No Friends

Hunter just grinned as Ryan snapped his picture, then scrunched his nose as he saw it. "Eh. I'm not so sure about the perfect part. Unless you crop me out and keep the kitty face. Now that's purrrfection." 

He laughed, then without warning, he set the kitten down and crawled over to Ryan, shoving her down on her back before lying next to her. Swiping her phone, he held it up and snapped a picture looking down on the both of them with their heads together on they hay bales. "There." He didn't move, but turned the phone so they could see the picture he'd just taken. Only now as he looked at their laughing faces caught in time did his cheeks flush...again. It was a much better picture than he'd anticipated. He'd just been meaning to be silly but... there was more to it, and he knew it. 

Tossing her phone back to her, he sat up abruptly and looked away at the other end of the loft. "I think... going to get some hot chocolate sounds good."


"No." Aaron's answer came quickly. "I never worried about them killing me." He shrugged. "I was good at my job. There was no reason to do away with me. So... why think about doing anything else?" 

He fiddled with his water bottle, visibly bothered by this whole thing. "They rescued me. Forced me to live up to my potential. Why would I want to go back to a world that would just reject me anyway?" He shook his head. "My mother could have cared less. My sister abandoned me. And after Brooke..." His voice trailed off and his bit his tongue. He hadn't meant to add that part. 

He physically sank into himself a little further. "She was seasoned Agency. I was a new recruit. Guess I figured sharing quarters meant we had something going, but I was just too stupid to see she was playing me. After that... all focus went to my training. I knew then why they said not to trust anybody. Not to get close to anybody. Because eventually... they'd just stab me in the back. No family. No friends. Just...doing what I did best." 

He didn't know why he just shared that. It was painful, and ridiculous that he'd open up, let alone to Sam. But at the moment... he felt vulnerable. Exposed. Weak. And tired. 

"I can't afford to let the Elite in," he finally concluded quietly. "It won't end any differently for me." 


"Um..." Scott looked at the bowl of broth then glanced up at Hope. "No. Yes." He sighed. "Misty said I should drink more water so I guess I better do as I'm told." Between that and the soup he might float away, but it was better than getting chided...again. 

A few minutes later, he slowly tried the broth, and nodded. "This is really good...thank you." In truth, he didn't want to be eating at all. It just...felt wrong. He knew it wasn't true - he needed to eat. It just wasn't a pleasant experience. One good thing though was it did taste good. A whole lot better than some of the things Justin had made him eat. 

One slow spoonful at a time, he tried so hard to eat like he was supposed to. He knew Hope had given him mostly just broth and he was grateful. The last thing he wanted was to get sick after she'd been so nice to invite him over. When half the bowl was gone though, he just couldn't take any more. 

Setting his elbows on the table, he rested his chin on his hands and stared at the bowl. "Sorry," he apologized quietly. "I think that's all I can manage." He finally looked across at Hope. "It did taste good though, and I appreciate it." At the moment though, he was so tired. Tilting his head, he rested his forehead on his hands instead and closed his eyes. "I should probably go before I fall asleep," he mumbled.