When I wake up Julien is staring at me. I look back and he looks away fast. 'What?' I ask him. 'Nothing.' He says it smiling, but I keep staring at him. 'Just.. you.' He says. I watch him carefully waiting for what he is about to say. 'I felt like I had everything, I was loved, I had friends, my school was going well, but I missed something, I felt empty and I was scared that I wouldn't make any difference in this world, that I would never be important to anyone, never would do something great. I wanted to BE someone, and if i couldn't be someone I would rather... die.' Julien said. 'And I didn't, I am here and my whole life is fucked up, but you are here and you make me so... peaceful, so calm, because it doesn't matter if I do something great, I just have to be me. And I know it might be weird to say in such short time, but you showed me that.' He says smiling and playing with my hair. I smile back at him, I had no idea that I had a peaceful and calm side. He puts his arms around me and I look up to him. 'I am here if you ever need anything else.' I say. He nods and asks: 'Can I write my name on your plaster arm?' Julien asks and I laugh, I nod and he does it actually really pretty. I stand up out of his bed. 'I want to take a shower, but I need help of a nurse, so I'll be back later.' I say as an explanation and walk away.

When I am done with showering and walking back I see Julien's parents at his bed and I nod and go into my own bed, but after a while his dad asks: 'Paper, would you like to join in to play a game?' I nod and go over there and go sit on the other end of the bed, and Julien's parents on both sides of the bed with a notebook and pen + dice and karts on the bed, it's PICTIONARY and we start to play, it's really fun and we laugh a lot. It feels like home and I feel happy. When we are done and Julien's parents are about to leave, his mum hugs me and whispers in my ear: 'You are really welcome to stay, thank you for making him laugh again. You can break the news until we're gone.' She says and I nod. 'Thank you.' I say and his dad hugs me too, it feels so familiar, like we always have hugged each other, and I am really happy for Julien to have such parents. We keep PICTIONARY to play later if we are bored and I crawl beside him under the blankets. 'You smell like flowers.' Julien says. I laugh at that. 'Well, thank you. Do you mind if I write the second part of chapter 4?' I ask, he shakes his head and I take my paper and pen and start writing.

Chapter  4. (The book.) Part 2.

Jason.

The sun was shining on my face. I had a bad dream and I had been awake for a few hours. I had an immense headache and I closed my eyes to relax. I thought. Why did Xavier have all those cuts and bruises on his stomach, back and neck? I hadn't thought about it at first, but now... What the hell had happened? I had to ask him. I walked back, I knew I could find him because a bond was created when Xavier lost his powers and that allowed me to feel his feelings and find him. I set off, it probably wouldn't take very long.

Xavier.

I hadn't slept and I had really big bags under my eyes. I was tapping on the floor so I could count the seconds and minutes. There was someone behind me and I felt it, it was Ludvig. I laughed, he could always find me. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a tracker hidden somewhere in my clothes. "They want you to go back, Mr. Pierro." I nodded but stayed put. I was too tired to move. 'Can we stay a little longer? I want to be able to watch the sunrise.' The old man nodded and sat down next to me on the floor. He had always been the nicest, he was like a father to me. I smiled and sat up as I watched the sunrise. It might be my last if I went back. I tried not to think about it and thanked Ludvig for allowing this for a while.

Jason.

By now I was almost there, I had found my hoody and his vest and I had been walking stiffly for an hour. Suddenly I heard voices and I recognized one of the voices as Xavier's. I watched what they were doing from behind a tree and I saw them getting up. The man seemed nice and Xavier had no expression on his face. I took a big risk and approached the pair. 'Hi, I'm Coral. I know Xavier from primary school, I just happened to see him walking, can I speak to him?' I see the surprise on Xavier's face and the man nods yes. We walk away a bit and stare at each other.

Xavier.

I stare at him and say nothing. Why did he come now? I was just about to leave, I sighed and decided I might as well say something. "What's wrong?" I looked at Jason again and I saw that he was thinking about what he was going to say. "Are you going to answer?" I was impatient and did not intend to stay here any longer. Jason opened his mouth and started talking.

Jason.

Who is that man? You told me not to fail, is that where all those cuts come from? That man seemed nice, can't you ask him if you can go? We can run away together and then I will explain everything to you, the tricks of the trade. You may not trust me, but I do trust you. And I want to show you that.' It was a mouthful of words, but one thing was still missing: 'Sorry, you're not an idiot and you probably can't and shouldn't let go of anything from your boss, I should have known that.'

Xavier.

I shook my head as he talked, I couldn't accept it and I couldn't leave. 'I'm sorry Jason, I really am. But I can't just leave. I don't know what will happen to him if I don't come back. Even though I have no powers. They'll probably kill him or worse. I can rise from the ashes without powers, but he cannot.' I turned my back on him and muttered again. "I'm really sorry." I left him and hoped he didn't come after me.

Jason.

"Wait!" I shouted and Xavier turned around. 'We can fake your death. That gentleman will know nothing and we can just continue traveling without anyone knowing that you are alive.' I look at him pleadingly and I see that he is hesitating, I play my last trump card and turn around to leave.

Xavier.

"I-" I didn't move and watched him turn around, I was scared. I didn't want to leave Ludvig, but this was my chance. "Fine." I nodded. "But don't beg, it makes you weak." I laughed a little and Jason turned around, his eyes almost literally lighting up with joy. My breath was shaky, but I knew this was the best choice.

Jason.

"You're only saying that because you think I'm cute when I beg." I say jokingly. Do I see a blush spreading across his face or am I just making it up? "Okay, my plan is, you accidentally fall into the water, I'll make sure you can breathe underwater and you stay there until I give a signal, I'm allergic to water, so supposedly, I can't jump after you and that Sir is there too late, so you're dead.' Xavier nods and I kiss my hand and press my hand against his lips to ensure that he too can breathe underwater. He is shocked for a moment, but then jumps into the water. I scream at the gentleman that he has fallen into the water, but he does not come up and the gentleman comes running. We stare down and then the gentleman says, crying: "I have to go." and walks away. I wait 10 minutes and then dive into the water myself. I see Xavier sitting on a rock and he's probably crying. We swim up and I kiss my hand again and press it to his lips.

Xavier.

It scares me again. There was no smile on my face and I took a step back. I was going to lose Ludvig and didn't know how to deal with it. Jason noticed it and asked if it was okay. I just nodded, I would find out what would happen to him later. "It'll be okay." Jason promised, placing a hand on my shoulder so I knew he was there for me. "You're free now." I bit my lip to keep the tears from flowing and nodded. "We should probably get some new clothes." I started after a few minutes and Jason nodded. "I might still have something," He opened his bag and started looking around.

Jason.

I could see Xavier was having a hard time, and I had to resist the urge to give him a hug. I had stayed dry, that's how my powers work, but Xavier doesn't, so I grabbed a shirt and jeans and jacket for him, he took it and took off his shirt, I saw that his cuts weren't in good shape, but that That's what we had to do later, I also gave Xavier a cap and sunglasses so that he didn't look like himself. We went into town to stock up on new things.

Xavier.

I walked into town with Jason, it was a long walk and we were just talking, I threw a few snarky comments at him here and there as a joke. And he laughed about it. I made jokes about how I looked like a gangster and much more. It was fun and that was nice. We had almost nothing to worry about. I tried not to think about Ludvig, but about the new and fun things in life that I would experience. It was a fresh start and I should make good use of it.

Jason.

I felt relieved and Xavier made all kinds of jokes about his outfit that made me laugh out loud. We walked into the first clothing store we found and bought 4 pairs of jeans each, 10 pairs of socks, 10 pairs of underwear and 8 pairs of shirts, as well as new sweaters and belts. We went to the supermarket and stocked up on food and at the drugstore we bought bandages and such. We took 1 room in a hotel and in the room I treated Xavier's wounds. I did it carefully, but I knew Xavier was in a lot of pain. When we were done I showed him my backpack which had magically expanded to fit everything, we threw away the worn out old clothes, but kept a few things as spares. When I finished cleaning everything up, we ordered room service and chatted a lot.

I finished the chapter a bit rushed, but it was okay, I glowed with the happiness of the story. It was good. It made me feel better. About everything. I put my pen and paper aside and saw Julien watching me again. 'Hai.' I say. He smiles and waves. Julien yawns and stretches. 'I want to do something active, I have been in this bed for long enough.' He says. He rings the bell and there is a nurse running towards us fast. 'What happened? Do you need anything?' is being asked, I laugh. 'Could we maybe get out of the bed and do something fun? Out side to go for a walk or something.' I ask. 'We could put Julien in a wheelchair for a bit and a nurse can walk a bit behind you if anything is wrong.' She says and we get ready. Julien lets out a relieved sight. We are going downstairs and we are all packed up in clothes. Lucky Julien is strong enough to push his wheelchair because I only have one arm. We laugh much and make jokes and after we are back we are cold, happy and tired so we fall asleep in each others arms.

Well, they clearly like each other. Is there something happening between Xavier and Jason? Chapter 7 already, I didn't expect to come this far already. Wow.

Love to you!