“Good morning, Nickel,” I heard when entering the kitchen. “Morning,” I mumbled. The smell of fish made my stomach grumble.

Liam was already sitting at the table typing on his computer with a pair of reading glasses on. I wondered what he did as a living being that he lived in the middle of fucking nowhere. “Take a seat please,” he pointed towards the chair across from him. He closed down his laptop and took off his glass before giving me a one hundred dollar smile. “You slept really late today so tonight I’m requiring you to go to bed at 9 so you can wake up at 7. That’ll give you a nice amount of sleep. Tomorrow we’ll start your training. That includes working out, focusing on the academic classes you didn’t do too well in, and behavior. I was wondering but do you know why you’re here?”

I shook my head yes. He looked at me questioningly so I explained. “I take up too many resources and too much money. I can’t do shit either so I was sent here because apparently a handsome carrot head is supposed to straighten me up.” Liam let out a laugh when I was finished and even leaned over trying to catch his breath. “That was hilarious,” he spoke, “That’s the most you’ve said to me.” He got up from his chair and walked over behind me. I tensed up a bit as he leaned on the table with his arms on either side of me. “You think I’m handsome?” I made a “tch” noise. He laughed again and pet my head lightly tugging my ears as he did. “You aren’t exactly wrong,” he said mostly to himself.

He made me a plate of fish and grits before sitting down to eat with me. When I finished I washed my dish before going to the living room, not sure of what else to do.

The rest of the day was just me sleeping on the couch, watching the t.v, and eating. I had remembered television from when I was a kid but the young hybrids weren’t allowed to have them in their dorms. I, unfortunately, was often thrown in rooms with younger hybrids since apparently the older hybrids had complained regarding having a weakling room with them. Though I was weak, it’s not like I was diseased though who knows what kind of rumors spread about me.

As evening came about I stretched myself out on the couch and let my tail sway. “How about we head out for a walk before we eat dinner? The food is in the slow cooker so it’ll be done by the time we’re back.”

I shook my head. “It’s too cold,” I murmured while keeping my eyes on the t.v. Then, I felt something sort of heavy land on me. It was a fluffy coat. “Put that on and let’s go. T.v. off.” No wonder there was no remote. It seemed to be voice control which was either too expensive for my father to have after he used most of his money creating me or it was something new.

I groaned before getting up and listening. I met him by the door and put on my boots. Liam took the beanie he had and gently placed it on my head. “Shall we?” His hand was extended towards me and after debating on whether I should take it or not, Liam simply grabbed mine with a smile and headed out the door. It seemed to have stopped snowing and everything was covered in a gorgeous white. We walked into the woods and Liam kept my hand in his. He didn’t have gloves on which I found myself actually liking.

His hands were rough, but gentle and warm. Very much like him if I was being honest. He seemed rough and tough but the moment he began talking one would realize how nice he was. At least, I wanted to believe that he wasn’t faking it. “What are you thinking about?” he asked. I hadn’t realized but we stopped for a while and I had just been standing still staring at his hand. “N..nothing.”

“Nothing? If you say so.” We walked a bit farther into the woods before turning back around. On the way back I made sure not to zone out again. Liam was too observant for my taste.

That night for dinner we ate corned beef with roasted potatoes and carrots. It tasted amazing and I finished the ample amount I was given with no problem. “Wash your plate then get ready for bed. You have 25 minutes. I’d like you back downstairs after that.” I didn’t respond but did as he said. I washed up and still had a good amount of time left. I lied down for a moment and curled up in a ball on the bed.

I didn’t intend on going to sleep, but that’s what seemed to have happened. I was dozing off but heard a knock at the door. “Nickel, can I come in?”

I wasn’t going to answer before I remembered what he said earlier. “Come in,” I said as loud as I could. I honestly wasn’t used to speaking so talking loudly wasn’t something I could do easily. The door slowly opened and closed. I was about to sit up but a hand gently pressed me back down on the bed.

“You don’t have to get up, I just wanted to check on you. I was wondering why you didn’t come downstairs, but I suppose you’re tired. It’s not a big deal anyway since I just wanted to spend some time with you. Changing environments can be mentally draining.” His hand remained on my shoulder. I still didn’t trust him so I made sure not to get too comfortable to his touch. “How are you feeling? It’s been your second day with me and I just want to make sure you’re doing ok. We didn’t really talk much on our little walk.” His hand brushed my black hair back and he lightly touched my ear. The feeling made my face red and I quickly sat up, feeling too vulnerable in my previous position. “Don’t,” I said quietly.

He removed his hand. “Sorry.” He sat for a while looking at me and I finally realized he had been waiting for an answer. “I...I’m fine,” I said before adding on, “Sorry, for cursing at you yesterday. Also, um, thank you for the meals and place to stay. I’ve … I mean I’d be in a worse position at...at the facility so, yeah,” I said it all very quickly and stuttered through the whole thing but could see a smile on his face. He wasn’t an ass like I thought he was and I was grateful for his hospitality so I at least wanted to thank him. “No problem at all. Since you seem to be a bit more talkative, anything you’d like to tell me about yourself?”

Something about him being close to me made me feel weird so I moved back a little. I shook my head and laid back down. His hand was quick to cup my cheek. “You aren't just going to not answer, Kitten.” His tone was light-hearted but I knew he meant it.

I swat his hand away. “Stop and that’s not my name.” I yawned the last part but took on my stern gaze quickly after. Liam only beamed more and hovered over me with one hand on either side. My heart started to race which caused me to subconsciously put my hand over it. “You are the cutest when you’re tired; just like a cat,” he whispered the last part. “At least tell me one thing about yourself and I’ll leave.”

I was taken aback that he had even mentioned that. “There’s not much to say. I’m not special and I’m very much disposable. Plus there isn’t anything about myself that you don’t know already.”

“Well, how about a hobby you have or something you like to do? Anything you want to do while you’re with me?” I waited for a moment trying to think of what to say. “Well, I like your food and I wouldn’t mind learning how to cook I guess. I don’t really have any hobbies.” I said just wanting him to leave.

“As I said earlier, you don’t know me well so I guess since you told me that I’ll tell you something about me. I actually wanted to go to culinary school as a kid but never did. It makes me really happy that you like my food and I’d be more than welcomed to teach you.” I tried to give him a smile before flipping over to sleep. He didn’t make any move to leave so with a sigh I turned back over on my back to look up at him. His face was no longer set in his usual cheerful smile rather a sad looking one. The same look I got when people pitied me. He might not have even noticed since it was so dark and he probably forgot I could see in the dark.

“Please don’t ever say you’re disposable again,” he said in a hushed toned. I hadn’t expected him to even pay much attention to my previous remark. “If you weren’t around one day, I’d be heartbroken. Everybody has a purpose whether they believe they do or not. Even if it’s something that is seemingly small, it could make the largest difference in either there or someone else’s life.” My heart began to throb again at his words. I wasn’t sure why I was feeling such a way but I wanted it to stop. My face was becoming warm and I was grateful to the dark that hid that from Liam. I had to remind myself to steady my breath.

“You ok?” he asked cautiously. I nodded my head, forgetting to respond since he couldn’t see me. “Good, well, I’ll see you in the morning I suppose.” He got up and left but I wanted to ask how he knew I nodded. Perhaps he just thought I was being a brat again and decided to let me be but up until then, he made it very clear that he expected me to always answer his questions. My tired mind brushed the thought to the side and I soon drifted into sleep.

Liam POV

Lying down in bed I took deep breaths trying to calm myself down. The poor baby. When he said that he had no purpose and that he wasn’t special I got a bit upset. Everything about him was special. I just wanted to pull him in my arms, smother him in love, and spoil him to his heart’s content. Nobody deserved to feel such a way. I sighed, not knowing what I had gotten myself into.

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