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"Those hours don't seem real, I spent thinking of you..."

I hummed the lyrics to the song softly as we walked down the dirt road. Pluto was standing upright, imitating my walk, with his pale hand in mine. He was excited to be out with me, and every few minutes I would have to tell him to slow down because he was practically dragging me behind him. His demon red eyes gleamed with happiness and his white hair bounced against the fabric of his suit as he walked. We were headed to the town to restock on food and some cleaning supplies. Sebastian had told me to take Pluto, so this counted as his "walk".

"That feeling I could never shake," I continued, and Pluto grinned appreciatively at me. I loved seeing that darned smile of his. "That you were right, and I to blame, for not revealing anything..." I felt him peck my cheek, and I turned to look at him, giggling a bit. "Pluto, you know you can't do that when we get around people, right?" I said, running my hand through his hair. "We're almost there, so none of that, alright?" I don't even know where he picked it up, but he'd been doing it every so often at the mansion. Once he did it in front of Sebastian, while we were in the kitchen and I was preparing his food. I thought he'd either kill me or I'd die of embarrassment, but neither happened. He just told Pluto to "keep such matters private", sent a glare his way, and continued to the Master's room. Whew.

Mei-rin had caught Pluto trying to sneak into my room one night. Our rooms were right across the hall from each other, and she woke me up in the middle of the night with Pluto's leash in her hand and Pluto tugging her across the room to me. Even in the darkness I could see that her face was beet red.

"I h-h-heard him c-clawing at your d-door, miss," she said, fiddling with her nightgown as she struggled to keep Pluto from leaping onto my bed. "I don't know w-what to do with him..."

And then she nearly fainted when the half-naked hellhound leaped into my bed and snuggled up against me. And I'm pretty sure I was too tired to really care about the situation at that moment, seeing as I can't really remember what happened after that...

"Come on, Pluto," I said, adjusting my fingers in his. He beamed at me as he skipped along the small cobblestones beginning to mesh into a road, towards the houses and shops now visible in the clearing of the trees. The sun had decided that it just wouldn't come up today, and the town was left with a blank white canvas for sky. Pluto went into hyperactive mode, sniffing the air at what was probably the smell of the bakery down the street, then gripping my arm excitedly, hopping on the balls of his feet when he saw a young boy bribing his dog with a treat, peering into the shop windows... Anything that caught his attention only did so for a second or two before something else came up.
"We're going to stop here first," I whispered to Pluto as I maneuvered him through the crowd to the small home bakery. "If you behave, we'll get a treat for you, ok?"

He panted happily into my ear as the bells on the door clinked, signaling our arrival. It looked pretty busy today, and Jeffrey was red from working. All the times I've been here within the past two weeks, though, he's always had a smile on his face. I learned that last week his wife, Eve, was having trouble with her baby, but even then he was cheery and positive. I'd offered to come to help Eve with her delivery, which should be in about two months, and he seemed very grateful for the help. Eve was just as cheerful as her husband, doing what she could in the back of the bakery with cleaning and baking and cooking. I truly believe Eve and her family deserve better than what they have. Sure, it's the nice part of town, and their house is pretty good. It could be worse. But still, it always makes me kind of sad, in a strange... unexplainable way.

"'morning, you two here for the usual?"

My trance faded away and I was staring up into the ice-blue eyes of Nathan, the baker's 19 year old son. He resembled his mother very much, with high cheekbones and a broad forehead, shaggy brown hair hanging from his head. His body was stocky and shoulders wide, like his father's. Funny, I'd never seen him without a smile either. What is it with this family? I want whatever they've got...

"Yes, thanks Nathan," I said, returning his bright-eyed smile. Pluto had calmed down a bit and was looking intently at a snowflake-shaped cookie, decorated with blue and white icing. He was almost in a sort of hypnosis, staring at that sugar cookie. I let out a small laugh and pointed to the treat, saying "And that as well, please."

Nathan grinned. "Sure thing," he said loudly over the din as he went behind the counter to grab the loaves of bread, bags of flour, sugar, and other baking supplies all packed neatly into a large brown basket. "And, one cookie to top it off." He delicately took the cookie from the shelf and handed it to me.

"Thanks so much," I said, passing the cookie off to Pluto, who had been tense with patience beside me. As soon as I handed it to him, he began nibbling around the edges, sighing with puppy-content. I giggled and handed over the money to Nathan, who was now looking to another end of the bakery at a couple who seemed to be having trouble getting the woman's handbag out of a large barrel of flour.
"Well, I'll see you next week then," he said, sending me a smile before hurrying over to the poor old woman in distress.

I led Pluto, our hands still intertwined, out the door and through the crowded streets to a few more shops, humming my song as we went. He was always a little twitchy with either excitement or apprehension around a lot of people. But if I hummed, he seemed to calm down. So I kept on humming that little song as we finished our shopping, and he cleaned his fingers of cookie crumbs contentedly until we were finally on our way back through the woods to the mansion.

"You were very good Pluto," I said, and his large red eyes squinted with happiness and joy and he just exuded the adorable puppy look when I said those words. I've never ever made anyone so happy before in my life, and it was really getting to me. I giggled and gave him an awkward sideways hug over the basket as we continued walking. He apparently just couldn't contain it anymore and lifted me straight up off the ground, running in circles on the dirt road. I clung to him for dear life, instantly reminded of how strong he actually was, but I found myself smiling along with him, laughing and spinning and my gosh, it's rushing to my head how awesome this moment is.

"Alright, alright, calm down," I whispered, and he stopped spinning wildly and just walked in the direction of the mansion. "Maybe the love is made sweeter still, because away it is hidden 'til..." I hummed the song and eventually felt his heart beating in time with the slow music.

"-the day we both are met in Heaven," I closed my eyes, slowing for the end of the song. All I could see was his black suit, some white hair, the leaves above... "-or the day I follow you to Hell."

At the last word, I felt a jolt through my body. And not the pleasant kind. My heartbeat picked up pace, the ground began tilting ever so slightly, my stomach felt as though it were about to escape through my throat.

But as soon as it came on, it left.

A soft whining brought me back to the present. Pluto was rubbing his nose gently against my cheek, staring worriedly into my eyes. For a second, I only focused on his face. The furrow in his brow, his red eyes with that ever-present gleam, the sharp canines poking over his lip. Jagged, hollow features under thin pale skin...

"...I'm fine, Pluto," I managed. My voice was cracked and thin. I coughed and spoke again, clearer now. "I'm ok."

Pluto didn't look so convinced, and his smile didn't return on the whole rest of the trip home. I wasn't so convinced either.