Kitten sat staring blankly out of her apartment window, vaguely pondering that it probably wasn’t healthy to not do anything for weeks. She snorted at that, its not like anyone was here to give her a reason to do anything, she vaguely felt the pain of that, but buried it before it could take over.

She’d left Kain and everything that had made her life so wonderful because she couldn’t stand the memories of what she’d done. She couldn’t stand to sell the house they’d lived in, so it stood vacant- as empty as she felt inside.

She’d bought an apartment near where she used to live, although she couldn’t bring herself to go to the park like she always used to, she hadn’t even brought her computer with her, and she absently wondered if anyone she knew online was concerned- probably not.

She blinked out of her reverie as she heard the phone ring. She frowned; it was probably one of the telemarketers who kept calling her. She listened absently as the machine clicked on and she waited to hear the dial tone as the telemarketers hung up after her short “leave a message after the beep”.

Suddenly her ears perked and her head came up as she heard a voice that was almost from another lifetime, one she’d heard so long ago.

“Teffy?” she whispered, a single tear coming to her eye. She scrambled to get the phone, but she picked it up just as he said goodbye. She stood staring at the phone in her hand in shock.

He’d called to see if she was all right.

He cared.

She slowly set the phone back on the hook. He’d been the one person from her life here that she’d talked to when she left to live with Foxy. They’d spoken all the time online, and she realized the last time they’d talked was when she’d told him that she suspected Teresa was up to something. Her heart constricted painfully and she almost started to cry.

He had left his number. She could call him. Part of her wanted to stay where she was, punish herself for all she’d done, but another part of her wanted to see him. He was one of the best friend’s she’d had next to…Foxy…

She bowed her head with the pain of it, and slowly what she was wearing and what she looked like dawned on her. She was usually quite clean, but her furr was oily and dirty- she hadn’t showered in a long time and she was wearing the same clothes she had for the past week. She put a hand to her hair. She realized she looked horrible.

Teffy, without knowing it, had broken through the numbness that no one else had been able to yell, scream, plead, or cry their way through. She wasn’t rid of it, but she was starting to realize a couple of things.

First thing she did was rid herself of the soiled clothes and with a face of disgust, she decided she needed a hot shower and a few layers of soap to get rid of the filth. She got to work doing so, using a lot of shampoo and soap to get herself feeling clean again. She stepped out, sure she was pink under the furr from all the scrubbing, drying off as best she could and padded over to get out a fresh set of clothes.

She chose a baby t-shirt with “yiffy” on the front in gold lettering and a pair of jeans. As she waited for her furr to dry she trimmed her claws and realized she was hungry- something that hadn’t happened often in the past few days, so she quietly made herself a sandwich, eating it as she looked around at her bare apartment.

When she was dry she got dressed, carefully smoothing her tail after threading it through the hole in her jeans for it. She put on a pair of running shoes and looked at herself in the mirror. She realized she’d lost a couple of pounds and the jeans and shirt were a little loose. She’d gain that back eventually.

She went to grab her car keys, but realized she needed to walk to stretch out her legs and she left the room she hadn’t left for 3 solid weeks, headed for the place she knew Teffy hung out during the day.

~ >^.^< ~ =^.^= ~

He sat with a soft frown on his face, tugging on his blue ear with worried eyes. He looked around the coffee house, of sorts. It was actually a gaming hall that served coffee and food. He was sitting in on a game of cards between two rather good players, hoping it would keep his mind off of Kitten, but knowing it wouldn’t. It’s hard to forget the cat he’d been dreaming about for quite a while now, especially since he hadn’t heard from her in 3 weeks or so.

He had been there a long while pretending to pay attention, until he gave up and stood to go sit in one of their armchairs, bringing his cup of hot chocolate with him. He looked around, curious if there were any newcomers that he knew, and out of nowhere, she was there.

He blinked hard a couple of times, thinking he was seeing things but she was still there, better than he had dreamed her to be- he had thought he’d surely exaggerated what she looked like, but it seems he’d fallen short. His eyes drank her in, and as the initial shock wore off and she spotted him, he realized something was different.

He made his way over, setting down his cup to hurry to her. She smiled, but although it was honest, it seemed a little strained. He did something he didn’t do very often. As he saw the vague pain in her eyes, he stepped forward and without a word hugged her to him.

He felt what he thought was a hiccup and then felt her arms slip around him and hug him tightly. All too soon she slipped away and his arms felt surprisingly cold and empty.

She quietly explained why she was here, as he saw her wipe away tears that tore at his heart. “I picked up the phone just as you hung up. I wanted you to know I’m all right.” She looked at him and he thought he saw a type of desperation in her eyes, as if she wasn’t just trying to convince him that she was all right.

He quietly looked at her, not knowing what to say in the face of her obvious lie. He grinned and changed the subject instead. “Since when are you into gaming? I thought a hip clubber like you wouldn’t give a place like this a second glance.” He led her back to where he’d set down his drink and sat down on a loveseat with her.

She smiled- a real smile without the shadow in her eyes. “Of course I am…Just because I know nothing about it, doesn’t mean I don’t play.”

He gave her a frown of mock confusion. “Now there’s some sound logic.”

She grinned at him. “Got lots more of it for you.” Here she is he thought as he gave her a half smile. This was the Kitten he’d fallen in love with (he’d come to accept that she had his heart months ago- he figured whether she was with someone else or not, he wanted her to be happy).

He sat there beside her as they made light banter and as he was admiring her, he realized she was thinner than before, he knew she’d had meat on her bones even though she’d been slender. He mentally frowned in concern.

“Have you been on a diet recently?” He asked lightly, concern winning over the need to make her smile.

She suddenly became subdued, looking down and quietly answering. “I haven’t been eating much lately.”

Teffy smiled lightly, “Nothing looks good?”

Kitten, still looking at her paws in her lap, answered quietly. “No, not much looks good after Foxy’s cooking.” Her voice had a slight hitch as she mentioned Foxy, and Teffy’s ears perked a bit, concern coming over him. What had happened to Adrian?

Teffy reached over and took one of her paws in his as he asked his question softly. “What happened?”

Kitten just sat there, tears silently running down her face, her shoulders hunched. It was when he heard the hiccup that just about broke his heart was when the bunny silently took her in his arms. They sat that way for some time, Kitten silently crying out the anguish while Teffy held her and made soothing sounds, rubbing her back and caressing her hair. Finally Teffy spoke quietly.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” He looked around at a few pairs of concerned and curious eyes. “Where no one is staring?”

Kitten, without looking up, nodded silently. Teffy quietly stood with her and took her paw, leading her out of the gaming house and onto the sidewalk out front.

Finally Kitten spoke, her voice barely above a whisper- Teffy had to strain his sensitive ears to hear it above the street sounds. “Can we go to your place?”

Teffy considered the calico; her face bowed to hide the tears and decided he could kick out Dain and Gan if they were there. “Sure.” He replied softly and turned, leading her down the street and to his apartment building.

He showed her into his apartment a few minutes later, and he sighed in relief. It seemed that thankfully they’d chosen to spend their day off at someone else’s place. Kitten stepped inside and finally picked up her head as he closed the door behind him, looking around at where she was.

He had a studio apartment of sorts, and everything accept his closet and large bathroom were out in the open. He had a futon that doubled as a bed for his purposes, a flat screen TV on one wall along with all the necessary equipment (VCR, DVD player, several gaming consoles, and a stereo). Next to it was several bookcases that covered the rest of the wall one filled with games and booklets, but the rest were full of books. She blinked in amazement as she saw several fantasy art pictures on the wall she recognized. And they looked like he’d commissioned them.

She glanced over at the corner of cabinets and appliances that served as a kitchen, with its island that served as a table- as one part had a slight overhang and next to it sat a couple of stools. She was surprised out of her tears, distracted by the sights around her. It was a beautiful apartment.

She glanced as Teffy to see him smile as her expression before he walked over to the fridge. “Would you like something to drink?”

She shook her head. “No thanks, I’m not thirsty.” She murmured as she sat down on the futon. She noticed a set of sheets and two pillows piled neatly beside it. He’d slept on this only last night. For some reason some more of herself came back in the form of remembering the dreams she’d had about him, but with it came the pain of remembering that Kain’d crashed without ever forgiving her for it. Another thing she’d done to him.

Teffy turned back around, to see Kitten sitting perfectly normal with a bland expression, as he padded closer, he saw the tears running steadily down her face. He set down his glass of water and kneeled down in front of her, trying to catch her downcast eyes. He reached up and put a finger under her chin, looking into her eyes with a concerned look.

“Tell me what happened.” To his dismay this seemed to set off something, as she let out a violent sob and tore away from him to stand at a window, crying. He kneeled there, hurt by her reaction when he heard her broken voice.

“I didn’t want to hurt him. He didn’t deserve it.” She stopped, sobbing. “I just went and did it anyway. I caused the pain anyway!” She almost screamed out the last part. He found himself standing and walking over to her slowly, on the tip of his tongue was a question of who, then she answered it for him. “Kain was nothing but wonderful to me, and now he’s in the hospital for it.” She started rocking, her hands covering her face as she stood there, hurting so bad and so ashamed that her whole body shook even when a sob didn’t rack through her thin frame.

His usual reserve made him pause behind her, but then he slipped both arm around her from behind. He wasn’t prepared for her cry of alarm and her trying to get away, but he held on as he heard her cry out to him. “Don’t! I’ll hurt you too!”

He felt tears running down into his furr now, and he held onto her tightly, wanting to take away her pain, to suffer for her so that she wouldn’t hurt anymore. He answered her softly as she slowly stopped fighting him, his face nuzzled against her hair. “No you won’t.”

She just sagged in his arms and cried harder than he’d ever seen or felt someone cry, and they stood there for a long time, and several times she tried to break free, but he wouldn’t let her. Finally she calmed enough that he could take her over to the futon and he sat on it with her curled up in his lap sideways, her head on his shoulder.

Finally, exhausted, she fell asleep, her paw clutching his, his other paw wrapped around her securely.