It was early in the morning when you woke up. You did what you were supposed to do before heading downstairs. Aunt May was busy scrolling through her phone when you showed up at the kitchen. "Hey, May." 

"Good, morning, Y/N. How was work yesterday? I'm so sorry I was already asleep when you came back because I was-"

"It's fine." You cut off before she could ramble. "Uh, it was an adventure," you smiled carefully.

"I'm glad you're having fun." She smiled back. "Now, hurry up and eat. You're going to be late."

You quickly swept through your meal and on cue, your bus arrived. You immediately seated besides the three, who were talking with one another. Actually, Sashi and Boone were talking while Penn was trying his best not to fall asleep.

"Good morning," you greeted with a smile. 

"Good morning," Sashi and Boone said in unison, Penn lagged behind with a slurred voice.

You chuckled a bit. "Well that was creepy-sounding." You looked at Penn beside you who was nodding off every now and then. "What happened?" 

"I don't know." Sashi shrugged. "Seems that he didn't get enough sleep."

Your brows furrowed in concerned. What could be the reason as to why Penn stayed up so late?

"Don't worry, Y/N. Penn does this every once in a while. He really likes to overthink at night. I know him." Boone explained while you nodded, deciding to believe him. Well, I guess there's also another thing you and Penn have in common; it's overthinking, mostly at night.

"If you don't mind me asking," You said, still looking at the poor ginger, who had his head almost leaning against your shoulder. "What does he over-thinks about?"

"Uh..." Boone trailed off, obviously knowing what it is, but he doesn't know if he could say it to you. He looked at Sashi for help and you got the message.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Sashi said, crossing her arms, but she didn't look annoyed. However, it still didn't ease you. You already felt Penn's temple on your collarbone, but you let him, because he needed some sleep. School was still halfway there. "Uhm, obviously it's not our secret to tell so you should ask it from Penn, but if you really want to know, I think he often thinks about his parents. That's all we're going to tell you."

The atmosphere went quiet. You looked down at your lap and Sashi and Boone started another conversation to move on. You looked out the window and frowned. 

Another thing you and Penn have in common; your parents. 

After a few more minutes, the bus halted. You saw Sash and Boone already standing up with their things. You hesitated asking help to wake Penn up because you just realized that he was sleeping on your shoulder so peacefully. You were trying your best to keep the blush from forming on your cheeks before slightly shaking your shoulders. 

"Penn," you called in a gentle tone. "Wake up." 

He dragged out the words, "Five more minutes," before getting more comfortable. Your face heated up even more. Sashi and Boone had already left because they figured that you could handle this all by yourself. 

They were wrong. 

"We're already here," you said, increasing the volume of your voice, but you still kept it gentle. "We're going to be late."

He slowly opened his eyes and saw the interior of the bus. He realized that his head was laying on something before sat up straighter. He stretched his arms up so you took this chance to stand up and shouldered your backpack. 

You met Penn's eyes and he jumped, leaning back into his seat. "Y/N?!" He exclaimed, his face almost looking like the color of his hair. He realized that he fell asleep this whole time. "I-I'm so sorry I-"

"I understand, Penn." You beamed. "Let's go, we're going to be late for first period!"

You walked beside Penn, who was still frowning on the floor. You found it kind of amusing that he was still thinking about him falling asleep on his shoulder. It wasn't a big deal, but you understood where he was coming from. If you were in his shoes, your face would've bloomed into a wonderful rosy color and think about this the whole day, like what Penn was doing.

You placed a hand on his shoulder. "Penn, don't think about it. You didn't get enough sleep, I get it." He was still unsure. "Okay then, you owe me one. You will do one thing I ask you. Does that sounds good?"

Eventually Penn nodded. "Yeah. Sounds good. Thanks, Y/N."

///

Today was actually one of those days when there is no work. Once a week, the heroes and villains have a day off. That was both weird and relieving, because you don't think you could handle doing almost the same thing every single day. 

It was also the day when your chemistry teacher decided to have a quiz on the following day, now you found yourself and Penn (who has the same class as you) studying in the library. It was a short quiz, considering that school had only started a week ago, so studying was difficult but surprisingly quick. 

"This sucks," Penn said. You nodded in agreement. He continued, "At least I have a genius for study partner." His gaze flicked into you with a smile. 

"If you're talking about yourself, then I wholeheartedly agree." You countered. 

"Come on, Y/N. Give yourself some credit. I wouldn't have understood some terms if it weren't for your huge brain."

"Shut up, Zero."

Penn laughed shortly, and you could tell he wanted to say something. "What is it?" You asked.

"Um, I owe you one, right? What do you want me to do?"

You paused for a bit, "Do you... do you trust me?" You started slowly. 

His eyes slightly widened, and looked at you as if you asked an absurd question. He looked mildly offended, but you can tell that he was trying not to show it. "Of course, I do. Why-why do you think I won't?"

"Okay, that's good to hear." You smiled a bit. "I just have a question I wanted to ask you." He nodded for you to continue. You didn't want to just straight-up tell him about his parents, so you told him slow. "Be honest. Why didn't you get enough sleep last night?"

Penn was thinking about something. Should he tell you about it? You might think it's embarrassing for him to still be thinking about his parents gone. But when he saw your kind and reassuring smile, it pushed him to tell you. "Uh, at night... I think about my parents a lot. They were gone to... someplace far from here. I don't even know if they're still out the somewhere. I just wonder if they miss me or if they wanted to come back."

Tears threatened to escape from your eyes, but you kept yourself from crying. "I'm so sorry, Penn." He gave you a shaky smile. "Uh..." you trailed off before chuckling the same. "I guess we have more things in common than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

"My parents died." You blurted out before pursing your lips. It's been so long but you still can't help but shudder at the memory of a police officer knocking on your aunt's door in the middle of the night. "It was raining, and they went for a drive." The officer had wore a deep frown on his face back then. You didn't understand the word 'condolences' until 'dead' and your parents' name had left his mouth.

You had worn black.

When you had realized that they were never going back, you had cried until your throat and mouth was dry. It was so traumatizing for a child to go through years without their loving parents. Though, you had May and she took care of you every single day, you still missed the feeling. It was nothing like the care from your parents, but as days go by, it's healing. Just slowly.

"I'm sorry." Penn had the hint. 

You sniffled a bit. "Well, lucky for you that you might still find your parents, but mine... I don't think they are ever going back."

He didn't want to reply to that. It was true that there's difference of what happened, but the both of you have no mom and dad at the moment. You are both alike. "It's okay missing them, you know?" Penn started, scooting closer to give some kind of comfort. "I always miss them, but I know they want me to keep moving forward."

You nodded, trying to sympathize with Penn. It must've been hard, clinging onto the hope that your parents might still be alive. If your mom and dad are still there, then what's taking them so long to return? Why aren't they back yet? These thoughts might've been inside of his mind for years now.

You grabbed his hand instinctively. Penn immediately squeezed back in return, heat rising to his face. "Thank you, Penn," you said, feeling his warm hand. "You're the only one who understands."

"Likewise," he replied, slightly giddy at the thought of holding your hand right now. He smiled widely. "Thank you for listening."

"Yeah, it was a rough subject." You started packing up your things as it was already past four. Penn began to tidy up as well, dejectedly letting go of your hand. It was cold again. 

He chuckled at your remark. "But we'll get through it. Together."

You smiled back at him. "Together." Just as you went to get the orange notebook for Penn, he went to grab it himself, making your hands touch. You looked down at it in a silly manner, thinking it was so chill and most probably be seen in a romance movie. Then your eyes widened as your face slightly turned red. You glanced at Penn's face and he was blushing as well. You quickly retreated your hand and let him pull back the notebook and put it inside his bag. 

When the two of you walked outside the school grounds, you saw Boone and Sashi waiting. You watched as Penn went in line with the two of them. "Y/N?" He turned to you. "Aren't you coming?" His blue eyes were hopeful. You would've wanted to but you needed to buy a pastry for May because you want her to go to the bakery herself next time. You just need to have evidence that said bakery makes good pastries.

"Not today, sorry. I'm going to the bakery and get my aunt some cakes."

"Okay." The three went their ways while you walked the opposite. The trip to the bakery was peaceful as you watched the neighborhood doing their own business. When you walked inside the bakery, it immediately greeted you with the familiar tasty scent. 

"Y/N!" The French owner greeted with a kind and gentle tone.

"Tom, hi! What d'you got for me today? I wanted to wow my aunt and convince her to buy from this place. I just don't know what to pick because everything's delicious! Any suggestions?"

He smiled. "Well, my wife just baked this appetizing red velvet cake! You should take a piece, it's on the house too!" 

"Really? I don't want to-"

"I insist! You're one of my favorite customers, y'know?" 

You blushed, reluctantly taking the plastic container from Tom. You discreetly placed the right amount on the tip jar, so you actually did pay. "Thank you so much!" 

"You're welcome."

As you began to head to the exit, a girl about your age stepped inside. Her eyes widened when she saw you. "Hi!"

You paused, haven't seen this girl your whole life, but you didn't want to be rude. "Hello." You smiled a bit.

"You're the new girl at our school, right?" You nodded. You must've seen her before but you sucked so much in the area of socializing so you haven't really talked to other students in your class except for when you need to borrow materials. The girl in front of you stretched her palm towards you. "I almost forgot to introduce myself, but I'm Hana. I'm in your art and Chemistry class."

Your eyes widened slightly. You remembered her. She always wears a scarf in art, and in Chemistry she's sometimes asleep, but when the teacher calls her, she already knows the answer. At lunch, you'd sometimes see her by herself, laughing at memes you've already seen.

In all those times you've seen her, you concluded that she's smart, she's nice, and creative. She's full of energy from the sparkles you see in her eyes right now. 

"I'm Y/N." You took her hand and shook it. 

"Okay, Y/N. Wait here. I'm gonna buy bagels real quick and let's walk home together."

You nodded. You stood by the side and watched her smile at Sabine this time, Tom's wife. She crouched down and tonged the bagel and put it inside the paper bag. They seemed to talk for a bit even after Hana already paid for the food so it seemed that she's friends with the family here. 

When she turned around, she beamed at you, silently thanking you for waiting for her. Her smile was contagious so you found yourself smiling as well. The two of you began to walk to the same street. 

"How did you know I live on this street?" You asked her.

Hana swallowed down the bite of bagel. "Oh, at this time, your aunt hangs out with my mom at your house. One time, I went inside and saw your pictures there. May said you're not always at home after school."

"Did she tell you why?" You said, trying to stop your voice from cracking. If May had told her, you would be doomed. You stared at her trying to think about the conversation.

"Uh, I think she said that you were always out because of community services? She said you're a really kind person."

You disguised the sigh of relief by looking at the other side. "Okay."

"Well, she's not wrong. You really are a kind person." Hana smiled at you. "I hardly ever know you, but from an outsider's view, people could see you as a nice girl."

You smiled back. "I feel like we'd be very good friends, Hana."

"I know, right?!" Hana exclaimed. "I've been thinking about that from the start of the school year! I think we're actually the same people. You love art, I love art... We're both smart, and we both love going to that bakery!" 

You laughed at her. "I suppose you're right. Except for the smart though."

"Oh, don't cut yourself short, Y/N. I've seen you do those sick equations on the board. I would be clapping for you if it wouldn't be me going to detention." 

You laughed some more. You really think you and Hana are going to be best of friends.

When you entered home, you saw May and Hana's mom having coffee while also having the time of their lives. "May?" You spoke, feeling bad for cutting off their laughter, but it looked like they were going on for some time now. 

"Oh, Y/N!"May looked surprised when she saw you in the doorway. "I thought you were at work!"

Before you could speak, Hana's mom stood up. "I gotta go now. It's been fun, May! See you tomorrow!" She pushed Hana outside after the two of you exchanged smiles. 

The door closed so you took off your shoes and bag. "I don't have work once a week, and Phil picked today."

"Noted."

"I see you're having fun." You gave May a grin.

She chuckled in return. "Well, you're not exactly here for me to hang out with."

"Fair." You nodded. Before you could completely retreat upstairs to your room, you shot May a stern look. "May, please don't tell anyone about my work. It's a secret. Okay, thank you." You sang.

edited