After that day in the parlor, life continued on pretty normally for Heather and Brahms, the only difference was that instead of having to carry a doll around all day, she had a grown man following behind her everywhere she went.
Heather was trying to work with him on how to behave like a grown man and not like the little boy his parents had forced him to be his whole life, She had Brahms move into the guest room right next to her own since she didn't want him living in the walls anymore and he didn't want to go back to his childhood bedroom.
Brahms was still requesting that she tuck him in at night as well as give him his goodnight kiss, and though she tried to stop him, he always managed to shift his head at the last second and their lips would touch.
She thought about trying to wean him off their nightly ritual, but had decided to hold off on that for now; mainly because Heather secretly enjoyed their small goodnight kiss, though she felt ashamed for admitting so.
It was a month later and the two of them were in the study reading together when they heard the front door slam shut, "Heather?" Malcolm called out.
Just like every time before Brahms slipped into the walls to hide while Heather moved towards the kitchen to greet Malcolm.
"Good afternoon, Malcolm." She greeted entering the kitchen.
Malcolm looked up at her and smiled brightly, "And a very good afternoon to you as well."
Heather walked over and began helping him unload the groceries. The two worked in silence for a few moments before one of them spoke up.
"So how has everything been this week? Brahms giving you any trouble?" He questioned with a nervous smile. While she had been able to hide the fact that Brahms was still alive, Malcolm was still under the impression that the doll was possessed and was constantly inquiring as to whether she was alright.
Heather chuckled, "Everything has been just fine, and he has been a perfectly well behaved boy."
"That's good to hear," He nodded, "Where's the little bugger at then?"
"I just put him down for a nap." She motioned up to the second floor.
He hummed and nodded in understanding, "Have you heard anything from Blake since he left?"
Heather froze for a fraction of a second but recovered quickly and shrugged, "Not since he left here. I was honestly surprised at how easy it was to get him to leave."
Malcolm nodded in agreement, "I know, I thought for sure you were going to have to call the police to get him out of here."
She gave him a shaky smile, "I know." and they lapsed back into silence.
Finally after they were done unloading the groceries Malcolm turned to face her and gave a nervous smile.
"So Heather," He began and she looked over at him curiously, "I know we've talked about it before but everything was kind of hectic then, what with you just getting here and settling in." Heather waited patiently for Malcolm to reach him point, "So I was thinking you might finally let me take you out on that date." He finished hopefully.
Heather stared at him for a minute as she tried to figure out how to respond. She liked Malcolm, really she did, but she didn't care for him in the way he obviously wanted her to. He was her best friend, and besides she was kind of busy battling with her emotions towards Brahms.
She had developed a deep attraction for the man child, but she had been hesitant to do anything about it, worrying that she would be taking advantage of his innocent mind.
"Malcolm," She sighed and gave him a small smile, "I care about you, but you're my best friend, and I don't want to jeopardize our relationship by trying to create something that just isn't there. You're a great guy, and handsome too; you'll find somebody... but I'm just not that someone."
Malcolm deflated a bit at her confession but nodded his head, "I understand." He picked up his crate and jacket and began heading for the door, "I'll, uh, I'll see you around, yeah?" and with that he walked out of the house and to his car.
Heather sighed sadly, she hated hurting Malcolm, but she just didn't have those feelings for him.
"Heather..." Brahms called quietly from the doorway, "Are you okay?"
She nodded and turned to face him with a small smile, "Yes Brahms, I'm fine." She walked over to him, "Come on let's go finish that chapter."
The two walked back into the study and continued where they left off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During dinner that night Heather looked over at her companion, "Brahms, can I ask you something?"
He looked up at her and nodded.
She took a breath, "What happened to Emily Cribbs?"
Brahms just stared at her for a minute and Heather was starting to get worried, when he finally answered quietly, "Emily didn't follow the rules."
Heather tensed up at his answer and reached over and grasped his hand, "Brahms, did you hurt Emily?"
He shook his head emphatically, "No, no I didn't hurt Emily. She didn't follow rules and that's why she died."
"Tell me what happened, Brahms." She demanded softly.
He sighed, "We were playing by the river and Emily wanted to climb the big tree that the swing hung from, but we weren't supposed to climb trees alone in case we got hurt. I told Emily that we had to follow the rules or else we'd get into trouble, but she wouldn't listen and climbed to the very top of the tree."
"What happened then?" Heather asked quietly, though she had a feeling she already knew what happened.
"I told her to get down or I would tell mummy and daddy, but she didn't listen. I finally talked her into coming down, but she decided to jump instead." He frowned sadly, "When she hit the ground, she twisted her ankle and fell, and she hit her head on a big rock. I tried to wake her up but she wouldn't move, so I ran home to tell mummy and daddy. But they didn't believe me when I told them what happened. They thought I hurt her, but I didn't do it."
Heather looked over at him, "Oh Brahms." She stood up and walked around the table to hug him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (LIYE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day Heather and Brahms were in the kitchen making breakfast, well Heather was making breakfast while Brahms sat at the table and watched.
"Heather?" Brahms spoke up as he watched her move about the kitchen.
She looked over at him and smiled, "Yes?"
"What's a date?"
Heather stopped mixing the batter and turned to face him, "What do you mean?"
"Well," He started and frowned curiously, "When Malcolm was here yesterday, he asked you to go on a date with him but you said no. I was just wondering what a date was?"
"Oh," She said simply as she tried to figure out how to explain it to him, "You see Brahms, when two people really like each other as more than friends, sometimes they will go on dates so they can get to know each other better and see if they could be compatible in a relationship, and eventually as time goes on and they continue dating they can fall in love and possibly get married in the future."
He was quiet for a moment as he thought over the information she had just given him. Finally, he looked over at Heather and asked, "Would you go on a date with me?"
Heather stared at him in shock, "You...I... You want to go on a date with me?"
He simply nodded his head and smiled at her hopefully.
"Brahms," She sighed, "I would love to go on a date with you, but I don't think it would be right of me to."
Brahms looked down sadly, "Why not?"
She opened and closed her mouth several times before answering, "Well, because I don't think you completely understand what dating is, and so I would be taking advantage of you by agreeing to go on a date."
"I understand what dating is," He said seriously, standing to his feet, "Dating leads to love, which leads to marriage; and marrying someone is what you do when you want to be with them forever."
He was standing so close to her now, the two of them just staring into each other's eyes. Heather felt her breath catch at how utterly handsome this man was.
"So," He began bending his face down closer to hers, "Will you go on a date with me, Heather?"
She stood there contemplating for several minutes, while she would love to date Brahms, Heather still couldn't shake the feeling that she was taking advantage of his childlike mind. But standing there waiting for her answer, he looked so hopeful. Heather didn't want to see that crushed look appear on his face.
"I..." She hesitated, still trying to make up her mind, finally, she smiled up at him and nodded, "Yes, Brahms. I would love to go on a date with you."