Derek was a little startled at the sudden hug and rush of emotion, though he caught her and tentatively patted her back soothingly, still a tad bit stunned at the force of her gratitude but glad he could help and make someone feel so thankful.
Summer linked her arm through his, turning her face into his shoulder for a moment before nodding. She managed to scribble, bracing the paper against the wall of the elevator, ‘there’s no one else here?’ Before she could show it to him, the elevator slid open to reveal a huge metal door.
Derek smiled a little. “Not exactly. This is a complex, it’s like a floor to a person or family. There’s one other family in the complex, so it’s not very crowded.” They got to his floor and he slid the door open, showing her in.
She paused in the entrance, checking around with wide eyes. It was sparsely furnished, but didn’t seem so empty or lonely as the place in the woods. After a moment, she went over to the couch, feeling wobbly in a way that owed nothing to hunger. She slumped into it, and wrote in big letters, ‘WHY?’