Every day, Lou's parents would leave the house repeatedly in a hurry early in the morning. The child would witness this every time, never having even the slightest conversation with them, even when Lou attempted to. And when Lou did, their parents only contorted in disgust and rushed out, leaving dirty dishes astray on the table. Did they really hate their own biological child that badly, or were they in a hurry like usual? Lou assumed the latter, thankfully.

Luckily, their parents never stepped inside their child's room to see a huge shark plushie on the bed, or they might've asked where they got it. And honestly, that would be hard to explain, especially at this age. Imagine having to produce excuses for this, especially when they couldn't do it. Lou didn't want to know what happened.

And yes, Lou did go out every day of the week to check if the church was yet again, open. Unfortunately, for that entire week, those doors were closed. Lou was confused and sad as hell, thinking that maybe this was a one-time thing only. And if it truly was, Lou would be devastated. After all, they did love the place.

It was Sunday yet again and Lou dressed nicely once again in the same attire as before. The clothing was washed beforehand, like every other day. They really enjoyed the look and thought about sticking with it for the time being. It did indeed look quite nice. (Refer to chapter two for outfit description.)

Of course, once done putting on this outfit, they walked out the door of their home. However, the special glint of interest and excitement was much dimmer than it was on the Monday before, the day they met Sky for the first time. Their first friend of course. Instead, they kept their head low and headed there anyways, determined that it was bound to be open again someday.

As they began to approach the church, they heard noises of adults and children alike conversing amongst themselves. These noises only got louder as they approached the church, that excited grin springing itself to their face at the church's open doors.

"Finally!" Lou cheered, running up the steps in glee. They've been waiting for this moment for so long, purposefully dressing up and looking nice like everyone else for the day it would be open again. And finally, after all that effort and hard work, it paid off.

Lou ran up to the front of the main room, sitting in the front row once again on one of the pews. At this point, not a lot of people have filed in and sat down, as the church service hadn't officially started. Just goes to show how excited Lou was to be one of the first ones up and ready for gospel.

After a few moments had passed, they watched people file in once the nun had taken her place at the first of the church. Like last time, there was quite a lot of people there. Lou didn't mind the abundance of people as the session began, attempting to sing along with the choir like the rest of the church. Of course, for their first time, they failed but it was alright. At least they aren't like me who fucking die while singing- Anyways, moving on.

After a long while of prayers, choir, and some other things, church had ended once again. Lou had fun here once again, however, was disappointed that it had to end so quickly. If Lou was able to, they'd stay there a lot longer; perhaps even live there just to do this all over again. Of course, Lou had to go home like everyone else.

With a soft pout, they stepped down from the pew they were sitting on, walking down the aisle like the rest of the guests that were in the church. However, before the child could leave the main hall, an all-so-familiar flute-like voice called out to them.

"Child?" The voice called, causing Lou to turn around and look up at the person speaking. It was the nun before, whose name was Sarvente. Luckily, Lou remembered this.

"Hmm?" Lou replied, tilting their head to the side in confusion.

"Were you the one coming by the church every day?" She asked in a soft tone, kneeling to the child's level as she spoke.

Lou nodded, guiltily. "Y-Yeah, I did. I didn't know when it was open, so I came by every day to check..."

Sarvente only smiled, laughing softly. "Don't worry, dear! You aren't in trouble. I'm glad you're enjoying it here." She replied, noticing everyone had left the building except her and the Russian-man from last week. A sad expression came over the nun's face as she asked her next question. "Where are your parents?"

"I don't know." Lou stated. "They leave every morning and sometimes come back at night when I'm asleep."

"Oh dear," Sarvente replied, her expression only growing sadder at the child's words. She couldn't understand what such parents would do that to such a young child. "What's your name, child?"

Lou, again, hesitated. They didn't really want to answer like before but did so anyway. "Lou Arson, and I walked a while to get here."

Sarvente gently wrapped her arms around the child in a soft embrace, receiving a surprised gasp from the child. "You poor thing. To walk such a long way and all by yourself too. Who knows what could happen to you?"

Lou just nods, a sad look on their face. The hug they received from Sarvente was like one from a mother, something Lou hadn't felt in years. It pained them slightly from this, holding in the urge to cry in front of the nun and other male.

"Would you like to stay a little longer until your parents get back?" Sarvente offered, letting go of the child shortly after.

"I would like to, but I have to go. If I'm out too late, my mommy and daddy might find out." Lou replied, a small hint of fear evident in their eyes.

"Alright, dear. We're open every Sunday at 11am, alright?" Sarvente said, hoping the child would remember this time. Surely, they would.

Lou nodded and smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'll come back next week!" They replied, soon running off and out of the church.

"See you Sunday!" Sarvente called afterwards as she watched the child run don't the sidewalks back home. After Lou had faded from her view, she shut the church door with a sigh, turning to the male who stood beside her.

"Did you hear all of that, Ruv?" Sarvente asked the male who nodded in response.

"Yeah, I did." The man who appeared to be named "Ruv" responded. "I'm sure they have someone to stay with Lou while their parents are away."

"I'm not too sure about that," Sarvente replied, pacing slightly in worry. "What if they just leave them all alone with no one to take care of them? Lou did come here on their own."

"Didn't you assume that?"

"They didn't object."

"Fair point."

Sarvente rested a hand on her chin, thinking to herself for a few moments. "We should've made them stay here longer, so they'd at least be taken care of throughout the day. It's not safe for them to be out there alone."

"Do you think it would be much safer here?" Ruv chimed in. "We have our own children to take care of anyways."

"The children would get along with Lou just fine! Sure, he can be a little rowdy at times, but he isn't that bad. Plus, they're just kids. What much can happen with children?"

"Ever heard of the kid who shot up a school?"

"Ruv, this isn't time for jokes-"

"I'm not joking." Ruv interrupted. "It all started when another kid fucked up the place after a question about apples and bananas."

"When was this?"

"Dunno, don't care. I just heard it around."

"But our children aren't going to harm Lou badly, nor would Lou do that to them."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure." Sarvente replied before walking off to the kitchen of the church, about to prepare lunch. Ruv soon followed to carry on the discussion, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Who's Lou?" A small voice asked, peering out from the back of the church.

"Don't know. Maybe we'll meet them some day." Another voice replied, which seemed to be slightly deeper than the other.

"We could ask mommy and daddy too."

"Not now. Wait a bit."

"Okay," The smaller voice replied softly. No other voices were heard afterwards as the voices disappeared once again, the church falling silent.

Lou eventually got home, walking back into their home. The sad expression they had from earlier never faded away, the thoughts of her own mother running through their head. Wishing they could feel the warmth of their very own mother and father, craving for their attention.

It's been a while since they've had true and honest affection from them. When their mother and father would laugh and play with their own child, giving them constant love and affection. Damn did they really miss that.

A few tears streamed down their cheeks as they clutched tightly onto their shark plushie in the corner of their room. This was the only comfort they had now - the plushie which was given to them by their only friend. Although Lou wanted comfort from a real person rather than an object. 

Maybe Lou should've stayed at the church longer instead of going home so soon. Only then would Lou be able to be embraced while they shed their tears. They regretted not taking the advantage while they were there. If they're offered the opportunity again though, they will accept it. No doubt about it.

But until then, Lou will have to spend another week alone here and take care of themselves. They couldn't do much on their own, but they were somehow managing. Making the small meals they could make with little to no knowledge on cooking. It was hard for them, and I mean hard, but how else could they survive? Their parents barely left meals out for them, as if telling the child to starve to death.

Lou didn't understand that of course, but they didn't like living there. After their parents stopped being so affectionate and loving, they became cold-hearted people who never liked being home with their child. And even if they were always busy, they never even bothered to make meals for them or hire a babysitter. 

However, they were alone with no one but their shark plushie. They shut their eyes gently, sniffling silently in the back corner of the bed. It didn't take long before they drifted off to sleep, their world shutting down in front of their very eyes.

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Hey, Arii again. Sorry this chapter wasn't as long as the second chapter. I had a lot I wanted to do with the second chapter, so it was over 2500+ words. However, I could only get over 1800+ this time. So, keep in mind that the normal chapter length will be just a bit under 2000, with some chapters being a lot longer. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Anyways, bYe-