You had started to go see him every day now. He still looked incredibly scary, but you knew that he was only a sweet guy who got attached to you when you went to Easter Island with your family that one time. And now he had finally found you again.
Apparently he didn't eat, sleep, drink, or need to move. The only things remotely human-like about him was his odd warmth, his emotions, and his body. It was all sort of unsettling at first, but you got used to it. He let you hug his finger from time to time, like when you felt down. It helped. And he was happy to help. And he loved to help you. Because Stone.. was in love with you. And you were falling in love with him. You denied it, of course. Because who in their right mind could fall in love with a statue? Even if he was kind, compassionate, loving, caring, patient, understanding, and alive? No one else cared about that. They'd just see a human with a hunk of rock and say that it was wrong. They wouldn't give the "hunk of rock" a chance. They already showed that when they started trying to take the statues down but failed.
"Does it hurt when they shoot at you?"
He nodded. So now you knew that these guys could feel pain. Which made you sad because of all the people shooting at them when the only harm they were causing was ripping roofs off of buildings and crushing inanimate objects. They make sure not to hurt anything living. Well, they can't help the bugs they squash because they're so huge, but you get the picture. They try their hardest, but are still bombarded by people trying to stop them.
You weren't afraid of them anymore as Stone said that they were almost all like him in that they were kind. They still looked rather unsettling, but there wasn't anything you could do about that.
You eventually started to get even closer physically. You'd sit right beside him, he'd pick you up and let you sit on his shoulder, and he'd even hold you in his hands on colder days. You felt safe with him. Like if anyone were to harm you, he'd scare them off. Wouldn't necessarily hurt the person who harmed you, but he would make sure they didn't bother you again. It was nice having him on your side. But.. you had to think about what your parents would think. What your friends would think. What the community would think. Running away may be nice, but then you'd miss the other people you love. It wasn't a choice that would be easy. You knew one thing for certain, though: you hated keeping this friendship- relationship a secret. Telling people risked being cast away and judged, running away risked losing your loved ones. Either way, you may lose them. Telling them about who you were with and what you were doing couldn't.. hurt anyone.
