A/N: new chappie, finally! enjoy!

Chapter 2: A Haircut

Wendy sat on the table in the small room where she first woke up as the sun began to set while she read one of the books Ebony had pulled out before she'd left. She was still upset over Ebony's death, but she couldn't understand why she had reacted the way she did. Edward hadn't been that upset, and if he was, he didn't show it.

She sighed and placed the book on the table then pushed off of it and trudged toward the door. She was bored with reading, and couldn't help but wonder what Edward was doing. She went into the library to look for an empty notebook, which she quickly found on the desk and she grabbed another pencil then hurried up the stairs, thinking about what she would do when she got there, how she would approach Edward.

Rounding into the room she slowed her steps, not wanting to startle him, wherever he was. She couldn't help but glance out of the hole in the roof she decided to call a window but when she did, she stopped dead. The sunset was filled with beautiful pinks and greens that turned into royal blues of the night.

A small snip sounded behind her and she jumped as she spun around to see Edward standing behind her.

"I'm sorry," he murmured in his small voice. Wendy sighed to slow her racing heart then smiled reassuringly. She opened to the first page of her notebook and quickly wrote something on it then held it to Edward.

What are you doing?

Edward looked at her and shrugged, silently telling her "nothing." Wendy frowned and wrote something else for Edward to read.

Aren't you bored? she asked.

"Bored?" he asked back and Wendy nodded. "No," he said, shaking his head. "I don't think so."

Wendy once again scribbled something on her notebook.

I am.

"Oh," Edward replied, not knowing what else to say. They stood there in silence before Wendy glanced back at the "window" and wrote in the notebook again.

The view is beautiful, don't you think?

Edward glanced behind her and nodded but Wendy had hoped for more of a response. She smiled and started walking toward him but he took a step back. She stopped then decided to gently wave him over to her. He cautiously walked toward her as she continued smiling and held a hand to him.

Edward stood next to her as she tugged on his arm and turned to the "window." He glanced from the "window" to her in puzzlement. She was just standing there, staring out at the sunset, still holding his arm.

Living in the castle all by himself for so long, he'd never had anyone to ask what he was doing or try to do things with him. Even when Ebony was there, she was always busy doing something else and only came up to ask if he was hungry or if he needed anything. But this girl just wanted to stand here with him and stare at the sunset. Edward couldn't understand it, but if she wanted to then it wouldn't hurt. He had nothing better to do.

He looked back at her again and couldn't help looking at her hair. It was thick and wavy locks of ivory white and she had bangs hanging past her brows, almost completely in her eyes. He couldn't help it when his free hand came up and snipped at a wild curl, cutting it to even out her hair. Wendy snapped her gaze to him and he quickly pulled his hand back, but he pulled it too quickly and one of the blades left a nick on his chin. Edward winced and Wendy gasped as he only let his arm down.

She let go of his arm and turned to face him directly, then using the end of her sleeve she wiped the blood from his chin. He stared at her as she cleaned his face and was reminded of the way Peg, Kim's mother, used to help him whenever he cut his face. She was gentle and always concerned, as Wendy was gentle now. He liked it.

Wendy nodded to ask if he was alright and Edward nodded back with an ever so slight smile which made her smile back. He couldn't help but stare at her hair. Oh, what he could do with her hair. She had enough to make a masterpiece, if she'd let him. His hand came up again and she glanced from it to his face, shrinking back slightly.

She opened her notebook again as Edward pulled his hand away and she scribbled something in it.

Are you trying to cut my hair?

Edward looked at her with wide eyes, wondering how she could know and wondering if Ebony had given her the ability to read minds. He nodded cautiously and Wendy grinned to his surprise, and spun around with her back facing him. Edward stared at her back dumbfounded for a moment then lifted his hands to her hair. Wendy stayed perfectly still when she heard a single snip behind her, then a second, then another, then several in a row. She couldn't help but glance at the hair that flew out from behind her as he continued cutting in fast snips. She wondered if he was stopping once to see how far he had gotten.

Wendy closed her eyes, not wanting to see how much of her hair was being detached from her head, and soon, the snipping slowed then came to a stop. She opened her eyes and immediately noticed he had cut her bangs then turned around cautiously to frown at Edward. He smiled and nodded, but Wendy wanted to know what he had done to her hair.

She placed a hand on her bangs and smoothed her fingers down her forehead to find her bangs straightened and thinned out a bit. She lifted her hand and felt a mass of curls thread through her fingers. The curls were set high on her head, and how did it, she didn't know, but she liked it. She wished she could see what she looked like with it.

Edward stared at her expectantly, and Wendy quickly opened her notebook and scribbled something in it.

I like it, very much, Edward. Thank you.

"You're welcome," he mumbled with a small smile. He suddenly realized, as Wendy turned to watch the sunset again, he wasn't as alone as he was before. He had someone who was very much like him. She had been created, but never finished.

She suddenly started scribbling in her notebook again and Edward gave a small frown.

Where do you sleep?

Edward lifted a blade on his hand to his little corner with pictures and Wendy glanced at it then scribbled in her notebook again.

You don't sleep in a bed?

He shook his head slowly.

There are two beds in the room Ebony said was mine. Why don't you take one?

Edward shook his head.

Why not?

He said nothing as Wendy frowned at him in wonder before he turned back to his area and shuffled toward it to sit on the stool in the middle of it.

"Bad things might happen," he finally muttered and Wendy's frown deepened before she stepped toward him slowly, writing in her notebook.

Bad things?

Edward nodded, pointing a blade to the floor and making a circle in the wood.

What do you mean by bad things?

He looked up at her and somehow, he knew he wasn't going to get away without explaining everything that had happened in town. He looked up to speak to her, only to find her scribbling in her notebook.

Ebony told me that the only time you left here, bad things happened. Is that what you mean by 'bad things'?

Edward's dark eyes widened at her before he bowed his head and nodded, mutely. Wendy stepped closer, but he didn't move as she sat down next to him, setting her notebook in her lap. Only when she set a hand on his arm, sitting on his knee, did he look up at her in uncertainty, but she only smiled sweetly and set her head down on her hand. He stared at her with wide eyes, not knowing exactly what she was doing but it reminded him of something Kim might do.

The thought of Kim made him stand to walk away, and when he did, Wendy fell forward, almost hitting her head on the stool he'd been sitting on. She frowned and quickly sat up to watch him march toward the door, wondering what she had done. She looked to the niche in the wall and realized the clippings had everything to do with hands, whether they were pictures or articles.

She suddenly realized how hard it must have been for him to live all these years with scissors for hands. She was sure he must have felt so alone, and he was probably unsure of how to live with someone else. Ebony had told her he'd gone to the town down the hill, but she never did tell her what had happened, how long he'd stayed or who he'd met. She suddenly felt a pressure in her chest and placed her hand over her heart with a frown.

What was this feeling? Her heart wasn't racing, as it had before when she had been introduced to Edward, so it couldn't have been nerves. Still frowning, she stood with her notebook and pencil in hand and hurried toward the door to head after Edward to ask him about it.

Suddenly, the floor fell out from under her feet and she found herself chest deep in the hole of the wood floor. Her notebook skittered across the wood in front of her and she opened her mouth in an attempt to cry out, but not a sound came out. It was a natural reaction, but a useless one, nonetheless. She struggled to keep herself above the floor, kicking her feet and pushing up to try to pull herself up, but she wasn't strong enough. She could feel herself slipping and her heart began to race in fear as she felt near to tears of panic.

Wendy pounded her hand on the wood, hoping Edward would hear and come to help her. She continued doing this until she suddenly hear the wood creek and had a horrible feeling about what was going to happen next. She was right. The wood below her hands gave way and she opened her mouth in a silent scream as she fell farther through the hole, but her hand tried to grip something in front of her. What she ended up gripping felt like leather and metal, and a buckle was pressing harshly into her palm under her death grip.

Looking down she saw her own feet dangling above darkness before she looked up to see a pale, now familiar face staring down at her, her hand gripping his shoulder.

"Grab my arm!" Edward called, lowering his other arm carefully in front of her down the hole and she gripped his upper arm to let him wrap his arm carefully around to her back, making sure he didn't stab or cut her with his blades.

He struggled to pull her up, and when she was far enough out of the hole, she threw her arms around him, the action throwing him off balance and sending them to the floor behind him, Edward on his back and Wendy landing on top of him. They coughed as dust kicked up around them, but the only coughing heard was from Edward as Wendy lifted her head, waving the dust away from their faces before looking at him with wide, grey eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked, shyly and Wendy swallowed before nodding.

She quickly shoved herself off of him, being careful not to go through the new hole in the floor and sat next to him, placing a hand over her heart in a feeble attempt to slow its pounding. She suddenly pushed her hands into her lap, feeling them shaking. In fact, she was shaking all over. She was sure it had to be from the shock of nearly falling to her death, but there was another factor to the reaction, she could tell.

"You're sure you're alright?" Edward hoped, now sitting up and staring at her. "Your face is red."

Wendy shot a wide-eyed gaze to him and quickly placed her hands over her cheeks to feel that her face was on fire and she didn't know why. She looked away from him in thought before seeing her notebook some feet away from them. She scrambled toward it to grab it and brought it back as Edward watched her, transfixed on her every movement. Her pencil flew across the page before she lifted it with trembling hands for him to read.

Where did you go?

"I was going to check on the plants in the courtyard," he replied. "I heard you pounding on the wood and hurried back."

Wendy stared at him before she smiled and wrote something on her page again.

Thank you.

"You're wel-!"

He was cut off with a grunt when Wendy threw herself at him again, her arms around his neck and her face buried in his shoulder. He blinked ahead, suddenly remembering her reaction in the library earlier and lowered his arms carefully around her, thinking she was crying again. To his surprise, when she lifted her head, she was smiling and it made him frown in wonder, but he said nothing as she turned back to writing.

I think we should go to bed now.

Edward nodded and they both stood, Wendy tugging on his arm to help him to his feet and when she started pulling him toward the door, he stayed still, making her turn back and frown at him.

"I sleep here," he reminded her and Wendy quickly went to writing again.

Not tonight. You sleep in the extra bed in my room tonight. I won't take 'no' for an answer.

Edward looked to her with wide eyes filled with panic but she only smiled and tugged on his arm again to lead him down the stairs and into a room with two beds on either side of the room, a window in the center above a desk with a small lamp on it. Wendy pointed to the bed to her left then pointed to herself before pointing to the bed to the right and pointing to Edward. He understood what she was trying to say: the one on the right was his.

Wendy skipped toward the bed to the left, surprising herself at how involuntary the skip was before plopping herself onto the bed and Edward shuffled toward the bed on the right and sat as well. She kicked off her shoes before pulling aside the blankets as Edward watched her and she suddenly stood again to step toward him, making him frown up at her when she stood in front of him. She gestured that he lay down and he looked around cautiously before doing so.

The mute girl pulled the blankets over him as he shifted onto his back, his hands held up at his chest and she only smiled down at him. Her smile was so delicate and sweet that it made him smile, making her smile widen. She lifted a hand and moved one of his wild curls from his face before patting his shoulder and mouthing, 'Good night.'

"Good night," he murmured and Wendy nodded before turning off the lamp on the stand and getting into the bed across the room.

Edward closed his eyes and didn't notice that he hadn't stopped smiling, even after he fell asleep.

A/N: not much dialogue but i hope i put in enough actions to make it exciting and readible. reviews?