I was free! The second we made it past the gates I let out a laugh and I threw my hands in the air.

     "Thank you." I told Markus, "I get to see my dad again."

     "You're welcome Alex, I'm happy for you," Markus said.

     "I could talk to my dad, you could stay with us." I replied, "Then you wouldn't have to be alone."

     "It's alright. I'd rather be alone." Markus told me, although his tone told me otherwise.

     "No one wants to be alone." I said, "Please come, at least for a week, if you don't like it you can leave and I won't stop you. But you saved me Markus, and I am so thankful for that, please let me show it."

     "Fine, I'll stay for a week, but then I'm going to leave." Markus agreed.

     "Deal," I told him, I looked up at the sky, "It's getting dark, we should sleep, and get some rest."

     "You're right, there's a clearing up ahead, we can stop there for the night," Markus explained.

     We arrived at the clearing, there was a small creek in the clearing. If you look up you can already see the stars in the sky. Markus and I set up a place to sleep, we laid down on the ground and looked up at the sky together.

     Markus pointed up at the sky, "That's Orion."

     I sat up and stared at him, "I know that I didn't know you knew that."

     "What can I say? I love learning about the constellations," Markus said.

     "You're a nerd," I spoke in sudden realization.

     "I am not-." he started.

     "Yes you are, you're a nerd," I repeated.

     "I'm not a nerd," Markus argued.

     "You are!" I exclaimed, "Prince Markus is a nerd."

     Markus couldn't even argue anymore. He laid back down on the grass and just started laughing, I did the same thing. It felt great to be outside again.