I awoke as I heard the soft call of the birds in the trees. They were probably far away, but with my fox ears, I heard them clearly. I stood up and flexed my paws, I had slept great even though it wasn't needed. I stretched as I yawned, and I checked the clock on the wall. It was only six in the morning.

I decided to get out of bed, and I walked across the hall to Barry's room. The door was slightly ajar, so I was able to easily slip through. Barry was sound asleep, and I stalked towards the bed. I leapt up to the edge, and the bed made a creaking noise. I froze. Barry didn't move as I walked up to him, and curled up beside him to continue my slumber.

✦✧✦✧

Barry started moving and I stirred. He was on his side, and his eyes were slowly opening, I stared up at him with mine. He rested his hand on my back, and I emitted a soft purr. He pulled me closer to him as I swished my tail.

"Good morning," Barry whispered in my ear. I licked his cheek as a response.

He stroked me gently and I basked in his warmth, savoring the moment. I gently nibbled on Barry's other hand, and he stilled his hand on my back. I looked back up at him as he looked at me with something in his eyes. Was it pride? Happiness?

I let go of his hand, and rolled onto my back. He looked down at me, with that strange look in his eyes.

I eventually rolled back onto my stomach, and started at Barry for what he wanted to do.

"Want to go for a ride?" He inquired thoughtfully.

Did he mean running together or me shifting one of us? Either way, I ended up nodding. Barry pulled off his covers and got out of bed, and I went to my room to do something while I waited.

I walked out to my balcony, and sat on my haunches, looking around at the yard. Then I tried looking over the fence. I was pretty high up, so I was able to do so easily, and saw that the neighboring house looked vacant. When I looked in the front yard, there was a 'For Sale' sign out front.

I looked down the street, and it was the same. Empty. I heard footsteps and turned to see Barry standing in the doorway. He squatted down and I ran to him. I jumped into his lap, and he tumbled backwards. I quickly got off of him and whimpered.

"I'm fine." He urged. I collapsed on his chest and heaved a heavy sigh.

Barry started to get up, and I got off. We walked to the door, and I paused. I smelled lots of people outside. Right outside.

Barry noticed my hesitation, "They would like to meet you, didn't you notice that these first few days the yard has been mostly ours?" Come to think of it, I hadn't really. There had only been a couple of groups, including Lizzie's. Well, I didn't want to meet them. It was a group of strangers that weren't going to make me feel comfortable. I liked isolation, and to be honest, I hadn't had a lot of it; unless you count being stuck in your room for a week.

But Barry probably wouldn't let me weasel out of meeting them, so I started walking towards the door. If only I could just disappear. I shifted as Barry opened the door and I saw hundreds of eyes staring at me. So many people just waiting for me to leave the house. They were all around my age, for some reason I thought that there would be some older people. Oh please, just disappear. I waved with the most awkward smile possible plastered on my face.

But then I realized no one was looking at me.

All gazes were directed towards Barry, and someone in the front asked, "Where is she?" What did he mean where was I? I looked down; perfectly visible to me.

Barry looked to where I was, but his eyes didn't focus on anything. He looked around frantically.

He responded, "She was just here..." I grabbed Barry's hand and he took in a sharp breath of air. He gave my hand a squeeze, either to reassure me, or to make sure I was still there. I returned it. I then shifted into a bird, and perched on Barry's shoulder. He still acted to look around, then continued outside into the confused crowd. They began to catch on, and started circling the tree in search of me. Barry was able to separate from the group, and leaned against the tree.

"Chloe, is that you?" Barry whispered in a hushed tone. I responded with a chirp, and he sighed. "What did you do?"

"I have no idea," I responded. Barry ran his hands through his hair, and I sat down against the tree.

"This is like serious deja vu." He mumbled. Good, I thought it was just me. I really had a problem with my Gift.

"Sorry this didn't really work out," I apologetically chirped

Why did I have to be such a big problem? Barry held out his hand to his shoulder, and I stepped on. He put me in front of him.

"It's going to be hard to get this straight with everyone. Do you want them to know your Gift?"

I shook my head and he took my silence as a no, "A lot of people don't share their Gift, I don't really." Barry's ears were turning pink, and I smiled. I rubbed my head on his neck, and he smiled weakly.

Barry looked in my direction, "You don't suppose you could hide me too? I don't want to be seen talking to myself."

I nodded, but he couldn't see me. What did I do to disappear? I felt so stupid, my Gifts's usage had been sort of obvious so far, but somehow this was harder. I couldn't seem to turn Barry invisible, so I imagined him disappearing.

Still nothing happened. Barry was staring at me when his eyes suddenly focused. He smiled before setting me on his knee. I shifted back into myself, and wrapped my arms around his neck as I sat in his lap.

My face was close to his as he wrapped his arms around me. I felt so strange, and so completely out of my comfort zone. He picked me up and walked back inside the house.

"Lizzie will take care of everyone, but you don't get to chicken out like that next time," He smirked. I let out a small giggle as he walked up the stairs. "They were planning on a picnic for you to meet some new people."

Now that was a great way to make a first impression. I ruined the day plans, and disappeared into thin air. I tried to make us visible again but to no avail. I was learning it was a fact of feeling, not knowing.

Barry walked into my room, and set me down on my bed. I went to the mirror on my desk to find no reflection. I willed my face to appear in the mirror, and eventually it did; after about ten minutes. All the while, Barry sat on the end of my bed, watching in curiosity.

I turned back to the bed to find Barry was gone. The question was, did he leave, or did I just not see him?

"Barry?" I asked tentatively. Then I felt hands grab my face and his lips on mine, warm and reassuring. It was quick, and I smiled underneath it's short warmth. He let go of me and before he could back far away, I held his face in my hands, and envisioned his amber eyes, the quirky smile, to reappear. It faded back into existence much quicker than before.

I stood up, and Barry straightened. I wrapped my arms around his neck once again. The moment was at its finest, and I wouldn't forget it.