Learning to Be Happy Again

Chapter Three: Thank You So Much

There was a problem. As soon as I hopped out of the window, I realized I had no idea where Elwin lived.

So, being the genius I am, I decide to just light leap to Foxfire. It's not that late and Elwin might still be there.

"Hey, wait up," Ro calls as she thumps to the ground, landing on her feet. She grabs my hand and we leap to Foxfire.

Elwin is just walking out of the building when we get there, so I run towards him.

"Keefe? What are you doing here? Did you have more problems?"

"Um, well. Can I just stay at your place tonight?" I can't talk about it right now.

"His dad--" Ro starts, but I glare at her, so she stops, glaring back.

"Um. Okay, but you have to tell me what's going on when we get to my place, okay?" I feel that worry again, and smile despite the situation.

"Yeah, I will."

"Good, now come here."

So I do, and we leap to Elwin's house.

It's a lot smaller than I expected, only about three stories high.

Elwin seems to notice my confused expression because he says, "Oh, Huz and I didn't want a big place. So much unnecessary space. There's still too much of it, but oh well."

"Who's Huz?" I realize now that so much of Elwin's life is unknown to me, and I'm bound to learn a whole lot of new things.

"Oh, he's my husband," Elwin answered, smiling slightly. Husband? That's new. I mean, I'd heard of two elves of the same gender in relationships, but never seen it before. "He runs a community center for kids who need people to talk to. Kids with bad parent situations, problems at school, issues with friends, really anything."

Okay, that's cool. I didn't know that kind of thing existed. Sophie probably needs it for all the stress she puts herself through," I say, knowing full well that Elwin meant me to talk to Huz.

Elwin sighs, and opens the door and my eyes widen. The front room is the coziest that I've ever seen for its kind. Candleshade was, well, Candleshade (as cold as its former occupants). Everglen was fancy because of Alden's status. The closest I could think to comfort level was Rimeshire or Havenfield, but this was more. I immediately felt safe among the brightly colored couches and large beanbags that surrounded the room.

Elwin smiles. "You like it?"

I nod. "It's wonderful." Past this room is a kitchen lined with pale green tiles. If I thought the first room made me want to live here forever, the kitchen definitely did. Something told me that a lot of cooking and baking happened in that room. Good cooking and baking.

I look at Elwin. "Thank you so much."

"Of course, kiddo. Now will you tell me why you came to me?"

"Um, yeah." I walk over to a beanbag and slump into it. "It was my dad. He didn't give me the welcome home you'd expect after being in a coma for a few months."

Elwin plops on the beanbag next to me. "I'm so sorry, Keefe. Do you want to talk about it more?"

I shrug. "I mean, I should right?"

"Only if you're comfortable with telling me." And I feel like I should, but also don't want to. If I don't tell him, he won't know just how done I am and send me back tomorrow morning. But if I tell him, well. I don't want to be a burden.

"It was just really bad. I might tell you later, but. I don't know. It's kinda too fresh right now, you know?" My sign comes out shuddered.

"Oh, Keefe. I'm always here if you want to talk about it more, okay?" There's that same feeling of worry again.

"You don't have to be so worried all the time you know, I'm fine." I regret the sentence as soon as I say it.

But Elwin seems unfazed. "Fine hardly ever means good, Keefe."

And there I blanch. The room is silent for a few moments and then there's a knock at the door. Elwin's face immediately lights up.

The door opens, and a tall man with shoulder length dreadlocks dyed orange at the tips comes in. His blue-purple eyes are extra bright against his dark skin. He does a double take when he sees me. I wave awkwardly.

"Elwin, who's this?"

Elwin gets up and walks over to the man, Huz I assume. "This is Keefe. His home situation isn't good, so he came to me. He wanted to stay here, so I brought him here about fifteen minutes ago." And then he whispers something I can't really make out. Something about talking later. Elwin looks at me. "Keefe, this is Huz." He looks at Huz. "And that's Keefe Sencen and his bodyguard, Ro."

I cringe at the last name. Am I turning into Tam?

"I see I haven't been forgotten then," Ro says, not unkindly, but with a little edge to it.

"A Sencen, huh." Huz looks at me with an expression that I think is understanding, but ignoring Ro's comment.

And then I get cocky. "Not if I can help it."

Huz chuckles, again with a knowing element to it. The green understanding surrounds him like a bubble. It must be because of the kids he works with. "Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want."

"Thank you." I smile.

"Now. Let's show you your room, yeah Keefe?" Elwin starts walking towards a staircase that I hadn't even noticed in my awe of the living room.

I follow him up the stairs which is a purplish crystal. Huz follows behind me and Ro takes up the rear.

Elwin points at a room to the right when we finish ascending the stairs. "This is our room, so if you need us for whatever reason, that's probably where we'll be."

With the quick glance that I catch, the room looks big, but not as big as most bedrooms.

The tour continues on though, so I don't catch much else.

Elwin points to the left. "This is the bathroom on this floor. It'll be yours, since there's one in our bedroom."

I nod.

After a little while, he points to the right again. "And this can be your bedroom."

I look inside and am immediately happy. The bed is huge, with a super fluffy comforter and so many pillows. But the thing that makes my smile widen is the desk. It's a big table, enough room for a whole lot of art supplies. The walls are a pale blue, and there's a huge window at the far end looking out over a big forest. A really great thing to paint, I think.

"Well, you're probably tired, Keefe. We'll leave you here to settle in, is that alright?" Elwin breaks my thoughts.

"Oh, yeah. I'll be fine. Thank you so much Elwin. And you too, Huz."

They both smile.

"Of course, Keefe." Elwin smiles.

"Well goodnight," I say.

Elwin hugs me. "Goodnight Keefe." He looks at Ro. "Oh! Did you want a room to, Ro?"

"Naw, I don't need sleep." Ro says, even though I know for a fact she does. We did a dare to see who could stay awake the longest a while back. She won, but when I woke up the next day, she was sitting with her face in her knees, snoring.

"Oh, she does need sleep, she'll take a room," I say, smirking. Ro glares at me, but follows Elwin and Huz out when they nod and beckon her.

I get ready for bed, turn off the lights, and crawl into bed.

Which means, of course, that all of the memories of this evening come rushing back, so I turn the lights back on and go to the desk.

I fall asleep drawing a picture of me with Elwin and Huz, all of us smiling.