The walk home was pretty quiet for most of it. It's not like I was mad or anything. I was just thinking about what had happened. I'm starting to learn that you shouldn't expect Byte to initiate conversations, Actually you shouldn't really even expect him to speak unless he is spoken to. ‘Except for the conversation that happened just a bit ago’ I thought to myself.

“Hey, I kinda want to ask you something” I said in a soft tone while I walked. “Why did you accept their invitation like that. It's not that I don't want to go, but it's not often that you speak up for yourself. You kinda just go with the flow, know what I mean?”

“I don't really have any friends” Byte said while looking at me.

“Well yeah of course not, you just got here and you've been at the school for a day, these things take time you know” I remarked as I looked up at him.

“No, those are ‘your’ words. You told me earlier today when we met that you didn't really have any friends, so I saw this as an opportunity for you to make some. That's why I accepted their invitation.” He explained as we walked back.

At that moment it hit me like a brick. ‘He was thinking about me, it wasn't some spur of the moment type of thing. He was trying to help me make friends. I could feel my cheeks starting to burn slightly, I know the feeling all too well. I was blushing. Byte saw my face and got down to my eye level, and drew close to my face.

“You seem to be overheating, what is your malfunction?” He asked in his stoic tone.

I let out a small shriek and covered my face “THERE IS NO MALFUNCTION, GET OUT OF MY FACE!”

“I see” he spoke as he kept walking.

‘Good thing we are almost home, I'm exhausted’ I thought to myself as the trip was almost over. But then suddenly I let out a small gasp as I had remembered something.

“Oh my gosh, this is bad!”

“Another malfunction?” Byte retorted as he studied me

“No, it's that I haven't even told my parents about you? How am I going to explain this?” I broke down into a ramble about how they would never let a boy stay with us especially while I'm still in school.

“I'll just find a place to go until tomorrow when we go reconvene with Yua and Reiji.” Byte said as he watched me have my panic attack.

I looked at him and remembered how I felt when I told him he couldn't come into the school earlier today. I felt terrible, gut wrenchingly awful, and I couldn't do that to him again.

“No, you're coming home with me. I'm not letting you stay out here in the cold, if you think I'd do something like that, think again.” I announced in a cool voice.

“But how are you going to convince your parents?” Byte questioned.

“Hmmmm” I said as I thought about what to do. As we approached my house I decided that I would tell my parents that Byte was a boy I had known in elementary school, but he had transferred away from the district that I went to at the end of our fourth year. I also decided to tell them that Byte lived on his own and was having trouble with getting a new dorm for the year and had nowhere to go at the moment: and to ask them if he would be able to stay with us for awhile until he found a place to go. Lastly, for the sake of not rousing the suspicion of my parents, ‘Biitos’ last name would be ‘Tosai’ which is an anagram for my last name that I happened to come up with. I had zero confidence in my plan, but if push came to shove I'd just grovel at their feet to not put him out on the street. Finally, the moment of truth, we arrived at my house.

‘I don't think this is going to work’ I thought to myself.

“That's fine with us!” my parents spouted in unison. The timing was almost comedic, and the shock was plastered across my face, I can't believe they were going with this.

“We only ask that Biito sleeps on the couch and not in your room. Even if he is your boyfriend you know we cant let you guys stay together for the night” my dad teased.

“HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND DAD” I spouted as my face turned red.

“Thank you very much for having me, I promise to obey the rules of the house and not make you regret having me.” Byte said as he bowed his head to my parents. My mom and dad had sweet smiles on their faces as they looked at him.

“Awe he's sooooo sweet” my mom said in her usual soft tone. “And polite too, you better not let this one slip away Eri”

“MOM” I spouted once more as her and dad let out a hearty laugh and Byte smiled at me.

Before I knew it, it was getting late. We spent a good bit chatting with my parents about our downright bizarre day (while leaving out the even more bizarre details) and watching TV. I had grabbed Byte some blankets and brought them down to his makeshift bed on the couch and handed them to him.

“Are you comfy?” I asked him.

“Indeed, I think this stasis will be quite substantial” Byte said while wrapping himself in a blanket.

“Are you going to be okay down here by yourself?” I asked him yet another question.

“If someone tries to intrude upon this facility I'll gore them with a utensil from the sink.” Byte said as he smiled up to me.

I let out a slight chuckle “Your vocabulary is really something else, sometimes I don't even understand what you mean.” I commented as I smiled back at him laying on the couch.

“That a fact?” he questioned as he looked up at me.

“No, but at the rate you're going, who knows” I teased as I gave him a little head pat. I walked over to the doorway before turning back around to face him. “Goodnight” I said before turning back around and leaving the room.

“Goodnight” Byte spoke quietly into the moonlit room.