Miles

River smiled at Chris' excitement and pat the young boy gently on his head. "Just promise you'll listen to Tam and go to bed when you need to, okay?" She said with a soft giggle.

A small grin crossed her face at the mention of Sailor Moon. "We could watch that if you want to." She told her best friend. Pretty magical girls were a great distraction from the issues at hand. "And don't worry, Chris. We'll get her to play games with us."

In the back of her mind, River was worried about what would happen to Tam and Chris when lawyers did get involved. She wasn't familiar with getting help simply because she had just run away after what happened to her. Escaping to Crystal Waters was all she could do.

Getting the photography job had been helpful, too.

--

"You lose a fight there, Rocky?" She said, pointing to her own face to note the side of his face that had the black eye.

Kent grimaced, opening his mouth to give his usual yes to her, but the word never came out. He was so tired of being named the bad boy, the guy who got into fights daily just because he had bruises on his face. Putting up the mask was becoming far too exhausting.

"No," He finally said and refused to meet Tam's gaze. "Well, sort of, but...it's complicated." A shrug accompanied his words and the brunette suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Why was he being honest with this girl? He barely knew her.

With another shrug, he said, "I should...erm...I guess I'll get out of your hair. I got a few more miles to walk home." He chuckled.