She led him over to the little place tucked half into the side of a hill, the ceiling open to the sky, though still protected from the elements.

"See, everything I could need, but I'm not trapped." She looked at him very seriously. "I get scared if it's too closed."

"My friends made it for me," she said happily. "And I worked three jobs to save enough money. Look, I even have a bed. I never had one before. Not my own. Just sometimes for a night or two in the shelters."

Her face lit up. "You understand," she said quietly. "I like that so much. That you understand... things."

"I slept in the woods before when I came here. Or in the library if it was too scary to travel at night," she said quietly. "Before here I mostly slept wherever I could. In doorways or in an abandoned building or other places. Mostly with the littlest kids if there were any. To try and keep them safe."

She smiled up at him uncertainly, touching his face. "I hope so. I tried."

"I do," Rain said thoughtfully. "I do trust you."

She smiled and stretched up daringly to brush her lips against his cheek. "Come on, look, I have food for us and blankets to sit on and keep us warm on our picnic."

"Are you cold?" she asked with some concern. "We could have our picnic in here where it's warm if you'd rather."

Rain blushed a little, not entirely sure why she was, and scooped up the backpack with the food and the blankets. "Come on then, I'll show you my favorite place in the forest. This week, at least."

She led the way to a small clearing by a huge tree and set out one of the blankets where they could lean up against the trunk of the tree. "See how nice? Sometimes I would sit out here at night and just watch the stars through the leaves."

Rain curled up happily on the blanket, back against the tree and started setting out the fruit and cheese and crackers. "I'm glad you like it. I never showed it to anyone else before."

Rain shook her head. "Never took anyone on a picnic either. Not here. And mostly for pretend back home. Here it's just me. I have them on my own."

She offered him the other blanket. "Here you can have that. So you can stay warm."

She laughed. "Silly!" But she didn't take it off.

"I'm not worried. I just want you to be happy and comfortable."

Rain reached for a grape and popped it into her mouth. "Oh, it's good." She offered one to him.

She hesitated, then smiled and leaned in to take it with her mouth just as he had. "Thank you."

"You should try the cheese and crackers, too," she said, fixing one for him.