Even though Alan thought of me as a friend now and we learned more about one another in the little time we spent together, I knew I had to keep myself and my emotions at a distance out of respect for him and his life here on Earth.

Invading his apartment and home, taking his clothes, and consuming his food all within one day was fine, but I did not want to linger or make him take care of me when he had a job and other Earthling responsibilities to attend to. That kind of weight did not seem fair to put on him, and I did not want to sour our budding connection.

I realized that the only sensible course of action would be to look for a place where I could live apart from Alan but still be reasonably close to him. From what I had deduced, humans appeared to live in little boxes called apartments, but I had no idea how I would go about obtaining one for myself.

"I'm going to get up kind of early so I can help Kiki with some cakes and butterfly rolls in the morning," Alan informs me as he grabs a handful of sheets and pillows from a tiny room in his hallway. "If you want, you can come with me and hang out upstairs and nap or watch TV until my shift's over."

"You really would not mind if I followed you to your place of work?" I ask and ogle Alan from where I stand when he lifts his arms to grab a pillow from the shelf above his head. Much to my surprise, a strip of bronze skin had slowly begun to appear above his pants as his shirt rose, along with a trail of dark hair under his navel. Unlike the Tau, who were velvety soft to the touch, humans were hairy in certain places, which was highly adorable.

"I'm 100 percent serious. I'd rather have you follow me to work instead of leaving you alone in my apartment," Alan admits as he passes me some bedding items. "It's not that I don't trust you, but I'd rather not have you turn on the oven and die in a fire while I'm gone."

"I suppose that makes sense," I reply, frowning. "I need to examine the remains of my ship and start repairing the damage I caused to your business anyway. I apologize profusely, Alan, for blowing up your wall with my ray gun. It was a desperate time for me."

Alan grins and hands me a soft, fluffy cushion. "Don't worry about it, Luna," he responds. "Let's go get you set up for the night. I bet you're exhausted."

I gently take the cushion from him, but my eyes never leave him when he leads me back into the living room and begins fixing his couch into a proper resting area for me.

I wondered, again, how someone could radiate such kindness. Surely, destroying Alan's place of work on Tau would have called for swift punishment or even death. I still carried multiple scars all over my body for having committed lesser offenses. But the rules were so different here, and maybe that was a good thing.

I don't sleep much that night after the apartment is dark and Alan retreats to his room. Instead, I end up gazing at the white, bumpy ceiling above my head and begin to wonder if anybody on Tau so much wondered what had become of me and if they missed me.

It was a ridiculous thought because Tau didn't experience such emotions, and I'd only ever experienced pain and rejection on my home planet at their hands. But I find myself curling up on my side, quietly sobbing into my pillow deep into the night anyway, and mourning the loss of everything I had known and would ever know.

It had not occurred to me how broken I was inside.

Eventually, the pain becomes too much for me to bear alone, so I reach for my cushion and blanket and retreat down the hallway toward Alan's bedroom. His door is closed, naturally, so I reach up to knock softly, tears streaming down my face.

A loud creak and groan sounds from the other side, then footsteps pad across the room.

Alan opens the door, and his very large shadow falls over me. His broad chest is clad in a tight black shirt, and a look of surprise crosses his expression when he sees that it's me standing there. 

"Luna? What's the matter?"

I'm disgustingly swollen from crying so hard and somewhat snotty.

"I do not want to burden you with my presence," I whisper hoarsely. "But there is a pain deep inside my star that will not go away, and I don't know what to do anymore or who to turn to."

Alan stands there for a moment, and then he reaches out and gently touches the top of my head. I feel the weight of his fingers and hand guiding me into his arms, and then I am encircled by this warm, wonderful-smelling creature who had taken me in, not knowing a thing about who I was.

"You want to sleep in here tonight?" Alan asks me, "There's plenty of room for both of us."

I nod my head and squeeze my eyes closed. As odd as it seemed, I was no stranger to bunking and sleeping beside several noisy roommates early on in the days of my training.

Alan takes the pillow and blanket from my hands, and I follow him to his rumpled-up bed in the corner, not thinking much of it due to my pain and exhaustion. For some reason, I knew he wouldn't hurt me or take advantage of my weakened state, so I wasn't concerned about that.

I crawl onto the mattress and flop down almost as soon as I make contact with the soft, dark sheets. A second later, Alan drapes the blanket over my back and shoulders and tucks the cushion under my head.

"I do not know why you are so kind to me, Alan," I whisper, tears streaming down my cheeks when I close my eyes. "I have nothing to repay you with, and you don't even know who I am."

Alan sits down on the edge of the bed, the mattress creaking beneath his weight. "After Noah and I broke up, I made myself a promise that I'd never cause that kind of pain to someone. It messed me up for a few weeks, and I'm still not completely over it, if I'm going to be honest."

I open my eyes and watch him lay back on his side of the bed, his arm folding behind his head.

"I would imagine that it would be difficult to trust again after such a situation," I murmur groggily. "On my planet, it's rare to develop feelings for someone on such a level. It happens, but it's almost unheard of, and it takes a long time to establish a strong bond."

"Really?" Alan looks over at me without moving his head much. "So you've never...like...had an alien boyfriend or girlfriend or gone after someone who you really liked on Tau?"

I shake my head a little, my cheek pressed to my cushion.

"Wow," Alan says, and then he looks back up at the ceiling. "This is going to sound wild, but Noah was only the second guy I dated since high school. All my other ex-girlfriends were...uh, girls and not that serious. Also, you're really easy to talk to for some reason, you know that? It feels like I could spend hours trying to figure you out, like you're a map of the universe."

I don't respond when Alan tells me that.

Rather, I am deep asleep when he finally turns to look at me, one of my small hands resting on his elbow.