February 17th, 2016

San Jose, California

HOUR ONE.

...Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock...

...51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

Arlynn sighed as she counted the final tick of the second hand on a clock, signifying yet another minute. Another dull, painstakingly boring minute. She lay upside down on Linda's living room couch, her hair falling freely in a golden cascade to the hardwood floor.

She sat up with a sigh, blinking the black dots out of her vision as all the blood rushed from her head. Never before had she been this bored. Okay, well maybe that wasn't the complete truth, there was this one time when school was out that she had to go with mommy to her work. ...Ugh. Enough said.

Arlynn glanced across the room to Linda, who sat clicking something away on her laptop. Now Arlynn wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but this certainly wasn't it. When Wally had left about half an hour ago, there had been some awkwardness, a few attempts on Linda's behalf to start a conversation. Arlynn wasn't having it then, though, and stubbornly remained silent until Linda had eventually just given up. Now, Linda seemed completely content with simply pretending that Arlynn wasn't there. Arlynn hadn't really minded it at first, but as time ticked on and the silence continued, and it became more and more evident that Wally wouldn't be back anytime soon, it began bothering her more and more. What right did Linda have to give her the silent treatment? She was the one that was being mean.

"Well, you make it kind of hard for her to like you by acting like a little prick around her."

...As she recalled Wally's statement from yesterday, Arlynn realized that maybe she wasn't the nicest towards Linda either. Still, that didn't mean that Linda had to talk about mommy like she did.

"You know sweetheart, I'm sure your quote, unquote 'druggie' mom didn't teach you much manners so I'll tell you now that it's polite to respect your elders. Especially ones who hold your entire fate of whether you get taken away to an orphanage in their hands."

Yep. If anyone was getting the silent treatment then it should be Linda, not her. Arlynn stood, her mind made up. If she was stuck here until Wally got back, then she definitely was not going to be ignored for the entire time. Least of all by Linda. She strode over to the woman and crossed her arms as she waited impatiently for a reaction. Linda didn't seem to notice that she was even there. Arlynn cleared her throat, "Hey."

Linda jumped and slammed her laptop screen closed before meeting the child's gaze. "Um, hey sweetie."

Arlynn raised an eyebrow at the women's suspicious actions, but shrugged it off. Adults were weird, she had learned that lesson a while ago. "Arlynn." she corrected.

"Right," Linda replied, "Um, Arlynn. What's up?"

"I'm bored." Arlynn stated, "And you're ignoring me." There was a subtle accusatory tone in the way she said the last part.

Linda blinked, "I uh...I thought- I mean I figured that you- well, earlier you didn't seem very interested so I thought that maybe you wanted to be left alone. I wasn't- I didn't mean to make it seem like I was ignoring you. Of course, I get how you would interpret it that way but-"

"I don't like you," Arlynn cut off Linda's ramble, "You're mean and rude and a bully."

Linda sighed, "Okay. That's...fair, all things considered-"

"I don't like you," Arlynn continued, "But I don't hate you. My mommy says that hating someone without a real reason to is stupid, and I'm not stupid. And you're not stupid either, at least I don't think. So why do you hate me then?"

Linda almost doubled over from the sucker punch that guilt gave her right in the gut. Of course, looking from the five year old's perspective, she could get why she would think that. ("...Wally and I have a future of our own, sweetheart. One that doesn't involve a stupid, little kid getting in our way").

Internally, she winced at her own words before sighing softly. "Arlynn," she said, "I don't hate you."

Arlynn stared at her with a flat expression.

"I don't." Linda emphasized. "I...I don't know. But I don't hate you, honey."

"Arlynn." Arlynn corrected once again.

"Arlynn." Linda said.

Arlynn scrutinized the woman for a long moment. Linda would be lying if she said she wasn't the slightest bit creeped out about that. Seriously, what five year old did that? Then Arlynn shrugged, and her scrutinizing expression became neutral as she shrugged carelessly.

"Okay." she said.

Linda raised an eyebrow, confused, " Okay?" she asked.

Arlynn nodded, "Okay." she affirmed.

Linda could only blink stupidly as the child came to some sort of inner conclusion. " Um...cool?"

"..."

"..."

"Well?" Arlynn's expectant tone broke the building awkward silence between the two.

Keeping up with whatever was going on through the girl's mind was like attempting to beat the Flash in a foot race, Linda decided. Impossible.

Arlynn groaned and rolled her eyes at the woman's obvious cluelessness. "I'm bored." she repeated.

In her peripheral vision, Linda spotted one of Kate's deck of cards lying on the table. "Right. Well, um...you ever play Uno?"

HOUR TWO.

Linda was up to something.

She wasn't exactly being discrete with it, after all. Arlynn could tell by the sudden niceness, the perpetually friendly smile. Now usually one might assume that her kindness was out of guilt, and Arlynn suspected that was part of it, but...

"So are you from the area, Arlynn?"

Questions. Linda had been asking them practically nonstop. It wasn't quite bombarding or constant enough to be annoying, even. Linda was smart in the way she asked them, her tone was curious rather than pressing and the way she spoke was offhanded. Arlynn could see right through it though. Mommy had done the same thing after all, whenever she found out about something Arlynn did that she tried to hide from her. She would never outright call Arlynn out, no. Mommy would act completely normal, offhandedly ask the key hinting questions until eventually Arlynn inadvertantly admitted to her own fault. Linda was prying. For what, Arlynn had no idea.

"No." She answered shortly as she placed down a green card on top of the growing pile, "Uno."

"Oh." Linda replied, as she placed down a green draw two card, "So um...where are you from then?"

Arlynn shrugged, "Around." she answered vaguely. She put down a blue draw two card on top of Linda's. "I win." she announced.

With a frustrated yell, Linda threw down her full hand of cards. "What?! Again?!" she exclaimed. Arlynn couldn't hide a smirk as she picked up the cards.

"Wanna play again?" she asked.

"Fuck no!" Linda exclaimed, her mission seemingly forgotten for the moment.

Arlynn snickered, "You said a potty word..."

Linda sighed as she recomposed herself, "Oh fuck, sorry. Oh shit I did it again." she groaned, "Shit. Ugh! Fuck. Goddammit..." she broke off with a sigh.

Arlynn stayed silent as she stared at the woman, amusement in her gaze. She didn't exactly know what it was about Linda, but something about her just made it so fun to rile her up. ...As long as it wasn't in Arlynn's detriment, of course.

Linda looked at her, "Um...don't repeat anything I just said, alright?"

"Which one? Shit, fuck, or goddammit?" Arlynn asked, fluttering her eyelashes in feigned innocence.

Linda glared at the girl before groaning and putting her face in her hands, "I'm never having kids..."

Arlynn stacked the cards into a neat pile and placed them aside before looking back to Linda. Sensing her stare, Linda lifted her head out of her hands and looked up. "What?" she asked.

"Can we have a tea party?" Arlynn asked.

"A...tea party?" Linda repeated, slightly bewildered. Really, it wasn't a strange request for a five year old to make, but somehow Arlynn hadn't struck her as the 'tea party' type.

"Yeah," Arlynn said slowly, "It's when you-"

"I know what a tea party is." Linda interrupted, "I just-I didn't think-nevermind. Sure, I uh...yeah. I might have some tea around here somewhere..."

Arlynn made a face, "No thank you. Tea is nasty."

Linda blinked, "So, you want a tea party...with no tea?" she asked.

"Mommy usually just made hot chocolate." Arlynn replied.

Linda nodded. Don't question it, Park. "Alright, well I know Kate has a stash of that lying around so I'll just get it ready." It didn't take long for Linda to find her roommate's stash, and after preparing the beverages, she walked out to see Arlynn already sitting at the dining table. Linda placed a warm cup in front of Arlynn and then a slightly larger mug for herself as she took the seat adjacent from the child.

"Ahem." Arlynn cleared her throat loudly before Linda could take a sip of her drink. Linda lowered her cup and looked at the girl.

"What?"

"What about the snacks?" Arlynn asked.

Linda had to withhold a groan. Am I really allowing a five year old to boss me around? She forced a friendly smile. "Right. Silly me, what kind of snacks would you like, hon-erm, Arlynn?"

"Cookies!" Arlynn proclaimed.

Linda walked back into the kitchen and emerged with a package of Oreos. She set them in the center of the table before sitting back down. "There. Is everything to your liking, your majesty?"

Arlynn raised an eyebrow, "Um...we're not eating on plates?"

Linda sighed and stood up once again to walk into the kitchen. It was hardly a moment later when she reemerged with two paper plates. Once again, she gave one to Arlynn and kept the other for herself.

Arlynn stared at her. Linda couldn't hold back an annoyed groan. "What now?"

"And we're just 'posed to eat the cookies out of the package?"

Linda walked back into the kitchen, emerged with another plate, and arranged about a dozen Oreos into a neat pile on the plate. "There. Now we have hot chocolate, plates, and the cookies are arranged. Anything else?"

Arlynn stared at her with an appraising expression. "You're really staying dressed like that?"

Linda looked down at her plain gray jogger pants and black tank top. "What's wrong with how I'm dressed?"

Arlynn rolled her eyes, "This is a tea party."

Linda looked at the black leggings and white Nirvana t-shirt Arlynn wore. "Well, you're not exactly dressed up yourself." she pointed out.

"I'm not the host." Arlynn retorted.

Linda threw her hands up in exasperation. "This was your idea!"

" 'zactly! I've done my part!"

Linda's eye twitched once. Twice. Then she took a breath and took her seat once more. "I'm not changing my clothes." she stated matter-of-factually. No way was she changing an entire outfit for a tea party that wasn't even a tea party because a five year old that she was babysitting told her to.

To her surprise, Arlynn didn't seem too upset by her answer. "Suit yourself." The girl shrugged as she grabbed a cookie.

The little brat was messing with me. Linda realized. She grabbed at her cup a little too quickly which caused some of the liquid to splash onto her lap. She stood, cursing silently and did her best to ignore Arlynn's snickers.

"So are you gonna change now?"

Linda sighed. Maybe I should consider a hysterectomy...

HOUR THREE.

"...and I'll reread the books, if I have time to spare! I'll paint the walls some more, I'm sure there's room somewhere! And then I brush and brush, and brush and brush my hair! Stuck in the same place I've always been! And I'll keep wanderin', and wanderin', and wanderin', and wanderin', when will my life begin?..."

Arlynn sat cross-legged on the living room floor as she stared at the Disney movie playing on the TV screen, her green eyes wide and unblinking. She slipped a small hand in the popcorn bowl next to her and stuffed a buttery handful into her mouth.

From on the couch, now clad in black sweats and a white t-shirt, Linda sighed in relief. This ought to keep her entertained for another hour or so at least... She glanced at the time and withheld a groan. It had only been barely three hours and she was already falling apart. Linda would openly acknowledge that maybe she had bit off a little more than she could chew with this whole babysitting thing, but honestly how was she supposed to know that it would be this hard? She looked back to the child, who was (admittedly) adorable as she watched the movie, entirely entranced. Linda wondered if all kids really were this difficult or if Arlynn was intentionally irritating the hell out of her

She'd bet on the latter.

Linda stood, walking over to the table to grab her laptop before reclaiming her seat on the couch. She glanced at Arlynn once again, ensuring that the child was occupied, before opening it. The tab from her previous session was still up and she read the search bar. 'Arlynn', it read. Scrolling down, she saw that the results were just as useless as they had been when she had first gone through it. 'Arlynn', though not a common name, wasn't exactly a one of a kind. Her search was too broad, too vague. Without a last name, she wouldn't dig up anything useful. Now how to bring that up without looking suspicious.

It was ridiculous, having to tiptoe on eggshells around a five year old, but whether it be unintentional or not, getting any form of information out of Arlynn was like pulling teeth. She couldn't tell if the child was being oblivious or secretive, but any question, any inquisition that Linda asked were either dodged, ignored, or answered in such a way that she gained no real information from it at all. It was irritating is what it was, but it wasn't like Linda could actually do anything about it.

...Without looking like a heartless jerk anyway.

"Linda."

Linda blinked, slightly startled. It was then that she noticed Arlynn was staring at her, her gaze a mixture of annoyance, exasperation, and expectation. It was clear that she had been repeating herself.

"Oh, um, sorry what?" Linda asked.

Arlynn rolled her eyes and held out her popcorn bowl, the only contents now being a few unpopped and partially popped kernels. "More popcorn, please."

Linda frowned in confusion. She hadn't zoned out for that long...had she? "It was full a second ago," she said as she took the bowl, "You ate it all already?"

"Clearly." Arlynn replied.

"You didn't eat before you came here?" Linda asked.

"No."

Oh. Oh. It was officially official: Linda was the worst babysitter ever. How had she not even thought of offering Arlynn anything to eat? Or asking Wally if she had eaten beforehand?

"Um, alright then, why don't we try getting some real food to eat instead?" Linda said as she once again closed her laptop and stood.

"Popcorn isn't a fake food." Arlynn said.

Linda rolled her eyes. The little smartass. "You know what I mean." she said. She could hear the tiny pitter-patter of footsteps as Arlynn followed her into the kitchen.

"So what do you want?" she asked, "I can make you a sandwich or heat up some bagel bites..."

"Popcorn." Arlynn replied stubbornly.

Linda gave the child a pointed look, "So a sandwich then," she said wryly, opening the fridge. "Do you like ham or turkey?"

"Peanut butter and jelly." Arlynn replied. Linda could tell it was just to be difficult. She smirked, two could play it that way.

Closing the fridge, Linda placed all the necessary ingredients on the counter. "Turkey it is. You want cheese?"

Arlynn huffed indignantly.

"I'll take that as a yes." Linda said. She finished preparing the sandwich before walking over to the table and placing it down.

"I want popcorn." Arlynn protested, crossing her arms as she stubbornly refused to move.

Linda rolled her eyes, "Don't be a brat."

Arlynn glared at her, "I'm not a brat."

Linda smirked, "Prove it." She gave an internal cheer of victory when the five year old strode over to the table, climbing onto her chair with some difficulty and taking an exaggerated bite of her sandwich- as if she were making a point to Linda.

Maybe I'm not half-bad at this babysitting thing after all, Linda decided. As she watched the girl eat, it became increasingly evident that Arlynn was in fact, ravenous, as she all but inhaled the sandwich. Hardly five minutes had passed before the child's plate was clean and Linda was half-tempted to offer her more. Before she got the opportunity to, however, Arlynn held the plate out towards her.

"More, please."

HOUR FOUR.

"Arlynn, no."

"Why not?"

Linda almost laughed at the completely indignant expression on the girl's face, as if she didn't realize the complete absurdity of her request. For a moment, she wondered about what it was exactly that went through the child's head that allowed her to rationalize the idea.

"Because no." she replied firmly because in these past few hours she may have complied with quite a few of Arlynn's whims, but this was non-negotiable. "You can't jump off the balcony and use your hair as a rope."

"But 'punzel did it!"

"Rapunzel is a cartoon. Not to mention that it'd hurt like hell and your hair's not near long enough for it to work and-why are you even arguing this? No, Arlynn. Just...no. No."

Arlynn huffed and did (dare she say it) a rather adorable pout. "You're mean."

Linda couldn't even really bring herself to get annoyed. "And you're very welcome. You probably don't get it now, but I just saved your life."

"Hmph."

"Oh, come on... Don't be like that. Hey, we'll do something else, okay? Something non-life threatening." Linda appeased.

Arlynn was quiet for a stubborn moment, but then looked back to Linda with a slightly hopeful expression. "Can I use an umbrella instead?"

"No!" Linda exclaimed, "Okay, let me clarify. Something non-life threatening that doesn't involve jumping off a balcony or any other height."

"That's boring."

"Your idea of fun sounds warped. You know what? Remind me to never let you watch Tangled ever again... or any Disney movie in general just to play it safe."

"I'm bored."

"I've noticed."

"When's Wally coming back?"

"Later."

"How later?"

"Later later." Sensing the conversation going nowhere, Linda was quick to change the topic before Arlynn could reply. "Hey, I know! Why don't we play a game?"

"What game?"

Linda couldn't help but silently marvel at how seemlessly the child's mind switched tracks. "It's called 'Twenty Questions'." she explained. A cheap trick, Linda knew, but hey, if it works...

Arlynn was unimpressed, "That doesn't sound like a fun game." she replied.

"No it is, I promise!"

Arlynn still didn't look convinced.

Linda sighed, "It might help pass time before Wally comes back..."

"Fine," Arlynn relented, "But I wanna go first."

"Ask away." Linda consented.

"Okay. Um... Uh..."

After about two minutes of that, Linda grew impatient. "Maybe I should go, Arlynn?" she suggested.

"No! It's my turn!" Arlynn said defensively. "Um... Hm. Have you...no, I don't wanna ask that one. Uh..."

Linda's left eye twitched.

"Oh! I know!" Arlynn exclaimed after another minute. "Have you ever been to Disneyworld?!"

It took her three minutes to come up with that?!

"A few times, but not since I was twelve. You haven't?" Linda asked.

Arlynn shook her head, "Mommy says she'll take me one day though! And then I can meet Cinderella! And wow, you haven't gone in like a bajillion years then!"

"A bajillion...? Arlynn, I'm 23." Linda replied, slightly offended. Arlynn stared at her. She sighed, recognizing a lost battle when she saw one. "Nevermind. Anyway, it's my turn."

"Nuh-uh!" Arlynn said, "You already had your turn!"

"What? I did not." Linda refuted, confused as to what the girl was talking about.

"Did too!" Arlynn retorted, "You asked if I'd been to Disney World!"

"I-what? That didn't count!" Linda protested.

"It was a question, right?" Arlynn inquired.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then it's my turn now." Arlynn interrupted, "And my question is, um... "

Linda groaned. Note to self: Children are very particular about rules. ...And indecisive.

"What's a orphanage?"

Linda blinked, "You-wha? You don't know what an orphanage is?" Instantly, she regretted saying it. Crap! There goes another one of my turns...

Arlynn shook her head. "It sounded bad when you said it though."

("...Especially ones who hold your entire fate of whether you get taken away to an orphanage in their hands." ) Guilt, oh familiar friend, there you are. Linda forced away the flashback and focused on answering the question. "Well, an orphanage is a place where um... well, when kids don't have parents or...guardians, they go there. Usually." she replied.

"...Oh." Arlynn said. "Um, it's your turn."

Linda was confused at the girl's sudden subdued behavior, and at the fact that Arlynn was letting her go even though she knew that she knew that Linda had already technically used up her second turn. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Park.

"Alright! Uh...where're you from?" she asked. Subtle, Lin, real subtle.

"New York." Arlynn replied.

"Really?" Linda was surprised by the easy answer. "You don't have an accent."

"What's a accent?"

"Nevermind. Your turn."

"I don't like this game."

"Oh, come on! We just started!"

Arlynn shrugged wordlessly.

Linda frowned.

"Hey, are you...um..." She trailed off. Gosh, why did this feel so awkward? She's friggin' five! Pull yourself together! "...What do you want to play instead then?" Coward.

"I wanna go home."

Linda blinked. That had not been what was she was expecting.

"Well, hon-Arlynn. Wally won't be back for a few hours-"

"No! I wanna go home! Not with Wally!" Arlynn exclaimed.

Linda was taken aback by the outburst. Well, shit. She remained quiet for a long awkward moment as she tried to piece together what had led to...this, and what the heck she could do to fix it before tears started flowing. In the end, she could come up with nothing. Well thanks for nothing, useless brain.

"Arlynn, um..." What to say, what to say. "It's...alright. You, uh, you'll go home...eventually."

"When?"

And I guess we're playing the question game again. "Uh, soon." Hopefully, for the both of our sakes... "I mean, maybe not tomorrow or even next week, but-" she stopped as she saw Arlynn's face fall."But what I mean to say is your mom will pull herself together...eventually, and you'll get to see her again. I mean, I obviously haven't spoken to her so I can't give you an exact date, but assuming she was a good mom-though I don't say this to imply that I thought she was a bad mom! I mean I can't tell you she was a great mom or anything since we don't have a relationship or anything like that-though I'm sure she was! Wait, we're talking about your mom right?"

Arlynn blinked, clearly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of word barf that had just exited from Linda's mouth. Linda sighed and tried for a new approach.

"Um, I guess what I'm trying to say is...uh, it's okay?"

"...You're not good at this."

"I know."

HOUR FIVE.

"Ow! Linda, you're pulling!"

"I'm not pulling, you're squirming!"

"Yeah, only 'cause you're pulling!"

"Well, maybe I'd stop pulling if you stopped squirming!"

With an indignant huff of defeat, Arlynn forced herself to remain still as Linda finished off the french braid in her hair.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Linda proclaimed as she tied in a pink ribbon, the finishing touch.

Arlynn scowled and gingerly patted her hair, "Well at least you didn't yank all of it out."

Linda rolled her eyes, "You're welcome." she replied wryly. "You like it?"

Arlynn took a grip of her braid and ran her fingers all the way down to where it ended at her hip. It was...nice, loathe as she was to admit.

"My mommy does it better." she said instead. To her surprise, Linda didn't get indignant, or offended. She just sighed, accepting and resigned (she did that a lot, Arlynn noticed) and gave a simple nod. Arlynn examined her closely. This whole 'staying with Linda' thing was going completely different than she had imagined. For one, a few hours ago Linda had apologized (well, not really, but Arlynn could read in between the lines) and the entire time that Arlynn had been here she had acted nice towards her. It was...weird, after Linda's whole 'Wally's-going-to-eventually-send-you-away' speech/threat thing from yesterday. It was as if she was a completely different person- she was patient with Arlynn (for the most part), and she didn't snap at any of Arlynn's annoying antics (that may or may not have been intentional). Stramge as it may seem, Arlynn couldn't say that she was a big fan of this nicer Linda. Not because of the way she was treated of course, but more because of how unpredictable it made Linda seem. The truth was that Arlynn didn't know what to expect from the older woman, and that fact was something that she hated.

"I'm sure she does." Linda replied and it took Arlynn a second to realize that was in response to her earlier comment.

Arlynn disregarded the resigned statement and looked over to the clock she couldn't read, wondering what time it was. Wally had been gone for a while...was he coming back soon? Then a scary thought: was he coming back at all? Arlynn tried to not let the panic of that thought get to her. Of course Wally was coming back, he had said so himself and he'd never lied to Arlynn...yet. Plus if Wally didn't come back, then there was no way that she'd stay with Linda and since Mommy wasn't around at the moment then Linda would probably call the police and the men in suits would come to take her away and then they'd put her in an orphanage and then Mommy would never be able to find her and-

"Arlynn? Honey."

Arlynn looked back to Linda. Something wet and warm slid down her cheeks and she almost immediately realized what they were. Taking her eye contact away from Linda, she furiously rubbed the tears away.

"Arlynn..."

"I'm fine." Arlynn said. She had already humiliated herself once in front of Linda, no need to do it again.

"Of course you are." Linda said with a sigh.

"Then stop asking." Arlynn snapped.

"I didn't ask."

"Well, you were going to."

Linda went quiet at that and Arlynn took the moment to recompose herself. She hated this- the crying, the wondering, the 'what ifs'. She wanted Mommy and she wanted to go home. Mommy would have never left her here with Linda, in the hands of a complete stranger- except, she kind of did, didn't she? That night when they were on the way to what was apparently Wally's apartment, Arlynn had cried and pleaded with Mommy not to go, or if she had to, to take her with her at the very least. Mommy had been steadfast in her decision, however, and well, you can probably guess how successful Arlynn had been in that endeavor. Wally was nice, much nicer than Linda, and Arlynn liked him enough, but she didn't know him, not really.

She derailed from that train of thought, tracing her fingers over the smooth pink silk tied at the end of her braid, "Ribbon's nice." she said, so softly that Linda almost missed it.

Linda smiled, "I'm glad you like it, honey."

"Arlynn."

"Right."

Knock. Knock.

The moment between the two girls ended abruptly as their attention was drawn to the door. Linda stood up and walked over, opening the door to reveal none other than...

"Wally!" All of Arlynn's previous reservations seemed to dissipate into nothingness as she sprinted to the man and collided into his legs, hugging them tightly.

Wally blinked, surprised by the sudden affection. "Uh, hey kiddo." He looked to Linda questioningly to which he received a shrug and a knowing smirk.

It was only after the two were long departed and Linda was once again alone in the apartment that she realized that she had been able to pry absolutely no useful information from Arlynn. The little sneak... Then it finally occurred to her:

("--Uh...where're you from?"

"New York.")

Okay, so maybe she'd been able to glean one useful thing out of the child, broad as it was it'd still help narrow down her search significantly. She sighed, it'd still be a loooong search though.

Annnd done with chapter nine after...how many months? Sorry about the wait guys, I had to rewrite this chapter I don't know how many times because even I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted it to go in terms of Arlynn and Linda's relationship (at the moment). I apologize for the rushed ending, but I honestly had to cut myself off or this chapter probably would've reached like 8k. Anyway, I hope you liked it!