yOOOOO GUESS WHO'S FINALLY SHOWING UP, TEN CHAPTERS LATE??
-

Bryce woke up that morning feeling happy. His two kittens, Charles and Bubbles, were both curled up by his side, purring contently. He sits up in bed, yawning and stretching as he looks around his room. It was empty and boring and a little lonely, just like it always was.

Little potted plants are sitting on the windowsill, all growing freakishly long. Bryce wished they wouldn't grow so fast, but it's not quite like he can help it. Why did his power have to be plants, of all things?

Bryce shrugs it off and gets up to go get ready for the day, showering and changing into a plain purple shirt. He walks out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom, smiling as he sees his kittens playing with something on the bed.

He reaches down to pet one, and then gasps at what he sees.

There was a bunny on the bed. Not the stuffed one Jonathan had given to him. No, no, this was a real bunny. A living, breathing, fluffy grey bunny, who was happily entertaining Bubbles and Charles by letting them play with his ears.

Bryce freezes in place, feeling a wave of fear wash over him. Where had the bunny come from? What was it doing here? What happened to the stuffed one?

The bunny looks up at Bryce, squeaks loudly, then pushes past the kittens and hops on over to the door, where it scratches at it lightly.

“What? You- you wanna go out?” Bryce speaks to the bunny, who seems to understand every word Bryce says. The bunny scratches at the door again in response, making Bryce panic and scoop him up.

“Okay, okay,” he whines. “Stop scratching the door, please? I'll get in trouble.”

The bunny stops the squeaking and instead calms itself in Bryce's arms. This is good, but he still has a minor issue at hand. How does he get the bunny outside without being noticed by any of the students or staff? It was no secret that students can't have pets in the dorms. It was also no secret that students tried their best to sneak them in. Sometimes they got away with it, sometimes they didn't.

Bryce was lucky that Bubbles and Charles had been tiny, tiny kittens when he found them. They had easily fit into the pockets of the hoodie Satt had given him for his birthday last year. A bunny, however, would not fit. Especially a full grown bunny like this one.

He looks around, before grinning as he spots his backpack. It was a bit of a hassle to fit the bunny in the small backpack, and he may or may not have left some homework in the hands of two sneaky kitties, but he was going to take this bunny back home one way or another.

So with the bunny safely in his backpack, Bryce begins his little journey off to wherever the bunny's home is.

-

The bunny and Bryce had both made it into the forest, and suddenly the bunny is kicking around in Bryce's bag. He quickly pulls out the bunny, afraid it was dying or something.

The bunny, on the contrary, is very much alive and determined to go somewhere. It sniffs at the air and leaps out of Bryce's arms, taking off into the forest.

And for a moment, Bryce is tempted to go after it. But something nearby gives a loud, sudden snap, and then Bryce hears the distinct sound of a tree falling down. It is closely followed by the sound of birds squawking, animals panicking, and the faintest sound of animals running off in every direction.

Bryce begins to worry for the bunny. Was it okay? He knows he shouldn't care so much for a some random bunny that he just met, but..

He's worried about a bunny. He's so worried that he takes off in the direction of the little guy, coming to a stop when he sees something rather odd.

The bunny is standing in front of a door, scratching at it and giving tiny, sad bunny noises. Bryce feels his heart melt a little at the sight. How was he supposed to help the bunny, though?

Bryce walks up to the door, stepping over a pile of vines and leaves that look like they were ripped off of the trees, and pushes at the door.

To his delight, it's unlocked.

He smiles happily as the little bunny hops on inside, and begins to wonder whether it was safe to leave the bunny in there by itself. He wishes he could pull some carrots or something out of the ground for the little guy, but Bryce has no idea how he would do that.

All Bryce knew how to do with his powers was make really funky looking trees, and make flowers grow freakishly fast. He had no idea how he was supposed to just whip some carrots or lettuce out of the earth.

So he sighs, smiles brightly at the bunny, and then begins to go after it. He might as well spend a little time with his new friend.

“Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing with my rabbit?!”

Bryce jumps at the sound of someone coming up behind him and quickly turns around, already throwing out any kind of explanation that he could think of.

“O- oh! Um, hey! I was just- just, oh, um, you know… You- you know, your bunny kinda showed up in my room this morning, and I couldn't hide any more animals in there, so, um, I kinda brought him over here? A- and then this tree fell over and then I got all worried about your bunny, who's a real cutie by the way, and um… yeah, that's how I'm here,” Bryce rambles awkwardly.

The other comes towards him, giving Bryce a better look at who it was. He was just barely taller than Bryce, and he looked to be a little older too if the stubble on his face said anything. The guy narrows his eyes at him and adjusts a bandanna covering his mouth. He looks Bryce over, before smirking.

“You look a little young to be walking around in the forest, don't you? How old are you?”

Bryce glares at the implications, and stomps on the ground as he crosses his arms. “Excuse you, I'm fifteen, an- and I'll be sixteen in April…. How old are you, huh? You- you look a little old to be hanging around a school,” he retorts.

“I'm seventeen, flower boy. I'm in my last year of school,” he hums. “Now may I have a name so I can call you something besides kid or flower boy?”

Bryce frowns. “I'm…. I'm, um… Bryce,” he mumbles nervously. Like a pile of bricks, it has just occurred to him that Bryce is in the middle of the woods speaking to a complete stranger. Was he supposed to be doing this? What if the bunny is just some elaborate trap? What if this stranger kills him out here and nobody ever finds him? Or what if this guy drags him down the weird door and into some torture chamber?

Bryce knew it was absurd, but he couldn't help himself. He couldn't help himself from worrying and panicking about something like this. He hadn't planned on meeting anyone here, he hadn't even planned on coming here in the first place!

“Hey, Brycey… why so scared all of a sudden, hm? Am I really that scary?” He pulls the bandanna down, flashing Bryce a grin with oddly sharp teeth.

Bryce tries to explain his fears and worries, but only succeeds in giving a small whine as tears form in his eyes.

“Oh, Bryce, come on. It's okay,” the other says softly, coming up and hugging Bryce softly. “You wanna pet my bunny again? Come on, let's go play with him.”

-

Bryce leans back against the wall, sighing quietly as he pets the rabbit who had settled inbetween Bryce and the other guy. In the few hours they had spent together, they had become rather comfortable with each other.

He thinks for a moment, before turning to the other curiously. “I never got your name, you know.”

“Ryan,” he says. “My name is Ryan, and this little guy here is Pepper.” Ryan looks at Bryce and chuckles softly. “You've got a flower crown growing on your head, Brycey. Did you know that?”

Bryce smiles and nods. “It happens a lot. Usually when I'm tired,” he laughs softly.

Ryan nods, then stands up. He holds a hand out to Bryce and grins. “Come on, Bryce. Let's get you back to your dorm. I'd ask you to help me lock the door on the way out, but someone tried to get in and left half the key in the lock," he laughs. "If only he tried actually pushing on the door!"

Bryce can't help but giggle at that. "It wasn't even locked."

"Yeah.... Kinda dumb on my part, don't you think?"

Bryce smiles slightly and nods. They walk back to the dorms together, going surprisingly unnoticed. It is when they get to Bryce's dorm that he realizes that he has absolutely no idea where Ryan lives, or if he even has a home.

Where did Ryan even come from, anyways? Did he just appear out of thin air? Is he some kind of tree-dweller? Is he even real, or is Bryce hallucinating?

He turns to Ryan to ask but instead is cut off by Ryan smiling awkwardly. “Do you mind if I stay for the night? I don't think I really have anywhere to go for tonight,” he explains. “Of course… you don't have to if you don't wanna. I'd understand.”

Despite Bryce knowing of the trouble he could get into from something like this, he smiles brightly at his new friend and opens the door for him. “Of course! It'll be like a sleepover!”

And so that night, Bryce's room didn't feel all that empty or boring anymore, and it was far from lonely.