As soon as she saw me soaring through the air, limp as a ragdoll, Laura regretted her actions. She just wanted to brush me off her leg with her fingers, but in her fit of anger she put more force than she actually meant to use. 

As i landed on the bed without making a sound, bouncing a few times, she wondered if i was actually hurt, but she was too angry to check immediately.

How could i think that we could ever be friends? After all the things that were done to her by other tinies, after all her good intentions and hopes were crushed, i had the nerve to say something so brazen? I was lucky if she didn't flatten me beneath her palm.

With these thoughts, she looked at my lifeless body, in a mix of anger and worry. 

Yet no matter how crushingly guilty i was for saying the unforgivable, i still didn't move.

After a few seconds of silence, Laura uttered "... Will?"

Silence

"Hey Will, why aren't you moving?" she asked, her voice stuck in her throat, as she got near me on all fours.

Upon closer inspection, Laura gasped as she saw that i was bleeding from my nose and mouth, and was still immobile.

It was certainly not the first time she drew blood on a tiny, in fact when she was finished the remains were barely recognisable, completely ripped apart by her teeth, corroded and melted by her stomach acids, flattened to paste beneath her foot or torn to pieces by her fingers.

But somehow, looking at my still frame, splattered with blood, she racalled a memory that she had tried to forget for the longest time.

I looked just like the tiny in that memory, and as the event replayed in her mind she felt like she was going to vomit from the shock.

Laura fought against her gagging, her eyes watering, and she covered her mouth.

As the crisis subsided, she immediately grabbed my body, and put me near her ear, and stopped to listen.

Nothing. 

She cursed under her breath, i was so small that there was just no way to know if i was breathing, or even if my heart was still beating.

In panic, she rushed out of her room, slamming the door open, calling "HELP PLEASE, WILL ISN'T BREATHING!"

The others immediately rushed out, along with the tiny roomates 

"What happened?" Alexis asked, her face aghast in horror.

"I'm sorry, i hit him by mistake and now he's not moving anymore, i'm sorry, i'm sorry it was an accident..." Laura only managed to say before starting to sob and weep uncontrollably.

Rachel quickly snatched me from her grasp and brought me to the tabletop in the kitchen, and then stopped for a second.

She was very experienced in bringing back tinies from the hands of death, after all a toy that breaks too soon is no fun at all. But showing too much expertise might reveal her previous interactions with other tinies. That must not happen, no matter what.

Noticing her reluctance, Mike hopped from the other hand to the table, and said with a tense voice "Leave it to us".

Then he rushed towards me, and checked my situation.

The following seconds were full of tension, in complete silence besides the sobbing of Laura and Alexis who was trying to comfort her.

Then Will sighed, and got up.

"Thank god, he's okay. He just got a small concussion and the bleeding is not internal, he just scraped his tongue with his teeth and the nose is okay. You wouldn't believe how many times Rob was in the same state after he tried to tackle more than three people at once"

Everyone took a sigh of relief. Laura's legs trembled and collapsed, bawling her eyes out.

Alexis said "I think it's better if she sleeps with me tonight, Robby would you mind if you changed rooms just for tonight?" 

Rob just nodded reluctantly, and the older girl placed him on the table and accompanied the crying Laura to her room.

Rob stomped over to me, and slapped me a bit too roughly.

"Wake the fuck up, sleepyhead, you're making everyone worried"

At that point, i started to drift back to consciousness. I tasted something metallic and warm, and my face felt sticky and wet. As i stood up, I touched my cheek and inspected my fingers, dirty with my blood.

Then i remembered what had just happened. 

My vision blurred, and i realized i was crying.

But before i could be overwhelmed by the tears, Mike put his hands on his hips and exclaimed "Sheesh man, you shouldn't make girls cry like that! She was bawling her eyes out back there. You'd better apologize to her later for giving her such a scare"

I foght back the tears, and looked up to his face, confused.

"Who was crying?" 

"Laura of course, you idiot! This wouldn't have happened if you weren't such a wimp, you know! Didn't i tell you to hit the gym more often?" Rob reprimanded me ruffling my hair with one of his bear hands.

Laura was crying, worried about me? The same Laura that looked at me with those eyes, filled with such contempt and disgust? I just couldn't believe it, but that's what they were saying.

After that little incident, we decided to go right back to sleep, and talk about it the following day. 

Rachel accompanied me  in Laura's empty room along with Rob, who was muttering something along the lines of "If you weren't such a wimp i'd be sleeping with Alexis right now", but i was too engrossed in my thoughts to care.

As Rachel dropped me off on the nightstand, she whispered to me "I'm sorry for what happened, Will, but try not to resent Laura too much, okay? I assure you that she's a good girl and didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sure it was just an accident"

I nodded weakly, and she caressed me a bit with her fingertips to comfort me. When she touched my side i flinched in pain.

"Oh i'm sorry, did i hurt you?" she asked, concerned. I raised my t-shirt to inspect and noticed a large dark bruise was forming in the point where Laura's fingers impacted into me. I shivered at the thought.

The giant girl looked sadder for a moment, but her cheeks flushed a bit, strangely.

"Goodnight then" She murmured, and padded out of the room.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Laura was still crying and sobbing, lying in the bed together with Alexis, as the black-haired girl softly stroked her hair, comforting her

"Shhhh, there, there, nothing happened, you don't have to worry, it was just an accident..."

"But... but it wasn't! For a moment i sincerely wanted him to just disappear and die! And then i remembered Leo, and then.. then..." Laura whimpered before starting to cry all over again.

Alexis hugged her tight, as she continuously stroked the back of the younger girl's head. 

"Shhhhh, it's all right, it's all right, everything is going to be all right" She whispered.

She continued doing so until Laura eventually stopped sobbing end fell asleep for the exhaustion.

Even asleep, the petite girl still muttered "Please don't die Leo! Leo, why aren't you moving?... Leo... Leo..."

Alexis didn't stop hugging her tight for the whole night.