Carl & Perie. A short story from UNIVERSE X STUDIOS

Chapter four: The second meeting

When they got home Carl quickly went to his room and put on his day clothes. Thankfully the thoughts about his father were fading away as he thought about seeing Perie again. He really wanted to show her the drawing, as it was his first drawing for anyone! He finishes putting on his boots and then heads downstairs. "I'm going to the forest again mum! I'll be back later!" Carl says as he opens the door. His mother then speaks up saying, "Wait dear! It looks like it might rain!" But before she can finish that sentence Carl has already shut the door, running off to the forest.

Carl happily walks down the dirt road, notebook in hand as he approaches the entrance to the forest. He walks down the overgrown path again, brushing past the bushes and branches, and making it back to the open clearing again. He walks up to the big rock, getting on top of it and waiting for her. He holds his notebook tightly, feeling almost giddy. After a while, seeing that she still wasn't here, he decided to call for her. "Perie!!" He yelled out into the forest, as loud as he could.

There was a moment of silence, as his yell seemed to have made the whole forest quiet. He looks around, and then turns behind him to look in that direction. Instead however he meets eye to eye with Perie, who was standing silently behind him to surprise him. "Hello!" She exclaims. Carl jumps from the sudden scare, but then starts to laugh it off.

"Perie you made me jump!" He exclaims back. Perie laughs with him, finding his jump very hilarious. "You don't say!" She says to him. Carl sits up and adjusts his clothes. He then looks to Perie with an excited look. Peries ears perk up as she notices his look. "What's with that look, Davinci?" She asks him in a sly tone. Carl can't help but smile even more as he brings out his notebook.

"I uh, drew something for you! I was at the store with my mother and I thought about how similar we are in our likings!" he said to her, "We both like nature. Well, you must love it more than me. You live out here right?" He asked enthusiastically. That question seemed to make Perie falter for a moment, almost hurting her. She shakes it off with a slight chuckle. "Y-yeah. I do like nature obviously, hehe.."

"Well, after I realized that I wanted to make a gift for you so... I tried to draw you as a gift!" Carl then hands the book to her, showing her the drawing he made for her. Perie takes it in her paws and looks at it. Her eyes then lose her playfulness and sly. She looks at it, genuinely touched. She feels that feeling again. That new feeling. "Do you like it?" Carl asks, noticing her slightly disconnected face.

Perie then looks up at him when he speaks, acting like she can't find her personality at the moment. "Uh.. I... I love it." She says as she looks back down at it.

Carl becomes a little worried about how she's acting, so he scoots closer and asks, "Are you okay?" She looks back up to him, that feeling intensifying. She doesn't know how to answer him. She wants to hide her feelings but they're too strong for her to keep down, and yet she doesn't know what to say.

Carl leans slightly closer, asking her in a comforting voice, "Is there something wrong?" That question echoes in her head, and she starts to think about her life again. There is something wrong, but she can't understand it. She feels trapped but she doesn't know how to fix it. Then Perie realizes another thing. Carl asked her if she was okay. If there was something wrong. She sees that he genuinely cares for her, genuinely loves her. This pushes her to ask him, "W-Why do you care about me?"

Carls face becomes soft as she asks this. He can't understand why she would ask that. "Because we both love nature, and you're nice to talk to. You're my friend." At this Peries ears perk up, and she looks deeply at him, her face showing vulnerability. Probably more than it's ever shown in her life. No one has ever called her "their friend" genuinely. She had always had to manipulate them, but she didn't manipulate Carl. He was completely unmoved by her tactics, but despite that he calls her his friend.

She feels that feeling intense and she understands now that, that feeling is what she's been missing. She feels happy. Really happy. Happy, because she now has a true friend.

Her eyes start to form little tears, and she quickly embraces Carl, wrapping her arms around him tightly, shoving her head onto his shoulder. Carl gasps slightly as she grabs him, and he just sits there as he waits for her to say anything else. The only thing that comes out are quick breaths followed by tears.

At hearing this, Carl wraps his arms around her, comforting her. His heart starts to hurt for her. He wants to ask what's wrong, but he knows she can't speak right now, so he continues to hold her and let her have her moment. Perie continues to cry on his shoulder for a while, gripping him like he's her family possession. Her only family possession.

As the minutes go by, she starts to calm down, not crying as much anymore. At one point, Carl gently lifts her off him for a second to look at her face. Her eyes are wide and wet, and her mouth is a shaky frown. She sniffs a bit as she starts to become embarrassed by how she must look. She tries to look away but Carl keeps her looking at him. "Perie. What is this about?..." He asks her softly and worried.

Perie wipes her face with her paw and looks down for a moment. She then starts to speak softly, looking back up at him, "I...I've never h-had, a friend. I never had anybody.. I'm-I'm not a good person. I've taken advantage of others. I-I tried to take advantage of you! But, you were n-nice to me. I didn't know what it was like t-to have a real friend."

Carl looks at Perie sympathetically, feeling nothing but sorrow for her. Perie looks at him, and her eyes start to bubble with tears again. "Thank you." She says as her breath hitches and she clings onto him again. Carl holds onto her tightly, now understanding her troubles. Understanding how lonely she must've been.

Carl continues to sit there, comforting her. They both feel as if the moment would never end... but then Carl felt a raindrop, and then Perie does too. They both look up and see dark clouds coming in from the hills. More raindrops start coming down, slowly intensifying. "Oh, W-we're going to get wet." Perie says, wiping her face again. Carl nods at first, but then gets an idea. "Wait!" he exclaims, "I could take you to my families home!" Perie seems to become surprised by the offer, but she really has no other choice. "Uh, okay. Sure. Let's do that." She tells him, a small smile forming on her face as her tears stop falling. Carl starts to smile as well.