"No- James!"
James was terrified. He had been discovered, and by non-other than his best friend.
"James, I won't hurt you! Come out!"
James was squeezed between the stubby leg of his bed and corner of the room.
"I just want to talk! I'm sorry!"
James covered his ears, but Kyle still sounded like he was shouting into them.
"Please..." Kyle finally lowered his voice, "I didn't mean to scare you..."
James did his best to ignore the now gigantic Kyle, which wasn't easy as Kyle continued to talk to him, saying that he won't tell anyone and trying to convince him to come out, but James didn't respond to any of this, and eventually Kyle left.
James couldn't sleep that night, he was too terrified. But he was also exhausted and so as the sun rose he fell asleep, only waking up at sunset. As soon as he could, James grew and began packing up in a hurry. He might still have a chance to escape. But as he run around the house gathering the things he'd need he heard a familiar knock on the door. It was Kyle.
James froze in place, hoping that Kyle would just go away, but Kyle persisted.
"James I know you're there, and in your, uh, big form."
No you don't know that, go away!
"Please let me in, I just want to talk!"
James wanted to believe that, but he couldn't.
"I didn't tell anyone and you know that! So let me in!"
James thought for a moment and realized that Kyle was right. If Kyle would have reported him he would have been gone by now. Kyle kept his mouth shut, just as he promised to yesterday.
Hesitantly James opened the door. James and Kyle were roughly the same height, but James couldn't help but feel as though Kyle was towering over him. He looked down and saw Kyle's shoes, the same shoes he wore yesterday, vibrant red with streaks of yellow. It suddenly struck James just how much of a difference in appearance could be caused by sheer scale. He wondered how he looked like to Kyle yesterday under the bed...
James shook off the weird feeling and stepped aside, letting Kyle in.
They sat in awkward silence in the living room for a few moments before Kyle spoke up.
"I'm... sorry. For yesterday. For all of it." James didn't know what to say, and Kyle continued. "I... I suspected for a while that you were a shifter, but I wanted to know, and..."
"You knew?" James spoke up for the first time since yesterday's events. "How long did you know?"
"A couple of months? A year? There wasn't a point at which I realized, it was more of a slow buildup."
James looked down. He tried not to see Kyle. The emotions within him bubbled as he processed Kyle's answer, and he felt a strange mix of embarrassment, relief, and anxiety.
"I shouldn't have scared you like that, it was dumb. I'm sorry." Kyle looked away. "I just had to know for sure, and I needed to prove it to myself and... I didn't think about you..." Kyle chuckled awkwardly at the irony of this, but then looked at James with concern. "I hope we can still be friends?"
James stared at Kyle for a moment. "You still want to be my friend?"
Kyle was taken aback by the question. "Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?"
"You want to be friends with a shifter?" James asked carefully, as to not let his hope show in his voice.
"Do you even listen to me?" Kyle paused for a moment, but continued before James could answer, "I don't hate tinies and shifters. I think that it's horrible what we do to them, to you! I hate the way humanity treats you! And I can't stand how indifferent most people are to that!"
James had never heard Kyle raise his voice with such anger before. Any doubt that he had about Kyle's true stance on the matter disappeared immediately.
"Sorry," Kyle saw the shock on James's face, "I didn't mean to shout, I'm just... uugh! I hate that you can't even trust me, and I hate that you have good reasons for that!" Kyle tried to keep calm despite his frustration.
"It's okay, I trust you," James spoke sincerely, "and I'd be happy to continue to be your friend."
"Do you really mean it, or are you just trying to calm me down?" It was a pointless question to ask, Kyle knew that in either case James would claim sincerity.
"Both," smiled James. He was happy. He wouldn't have to hide his secret from his best friend anymore and it was a huge weight off his shoulders.
