The next day, when he woke up he saw that Tina was still in the same position and on the phone. She looked up and saw he was awake, "Morning, I made you breakfast." she said motioning towards the plate of scrambled eggs beside him.
"Have you eaten?" he asked her.
She nodded, her eyes glued to the screen.
"Who is it?"
"Lara." she answered, tilting the screen so they could see each other.
He gave a wink and she turned the phone back to her immediately.
Lara let out a giggle and Tina told her to shut up. The two of them were on the phone for a long time. After a while, Tina got up to go to another room to talk instead. He sat there on his phone until she walked back in. They sat together on the couch before she put her phone down and turned to him.
"San." she mumbled.
"Hm?" he hummed.
"I was wondering..."
He finally put his phone down and looked at her, "Go on."
"If you wanna come with me to my parents house...?"
"Why do you wanna go there?"
"I left something super important. I need it."
He saw how serious she looked and nodded.
"But quickly."
She nodded.
He stood up and went to get changed into something suitable and went back downstairs to see Tina eager to go.
When they got there, he went with her as she rung the doorbell.
"Don't you have keys?"
"I left them here last time." she admitted.
Their conversation was interrupted when the door flew open and standing there, her expression wide with horror, was Tina's mother.
The fear that gripped Tina as the door opened was like nothing she'd ever felt before. It was crazy. Her heart beat faster, butterflies soaring inside her stomach. She gripped onto San as her mother eyes her with an expression she was more than used to. A look of disdain and disappointment.
"What do you want?" her mother's voice conveyed only fury.
"I-I need to grab something." She stuttered, but her mother had already moved onto San.
"And who is this? A random boy you've stuck yourself onto, desperate for love?" she taunted.
Tina's cheeks flushed as she shook her head, "N-no... he's just... a friend." she said.
"Well, you'll be glad to know everything you had is now gone. We emptied the room after you left."
Tina's eyes widened, "No," she breathed.
She pushed past the woman and ran to where her room was supposed to be. Her mother was right, it was empty.
"No." she repeated, as if saying it enough would make it untrue. "No, no, no... this can't be happening..."
San was beside her in seconds, his arms wrapped around her comfortingly. She felt grateful for the contact and sunk into him, the tears leaking out of her eyes. He didn't ask what it was, what it meant, he just held her, rubbing her back, and letting her let it all out.
She sniffled after a while, all drained out. She pulled away and stared around the room one last time.
"Oh well," her voice was croaky from crying so much, "There's nothing here, let's... go." she managed to say without breaking down again.
San simply followed her as she walked to his car, pushing past her mother none too politely. She got in and sat down, staring out the window, not wanting to speak.
They got back and she went straight up to the room and curled up on the bed. San followed her, sitting on the edge, drawing patterns on the covers. She didn't say anything, nor did he, but it felt nice that he was there, that he cared. After a while, he spoke up, gently, nothing to trigger her and make her start bawling again, she observed.
"Are you ok?" he began with.
She shook her head. "No." she said quietly.
"Well... tell me what's wrong then."
"I don't wanna." she mumbled.
"Please?" he tried.
She bit her lip and decided to give in. So she started telling.
"I was looking for this pocket watch, locket thing." she admitted.
San was delighted she was speaking to him but kept his cool so he could help her out. He edged closer, not asking any questions, just listening.
"It was my Grandmother's. My mum's mum. She told me that it was extremely important and that I was to look after it, and pass it on. And she told me that if I lost it, the tradition wouldn't be able to continue. And that I would disappoint them all. And I told myself I wouldn't but then... my mum must've..." she was crying again.
San pulled her up and held her again, his heart breaking to see her like this.
"Shhh, shhh it's gonna be alright." he hushed.
"But what if it isn't? What if I really am a disappointment?"
"You aren't." he soothed,
"You're just saying that."
"I'm not. I mean it Tina, you're not a disappointment. You're parents just said that, they didn't mean it. And even if they did, not everyone thinks you're a disappointment. I know Lara doesn't, I don't, all the boys in the school, the teachers. The list just goes on. Now if it's your mother's mother I'm sure she wouldn't have thrown it away. She would've kept it." he explained.
She nodded against his chest. "But where?"
"We'll have to find out. Tonight."
"How? We don't have the-"
He pulled out the keys and shook it so she knew it was there, she pulled away and held it.
"Where did you..."
"I picked it up on our way out. Figured we might need to go back." he felt proud of himself, proud that he was doing something to help Tina.
"Ok. But what if we don't find it?"
"We will Tina, I promise."
He had never broken a promise, he just hoped Tina knew that.
"Alright then." she let out a small smile.
"For now let's just get lunch."
She nodded and went down. They both cooked, working in the kitchen, knowing exactly what to do. They rarely exchanged any words.
After lunch, they sat on the sofa on their phones until late. He saw she was falling asleep so he nudged her.
"We need to stay awake." he reminded.
"Oh yeah." she said drowsily.
(A/N) I think it might be done this weekend or next.
-Aurora
