Todd curled his fingers and rubbed his thumb along Shay’s arm as she continued to sniffle and shake.
“I know; and I agree. I don’t think it’s fair, but that’s how it works sometimes,” encouraged Todd. “And I won’t be gone for very long this time. I’ll be back next month, which is no time at all. Yeah?”
Shay wasn’t sure how to respond, and instead gave a vague shrug. Todd forced a smile in the corner of his mouth as he gently began poking and prodding Shay in her ticklish spots.
“Come on now. None of that sniffling. Can I get a smile? I know you’ve got one in there somewhere.” It didn’t take too much more for a partial smile to curl onto Shay’s face as she attempted to grab the finger that far too big for her to stop. Finally, Shay threw off her bag and simply wrapped her entire body around the prodding digit.
“Ah! There we go. That’s better,” smiled Todd. He brushed Shay’s back a few more times as her breathing calmed before starting the car once again. “Now, hopefully they haven’t noticed you’re gone yet.”
~~~~~^*^*^*^~~~~~
Todd had no such luck. Shay’s family had been frantically searching for their daughter for the past few hours. They had come to the same conclusion – she was gone. Where? Most likely with the human who, undoubtedly, was either on the other side of the world by now or had simply decided to keep her.
It was a long shot, but they all decided to go check the human’s room just in case. The Borrower family hurried along the halls until they reached the dresser. They had just made it when they heard the sound of Todd’s voice in the main entrance. The brothers waited in the shadows as Todd came into the room and crouched by the dresser.
“Come on, Shay,” he was saying quietly. “They’ll try to barge in here any second.”
“Todd?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you… I… I shouldn’t have tried to sneak… and…”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about me, okay? I hope they listen and, who knows, maybe I’ll get to see you when I come back. Yeah?”
“Mhm.”
Hearing this conversation between the two was interesting and, for just a brief moment, made the brothers debate whether they wanted to confront the human or retreat back into the walls. They had time to do neither as they watched Todd’s hand lower with none other than their little sister perched in the middle of his palm.
“I’ll miss you Todd. You have to be good, okay?” instructed Shay. Todd laughed slightly.
“I’ll miss you too Shay. I’ll be good. Promise. You be good too, yeah? And I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”
“Promise?” asked Shay.
“Promise.”
The family watched Shay lean forward and lay against Todd’s hand, sprawled out as big as she could be as if she were trying to hug him, before sliding off and looking up at the human. Todd started to stand just as Shay spun around and saw her family standing there, watching the whole encounter. She gasped and took a few steps back, to which Todd froze.
“What? Are you okay?”
Slate, having been seen before, stalked forward toward his sister.
“S…Slate… no… look… listen… It was my fault. Todd didn’t know,” Shay continued to stammer as Slate gave her a harsh look and then turned his eyes to Todd.
“Did you try and take her?” demanded Slate. At this point, Beau and Icon stepped forward, shivers running down their spines at seeing the human, and walked toward their sister.
“No, I didn’t try to take Shay,” stated Todd calmly despite seeing two other small people come out from under his dresser toward Shay. “Though it is my fault. I should’ve given you a message to take back to Shay.”
“Todd…”
“No, Shay. I should’ve passed along the message. It’s my fault. Don’t take anything out on her,” said Todd, trying to be as persuasive as he could. Slate stared at Todd, as did the other brothers, for a short time before Beau spoke up.
“I believe that,” he said stiffly. “Shay, were you just going to leave and not tell anyone?”
“You weren’t listening to me,” argued Shay, taking a more bashful and embarrassed tone rather than combative. “I thought if I went with Todd and came back okay that you’d believe me.”
“Do you know how reckless that was? Do you know what could’ve happened?” asked Icon.
“Yeah, but it didn’t. You know why? Because Todd wouldn’t let anything happen to me, just like you. Any of you. He didn’t want me to get in trouble and came back as soon as he could to make sure I was safe. He could’ve kept going, but didn’t. He’s a good person and put what you wanted over what he wanted. Doesn’t that mean anything?” Shay’s words stung, but rang true; and they, unfortunately, could see it.
“I tried to leave because I thought you weren’t listening to me. I thought by leaving that it would prove Todd wouldn’t hurt me and that everything would be okay; and I was right. Todd did… he did the right thing… he brought me back…”
Beau bit his lip and stared up at the human.
“We need to be getting back,” he said quietly.
Shay, shoulders slumped, knew she was going to be in for the talk of her life; but, as she started to walk away, Beau turned back to Todd and held up a finger.
“You wait here,” he said sternly. Todd, just as surprised as Shay, gave a slow nod.
“Uh… sure…”
Shay followed her brothers back under the dresser and into the walls until they were just out of earshot. The turned around in sync and glared at their younger sister.
“What were you thinking Shay?” growled Icon. “You could’ve been hurt or worse!”
“Icon is right. Was your grand plan just to sneak out and go live with Todd the human?” demanded Slate.
“I told you that he was good and I thought you weren’t listening to me. I wanted to go back and stay with him, but the rule…”
“Was meant for your protection! For all our protection!” argued Slate.
“And I told you that Todd wouldn’t hurt me and that he’d protect me,” bantered Shay.
“Shay…” said Beau quietly. “Does living with that human… really mean more than living with your family?”
The question stunned Shay. She hadn’t quite thought of it like that – choosing a favorite. In reality, Shay wanted both. She wanted to live with Todd and come home to her family; however, she didn’t think about if she could only have one of the two. She hadn’t thought about only being able to choose one or the other.
“I…” Her mind was racing. What could she say? “I… I love my family… and Todd is my friend. I… He was all I had…. I just wish you’d give him a chance.”
“Give him a chance? With our little sister?” interjected Slate, to which Beau raised his hand.
“He really means that much to you?” asked Beau. Shay bit her lip and nodded. She knew it hurt. She didn’t want to admit it, but she couldn’t – wouldn’t – deny it. She did care for Todd a lot, not just because he helped her, but because of their shared experiences. They were friends. In fact, Todd was Shay’s only friend. Sure, she had her brothers, but it wasn’t the same; and that gave her even more reason to want to hang onto Todd.
Beau sighed. His young sister could be reckless, but she also had a keen intuition. Shay knew the Borrower way but was willing to go to a human for help and even stay him. The young teen had even snuck out because this was what she wanted. She had lived with this human for a long time and nothing had happened. It didn’t mean nothing could happen. Anything could go wrong. Still, she knew him better than they did.
He didn’t agree with it. He didn’t like it one bit. Still, he knew his sister.
“Fine…” he said softly. The other three siblings looked at their oldest brother in disbelief.
“What?” asked Icon in a demanding tone. “You can’t be serious!”
“If we don’t let her, she’ll either resent us forever because we stopped her or she’ll try again. We were lucky this time and she wasn’t hurt while she tried to leave,” explained Beau. “I don’t like it and I really don’t like him; however, he did the right thing bringing you home, which has to mean something.”
Shay was speechless. She didn’t know if her brother was playing a trick or if it was a test. She didn’t know if he was being sincere. All the young Borrower knew was she was completely and utterly torn. Her already tired eyes threatened to begin crying again.
“Beau, we can’t just let her leave!” argued Slate. “What about mom and dad?”
“I didn’t say we’re just going to let her leave,” replied Beau. Shay stiffened as she listened to her brothers. “We are going to let her say good-bye to Todd. Then, we are going to take her home and let her think about everything. After she’s been reprimanded, which I’m sure she will be, perhaps we can convince mom and dad to let her go live with Todd for a time – supervised time.”
“Supervised?” asked Icon.
“Yes. I’m going with her. It’s that or we let her go stay with Todd and one or all of us go with her. We could set up a residence there in the walls. Shay said there weren’t any other Borrowers there. Maybe we can be the first,” replied Beau.
The siblings were completely stunned by Beau’s proposal, none more than Shay. Then, in a rush, she ran up and threw her arms around her oldest brother.
“Thank you Beau!” she said with a choked sob of happiness. Beau hugged his younger sister tightly while maintaining his stern tone.
“You realize mom and dad will have to approve of this, right?” he asked. Shay nodded as she pulled away and looked into her eldest brother’s eyes. “Fine. Now, go tell that human good-bye and that maybe – maybe – you’ll see him again soon.”
Shay couldn’t run back through the wall fast enough. Slate and Icon both turned to their older brother.
“What was that about? Are you serious?” asked Icon. Beau, feeling twisted and unsettled.
“I am serious but think about it. If we go with her, she can’t do anything too crazy. We’ll keep tabs and make sure she’s keeping to the Borrower way of things. She’ll be safe,” responded Beau. “Besides, do you really think we can tell her no now? We tried and she almost succeeded in running away. This way, she’ll have a minute to think about everything and, when the time comes, we can make a better decision.”
Meanwhile, Shay had run out into Todd’s room. Todd had stayed put, just like Shay’s brother said, and smiled instantly the moment he saw her emerge from the walls.
“Hey, is everything okay?” asked Todd quietly, eyes flicking up to the door to make sure his family wasn’t listening in.
“Yeah,” said Shay. “It’ll… it’s good. I’m definitely in trouble, but Beau, that’s my oldest brother, said that he would try and convince my parents to let me come and stay next time.” Todd smiled gratefully, elated and relieved at the news.
“That’s great!” he said. “Then I guess I’ll see you soon?”
“It’s a deal,” echoed Shay. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
Shay ran over and threw herself into Todd’s hand, hugging him as hard as she could before getting up and looking him in the eyes.
“Thank you, Todd; for being there.” With that, Shay wiped her eyes one last time and headed off for the wall.
“Thank you for being there for me too, Shay.” Todd watched as the small girl vanished under the dresser, and then she was gone. Todd listened for a few moments longer before giving a brief nod, standing up, and heading back outside and to the road. This wasn’t good-bye. They would see each other again, and hopefully they wouldn’t need another good-bye for a long time.
~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~
The eldest Borrower was right. Shay was reprimanded. There was a mixed relief when she came home as well as frustration and confusion. It would take her the next two weeks to regain the relative trust she lost when she attempted to run away with Todd. Still, her parents agreed tentatively to the terms. They also insisted, to Shay’s surprise, that they meet Todd to better evaluate the human’s intentions.
So, when the next holiday came, they were ready for Todd’s arrival. The family met with him late one night after Todd’s family had gone to bed for the night. They outlined everything they expected from the human, to which he happily agreed.
Turns out, Todd didn’t realize how lonely he would be while away at his apartment. Though it was only a month, he missed Shay terribly and intended to do whatever he could to make sure she and her family felt safe. What were friends for after all?
So, that holiday as a trial run, Beau and Icon accompanied Shay and Todd back to the apartment.
The adjustment was odd at first. While Shay easily slipped back into old habits around Todd, her brothers were still keen on avoiding being seen by the human and stayed primarily in the walls setting up their future home. It wasn’t until Shay and Todd came up with some clever designs to add to their home away from home that Todd didn’t seem, in Beau’s words, “so bad for a human.”
Their exchange program continued for the months to come, some of the holiday breaks lasting longer and longer. While Shay loved going home, each time, she elected to go with Todd. She knew she wouldn’t be who she was without her human half and that the pair together was unstoppable – like it was always meant to be.
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