The Only Exception

Part #6

I wake up and I hear whispering in the bathroom. Must be Mitzi whispering to herself. I hear the door unlock so I pretend to be asleep. Two pairs of footsteps walk to the middle of the room. I hear one of the two sniffle and realize someone's crying. They both continue whispering and then silence. I hear shuffling toward the bed, and I start to panic. Then I feel someone sit next to me. Whoever it is they're very light so I don't think it's Mitzi. The hand from this mystery person very gently pushes a hair away from my eye and makes a weird sound. "It's going to be okay Nai, I'm sure he's not even mad anymore." Mitzi whispers and walks over to the bed as well. As soon as I hear his name I jolt up in excitement. Mitzi drops a plate she was carrying and Nai runs out the door. Mitzi runs after him and so do I. We get down a couple stairs when Nai hoists himself onto the railing and jumps down. Mitzi and I frantically look over the railing only to see him land on his feet and dash into his room. Mitzi turns to me and before I can react, smacks me across my face. She also jumps and motions for me to follow. I jump but land on my back. I hiss in pain and follow her to Nai's room door. She knocks and waits for an answer. When none comes she gingerly opens the door and walks in. I walk in after and see Nai on his bed curled up with his face in a pillow. Mitzi is the first to rush over to him but I follow just as fast. "Nai get your face out of the pillow you can't breathe properly like that." She pokes his cheek and he swats her hand away. We both sit down on either side of him and try to persuade him to remove his face from the pillow. When this doesn't work I come up with a plan. I tell Mitzi to go get some food from the fridge in the attic room and she quickly starts heading there. I scoop up Nai in my arms and start tickling him. After a while he's laughing so hard he lets go of the pillow and between gasps and giggles begs me to stop. I smile at this and boop his nose. He half smiles and I know he's still upset. "I'm sorry I got mad and yelled at you. I didn't mean it." I apologize and he looks up at me. "I'm sorry as well. You were right it is my fault we're trapped here." He looks down at his hands and sniffs. I pull him closer to me and in a tone that's barely audible whisper, "No it's not." Nai hides his face in the crook of my neck and wraps his arms around me as well. Then a small girl walks out from the bathroom and screams. Nai kisses my cheek and walks over to the small girl and picks her up. "This is a little girl I rescued from the dungeon early this morning, her names Bridget." I wave to her and she hides her face with her hands. Nai smiles and sits back in my lap. I can tell he wants to keep her and it could be fun taking care of a child after we get out of here. Bridget falls asleep on Nai and before he can fall asleep on me I kiss his forehead. "I love you." Then I get an unexpected response. "I love you too."