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"Uh, no," said Jared "Sorry"

"Stop bothering ain "If I do Can I have four glasses of lemonade?"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Because if you drank four glasses of lemonade, you would explode," Kami said "Dad would coest born?’ and I could only point to the floor, where all that remained of you would be a pool of lelass of le for the kitchen at top speed

Kahed "The current theory is that he is a lemonade vampire C’mon"

"Nice to meet you," Jared said aardly to Ten, ent red and es of his book

"He likes you," Kami commented

"Oh yeah," said Jared "I could tell"

"He once hid under the sofa fro fine" She opened the door to the kitchen, and once s for the first tiht of thee in places, the swags of dried herbs swinging over the ooden counter, the round table and the fat green sofa strategically placed in the square of sunlight that ca what appeared to be a ers said Toht as a brush and he had cheekbones that could cut glass, while Tomo had a black silky cap of hair with a face as round as a dish They looked nothing alike, except that they both looked Japanese Ten did not look even slightly Japanese, and Kami was the only one who looked like a mix of both, like she wouldn’t quite fit in on either side of her fah cupboard open The le it in the fridge had resulted in finding To an empty bottle, one too many times

"Here," Jared lanced around and saw the way he’d leaned, angled so his body would not brush hers "Thanks," she lasses

"You are a tall person!" Toet that scar on your face?"

"Tomo!" Kami said

"Broken bottle," Jared told him curtly

"I’lass of lemonade

Kami, it’s fine, said Jared He looked especially tall in her kitchen, big and edgy and out of place here as he had not been in the woods "I thought I made all of this up," said Jared, very quietly

Kas people had said to hi a fantasy life to compensate for the situation at home, not able to deal with reality, soines a hoht I made you up," Jared continued, still so quietly

"Well," Kami said "You didn’t Want so uneasily as Kami went and sat on the sofa with her leest detour through the woods ever made, but because of the talk with the others in the office, having to drag into the light the thing she had been trying not to say The thing she had not wanted to even think of: So to kill her

Kami was deter to be fine But for now she was tired, and all she could do was sit, stare out the , and feel cold and scared

"You don’t have to be scared," Jared said, leaning against the sofa behind her His breath stirred her hair "I believed you"

"Yes," Ka the truth" She had not even looked at Jared while she was absorbing the reactions of everyone else at headquarters She had not had to: your own heart did not betray you Jared could be counted on, always But he hadn’t been real before It was different now

Yes, said Jared

"It’s not one-sided," he added abruptly

Kami kept her eyes locked on the"What do you mean?" she asked, and her voice trembled

He said, "I’m always on your side too"

Kami leaned back, just a little, and let the back of her head rest against his collarbone He did not flinch away, though she heard his breath catch and thought that he maybe wanted to He was solid, real, in her hoht She felt the warainst her hair

"Yes," Kami murmured "I know"

He pulled away as soon as she spoke Kami twisted around on the sofa and looked at him She was reain how out of place he seeh as it had been when they firstI can do to make you happy?"