Russ turned to leave when Zala didn't respond to his suggesting of going to bed, but as soon as he did so she grabbed his wrist. Looking at the ground she muttered something softly. The boy had to lean in closer to be able to hear her. He only caught the end of what she had said, but he had gotten the idea of it.
"Sure I can help you," Russ told her just as softly back. "That's what I'm here for."
The older boy hesitated. He wanted to pat Zala's head, or give some other comforting gesture, but he wasn't sure how she would react. He didn't want to do something that would scare her anymore. Moving very slowly he ended up deciding to take her other wrist lightly like she was holding his. If she was okay with touching him that way, Russ figured it was his best bet to be something she was okay with him doing.
"How can I help?" he asked.
Elliot picked Autumn up and hopped into bed with her. He was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep though. He would spend the whole night worrying about Cain and if he was okay. As he stroked his Calico cat and she purred back to him, there was a knock on Elliot's door. The boy got up a little confusedly, not sure what else could go wrong at this time of night. He opened the door to reveal Cain standing in the doorway.
"Cain!" he cried in pure relief. He threw his arms around the other boy's neck, pulling him in tight. Caught up in emotion, Elliot's next move even surprised him. As the chef pulled away from his friend, Elliot put his hands on Cain's cheeks for a moment and pressed his lips to the other boy's. As soon as Elliot realized what he was doing, he pulled away very quickly and took a few steps back.
Blushing furiously, Elliot didn't look Cain in the eye as he stuttered, "I-I-I'm so sorry. I d-don't know what c-came over me..."