Mercy threw out all the roses, they were all dead anyways. She stopped paying attention to them after awhile, she didn't want to pay attention to them. The box of notes that came with them, she kept those. Instead of having them out for her to look at, she hid the box near the back of her closet, she was hoping she'd forget about them eventually.

It had been raining all week and still, no roses came. She wasn't expecting them anymore, not after the incident. Mercy felt as if the rain was representing how she felt, Newt was completely done with her and her grandmother was going back to New York that night. Mercy didn't want her to leave, she liked having someone around, Alice was her mother figure at this point and she didn't want to let her go quite yet. There was still many things Mercy didn't know about life, there was plenty of things she didn't have the answer to either and she hoped Alice, out of all people could help her find her way.

Alice was all packed, her luggage was in the living room beside the door, just waiting to be picked up and taken away. Mercy wasn't letting Alice go until the evening, she didn't want her to go at all. Alice proposed she'd move in with Mercy eventually but for now she had applied for a job as a fashion designer, her dream job since she was Mercy's age. If she got the job, Mercy knew this would be the last time she'd see her. Alice smiled every time Mercy said she'd miss her but she'd only ever reply with 'you've got Archie now' but Mercy wanted to say that he was only a cat, because he was. A cat can't help her with her problems or make her feel better when she was upset, if they could, Mercy wouldn't need anybody else. Screw real people.

It's was 3:30 and Alice was leaving at 9:30, time was going by fast. Alice and Mercy were sat on the couch, Alice was telling the story of how became interested in the field of fashion.

'I loved to draw' she beamed 'and I loved clothes'

Mercy just nodded along, not really listening.

'So then I discovered you could design clothes and I thought that was the best thing ever' she chuckled

Mercy sighed, quickly sitting up, her eyes travelled to Alice's luggage by the door.

'Why did you put your stuff by the door? Mercy asked 'aren't you just apperating?'

'Yes, I don't know why I did that'

Mercy frowned standing up, she picked up Archie on the way to the kitchen. He was walking in circles beside the couch. Mercy placed him on the floor in front of his drinking bowl when Mercy realized he was out of milk, she rushed to the fridge and pulled out the milk before filling up the shallow bowl. Archie began drinking almost instantly,

'I can't take care of a cat' Mercy sighed sitting down at the kitchen table 'I can barley take care of myself'

The doorbell rang.

Mercy huffed standing up, swinging open the door, nobody was there. Mercy huffed again looking around when she looked down at the cement porch out of habit. And, there it was. Something Mercy had missed for what felt like years, a single red rose. She picked it up and headed for the kitchen, she filled the now empty vase up with water and placed the rose gently in it. Mercy swore she was going to keep this one alive. Searching through the petals she found what she was looking for, a piece of parchment.

Mercy frowned, she felt worse.

Alice waddled down the stairs and joined Mercy in the kitchen, with a warm smile she looked down and read the small piece of parchment.

'Looks like he's staying' Alice said 'just for you'

'How do you know it's for me?'

'Mercy, when will you start listening to me? He likes you, a lot. Just get that through your tiny little brain, you need to listen to me and to him'

Mercy sighed throwing the note onto the counter, Alice grabbed Mercy's hand and dragged her into the living room, sitting her on the couch. Mercy looked over at her grandmother who scurried away for moments only to come with with her kitten, Archie. She placed him on Mercy's lap with a large smile 'take good care of him'

Mercy chuckled petting the tiny animal 'I'll try my best'

'I've made a list for you to keep on the fridge, just things to remember to never run out of'

'What are those? Please tell me' Mercy grinned

'Food, he needs food! Milk or water, whatever he's been drinking. Er... take him to the vet and all that, perhaps get him more toys too.'

Mercy nodded along, Alice stood up and disappeared up the stairs. Mercy sat up on the couch to look out the window, a light layer of snow was falling from the roof. Mercy heard Alice trample down the stairs, she was so used to the noises her grandmother made. She was so used to not being alone, now. Alice sat down on the floor in front of the couch, she had a deck of cards in one hand and two dice in the other.

'Care to join me?'

Mercy grinned sitting on the floor across from Alice, she shuffled and began passing out cards.

'What are we playing?' Mercy asked

'I'm not sure yet'

And for the rest of the night, Mercy and Alice spent their last night with each other laughing and smiling. It was just them two, nothing else was to be worried about. What a great way to a visit, Mercy thought. With laughter and smiles, these are things she never wants to forget.