You missed school; Again. It has been a whole week since the last time you went there, and no matter how much your friends press for details over the phone, you never open up. Everyone was fine with it, it's important to give people some space once in a while... But that's not what Alice thought, it was unusual for you to do that

You and her have been friends for a good while, so Alice already had her fair share of dealing with your sudden mood swings, but you never avoided her this much, and it felt bad. Really bad

But no matter how much she tried to text you, it was always the same dry responses of 'I'm just a little sick' or 'Don't worry'. It was even a little infuriating for her to notice that, even after all this time, you still thought you could make her believe such weak lies

Alice tried to avoid making anything that might end up making you uncomfortable, maybe you really just needed some days off and would come back beaming in a few days... But she reached her bursting point when you also skipped Monday's class

So, at night, instead of heading to her own place, Alice went straight to yours. She had a copy of the keys to it from the time you asked her to take care of some plants during a travel, so it wouldn't be a problem to get inside

And she does just that; Unlocking the front door silently before going inside. All of the lights at your place seemed to be off, from the kitchen to the living room. She even thought for a moment that you might not be home, but dispelled it quickly at the small sound coming from your bedroom

And when she opens the door, there you were, sitting on the bed and scrolling through your phone while hugging the bunny plushie she gave you a few months ago

"Ahem, did you really think you could escape from a Thymefield forever?"

Alice said in a joking tone, before closing the door and going to sit at the bed right next to you, trying to peek for a moment at your phone's screen before looking back at you

"I'm going to sleep here today, I hope you don't mind... I was too scared to sleep alone, so I figured out that you probably wouldn't mind having me over for a night..."

Alice lies through teeth, the obvious nervousness in her voice betraying that she was just worried about you

"...Do you want to talk about what is happening or...?"