Ryden's Palace.

[Ryden Hertz]

That comment Crash just said made Ryden smile. "Good to know. Cause I love you too, Crash." She said and kissed his neck softly, seeing that was the only part of his body near her lips at the time.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash smiled and just sat with her in his arms for a while, mauling over everything that happened in his mind from the time he came in. He was glad he was able to do this - tell her how much he cared about her and help her when she needed it. "Well I'm glad", he muttered in her hair, shivering from her kiss. It wasn't like a pleasurable shiver - it was just that she kissed his neck. Everyone's neck was sensitive.

After a while, Crash untangled himself from her and stood up, offering his hand to help her. "Come on, kiddo."

[Ryden Hertz]

"I don't want to go anywhere." She whispered and hugged her knees. "I can't go anywhere.."

[Crash Bandicoot]

He fixed her with a confused look. "...What...what? I just wanna get out of the bathroom. Come on", Crash tried, offering his hand again.

[Ryden Hertz]

Ryden sighed and gripped Crash's hand. "Okay okayy.." She pushed off the bathroom floor with her feet.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash did the rest, pulling her gently up from the ground and the proceeding to pick her up and carry her bridal style out of the bathroom. He set her down in the living room on the couch and popped a squat next to her. "So. Hungry?"

[Ryden Hertz]

"A little.." She said as she went to get off the couch. "What would you like to eat?" Ryden startedc walking to the kitchen to make food.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash was right in front of her, his arm shooting out and catching her around the waist as he carried her back to the couch. "That is what I should be asking you", he said, fixing her with a slightly amused look. "Whaddya want?"

[Ryden Hertz]

"Bu, wha......" She sighed and smirked. "Then i don't want anything.." She said as she got the remote and turned the tv to FEARnet.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash's eyes narrowed. "That's not even kind of fair", he mumbled, going to stand in front of the tv. "Look. You helped me when I was sick, right? Now it's your turn. So I'll try this again - whaddya want? And besides - I'm kind of kick-ass at cooking in case you weren't aware."

[Ryden Hertz]

"Make me anything." Ryden smiled her normal smile, what ever it was. She then giggled a little and pointed her hand to the door for him to walk and make food. "Go my kind sir,"

[Crash Bandicoot]

Smirking but rolling his eyes, Crash disappeared into the kitchen. He actually thought long and hard about what he was going to make her. It really shouldn't have taken him twenty minutes to think about it but he kind of wanted it to be nice.

Another hour went by before Crash came out with breakfast. He set a plate of sausage, bacon, and eggs in front of her. Then waffles topped with strawberries and whipped cream and placed a glass of orange juice in front of her. "Breakfast."

[Ryden Hertz]

she just looked at all the food. "Crash, she out did yourself." Ryden looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you. But you know yuo are going to have to help me, right?' She laughed and took a peice of bacon and put it in her mouth.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash shrugged, sitting next to her and crossing a leg over the other. But then a thought entertained him and he smirked, propping his chin in his hand. "Mmm...I think it'd be much more amusing to watch you stuff your face."

[Ryden Hertz]

"I mean i could eat it all.. but it won't be a nice sight.." Ryden llooked up at him. After a few seconds she started to dig in.

[Crash Bandicoot]

He watched her eat fro a while before saying 'Fuck it' and helping her. He grabbed a fork and started on the eggs and waffles. "You wouldn't have been able to finish it all anyway", he said over the food in his mouth.

[Ryden Hertz]

She almost choked from his comment. "You serious? You don't think i could eat it all?" Ryden laughed hard. "You're funny babe.." She smirked as her name-calling.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash just fixed her with an amused look and surveyed everything he cooked. "No, I don't think you could eat it all. Maybe you'd come pretty damn close but there's no way in Hell you'd finish eating all of it...babe" With that, he picked up a piece of sausage and bit it in half, smirking at Ryden.

[Ryden Hertz]

Ryden rolled her eyes playfully and took the rest of the sausage out of Crash's mouth and ate it. "You're so wrongggg."

[Crash Bandicoot]

He opened his mouth in protest and then closed it only to whine childishly and pout a little. "Whatever, Ryden. Whatever floats your broken boat...." Crash tossed a strip of bacon in his mouth before laying back against the couch, tilting his head back. "We should...go do something fun today", he said to no one in particular.

[Ryden Hertz]

She didn't even hear him, she was too busy eatting. Ryden took some of the eggs and lightly layed them on Crash's chest. "You can have them, the rest is mine.." Ryden laughed lightly and finished the plats of food.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash glanced down to stare at the plate of eggs on his chest. He fixed Ryden with a slightly amused, slightly irritated look but smirked and just started eating the eggs. It didn't take him long to finish, so when he did, he just held the fork in his mouth. "You didn't answer me, y'know." He scrunched his face at the use of Tawni's word and reached his hand up to wipe the piece of egg from the corner of Ryden's mouth, flicking it behind them.

[Ryden Hertz]

Ryden looked up at him. "What? Ohh, um we can go somewhere i guess...." She then looked down at her forearms. "I would need a sweatshirt though..." She whispered lightly, just touching the scars on her arm. She wanted to push on them, wanted to make them go away forever. So, she tried. She pushed on the scars, still healing, hard, shouting at the pain she was putting on them.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash's eyebrows scrunched together in irritation. "What the fuck? Don't do that", he snapped because she was causing herself obvious pain. He caught her hands, holding them up to eye-level. "Go get a sweatshirt", he muttered, staring at the scars on her arms a bit worriedly.

[Ryden Hertz]

Ryden sighed and got up, holding her arms behind her back as she walked up to her room. Once she got there, She looked at her arms.

"Why do you do this to yourself? Why do you hurt yourself? You have amazing friends... well one.. and he hates when you hurt yourself... so why do it? You want him happy, don't you Ryden? Oh, of course i want him happy..." Ryden sighed and lightly brushed the scars. "Damn you Tyler. Damn you Ryan. DAMN YOU AND FUCK YOU!" She shouted and hit the wall of her room with her fist, hard.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash only allowed himself three seconds to think before he bolted up the stairs to Ryden's room. That was it. He understood her pain - really. He did. He understood the fact that she was feeling like this. He got it. He just couldn't bare to hear her hurt herself anymore and there was no way in Hell he was gonna stand for it.

Once he got to her room, Crash didn't even look at her fully, he just charged...or more like turned her around and pinned her to the wall, his hands on either side of her head. He was breathing hard, his breath coming out in labored gasps like he'd been running for quite a while. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Crash pushed himself to talk. "Please...." he barely whispered. "Please....don't...."

[Ryden Hertz]

Ryden's breaths were in sync with Crash's. She couldn't even say anything. And to look up at him was just out of the question. All Ryden could do was look at her scars. "They did this to me... I.... cant... i can't.... i can't stop myself..." She whispered. Her whole hand was covering her scars on her left arm. She squeezed her arm tightly. Anyone could tell that she was already in pain and she was pushing more pain onto it. She slid down the wall, still squeezing her arm tightly.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash's teeth clenched together. Something snapped then. Something in his mind. His...mentality just couldn't handle this. He needed to help her and he had to do it now. He bent down so he could be on her level and looked at her intensely. He tried everything. Well...maybe not everything but pretty much every goddamn thing he could think of. His mind was screaming at him that this was the only way now...

"Maybe you're right", he said, leaning closer to her and placing a hand under Ryden's chin. "Maybe you just can't stop yourself...but I'm sure as hell gonna try." Leaning closer, he slowly lowered his eyes until he could barely see her, tipping her head upwards so he could hesitantly press his lips to hers.

[Ryden Hertz]

Then, out of the blue, Ryden's hand fell from her arm. She didn't know why, or what was even going on. All she did was what she would normally do; Ryden pushed her lips back onto Crash's, her hand rested on his cheek now.

[Crash Bandicoot]

He felt himself relax once he knew Ryden's hand was off of her arm. He moved his hand up to trace the outline of her face before letting it rest on her right chis fingers tangle in her hair. It was weird to say that...he felt relaxed. With everyone else, Crash found that he was REALLY hyper inside but with Ryden, he just felt like himself. It was weird...but a nice weird. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant but it was a nice change. His lips moved slowly with hers at first but instinct made him speed up just a tad.