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Chapter 13

Double-Check Your Phone

My eyes opened to darkness again. I groaned; the alarm hadn't gone off yet. Great. Wondering if it was even worth closing my eyes again I grabbed my phone to light up the time.

5:55 AM

I stared for a moment, and then suddenly bolted up in the bed, still staring at the phone.

"What!? NO! How…!?" I was freaking out! The alarm never went off! I quickly went to the settings only to find it was never set. Cursing to myself, I threw it to the bed and started flying across the room, gathering my clothes and bolting for the bathroom.

The sun was up by the time I ran out the back door. I wanted to be thrilled that I was ready in only a few minutes, but there was no room to be proud today. I had promised not to be late. Each step was shaky but I kept moving forward, head low with my lip between my teeth. There were definitely tears of shame threatening to well, but I grit my teeth and held them back. I stopped a few meters back, noticing that he hadn't turned to greet me as he usually did. Instead I stood there, cursing my phone and cursing my body for not waking just 5 minutes sooner…

"How disappointing," his voice cut through the cool air like a knife. I clenched my fists as my breaths started to shudder. "I recall being told that you would never be late," he stressed as he turned toward me.

After taking a short breath I stuttered out my apology, "I am so, so sorry! I thought I set my alarm…" I grimaced after hearing how pathetic that sounded. Over a month of being not only on time but even early I assumed setting the alarm was habit now. I wanted to fall to my knees and bargain over my tardiness, but I both knew better and would never let myself stoop that low.

Instead I swallowed my shame and braced myself. There were too many options for me to even guess what was coming. I feared being hurt but I feared being shamed. I saw him step forward and my eyes started to trail down to avoid seeing that look of disappointment on his face.

"Eyes up. I will not tolerate such disrespect." The sharp tone forced me to straighten and my eyes snapped up to his. My knees went weak from that look but not for the usual reason. He was not taking any delight in this and his eyes weren't gleaming with any devious intent. This was pure, unadulterated offense. Outright insulted. "For all that I have taught you I would never have expected such delinquency in return. Does my training no longer interest you? Should I consider you my student anymore?" He may as well have drawn a knife straight through my chest. The tears were definitely threatening now. I'd rather he tossed me around until I could no longer get up than be lashed at like this. I sucked in a hard breath and furiously shook my head.

"No…! That's not…this is an accident…!" my voice cracked, "I swear on everything, this won't happen again! Double alarms, triple, whatever…!" I was shaking, nearly sweating, and feeling my pulse slam in my ears as I kept the last bit of composure I had left in my words. "Please, forgive this one time. If it happens again, I won't plead." His lip turned slightly at the last line.

"Is that so?" I took another deep breath and quelled the shaking for a moment.

"It will not happen again." My voice cracked again, but I brought it back down, "Do what is necessary, give me whatever punishment you feel is fitting…make me fear being late!" Panic was coursing through me as I felt my guts spilling out with every word. I was practically kneeling anyway with how badly my knees were shaking. My eyes stayed on his, nearly praying that he wouldn't toss everything I said aside.

He sighed as he looked away. This was insane. An entire month's worth of trust and practice with each other and with one slip he was ready to shelve it. Real fear had crept inside me. I swallowed hard again and wet my dry lips, waiting for those few words he could say to undo everything. His head turned back to me.

"Very well. One last chance." His arms came back up across his chest, "You will not be avoiding punishment, however. Today's lesson will be postponed." I nodded with a sigh.

"That's more than fair," I offered a weak smile. I still wanted to cry but out of relief now. Seeing as there wasn't going to be a time for that I brought my focus back again.

"How fast do you think you can run?" My eyes widened; that was sudden.

"Uh, in what? Distance? Sprinting?" He scanned the area around us a bit before looking back to me.

"If you were to sprint as fast as you could, what would be your top speed?"

"Uh, geez…I'd probably top out around 15, maybe 16 mph…" Those were just ballpark numbers from college so it probably wasn't accurate anymore but it was all I had to go on.

"Really? Is that all?" his tone sounding as disappointed as he looked. I meekly turned my palms up and shrugged.

"Sorry…still human." I wasn't even being cheeky; that was just a common response he got now. He motioned over to the other side of the yard.

"And the forest here," he gestured, "what is the distance you estimate from the edge to the other side?" Not seeing where he was going with this I looked out over my shoulder.

"It's about 2 acres to the field. I don't know what the conversion is…" There were stakes that marked everything at one point but they were taken down after the house was sold, save for the one the farm field had marked. At this point I was ball parking the distance. He seemed to be mulling something over but those were cryptic clues for a punishment. He started walking across the yard.

"Come, this will have to suffice." Hesitant but curious I started to follow him until he stopped at the path that I normally took with the dogs. It was narrow and not well maintained but it was visible and clear of major obstacles. "Would it be fair to say that the distance would be about 130 meters then?"

"I really have no clue….so I'll just trust that," I shrugged at the numbers. There was a time when I did know, but at this point I knew what an acre felt like so I never really needed to look again. I looked up as he turned to face me. There was no confident grin, no snarky smile; just a flat, unreadable look. My heart sank; normally he was so dynamic in his motions, his expressions, even his tone, but he gave nothing away now.

"You are going to run as fast as you can. Your goal is to get to the field on the other side. Since you can't move half as fast as I can, I'm going to give you a 10 second head start."

I balked at that. Half as fast? Can he really get to 40 mph?

"Head start?" I hesitated.

"After 10 seconds I'm going to chase you down. If you get to the field before I catch you then the punishment ends. But if I catch you…" his lip twitched slightly, "well, let's just say you don't want me to catch you." The drop in his tone was chilling. I barely managed another breath before he narrowed his eyes.

"10."

Oh my god.

I turned on my heel and bolted down the path, only catching him say 'nine' in the first few paces before I was too far to hear him. I kept up the count as close as I could despite my mind racing. Three more large strides got me over the root-meddled path.

'Eight'

I kept moving with everything I could muster, my feet slamming into the dirt in desperation.

'Seven'

Was I counting fast enough? I could feel how quickly I was barreling down the path but knew it probably wouldn't matter.

'Six'

The path wasn't perfectly straight and I had to shift a bit to round a few trees; that was definitely lost time.

'Five'

My lungs were trying to keep up as I gasped for my breath, my heart pounding to keep the blood moving fast enough for me to keep going…

'Four'

I had no clue if I was terrified, excited, or just accepting the fact that I had screwed up and deserved everything I was getting at this point. I realized I was almost halfway through the woods now.

'Three'

I caught another wave of energy and pushed on harder, taking advantage of a straightaway to move as fast as I could.

'Two'

I looked ahead and could see the edge of the fields. Yes, it wasn't far! But ten seconds wasn't going to be enough to make it! I dared to look over my shoulder just to see if he had started yet.

I immediately regretted it as he moved with ease through the trees. I could barely hear his steps but the leaves and branches he was hitting were giving away how close he was. There was no time. I was going to be caught effortlessly. I couldn't outrun him; I couldn't fight him…

But I was smaller than him. A LOT smaller.

Keeping a fast pace I picked out a tree with a thicker trunk. I could practically feel him closing in on me as I wrapped my arm around the tree and swung myself around on it, ducking down as I whipped around. His shadow covered me as he ground his heels to the ground, sliding past me and turning around in one fluid motion, but I was back on my feet and pushed from the tree to get moving again. I only caught a small mumble as I took off.

"Clever"

I darted through the trees, intentionally picking dense areas just to make sure he had to take the long way around to catch up and I kept my eyes on the rest of the trail. I could see the tracts of fields just beyond the tree line; I just needed a few more seconds to get back up to speed again…

Feeling him closing in on me once more I quickly picked another tree to duck low around and zigzagged away from him, hearing a small snarl from him this time as he broke through a few branches behind me. My heart pounded loudly in my ears and my breaths were heavy, but the thrill was overriding my genuine fear for the moment. I made a last jog around another set of shrubs and found a clear straight shot out of the woods. My arms propelled me on and my form fell in place as I gathered up the last of my stamina and let my feet fly.

Not far now… I felt my shoes grip the hard dirt below me and I dug in harder, going in for the home stretch. There were no roots, no branches in the way; I was going to make it!

I don't know how the hell he got ahead of me but I caught him just out of the corner of my eye before I was violently tackled to the ground, rolling across the dirt and feeling the branches cut into my arms and legs as I grinded to a halt. My energy pretty much vanished and was replaced with a horrid pain in my sides and lungs as I gasped desperately for breaths. He didn't hit me; he flat-out launched me across the woods. My eyes fluttered open after a moment and flinched as he stepped into my view. He roughly grabbed my arm and I was hauled back to my feet, but as I put my weight on my legs I shook and buckled. His hand kept me up as I took in large gulps of air.

"Come along. Steady your breaths with your steps; you'll recover faster." Obeying without anything other than a small nod I let him pull me back down the path. Sure enough after several steps I felt my adrenaline level out and the shakes started to dissipate. His hand never let go of my arm, which I found odd but didn't question, until we were off the path and in the backyard again.

My heart was still pounding as he turned around and faced the trail again. I had my hands on my legs as I leaned over, still catching my breath.

"Recovered yet?" I looked up after another hard breath.

"No…" That sadistic grin covered his face.

"Too bad." My face fell and my eyes widened. "10."

"Wha…!" a horrid whine poured from my astounded look. His eyes narrowed once again.

"9…"

In absolute desperation I dug my heels to the dirt and went for it, cursing very quickly between my breaths. My stamina was pretty much junk now. Why in the world was I even trying at this point? I had given everything I had in that first run! I could hear him counting from the little distance I had between us, so it was clear he intended on continuing this new 'game' whether I was able to or not.

After another step I realized my mistake. This wasn't a game.

This was the punishment.

The message was becoming clearer with each step I pounded into the dirt, feeling the pain in my sides as I pushed onward. I was nowhere near halfway when I realized my time was up once again. I turned around fully to see how far back he was and nearly died when he was much closer than I had hoped he would be. I looked at the large trees again and nearly laughed at myself, 'Yeah he ain't falling for that again'.

Instead I started to put the obstacles between us more, trying to find denser areas to maneuver around and ducking under low-laying branches, but he moved around them so easily that I might as well have not tried them at all. Once again he sidled up beside me and, with much less force this time, sideswiped me to the ground. My breaths were desperate and ragged but he paid no mind to them as he hauled me up by my arm again. Without a word I let him drag me back out of the woods again.

This time I swear he let me breathe for about a full minute before the countdown started again. I didn't let the first second go to waste this time and, with what little energy I had recovered, paced myself as I jogged down the path again. Scanning the woods I tried finding other little obstacles I could take advantage of that I knew well enough to handle, but 10 seconds was barely enough time to get any amount of distance to use. With both outrunning him and outmaneuvering him out of the question, the only option I had left was to stall. I used the last of my speed to hurry to a specific tree and stood several feet behind it, keeping it between us.

He caught up to me quickly but as I watched him between the forked branches in the tree he slowed and walked up to the other side of it. I braced my legs and tucked my arms in as I prepared for the game of cat-and-mouse we were about to play. He stopped a good ten feet from the forked tree as well, sizing up the trap I had him in. The tree was large enough around that I could circle around it but too small for him to try to dive between the forked trunk. It was nearly perfect to keep him guessing. He crossed his arms and huffed from the other side.

"And how long do you think this little game will last?" I flashed a grin back between quick breaths.

"I've already lasted longer than last time…"

"You're not wrong."

The adrenaline was rushing again as he took another step. I matched him to make sure the distance stayed the same and kept my arms tight and feet steady. He stepped to the right; I matched with a few steps to the left. Testing the waters he turned and went to the left and I quickly mirrored him to the right. He stopped where he started, and I did the same. A grin stretched across his face.

"This turned out to be very interesting after all…" He slightly crouched down and leaned forward, almost like a baseball player preparing to steal a base. I was already braced but I didn't have a real plan for anything other than dancing around until someone gave up.

This was more than likely going to end up being me.

"Are you ready?" he called out.

I smiled back, "Ready as I'll ever be!" With that he darted forward and I got defensive, shuffling my feet to mirror his, keeping the tree between us as well as I could. His arm came around and I pushed off the trunk to keep ahead of him, leveraging myself against the trunk each time he moved around to the other side. He rushed around trying to flank me but the tree was just big enough to give me the time I needed to keep one step ahead of him. His arm reached again and I shrieked as I turned tail and hurried around to the other side. His growls mixed with his chuckles and I found myself laughing aloud.

The game only lasted another few more seconds but it felt like we played much longer than that. It ended when he faked me out and I rushed around only to get caught up in a bear hug. He didn't crush me but kept me from being able to struggle free. Winded from everything I didn't fight and just caught my breath.

He let me go and I dropped awkwardly to the ground, still catching my breath but not shaking.

"Well I suppose that will be everything today. You've plateaued. You won't improve anymore."

"I don't think I was improving…" I sputtered between heavy breaths, "I gave 100% in that first run. It's been all downhill from there." He shook his head and started walking back towards the house.

"You're only looking at your speed and stamina. I was looking at your strategies." With that I followed him back out again grateful that I wasn't going to have to run again. At this point I would have just let him throw me down rather than giving him a decent chase. The walk down the path was short and we stood out on the green lawn. It was brightly lit now as the sun was high in the sky.

"I've taken some interest in how you change your approaches to every challenge I've put forth." I was excited now; he was back in lecture mode. "When you realized you couldn't overpower me or outrun me you altered your tactics accordingly. During the week I let you wield a weapon you got creative quickly."

I grinned at the reminder of that week, "Yeah, but the real challenge was just keeping the stick in my hands. You kept swatting it from me like it was a toothpick…"

"But the fact was you kept learning and adjusting. Even if it was minor you still tried several strategies. I have been entertained by it and will probably continue to test you in such manners."

"It has been fun, despite a couple of rough patches…"

"And after today I doubt they will happen again." There was that mocking tone again but I hung my head in defeat.

"Yeah, I think it was a good enough reminder." It was quiet for a few moments. Then he turned and headed back towards the house.

"Let's call it a day. You look like you need breakfast anyway." I eagerly followed him back to the house and continued with the rest of the day.

Then evening rolled around.

I stifled a yawn and realized just how tired I had gotten and headed to the living room for my phone. Cell was sitting on the couch for his version of 'rest' for the night. His eyes opened as I leaned over to pick my phone up from the end table.

"I'll see ya in the mornin'," I smiled. He lifted a brow with a grunt.

"Hm, if you wake tomorrow," he teased. I grinned and waived my phone between us.

"It is set this time; I will NEVER be late again." An evil grin spread across his face.

"Are you sure this time?" I sighed loudly and pulled up my alarm settings on the screen.

"I remember setting it this time so there's no way I'll miss out tom..." I trailed off. The alarm was off. It was still there, set for 5:35 AM, but off. My brows furrowed, my mouth fell slack, and my eyes slowly traveled over the top of my phone.

That look on his face told me everything I needed to know. His eyes were bright with mischief and that grin grew ever so slightly.

"Good thing you checked again." My jaw clenched and I felt the heat rising again. The way he acted, how he was so insulted when I didn't get out before sunrise, how he ripped me to bits with every accusation…

A billion horrible, obscene profanities ran through my mind, but I stood there, fuming as my lips twisted into a furious snarl. Each exhale was louder than the last, my eyes narrowing more and more with each screaming insult that ran through my head.

"Are you KIDDING me…!" I started but clenched my hand more to keep what else I wanted to say at bay. His head tilted slightly as he leaned a bit forward, egging me on for what all I wanted to say. "Tell me you didn't!" I growled. He shrugged lightly.

"I kept waiting for the day to come, but you were always on time. So, I decided to create the situation and see how it played out…" he motioned to my phone. I was at a loss for words. He set it up, played along as I poured out my guts to him, made me nearly cry before him…

I looked down at my phone again, turned the alarm back on and calmly set it down on the end table again. I turned my gaze back to him again and glared. The seconds ticked by with our eyes locked on each other. I made note of the throw pillows within my grabbing distance.

Without breaking eye contact I snagged one and threw it right at his face, but felt my stomach bottom out as he caught it with little effort. I kept my glare steady as he lowered the cloth weapon, his eyes narrowing as he did.

"Interesting weapon choice for an attempt on my life…" his amused tone carried between us. I kept the poker face I had on despite how slightly terrified I was.

"I hope your life flashed before your eyes." He was calm as he fiddled with the pillow, his eyes casually traveling between me and the 'weapon'.

Without another word I quickly grabbed the other pillow and went for it, swinging for his head as hard as my arm would let me but he had the same idea and I was sent sprawling to the floor, pillow still in hand. I sat up quickly, ready to dive in again but he leaped from the couch and straddled his legs around me before I had a chance and whacked me over the head again.

I squealed with each thunk, bringing my arms and the pillow over my head, trying to stop his brutal assault, but I panicked as soon as his other hand grabbed my pillow and yanked it away!

"Ah! No no no no…!" I continued to squeal and struggle as he continued alternating his attacks, battering me back and forth. My legs were pinned under his again (I made a note to not jerk my knees up this time) and buried my head under my arms as I took the beating. As each pillow knocked me back and forth I timed it and lunged forward, throwing both arms forward and shoving them into his chest.

For a second I thought I surprised him enough to try to roll away, but he kept his balance and spread his arms out wide, sandwiched my head between the pillows, and pushed me flat on the floor.

"So, how well did that strategy work out for you?" he laughed as he held the pillows on either side of my face. I surrendered and let my arms fall to the floor, letting out a defeated, muffled groan.

"Yrr a' asshh." I could breathe fine, but my squished cheeks made it tough to tell him off. He leaned in closer, playfully squishing my head between the pillows once more.

"What was that? I couldn't quite make that out, you sound like you're buried under something…" I brought up a fist and pounded a few times on his shoulder, or at least what felt like it.

"Yeah, I'm buried under this behemoth of an android, who is also a total ass."

"I am not a behemoth!" He almost sounded offended, but it just wasn't quite convincing enough.

"Not yet? If I keep feeding you maybe you'll hit behemoth status!" I heard his strained groan.

"You really don't understand the predicament you are in right now, do you?" he chided, squishing the pillows repeatedly.

"Clearly at death's doorstep. I'll tell them the behemoth of an android sent me!" The pillows were pulled off and his arms crossed over his chest as he leered down at me.

"You do realize that is exactly why I do not ask for meals often?" I didn't try to move out from under him, partially because he was resting some of his weight on my legs, but also because I was actually comfortable.

I propped an arm under my head, "I don't think you have to worry. You don't sit around the house depressed and lethargic. You can afford the luxury of eating good food." He grimaced at the statement. "Besides! There's so much more I want you to try! I'd love to take you out to some good restaurants."

"What you have provided has been more than I already need. I do not need to consume more…" His tone changed slightly, and I felt a little bad for pushing the suggestion so hard.

I softened my tone, "Hey, I'm not trying to make you eat more. I just want you to try some different things other than the 4 meals I know how to cook. Y'know, variety. And I haven't gone anywhere decent in ages cuz eating alone sucks."

"This would also involve putting me with other humans for an extended period of time." He didn't seem angry, just dreading the idea of being outside of his comfort zone for a few hours.

I shrugged as I goaded him, "If you're still too scared to be in public I guess it can wait 'til you're ready…"

"I am NOT scared," he snarled. But then he leveled his tone more, "Why are you trying to convince me?"

I sighed; I wanted to discuss this eventually, preferably under better circumstances, but there's no time like the present. "Because this looks like it might be a longer-term situation that I thought it would be." I let that line sink in for me for a moment. I was still having a hard time believing that this whole situation was real until I realized it was starting to limit my normal life. While this wasn't his world to acclimate to, the world was still turning for me and I had to put my life on hold for the past two months.

And I couldn't wait forever for him to decide if he wanted to participate or not.

"I don't know how long you're going to be here. At first, I was worried you'd be gone too soon, but now…"

"I am a burden to you, correct?"

I flinched. "I don't like that word…it doesn't feel right. Yes, there are a few things I wanted to do this year, but they're nothing I would trade for this. So, no, you are not a burden." I rolled a few ways to word my thoughts without sounding too aggressive. "I just want to involve you a little more, and stop feeling like I'm hiding you all the time…"

"You intend to reveal me to your world? After all this fear you've had and keeping me hidden?"

I immediately put my hands up defensively, "Dear god, no. I'm not going to put a sign on your back that says, 'I'm Cell from DBZ Fear me'. People don't ask questions around here. As long as nothing bad happens, they have no reason to ask who you are." He was still on my legs, so I hadn't angered him enough to make him leave just yet. "Besides, y'kinda owe me."

That got his attention. Eyes wide he looked back at me, "And how so? Pray tell, I am curious."

"Your little prank nearly broke me this morning. I was really close to actually crying…" I laughed. It was funny now, but at the time, it was by far the worst experience with him.

And just like that, his closed composure fell apart and he grinned with a hearty laugh, "Trust me, I am well aware. I heard every word from you. You know how to insult yourself quite well. It was the greatest test of my own poker face thus far. I assume you believe I 'owe' you for the trauma I caused you?"

"I wouldn't call it trauma, but it hurt like hell," I pouted. I didn't know if he understood the lengths I would go to keep him comfortable here, but that entire episode was traumatizing to me in so many other ways that I wouldn't know how to explain it to him. "I truly value what we have here, I don't wanna lose it. And I thought I was about to."

He sighed, "Stop that, I hate sentimental rubbish."

"Sorry," I laughed, "but if you keep testing me like that you'll make me cry eventually. Then what will you do?"

"I will not do it again. It was my one and only test of your emotional willpower. I saw what I needed to."

I waited for him to continue. A solid five seconds ticked by in my head. I couldn't wait anymore.

"What was it? What were you looking for?" He grinned and reached his hand to my head and ruffled my hair over my face.

"Many things. Nothing to worry your pretty little head over." With that, he stood up and offered me a hand. "You have managed to distract yourself well past your bedtime. And don't forget about that alarm," he teased as I took his hand and he pulled me up.

I threw the pillows back on the couch and grabbed my phone. "I know you said you wouldn't do it again, but I'm still gonna be paranoid for eternity." He went back to the couch and I headed for bed. I poked my head around the corner real quick, "And you're still an ass."

He mumbled something as I walked away but, of course, I couldn't make any of it out. So I ignored it, shuffled into my sweats and a tank and crawled in bed with the dogs. I rolled the conversation over and over in my mind, slightly disappointed that I couldn't get any answers from him.

But the words 'pretty little head' stuck with me until I fell asleep.

A/N: YES, STILL HERE. Several chapters have been waiting in the darkest depths of my folders waiting for editing/additions. So, again, I apologize for the wait, and thank you for your patience.