"Ugh."

  I poked at my pte with my fork, resting against my hand. There were two chi thighs, a big helping of mashed potatoes, a side of broccoli and carrots, and a protein smoothie on the side. We'd taken the food back up to his dorm room, and were now sitting around chatting while eating.

  The food itself tasted great. It wasn't amazing, but the mashed potatoes were soft, warm, and creamy. They went well with the crispy, seasoned chi aables.

  But...

  "Do I really have to finish all this?"

  I'd already had two wings and I'd barely made a dent in my potatoes.

  "I'm getting too full..." I grumbled, chewing on a piece of broccoli and looking up at Al, who was sitting across from me with his own pte of food.

  His pte had a serving of baked salmon and some vegetables, with a cup of blueberries on the side. The differeween our portions was almost ical. Like they were meant for the other person. But, I guess he was the one on a diet and not me.

  He chuckled, taking a sip from his own drink. "You know the answer, Sienna."

  I sighed, taking another bite of my chi thigh.

  "I know, I know..."

  "You've gotta eat Sienna, and we're going in again tomorrow," Al said, fshing me a smile.

  "Mmrrgh," I mumbled.

  I took a sip of the protein smoothie, and grimaced as the taste of fruit filled my mouth.

  "This isn't too bad, but I just... 't. I 't stomach all this. I feel so heavy," I pined. "And I'm still so sore..."

  I looked down at my food again and frowned. I'd barely made a dent in the mashed potatoes, and I hadn't even touched my sed piece of chi yet.

  "Hey, I'm right here with you. It hasn't been easy, but it's necessary for both of us to keep going."

  "Okay, okay," I said. "Fine..."

  I sighed, taking a deep breath and then starting to eat again.

  I was gd that Albert had been able to keep me pany, and he was right, of course. The chi wasn't bad — the sauce they used on it tasted pretty good — and the potatoes aables were fioo, but I was just so used to ing enough that it felt like a lot of food all at once.

  But, he was alsht about us needing to go bato the gym. We couldn't just give up now.

  I looked over at Albert and watched as he tio eat, a serious expression crossing his face every so often. He'd been dialing his portions back over the course of the st couple of months, but he was still very mu a diet. He didn't like to talk about it much, but he was very self scious about his size. Even if he usually hid how much it bothered him.

  We ate in silence for a bit. I tried to push my pte away a couple times, only for Al to shoot me a knowing ghat told me to keep at it. Eventually, I leaned bad let out a sigh of relief.

  "Thanks..." I murmured. "I don't know what I would do without you."

  "Huh? I didn't do much," Al said.

  I chuckled. "Well, that's the thing, isn't it? You don't have to do much."

  I looked over at him and gave him a small smile.

  "I know we haven't been spending as much time i month as we usually do, and that's on me. So I'm sorry about that."

  Albert shook his head. "Sienna... it's just two weeks. Or six. Geeze, don't get dramatic about it. You've had a ton of your own stuff going on and you o focus. We've gohout spending time before. And it's fine. We'll pick back up where we left off. Like always."

  I frowned, before leaning in to whisper.

  "Al... I know my family shit is absurd and I know you just care a lot. I just want to reassure you that I'm not going anywhere. I know you worry. Okay? I get it. It's okay. I don't want to let this uff e between that. You mean a lot to me."

  He was quiet for a moment.

  "I don't worry," he muttered. "But..."

  He moved his left hand over his chest. "I've been thinking a lot more since you went through hell to save me, Sienna. And... well. The thing is. Life is short and crazy, isn't it? And you never really know what's going to happen."

  "Al..."

  "If you hat push, I'll be there if I be, but if I'd been hit an inch or two to the right I'd be gone. Kitsune wouldn't have been able to stabilize me if it wasn't for a bit of good luck."

  We stayed quiet for a sed.

  He was right.

  He was a normal person, and I'd only made it out through the Cataclysm alive thanks to my magical girl abilities.

  We only made it out because of them.

  And if he'd died, I would have lost my best friend and my closest fidante. He'd e damned close at several points.

  The person who'd been my only family for most of my childhood.

  I took another bite out of my half-eaten thigh and chewed it, swallowing as I put my thoughts together.

  I looked up to him. "I... I don't want you to get caught up in my mess, okay? I don't want you to get hurt because of my family. If I have to deal with it on my own, then so be it."

  He sighed.

  "That's the thing. I get it. I really do. Probably before you did. I don't know. But the thing is, I knew what I signed up for when I saw you bug at the knees when bsting that monster on the roof e Zeta. I didn't care then and I don't now. And I don't think I will ever care."

  I furrowed my brows, swallowing the bite I'd been chewing.

  "What? Al. You could die. Who knows how bad things get?"

  "Yeah. I've thought a lot about that, Sienna. It's why I basically took a month away with my mom."

  I blinked.

  "You've barely learo use your powers, and I know you'll have to deal with bigger and bigger threats, and you'll have to get used to it. That's not a thing you ge about yourself. It's in your blood. And there's really not much I realistically do to help in the long run. I give advice, and help with training and sc the web. But I know I'm just a normal guy, and I 't keep up. I don't knoould if I wao be there for you. And I know one day that's going to e back to roost, Sienna, but I don't know how I'll solve it. So I've been trying not to think about it."

  I looked over at him.

  "But I know I want to. Even if it's dangerous."

  "Al... you get killed," I reiterated.

  "Yeah. And I could get hit by a car or fall off the roof of my building et sick et murdered. There's a million ways for someone like me to die, and I don't think any one of them is worse thaher. I mean, of course some ways are more painful. It is what it is."

  He paused, a serious expression on his face as his eyes stared back at mine. I could practically feel pure resolve rolling off of him.

  "I'd rather take that risk than not, and I'd rather be by my best friend's side while she does the thing that she has to. You're an hoo god superhero now, Sienna."

  I opened my mouth and closed it, before I set my fork down oe and sighed. I eechless.

  I'd known he felt strongly, but... I didn't think it would have been like this. He'd barely spoken about his thoughts sihe day of the Cataclysm.

  "Wow. Okay, um... I'm gd you told me. I didn't know how strongly you felt about that, Al."

  He shrugged, the serious expression on his face slipping into something a little less serious. The familiar, goofy grin came ba a fsh.

  "I'm sorry," he said. "When you s me yesterday, it just kinda hit me that I've never been really open to you about what I'm thinking. I'm a good listener. But I've always sorta just been in your er. And when we grew up it wasn't that bad, because you were mostly just w on homework and trying to get through your situation with your mom. I'm not saying that's a small thing, just, I dunno, you didn't have a huge weight on your shoulders that was gon bigger."

  I nodded.

  "And now that you do, it feels like yrowing apart from me. I know it hasn't been that much time, but there's this sixth sense in the bay head that keeps saying 'if you don't say anything she'll just slip away and disappear' and it feels so real to me."

  "Okay." I set the half eaten thigh on my pte, giving him a sad look. "You're right. You're absolutely right, Al. You mean the world to me. You're the closest thing to family I've got. I don't want you to go away."

  He smiled, and reached his hand out, ruffling my hair.

  "It'll work out, Sienna," Al said, a warm smile on his face. "I'll be here for you as long as you'll have me. But... we finish up lunch first?"

  "Sure. Yeah, of course. But, uh, we do this again? Just the two of us?" I asked.

  He smiled again. "Absolutely."

  I grinned back at him. I didn't want him to go anywhere.

  "Okay, the's get back to lunch!"

  I turned bay food, pig up the fork. My appetite had returned, and I was able to finish the rest of the food.

  We chatted some more and ate in fortable silence.

  Al talked a lot more about what was on his mind than he had before, and we caught up on each other's lives a bit.

  I told him about the stuff with Madison, and how we'd exged numbers. He talked to me about all the friends he'd been making in his principles of engineering css. The names flew by me, but I did my best to try to pay attention to all the little things they were doing. It felt like the first normal versation we'd had in a month. We didn't talk about the future or my parents or the end of the world.

  Just us and our own lives. The little things we've been up to while our csses and schedules went in different dires. That was good enough.

  "Alright, well. Thanks for having lunch with me, Sienna." Albert said.

  I nodded. "I'll e back after css? Or before? Maybe I e with you to dinner?"

  "Sure, if that works," Albert said.

  "It will."

  "Okay, Sienna. I'll see you then!"

  I nodded. "See ya ter, then."

  I gave him a small wave and smile, before stepping out the door and closing it behind me.

  I took a deep breath. It felt o have a normal lunch with him, and to finally get his thoughts off his chest.

  I was gd we were able to talk, and that I was able to get an idea of how he felt. I wasn't going to keep him out of the loop. He was my best friend.

  But I couldn't fet that I'd started walking down this road to keep him safe in the first pce.

  I couldn't lose sight of that, and I'd o make sure I didn't take him down a road that could get him killed or seriously hurt.

  I couldn't be selfish. Not about that. hat. We'd grown up together and he meant the world to me.

  It felt o have a normal lunch with him, but I wouldn't let that y judgement.

  I wouldn't try to keep him at arms length or anything, but I'd make damned sure I did whatever I o do to keep him safe.