"'Cause one day, when we're big, we're gonna run away together. We'll find a secret place, just like in The Secret Garden book my dad reads us. Nobody will know where it is except us. We'll have a giant treehouse, and maybe some animals, and a huge waterfall to swim in!"

I see Nate's mouth twitch like he wants to smile but isn't ready yet.

He looks at me, taking big breaths like he's trying not to cry again. It makes my cheeks feel all warm when he looks at me like that, the way it always does.

"Promise?"

"Pinky promise." I stick out my pinky finger, trying to sound super brave even though my tummy feels full of butterflies.

He links his pinky with mine and we look at each other for forever.

“You know I'm right, like, one-hundred and ninety-seven percent of the time." I give him my biggest smile ever, hoping he'll laugh, and finally he gives me a tiny smile back.

There's my Nate.

I don't say it out loud, but my heart feels so big and full. I know for sure that this boy with the saddest eyes ever has my whole heart.

Nate moves a little and makes an "ouch" face.

"Why did he hurt you?" My voice is all wobbly now.

Nate looks up at me and his eyes get all watery again, but he's trying super hard not to cry in front of me. I want to tell him it's okay to cry. Mom always says crying helps get the sad out.

He tells me what happened. There was a big fight between his parents earlier while my family was out getting pizza. He found his dad's medicine and flushed it down the toilet, but his dad caught him. Then Scott pushed him really hard, and that's when Nate hit his head on the bathroom sink. My tummy feels sick when he talks about the blood, and how his dad slapped his face and pushed him against the wall, telling him not to tell his mom. Then Scott got even madder when Nate started crying, saying boys aren't supposed to cry.

I want to fix everything for him, like how Mom fixes my scraped knees or when Dad fixes my broken toys. But this feels bigger than band-aids can fix. I wish I could make all the hurt go away and take him to our secret garden right now.

"Come to my room," I say, holding my hand out. He looks confused, but I just say, "Come on."

In my room, I start pulling all my pillows and blankets off my bed while Nate sits there looking super tired.

"What are you doing?"

"Building a fort, silly!" I tell him like it's the most obvious thing ever.

"A fort?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Why?"

"'Cause forts protect you from bad stuff."

"Your pink fluffy pillows aren't gonna protect anyone Leni,” he says, but I see he wants to smile.