He had never been invited over to anyone's place before. Fletcher was nervous and excited all the same. Baylyn, once again, led the way.

It had to be the most gorgeous house Fletcher had ever seen, made with cobblestone and covered in moss. There were wooden accents around the foundation and the windows. The inside was just as pretty.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" said Baylyn, opening the door to his cottage.

"Hello–oh!" said his mother, surprised by Fletcher's presence. "You didn't tell me you were bringing a guest."

"Um... this is Fletcher. He kinda has nowhere to stay, so I was thinking he could stay with us?"

His mother and father look at each other, then at Baylyn.

"He is a human is he not?" said his father, skeptical of Fletcher.

Fletcher looked at the floor. Clearly, he wasn't meant to be here.

"I can go stay at the inn or something. It's fine. I don't want to be a burden."

"You are not a burden, Fletch!" Baylyn practically shouted. Then, turning to face his parents he says, "If he goes to stay at the inn, I go too."

His parents sighed. Fletcher must be a good person if Baylyn was willing to go to such lengths just to keep him around.

"Alright, he can stay," said his mother.

Baylyn showed Fletcher to his room, shutting the door behind him.

"Tada! This is mine. It's not much, but I make it work."

"Not much?"

Fletcher had never seen this much 'not much' in his life. Growing up, he wasn't really allowed to decorate his room, so it was boring and drab, resembling an inn rather than a room someone had actually lived in. There were two beds on either side of the wall when he walked in. Baylyn had plants at his windowsill and a shelf full of trinkets made of glass. Fletcher picked one up, rotating it in his hand. It was of a frog, delicate and smooth, just like the real animal.

"Did you make these?" asked Fletcher, still in awe.

Baylyn walked up to Fletcher to examine the sculpture he was holding. "Yeah, I can sculpt glass with my fire. They're not very good though."

"Are you kidding? These are amazing!" said Fletcher, picking up another sculpture, this time of a fairy. "Can you teach me?"

"I don't know Fletch, I've only ever done them by myself. I don't know how to protect other people from the flames when I want the glass to be hot."

"Oh, it's fine," said Fletcher, putting down the figure and going to sit on one of the beds. "It's getting late," he says, implying that they should go to sleep soon.

"Right."

Fletcher began to take off his armor, leaving his tunic and pants underneath. He winced, clutching his shoulder, reminded of the injury his father had given him a couple days ago. Fletcher's sleeve was stained red where his armor had been pushed into the skin. Baylyn rushed over, sitting on the bed Fletcher had been sitting on.

"Are you hurt?" he asked with utmost concern.

Fletcher nodded. He was good at ignoring pain, so much so that he became a danger to himself, never asking for help when he needed it. But taking off his armor did nothing but inflame the wound, just like he had done with his emotions.

"Can I?" asked Baylyn, holding the end of his sleeve.

"Yes."

He gently lifted up Fletcher's sleeve to reveal the wound, an imprint of chainmail. His eyes widened.

"How long has it been like this?"

Fletcher waited a beat before quietly saying, "A couple days. I didn't realize it was this bad, really. I couldn't even feel it."

Baylyn took a deep breath.

"Do you trust me?"

Fletcher nodded.

Baylyn waved a hand over Fletcher's shoulder, emanating flames from his palm. Fletcher was healed in an instant.

When he was done, Baylyn asked, "How did that even happen?"

Fletcher stayed silent, staring at the floor. He didn't want to talk about it and he wasn't sure Baylyn wanted to hear it.

"Okay, goodnight Fletch," said Baylyn, blowing out the candle as he walked over to get into the bed on the other side of the room.

He was disappointed, hoping to get more out of Fletcher, but he understood. There were things that not everyone wanted to talk about, and he had some of his own.

When Fletcher finally fell asleep he was tossed into a nightmare, one in which he had killed Baylyn and brought back his arrow shaped tail. Fletcher awoke with a gasp, looking over at Baylyn to make sure he didn't stir. Baylyn shifted, but he didn't wake. He went back to breathing softly, unaware of Fletcher. There was no way Fletcher could go back to sleep. Instead, he grabbed his boots and walked outside, sitting on the front steps. The stars always calmed him. Eventually, Baylyn noticed he was missing and went to look for him. He found Fletcher on the steps and sat with him.

"What are you doing up?" he asked.

"Can't sleep... you?"

"I always wake up throughout the night, but I came to look for you when I couldn't find you."

"You don't need to do that. I'm fine."

"Look, I haven't known you for long but I do notice things. I noticed you tend to walk away when you're upset."

He was right. Fletcher tended to walk away from his problems. It was easier that way, but Baylyn wasn't a problem, he was a fear. He was afraid of attachment, and so his own subconscious had driven him away.

Fletcher looked away from Baylyn as he said his next words. "I had a dream... that... that I killed you," he said slowly, trying to gauge Baylyn's reaction.

Baylyn waited patiently for Fletcher to finish.

Fletcher took a minute before saying, "And I brought back your tail."

Baylyn thought a bit before answering.

"But there's no way you would do that, right?"

"No! God no! I could never!"

"Then I'm not going anywhere," said Baylyn, turning to wrap his arms around Fletcher.

Fletcher sat there for a second, unmoving, before he wrapped his arms around Baylyn, returning the hug. How was it that he had met Baylyn a day ago and yet, he had made more of an effort to get to know him than his own family had for years? When they let go, they walked back inside, careful not to creek any of the floorboards. They got back into bed without speaking, but they didn't have to, for they had already said all that needed to be said.

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A/n: Thanks so much for making it this far! It means a lot to me.