This situation is...strange, to me. Rebecca has been fooling me with her sleep, all this time? No, she was definitely asleep for part of this. The way she passed out earlier was unmistakable. She had to have been asleep during that. The question, then, would be, how long after I put her into her bed did she wake up and start listening to what I have been doing? Just what is it that she is trying to find out from me? Is there some trait or message she thinks that she will want to hear that I wouldn't say if I knew she were awake, in front of me?

“You wanted to see something? What did you want to see? You can ask me whatever you want about me, and I'll gladly tell you.” My message goes towards her as I reach for a nightstand behind me, turning on a small chain-powered lamp. Both of our eyes squint as light pours up from the lamp and illuminates the room. Pulling a small brush from her bed, Rebecca starts brushing her hair down as her eyes adjust and she looks back to me. Her eyes move from place to place, looking towards my chest, and then back up to my face, as if she needs some time to think about what she wants to say.

“How you would act, knowing I was asleep and here, in front of you.” she says. Her eyes move from my face and look directly into my eyes. My pupils quiver, slightly, from the serious look on her face. She's such a small person, but she knows how to intimidate through a gaze. “Your actions this week have been nothing but kind and caring towards me and my well-being, Trent. So, I wanted to know what you would do once I had opened myself up to you, and was asleep, with you able to do anything you wanted to with me.”

Now I'm just plain confused. What I wanted? She wanted to see what I would do with her, once she was asleep? “What I would do with you? Rebecca, did you think I was going to try to do what Melissa did or something?” Her eyes darted away from my eyes, looking towards the comforter on the bed, as she continued. “I wasn't sure what you would do. This entire time, I've been nervous about opening up to you, in case you really were too good to be true. From the moment I started digging into my past, some part of me was telling me that I shouldn't, that you would do to me the same thing Melissa would, that everyone bigger than myself was the same.”

This is her fear talking now. The fear, most likely, of getting into another bad situation and being forced into things, like Melissa had done to her. Before meeting me, she was, after all, Rebecca's only idea about normal-sized folks. I suppose it's natural for her to be doubtful, despite how much I've been trying to take care of her. I don't know what to say. Thankfully, I don't have to say anything. “...but another part of me was telling me that you were true to your word, that you are different. So, because of that part, I let myself completely open up to you. I knew that, by talking about Melissa, I'd have a break down, but I didn't care. I wanted you to know, on some level, and I wanted to put myself into a position, where you could do whatever you wanted, where I was vulnerable.”

“Rebecca...” I say, not knowing just how to handle this situation. She's put herself in a vulnerable spot, both because she trusts me, and because she wanted to see how I'd react to being able to do whatever I wanted with her. That has to feel strange and worrisome to her. I very well could have forced her into some sort of sexual scenario, and I still can. I'm a lot bigger then her and can probably easy overpower her, if I wanted to. Why would I want to, though? What would that prove? The only thing it would prove is that I am no better than Melissa, that I would gladly take advantage of the situation and do what I want, not what she wants.

That's not me, though. I'm not that kind of person. Slowly getting out of my chair, I get on my knees on the floor, my head at her level. I reach my hand closer and rest my fingers on her shoulder. “...and how did I do? What did you think of how I approached this situation?” My eyes stare at her, an innocent curiosity in my mind. I want to just go forward and tell her I'm not that kind of person, but I think it will be better to find out what she thinks first. It will be better to let her keep control of the conversation and get out everything she wants to say.

Putting the brush down on the bed, one of her hands comes up and rests on my fingers, a small smile appearing on her face. “You did what you have always done since this began. You took me to bed, and let me rest. I woke up while you were working on your computer. You brought me here to rest, and you didn't leave my side. You stayed in here, in case I needed you. You're different from her, Trent. I can tell that right now. From the beginning of my relationship with her, I could tell that, on some level, she was having me do things for her. It's the opposite with you. You don't make me do things for you. You try to do things for me.”

I stay there, my knees starting to hurt a little from pushing against the ground, but they stay there, all the same, calmly listening to what she is saying, while a smile comes to my face at how she is describing what happened. She looks to me again, slowly getting the sheets from the top of her and sits on the edge of the bed, her face level with mine. “You're a good person, Trent. I'm convinced of that now. All this week, you could have forced me into things, made me do chores around your house, made me sleep with you and do horrible things to me, like she did. You didn't, though. This whole week, you've done nothing but try to take care of me, remove hazards in your house that I could fall into and hurt myself with, and all around just watch out for my safety.”

“If you want to know how you did...” she starts, moving her hands from the sheets. “This is how I think you did.” Using her feet to move her from the bed, she forced herself forward, wrapping her two small arms around my neck. My arms react, holding her back and her behind up. She is clenching to me, tightly, and I can feel her face moving, her lips pushing against my neck. “You did very well, and I'm proud to call you a house mate.” My face brings a smile to my face as I hold onto her for awhile. I had not expected this kind of test from her, but it seems as if I'm doing just fine.

“It's getting late, though...” she says. “Let me hang onto you for a few minutes, and we can both call it a night, okay?” Turning myself around, I lay back, against the bed, and agree. “Sure, Rebecca. Whatever you want. So...how should we take it from here?” My question lingers, as I hold onto her. She looks up and smiles. “I may have a few ideas for what we can do...but to make this work, you're gonna have to stop being such a sleepyhead in the morning! I don't wanna have to...” she yawns in mid-sentence. “...wake you up every single morning. That's a hefty task, in itself!” The two of us laugh a little as we sit there for a few minutes, before I put her back into her bed.

As I tuck her in, I smile and pat her head. “Good night, Rebecca.” She looks back to me and nods her head. “Good Night, Trent!” I start to walk away and shut the lights off as she says one final thing to me. “See you in the morning.” As I close the door, I walk back to my own bedroom, smiling at the current situation. I never could have expected all of this to happen, but things seems to be getting better and better with her. I can only begin to wonder how the days will proceed from here...