Laura's heart was in turmoil.

She was planning on asking me that question later on, but when i suddenly started to talk about her favourite manga she started to get a little interested in me.

So Laura wondered if this one, if this particular little one actually had the thing she had been looking so hard for, and not wanting to keep her hopes up for nothing, she decided to ask me right then.

And it was the first in a long time someone said that they weren't afraid of her.

It made her so happy that she started smiling uncontrollably, so much that she had to hide her face from me.

When the excitement started to fade though, she wondered if i actually told her the truth. Maybe i was just boasting, and was actually on the verge of fainting.

That had to be the case. There was just no way i wasn't afraid of her, maybe even i didn't know it yet, she thought.

It was just a matter of time for me to realize it.

Laura sighed. She simply wanted something genuine, but when fear is involved, there can be no sincere relationship, and Laura knew it full well. Everything would crumble and she would be left all alone, again.

She drifted off to sleep, as a single tear rolled off her cheek without making a sound.

In the meantime, the others were enjoying their newfound company.

Mike, being the level-headed gentleman he was, was enjoying a polite conversation with Rachel, and Reed was answering as best as he could the torrent of questions that the over-excited Chloe was asking him.

Instead, in Alexis' room, Rob was having a seriously hard time hiding his boner.

Alexis instead, was having a hard time not to tease him too much, and pretended not to notice.

After they were done with brushing their teeth and everything, they both admitted that they weren't feeling sleepy, so they decided to stay up for a bit, chatting on her bed.

She decided to have some fun: as he told her some experiences of various escapades with his friends, she would occasionally stretch, and while doing so, flash him some underboob under her top, or sit cross legged so that he had full view of her panties.

Everytime, he would make the funniest faces and his voice would suddenly rise to falsetto, which she thought was hilarious.

"Sounds like you always have a lot of fun with your friends" She commented at some point

"Yeah, they're the best" Rob said smiling, proud.

"Speaking of your friends, before i saw Will glance at Laura a bit too often, does she like her?" Alexis inquired.

"You're pretty sharp. Yep, he's gone and fallen head over heels over her already, that madman" the tiny said, grinning. Privacy was a word that didn't fit in his vocabulary.

"Hehe, i knew it. Laura is just too cute to pass up" She said, satisfied that her guess was on point.

Rob sighed, then said "I just hope he doesn't get hurt again"

"Hm? What do you mean?" Asked Alexis, worried.

"Last time he confessed to someone, it went pretty bad and he was depressed over it for a while. Well, i don't know if Will would be happy to know that i'm telling you this, but back at home he isn't exactly the most popular dude around"

"Really? I would have never guessed it. He isn't ugly at all and he's nice, sure he's a bit quiet and i can tell he has a hard time talking to us, but i think he's a good guy to have around, judging by the little i've seen"

"He was bullied for most of the time, actually" Rob blurted out.

"... Oh" Alexis uttered. Maybe Laura and I had more in common than she thought.

"I don't know how it started, but people started to pick on him because he spent so much time with us. It was terrible" Rob said, shuddering at the memory "No matter what we did, it just wouldn't stop. We were faced with a choice: leave him alone with no one else, or stay with him, every day with more bruises than the day before"

Alexis was looking down, feeling bad.

"But he never let us make that choice. No matter what happened, he would always stick with us. He was different from how he is today. He smiled a lot more, had no problem talking with strangers, and his eyes sparkled with vitality. It was awe-inspiring to see him so proud and happy despite the constant beating he got everyday" Rob continued.

"But that day... he just broke" He murmured, dejected, lowering his gaze to his hands.

"... What happened?" Asked Alexis with a feeble voice.

"I... don't want to talk about it. Maybe one day, if he finds the strength, he will tell you himself" Rob answered "After that, he took a long break from school. Months long. And when he returned, he wasn't the same Will we knew. Something in him was lost, and i don't think it will ever return. I just hope he'll find happiness one day, that guy deserves it the most"

He fell silent. After a few seconds, he heard the sound of water dripping onto a surface.

He looked up and saw Alexis with tears streaming down her face and falling on her thighs, weeping softly.

"I'm sorry, i didn't mean to make you remember such a painful memory... " she sobbed

"Oh no no, i'm the one who's sorry. I didn't want to make you cry for this" Rob exclaimed, jumping on his feet and running to her bare knee

"But i feel so bad" She said, weeping even more.

"There, there" shushed Rob, wondering why he was petting the knee of an older girl tall like a skyscraper to soothe her "I'm just happy you care so much even if you literally just met us".

He continued to stroke her knee until she eventually calmed down.

"He's not doing so bad right now, you know. He's a bit of a loner, but at least nobody bothers him anymore" Rob added, trying to cheer her up

Alexis nodded, sniffing.

"Let's just go to bed for today".

---------

During the night, i woke up to the sound of Laura moan and whine.

I got up to check and from my vantage point of the nightstand, i noticed she was still sleeping. She must be having a nightmare.

I felt bad, but it wasn't like i could do anything for her, so i just took the chance to go to the bathroom. 

When i got back, she had calmed down. I also noticed a faint light coming from the crevices of the window. It was probably dawn at that point.

I wasn't sleepy anymore, so i decided to go to the living room and look around.

After an hour, i was done exploring, i climbed the table and sat on the edge, chilling.

Eventually, the others started to wake up, The first ones were Mike and Rachel, who greeted me and started to whip up a quick breakfast for everyone.

The smell of toast woke up Chloe and Reed, and eventually Laura got out of her room too, a bit groggy.

The last ones to wake up were Alexis and Rob.

I didn't notice the black haired girl at first, until i was suddenly swept up from the table.

A moment later i was being pressed against an enormous sternum by two gigantic pale hands. It took me a while to understand this was probably supposed to be a hug.

She gently set me back to the table, and i looked at her confused "W.. What was that for?" 

"Fanservice for my little Willie" She said, and winked at me. I was even more confused now.

The rest of the day passed pretty quickly. The lectures would begin in a few days so we didn't have much to do.

We followed Alexis' advice and decided to stay at home and "get used to it", which meant to laze around all day long.

At first we decided go play with cards. Naturally, it meant that the girls had to hold them, and we just suggested the next moves.

Since Laura didn't seem to be in a better mood than the day before, i lied and said i didn't know how to play, to let her play by herself.

After we got bored of it, we decided to go to the sofa and watch TV.

Laura just left a bit later to read in her room, and Rachel decided to go buy groceries. Mike insisted to go with her and help, but she politely refused.

So, only us tinies, Alexis and Chloe remained on the sofa. 

Alexis was laying on her side, her head leaning on her hand, and Chloe was sitting cross-legged, while snacking on some chips. We were just between them.

At a certain point, Alexis changed channel, to watch a show that we guys weren't that interested in.

"Come on, change it back" Complained Rob. Chloe didn't mind since she actually liked it.

Alexis smirked viciously, and challenged "Well, make me do it! I'll give you an advantage by saying this: My weak point is my feet..." She giggled.

Rob turned towards us, his eyes fired up, and whispered "Come on guys, let's team up and bring her down!".

I half-heartedly joined the expedition, knowing that they would force me if i refused.

The plan was to pounce her feet and tickle her, so we sneaked around on the soft surface of the sofa, not knowing that Alexis was perfectly aware of our position.

We approached her gigantic feet, which looked surprisingly taken care of. She had black nail polish, and there was no trace of callouses or imperfections. The smell was there, but pleasant to be honest.

I positioned myself near her long toes. As Rob gave us the signal, we started to ferociously tickle the pink wall of her soft sole.

She glanced at us, smugly, and said "You know, i never said i was ticklish. I simply like foot massages. Since you're at it, why don't you get to work?"

She outplayed us like a chessmaster with a 5-year old.

We begrudgingly started to knead her soft flesh, and just a few second later Alexis changed back the channel "You earned it, but don't stop" She purred "It feels soo good..."

We didn't mind, it was actually kinda fun. Besides her reactions were very satisfying.

At that point, she noticed Chloe curiously looking at the scene. Alexis smiled and exclaimedd "I think Chloe wants her feet rubbed too guys!"

She jolted, blushing, and said "N-no no, i don't want to impose, i was just curious that's all..."

Embarrassed, he tried to change the subject, and grabbed the chips bag "Y-you know, these are reaaaally good, before i knew it i had already finished it!" 

Then she straightened it a bit, and poured the last crumbs in her mouth.
What she didn't know, was that Reed had sneakily fled the foot-rubbing task and planned to stuff his face with chips without anyone noticing, but unfortunately he didn't expect the whole bag to be raised and tilted.

He was too stupefied to do anything as he rolled down and landed on her soft tongue, and her jaws closed, leaving him in wet and warm darkness.

Chloe swished the mouthful around, then noticed something that felt and tasted nothing like chips.

Why is there a gummy bear in a bug of chips... she thought, and then noticed that there were only three of us on Alexis' feet.

"Shit!" She exclaimed, catching our attention, then opened her mouth and fished Reed out, still drenched in saliva.

We looked at him, thunderstruck.

He opened his eyes, raised a dripping finger, looked at us solemny, and said "And that is why, my children, you don't want to wander into giant girls food"

We all burst into laughter, along with Chloe.

I turned towards Alexis, and saw that she was not laughing, with an aghast look on her face.

-----------

When Rachel returned around, she found us massaging a sleeping Chloe's feet, who had nodded off a while before.

She smiled, dropped off the bags and a cardboard box, and said "My, aren't you getting comfortable"

"Want to join us? They're very good, Chloe basically fainted in just a few minutes" Alexis asked, still sprawled on the sofa.

"Maybe later, i've some... Girly stuff to sort out" Rachel answered, grabbing the box and going into her room.

"... Ok, see you later" Alexis answered, after a moment of hesitation. Then she turned to us "Which means no peeking, you scoundrels!" she warned, and we chuckled.