"I will open my mouth in parables."

[Ciel]

(Paisley Hopkins continued from Matthew 13:35 KJV : )

The sugar rushed through Paisley's veins. It felt good. She wished she had more candy. She wanted to eat as much as she could before she left.

Paisley placed the glass shard down and reached for something in her pocket. What she found, instead, was the condom she found days before. On the first day she blushed and shoved it into her pocket. Now, she just flipped it over in her fingers and wondered if Corin was still alive. He was her first kiss, after all.

She flicked it away with her index finger. Stop being silly, she told herself. It wasn't like she was ever going to use it anyway. Besides, Corin probably wouldn't want anything to do with her anymore. She couldn't blame him, honestly. She told him they couldn't be friends.

So stupid. So very stupid.

... Paisley understood that did not hate Pia. Not really. Once she let out all of her anger back at the beach, Paisley felt no animosity towards her. Even if Pia wasn't her friend, it wasn't in Paisley's nature to hate people. She loved Pia like any friend should. That might have been the reason why she stuck with Pia for so long. Despite her better judgement.

But she also understood that they, Pia and Paisley, could not be friends anymore. Not after what happened.

But what if she crossed paths with Pia again? What if it was all a big misunderstanding? What if Pia didn't ditch her? What if she had to run away? What if...

No. Happy thoughts. She was doing really good. She couldn't let anything get to her, not now. Later. Not now.

Paisley stood up from her seat. Bottles and wrappers laid strewn across the floor of the cafe. The light from her flashlight bounced off of the ice. Apart from that, darkness. Paisley did not care; she'd hear someone come in anyway so it did not matter.

Paisley dropped the Slim Jim wrapper. She didn't even like Slim Jims and she went through all of them in one go. They tasted amazing. She picked up the flashlight and the glass and went back to work.

There was a replica of a snow-covered tree. Paisley dug into it with the glass shard, slowly and carefully so as to not cut herself again. It wasn't a real tree, of course, but the material was soft enough for her to at least mark it up. She carved out a crude outline of a heart, then she started writing inside the heart. Once she was finished, she stepped back and smiled.

MARCUS
   +
PAISLEY

Paisley put another saltine in her mouth and chewed. She always wanted to carve a heart into a tree. It sounded so romantic. Now, though, it was very melancholy. Was this sad? Doing it by yourself? She always figured couple did this sort of thing together... Crap, that sounded bad. If Tucker and Vahka could hear her they'd be snickering at each other.

... Paisley frowned.

"Please be okay."

She could not let them get to her, though. She was done worrying. Happy thoughts. A huge weight was off her shoulders and she was content. Worried, too, but she was trying to fix that. For the first time in ages, everything made sense.

Paisley had a plan. It was not a complicated one, admittedly, but that meant it was harder to screw up. Find Tucker. Stay with him. From the announcements it was clear he was still alive. And not actively killing. He knew this game much better than she did, and he could easily help her stay alive.

Once they were the last two people alive, she'd make a case to the Powers That Be to let them both live.

And if they refused? Well... Ivy will have to find someone else to take care of her.

But there was one hole that needed to be filled up. All she needed was...

Her frown grew.

She didn't want to consider it. But if Tucker wasn't going to do it...

... Were there any animals on the island? She didn't see any deer or birds or anything. It was winter, she thought. They must be hibernating. Just as well. Killing an animal was not the same as killing a person.

She sighed. Paisley stared at the heart for a very long time. She kicked away the last bottle She thought about happier times. She drank it in for as long as she could.

Because if Paisley wanted to ever see her family again, she would have to forget the taste of sugar.

(Paisley Hopkins continued in Picking Up The Pieces.)