being somewhere between the kitchen and the living room. Once you open it, you can go outside. After a moment of hesitation, I make myself calmly stand up and walk up to the front door. I don't want to make it seem like I'm too desperate right now because I would gladly run up and throw the door wide open to get outside. Once I do reach the door, I gently turn the door knob and then open the door. The part of me that still thinks that this new life of mine is a dream but is starting to unveil the truth wanted to cry the moment I got to see the outside from the door. I stand still in the doorway, the thought of what is happening sinking in. I then hear Badboyhalo say, "While you're outside, I'm going to make dinner, but it's going to take a while. It probably won't be ready until night, so if you're still outside by then, I'll go out to let you know that food's ready."

By what is now surprisingly starting to become an instinct, I say, "Thank you."

It still feels weird to thank someone after not being given a reason to do so for so many years, but I'm somehow getting used to saying it now. I don't look at Badboyhalo for a moment, as I'm too busy looking at the beauty of the outside, but I can somehow feel the weight of Badboyhalo smiling behind me. I hear some distant footsteps behind me, probably Badboyhalo going to the kitchen. Then, after a moment, I step outside, shutting the door behind me.

I take a breath of fresh air and close my eyes for a moment, enjoying the subtle warmth from the remaining sunlight on my skin. But I don't let the moment last too long as I want to take advantage of this opportunity. I start walking around the house exterior, a subconscious part of me agreeing that I should go to the back. But on my way to the back of the house, I make sure to enjoy every piece of new scenery around me.

Once I arrive at the back of the house, I immediately notice a beautiful big patch of flowers next to where the forest seems to start. Mesmerized, I wall over to the flowers. Once I'm standing right in front of them, I pause for a moment, feeling at what I want to do right now. But then I remind myself that no one's watching, so i won't be judged. So, I quickly but carefully kneel onto the soft yet sharp blades of grass and delicately run my hands through the bunch of flowers. I don't remember when was the last time I touched a flower, but they're much softer than I ever imagined. I bring my face down towards the flowers, my nose inches apart from them. I then take a good sniff of the flowery scent and gosh... it smells so good.

Since I have never really had the luxury of smelling different kinds of scents, this is by far the best thing I have ever smelled in my life. Everything just seemed so bland at the lab, experiencing and seeing the same things over and over again. Really... it's just as I originally thought. The outside is much better than the lab in any and all ways.

-------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know for how long I've been outside for, but it's nighttime now. I'm currently lying down in the flower patch, looking up at the dark night sky, the only light being from the moon and the tiny white dots in the sky. Those are called stars, right? I'm pretty sure they are. I turn to lay on my side, looking at some flowers that are directly in front of my face. I then bring out a hand to gently stroke the petals of the flowers in front of me. I continue this for a while until I hear a voice say, "...Looks like you're enjoying yourself."

I go stiff for a moment at the unexpected voice. My whole body then jolts up to a sitting position, and once I do, I realize that the owner of the voice is Badboyhalo, which gives me some relief. He smiles nervously at me and says, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I just came to tell you that the food is ready."

I reply with a hint of disappointment in my tone, "Oh, I see..."

I didn't mean for the tone of my voice to come out like that, but it happened regardless. It seems like Badboyhalo noticed it- because after I spoke, he started to look a bit guilty. After a moment of awkward silence, he asks, "Did I ruin the mood that you were in just now? It seemed like you were very calm."

I thought for a moment at how I should respond to that. I soon decide to nod my head slowly while looking down, not wanting to see him feel even more guilty. Badboyhalo gives a little hum of acknowledgment at that. He says, "I guess you must really like being outside, right?"

I give another, slightly more confident nod. I don't know if he saw it or not since I'm not even looking up at him right now. Badboyhalo stays silent, and I hesitantly look up to see him looking off into space thinking. Soon enough, he looks at me, smiles, and reaches a hand out for me to take. He says, "Come on, get up. I want to show you something. I'm going to make it up to you."

With a raised eyebrow, I ask, "Make it up to me?"

"Yeah, for... interrupting the fun that you were having out here."

I take his hand to get up and ask, "What about the food?"

"Hm, well, if you really don't want to eat the food cold, then we can go inside and eat. But the place that I want to show you is somewhere out here, and I don't think it would be a good idea to wander around here very late at night."

I think about it for a moment and make a decision. I say, "Okay then... where do you want to take me?"

A small smile lingers on Badboyhalo's face as he gestures with his head towards the forest and says, "Over here."

I honestly feel a bit nervous at the thought of going into the forest, where it is considerably darker since the trees block out most of the moonlight. But even so, I am curious about what Badboyhalo wants to show me. So, I follow him into the forest.

-------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know for how long we have walked for, but I don't think it's been very long. For most of my life, I've considered time to be irrelevant since either way I'm just going to continue suffering, but now that I'm not in the lab, I have no idea of how to exactly track time. Most of the time, I end up getting confused of how much time has passed.

Anyways, Badboyhalo and I have not spoken once throughout this walk. It's mostly because I don't want to interrupt his concentration, as it seems like he is always carefully calculating his surroundings, trying to figure out where to go next. It didn't really matter to me at first, but now I'm starting to get worried that he doesn't know where he's going. So, I ask, "You- do know where we're going, right?"

Badboyhalo pauses his actions for a brief moment to look at me, but then lets out a small giggle and continues to walk. He says, "Oh, don't worry, I do know the way. It's just that... it's been a while since I've come over here, so I'm kind of trying to refresh my memory. But as we walk more, the surroundings feel more and more familiar. So, we're definitely going the right way."

I let out a little sigh of relief at that. Soon enough, the trees clear out for a plain land filled with grass. I guess the forest just has this random area seemingly empty with nothing but grass. Is this the place? Why did he bring me here? Almost as if reading my mind, Badboyhalo answers one of my questions by exclaiming, "We're here!"

There is a moment of silence as we look over the terrain, but then I look at Badboyhalo slightly confused and ask, "What... exactly did you want to show me?"

He grins at me and simply says, "Watch."

He then suddenly sprints over the grass. But what happens as he does that is truly magical. Wherever he steps, some beautiful tiny yellow balls of light come out of the nearby grass. I quickly realize that the balls of light must be some sort of insect due to the echoey sound that is emitting from them. After running a few paces ahead in the distance, Badboyhalo stops and turns around to face me, shouting excitedly, "So? What do you think!?"

I am absolutely speechless, caught in wonder at what I'm witnessing as the bright insects spread out as they fly in the air. Badboyhalo laughs, probably at the stupid face I'm making, and exclaims, "What? Never seen fireflies before!?"

I almost wanted to exclaim that I actually haven't, but don't dare utter a word. I don't think I've ever heard of fireflies before, so it's no surprise for me at why I'm so stunned right now. But of course, Badboyhalo has no idea of the true reason why I'm acting this way. So, it would be best if I didn't directly respond to his comment. If he figures out that I haven't seen fireflies before, then he might figure out what's wrong with me, as I don't know just how common it is to find fireflies. So, after a moment of silence, I manage to mutter out, "I-it's beautiful..."

With a grin, Badboyhalo says, "It is, isn't it? Now, come over here! I can't hog all the excitement to myself!"

I suck in a breath and look down at the grass in front of me, wondering if the same thing that happened when Badboyhalo ran over the grass will happen to me. Well, only one way to find out. I take a step forward in the grass, and fireflies immediately start pouring out. I almost laugh in giddy excitement. Instead, I gaze in wonder for a moment before deciding to run through over the grass as well. A small laugh does escape my lips then, from all the excitement, though it wasn't very noticeable. I, myself, barely catched the sound. I doubt Badboyhalo heard it.

I run up to where Badboyhalo is, and I see him smiling at me the whole time. Once I finally reach him, I abruptly stop running, standing somewhere next to him, and turn around to see what I've done. I can't do anything else but gape in awe. Many more fireflies are wandering about in the night sky. After a few moments of admiring the view in front of us, Badboyhalo says in a gentle tone, "Whenever you want, don't be afraid to ask me to take you here at night. Once you learn how to come over here by yourself, you are more than free to journey here by yourself if you want."

A warm feeling fills my stomach at the thought of being given the freedom to enjoy such amazing things whenever I want, given the freedom to choose what I want to do. This is a luxury to me. A thought then occurs to me, making me look beside me at Badboyhalo, who is still staring at the fireflies. I... have been given the gift of being able to enjoy such wondrous things because of him. I finally feel... a sort of happiness, because of him. For once, I feel a smile being brought upon my lips. A pure, genuine smile. A smile of happiness. And surprisingly, there are currently no worries. Even if it lasts for only a moment. I say, still staring at him, "Thank you, Badboyhalo."

I watch as Badboyhalo's eyes slightly widen in surprise, probably at the genuine emotion filled in my voice, and looks at me. His eyes momentarily seem to widen even more once he takes a good look at me face. My smile remains. After a quick moment, Badboyhalo smiles as well, almost looking grateful as he gazes at me. He then chuckles a bit and says, "That's the first time you said my name."

Huh. I guess that is true. Well, I guess there is really no surprise there as I have never been used to saying names. For some unknown reason, I let out a chuckle as well, and Badboyhalo's eyes seem to soften. He says, "I like that you said it, but you should instead call me Bad. It's what everyone calls me. Well- at least it's what my friends call me, and- well... I'd say you're my friend. It sounds a bit too formal to me if you call me by whole name, so just call me Bad."

A friend... I can't remember the last time I had one. Maybe I never did. But at least now, I have one. My smile turns into a grin at that. I say, "Then thank you, Bad. ...So much."

He grins as well, saying, "Your very welcome, Skeppy."

After that, we stare at each in the eyes for just a moment longer before looking back up to the fireflies. It was a nice, comfortable moment. After, we ran around some more to see more fireflies come out of the grass, laughing as we did so. Then we went back to the house and ate our cold meal. But for once, even if I ended up going to sleep hungry, I wouldn't have called it a bad day. Quite the contrary actually, it was probably the best day ever. I wonder if I'll have more days similar to this, and if any will ever beat today as the best day I've ever had.