Florence

We made our way to the train station with as many stops as an elderly women could make inbetween. Rian didn't want us to go anywhere near his grandmother, insisting he was the only one who needed to help her.

"Rian, all I need is another person to lean on! I do not need you to carry me!" She huffed. She was getting annoyed herself. Josh gave me a pleading look. He had asked many times to just ditch him but both Liza and I turned down the offer. He was a warlord after all.

People started getting out of their seats and off benches as the train arrived. We quickly hopped on and immediately went for seats. It was a busy day, and there were barely any free seats. We found some, though they won't together. A guy in a suit tried to sit down but Rian sent him a death glare. He quickly got up and scampered off.

He sat his grandmother down next to the window as Liza and Josh sat down a few rows behind us. He sat down in the middle and scowled at me. "Are you going to sit?" He asked. I looked around. There weren't any available seats so I reluctantly took a seat next to him.

The train took off and we all jolted forward from the sudden movement. Rian made sure his grandmother was okay then went back to brooding. Why did he choose to come with us of all people? Why not order his guards to take him?

"Shouldn't your guards be... guarding you?" I asked. I was trying to not make this long trip into something awkward. Frowning down at me, he looked out the window.

He crossed his arms, and my cheek pressed against his hard bicep. Then he quickly straightened out his hand infront of him. "They are. They're supposed to be back at the hotel but of course they didn't listen." He grumbled. I looked around and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. His guards usually had tattoos of a dragon and a sword on their biceps. They wore also wore black tactical uniforms with the same stand and sword logo.

I couldn't see anyone with that attire.

He pointed to a tall buff man with shoulder-length blonde hair. "That's Jamison. And over there is Jesse. When I was younger I didn't notice them since they were my father's guards. I grew up with with them. They're my-" He stopped himself early. I nodded. "I'm old enough to take care of myself and my grandmother."

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Excuse me?"

He looked down at me and I suddenly felt like a toddler. "H-How old are you? You don't have to answer if you don't want. I was just.." I trailed off, knowing I was just rambling. He looked back out the window and remained silent for a while. "I'm twenty-eight." He muttered.

That meant we were only six years apart. The rest of the trip was silent. His grandmother would sometimes point at something out the window and try to get Rian's attention. He mainly just nodded at her antics. I checked my phone, texting Josh.

'lol sorry. he's kinda scary!' He texted. I looked over my shoulder to see him giving me an sorry look

'It's okay. He isn't too bad.' I replied. I genuinely thought he would've bitten off my head if I so much as looked at him. But now that I've seen him with his grandmother it's a lot easier to see him as just a normal man.

A long while later we finally arrived at Miracle. This seemed to be a popular stop as everyone got up and headed off the train. Rian was pushed away, despite his protests. I guess people were too busy to notice he was the leader of a tribe.

His grandmother seemed a little stunned. Her dull hazel eyes scanned every inch of the train as she tried to look for her grandson. "Here, I'll help you," I offered, holding up my arm. She took it with a greatful smile and let me escort her outside safely. "You're good boy," she praised as we left and departed from the sea of people.

When Rian spotted us he didn't seem too happy. He quickly hooked his arm with her other free one and pulled her away from me. "I can take care of my own grandmother," he grumbled. The way he said it made it seem like he needed to prove it. Strange.

Josh and Liza caught up to me and we instantly started talking about where we were going. Liza suggested we meet at the new mall so we quickly texted our friends the location. I thought that was it, that Rian would go his own seperate way but after we left the train station he stuck to us like glue. He didn't want his grandma to wander to far so he made her stick by his side permanently.

"Why didn't you just fly here? Y'know, with your dragon wings?" Josh asked like it was nothing. It wasn't nothing! Rian scoffed but he didn't seem amused. "One cannot simply fly into a city. There are laws in place." He answered with snark. Liza gave me a quizzical look.

We kept waking in the city, preferring the old-fashioned way rather then bus. It did have it's downsides, with his grandma stopping every once and awhile. Eventually when we were a block away from the mall Rian demanded we stopped. "My grandma needs a break and something to eat. She wants to go into that cafe over there," he stated, pointing to a cute corner cafe.

"Dude, we're like, a minute walk from where we need to go." Liza spoke up. Somewhere along the way she lost her patience with him. "Excuse me? My grandmother is tired and she needs to rest!" He exclaimed. I noticed the two guards in disguise a few feet away from us, discreetly looking up from their phones and over to our way. "Rian it's fine! I won't bloody fall apart!" His grandmother snapped. I then looked at her and she did seem red in the face and puffed out.

"It's okay guys, I'll stay here with them. Tell them we"ll meet up later." I sighed. Josh rolled his eyes and Liza pursed her lips together. Rian already began pushing her grandmother to the cafe. I followed behind and into the neat cafe. It had a vintage pink look.

We took a seat outside and took a look at the menu. I quickly put it out there that I didn't want anything which he didn't argue with. He left to go order it so I was just left here with grandmother.

"My names Aubrey, by the way." She said with a smile. "My idiot grandson never gives me a break. He's not usually that nasty, I promise." I smiled at back and nodded. "I didn't really think he was nasty. I just think he's... scary." I admitted. She chuckled, fiddling with the menu. "Because he's a dragon or because he's a warlord?" She said the last bit in a mocking tone. "Both?" I mumbled. She took in a slow breath then exhaled with a look of being content. "I haven't been this relaxed in awhile. This war had been around for longer than I have- and that's saying a lot."

I raised my brow. "I hope you don't mind me asking but how old are you?" I asked. That probably would've been a better way of asking earlier. "I hit the ripe age of one hundred and six," she said with a gesture of her hands like she was shocked. My jaw went slack. This women only looked seventy two! "Dragons live for quite awhile, sweetie." She clarified.

Rian came back with what they ordered, then handed me a small peice of light green cake. I looked up and he looked away. "T-Thank you. What's in it?" I asked, A little stunned. "It's pistachio cake."

I looked down at my plate and gulped. I didn't want to seem rude but I had to say it. "O-Oh. I'm allergic to pistachios.."

He groaned then took the plate away from me. "Fine." He sat down and began to eat the cake while Aubrey sipped her tea. A few minutes went by of silence between us three until Josh appeared next to me. "What are you doing here?" I asked with a smile as I noticed my old friends. I quickly waved. "I got bored waiting so I came to see if you were ready." He shrugged while looking around. "Ooh. What's this? A date?" He joked. I slapped his arm with a smirk.

"I'm not fucking gay."

All heads turned Rian's way. By Josh's silence I could tell he was shocked and probably a little hurt. Aubrey hit her grandson and began scolding him. "Nevermind. I'll meet you at the mall." Josh quickly said before walking off. I looked down into my lap and listened to them have a small argument. His guards were closer now, sitting right across from us and even they didn't seem impressed.

Somehow, even I felt a bit hurt from this.

A sort of longer one for you all <3

I hope you're all being smart and hygienic with this virus going around. If your school closed- good on you honestly. If not then I guess you don't have an excuse for staying home during school hours. To those of you who keep buying the goddamn toilet paper please stop I cannot wipe my ass!

But seriously please be safe guys.