Goth's POV

"What's a social life?"Palette ask

The group shake their heads.

"Trust me, you don't want to get involved with him. He's death itself. Well, the son of Death."They say, pointing behind them

Palette looks over to see my parents with Shino held close to my dad. He gazed at my father as he spins his scythe and teases my father with a smile. My father holds Shino close, getting kisses sprinkled onto his head by my dad before he flew away.

"Such loving parents...A great family...."His thoughts echo

He smiles wider at my father holding Shino close. Father tried to unsettle everyone under his gaze, making them shudder but failed when his gaze met Palette's. Palette only smiles wider and waves, confusing my father who shoots him a glare that was ignored.

"Hi! Your daughter's cute!"He shouts to Father

He looks shocked and confused by Palette's actions, then shakes his head and leaves.

"Apparently social lives and what is right is a big theme before he was even given a chance as he gave everyone plenty. Everyone was ready to shut him out as he let everyone in without a reason to do so for either side. Nobody did anything to him to gain his trust and he didn't hurt anyone to be excluded as everyone seemed to think."Tina comments

Palette shrugs it off, going inside with the other kids. The teacher looked bewildered when he entered the classroom. She clears her throat and grabs his hand.

"Well class....It seems we have a new kid. Give your name and an introduction about you."The teacher says

"Hi! I'm Palette! I like arts and exploring! Umm, I don't know much else but excited to see!"He says

He spots my old self in the room, a few rows back all alone and that was when I first noticed him. I had hoped that he didn't see me or make a point of it but that wasn't to be. He smiles, waving to my old self as he hides behind a book to read.

"Okay, why don't you sit with Goth? Goth, wave so he can spot you."The teacher says

My old self waves his hand.

"So that's his name!"

Palette smile wider after the teacher gave him some supplies, sending  him to sit beside my younger self. The lessons began but it is clear that he wasn't completely focused.

"Okay, time to make a good first impression...This is my first chance..He seems busy so even if he doesn't read it now, maybe he will like it later..."

He starts doodling, glancing at my younger self. He could finally see my eye from beneath the hood. He sketches out a note, passing it to me.The hedgehogs catch it and look at it, mumbling amongst themselves. That got my attention and I take it from them. Then the note gets tucked away. I remember finding it sweet but didn't want anything else. Little did I know that would start my collection and only motivated him to do more. Palette continues to make more doodles and ask more questions, trying to get an answer. His thoughts echo with ideas that run through his head and reminders to make it sweet as he thought of questions or compliments to put. Anything really, he just wanted to talk. To interact. To...have a friend.

He certainly entertained my Reaperlings as the hedgehogs eagerly look through the notes but after a few more were sent, my younger self snapped and finally looks at me. He smiles proudly, which had only annoyed me more.

"Enough with the notes! What do you want from me?"My younger self asks, in a whisper

"Friendship!"He replies with a smile

"More like an end to your social life!"I had said

"What's that and why do people keep saying that?"He asks

My younger self laughs quietly, covering his mouth to muffle it.

"His smile....his laugh....is wonderful. I never heard a laugh so nice and happy before..."His thoughts echo

"You have a nice laugh."He comments

P!Goth pauses, looking at Palette before hiding in his scarf again.

"Leave me alone. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor."He says

I didn't see it then, but I could see now how my words stung him. His eyes shrink and tremble. For a moment Ink appears in my place, sketching in a book and shooing Palette away, saying the same words as me and it clearly hurt. He shakes his head with a sigh.

"O-okay. But I hope you like the notes."He says

I look at Tina, who crosses her arms and frowns.

"He compliments you and gets cold rejection back. Even then he was considerate to you, your boundaries and feelings when you didn't give him a second thought. You saw his kindness and projected your vision of your bullies onto him, as did your family to twist him into something he wasn't. I understand your reasons but you can see why I'm not happy. There seems to be a pattern of him giving more, feeling more and thinking more before he gets hurt. The fact that he pushes past this, even if it reminded him of those who hurt him, and considers it a good memory to bring him joy, shows just how much he cared for you."She says, then gets up as the memory shifts to lunch time.

I follow behind her, seeing Palette walk through the cafeteria, all the tables full of classmates staring at him. He heard them whisper, questioning and insulting him, all things that hurt but he shook away.

"I know nobody wants me to join them....Don't want to be a pain..."

"You talk about an end to his social life if he were to befriend you, yet it seems like it was ended before he could even start his social life. You sure you just didn't want him around your friends? Cause it seems real fair."She says, pointing to him and then me with my group of friends

He finds an empty table and takes out a journal as he ate. He sketched in it with a smile, scratching out some parts. It seems to make him feel good after all. After some writing, he seems to come to a conclusion.

"I will find a way to befriend him. He's been hurt somehow and may not trust me but I'll earn it. I promise to find a way."His thoughts echo

Soon we're back outside for dismissal. Palette watches us run to our families, mine specifically. He sees our parents hug and kiss us on the heads.

"Comfort, security, a warm welcome and plenty of love evident here.Everything my soul desires and couldn't receive....Right there for them...NO! They certainly deserve it. I don't need parents to be happy. I'll find my own happiness and love myself." His thoughts echo

"Not even letting himself be envious of you for having a good family like anyone else in his position would be. Because you were oh so great to him for him to defend that."Tina comments.

Father looks over at him and sees that nobody has come for him. Palette waves to him, forcing a smile. A confused stare was all he got before my family and Reaperlings. He walks into the forest all alone, wandering until he finds a tree with my family's carving in it.

"So this is their family tree....I'm going to the other side of the forest."His thoughts echo

He runs to the other side of the forest and I watch as he summons his paint roller to build his own home out of nothing. He finds a tree beside his home, carving his name inside it and then a bird lands on my shoulder. An adorable parakeet nuzzles up to my cheek, chirping.

"Hi....Oh! I'm sorry! Is this your tree? I'm sorry if I disturbed your family!"He says

"I don't have one."It says

"That makes two of us."He says

"What's your name?"It asks

"Palette. You?"He asks

"Pakeekee! Could we be lonely together?" The bird chirps

"Finally, a friend for him."Tina says

He nods, carving his name into the tree before going inside.

A door appears beside us, opening and we go through it, finding that we're back outside the first picture frame. Tina grabs my hand and leads me further down the hall.

"I understand you had a rocky start and had your reasons not to trust anyone. You've been hurt before. So has he. And your family has seemed to given him constant challenges that only hurt him more. Like that brother of yours or how he nearly lost his life to protect you from that giant stranger. Tortured and nearly died in your place for experiments, taking weeks to recover. Yet he never blamed you or tried to make a fuss and show how things really affected him. Only himself. He didn't want to hurt you while the world seemed ready to hurt him. I'm just trying to give some best friend insight to your actions and how it may compare to him."She says, pulling us through another picture.

This one has Palette sitting at an outdoor table for lunch, his crutch laying nearby and his body still healing. He waved goodbye to Slate and starts carving something from a block of clay.

"What should I make for Goth? He probably has seen plenty of birds so the average blue jay would seem like a lazy gift...He is special...It's going to be his special day...I got an idea..."His thoughts echo

I realize that this is when he made me the special statue. I watch him take careful time to make each cut meaningful and right until the beautiful, colorful bird on a branch sat there with a message written in the branch. Before I could even process what I saw, Tina pulls me out to another memory. One showing him spending weeks writing poems, throwing out "terrible" drafts, reading for hours in the library about flowers and their meanings until he settled on the purple rose. His thoughts echo all around us, telling me plenty of how he thought or viewed me. Then I see him checking every store in town, which had no purple roses available. They said it's too rare for them to have stock of. He then starts venturing through forests far from our homes or schools, marching through fields and wading through mud as animals shoved him around until he found the purple rose. He picks it up carefully, potting it and making the long trip back. He hops on a bus and sits down, a complete mess with a smile.

"Gothy is going to love this..."His thoughts echo

"You see what I mean with timing and thought? He took plenty of time to think about what the right gifts would be, find or make it, and consider how you may think. He took the care to make it just right and thought through each word. He found the rarest rose around to make it special for you. Then compare that to the yellow roses you tore fresh out of the ground on impulse in return. You say you love him, yet you shove him those flowers."She tells me

"What's wrong with yellow roses? They're nice. Yellow and green just like him."I say

"If you're trying to make a point of loving him as more than friends, those are not the ones to give not to mention so sloppily. They symbolize love of friendship. Giving that makes it seem like you're either not thinking things through or making a joke of what he proposed to you. Or that you don't value his relationship, friendship or not."She says

I recall what he said about me not thinking straight and my face burns at my response. I facepalm, realizing how they were right. Confessing my love with friendship flowers...Real smart...

"But I can see that your feelings are genuine for him so I'm just going to try to help you do it right. None of this cliche misunderstanding garbage where both of you have good intentions but can't communicate."She says

"What...? But you're his new best friend...I thought you wouldn't like me given everything you said..."I say, pretty surprised

"Oh please, I'm a lady not an idiot. I know there is always another side to the story and I've been reading you since the moment you showed up. You're not a soulless jerk that intends to hurt him, you're just lost in the mess as much as he is. You intend to show him love, just don't know how. Please, I'm a Madame ruling this land. I have to know how to read a situation and people. You hid nothing. Now come along."She says, walking out of the memory

I pause for a moment, looking back at Palette in this memory. The memory before his planned confession. I appreciate the most his expression. His eyes bright and twinkling with color without a tear in sight, his cheeks shaded with green to yellow, and a charming, genuine smile that speaks for itself.

That's my goal. See that expression again. His happiness.

"Goth!"Tina shouts

"Coming!"I say, following after her

I'll make you happy again, Palette.

TBC