It was shaping up to be a long week. Bad enough that her Aunt was coming to visit, for an assuredly extended stay, and that Pippa was expected to pop in and see her and her exceedingly dull younger cousin as often as possible. But, as if to make matters worse, three of her professors had decided to give rather large tests in the same week, all covering vague stretches of material. Sure, Pippa was a third year, and used to this sort of mind-numbing schedule, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy the late night cram sessions and days with very little sleep. Sometimes it was enough to make her want to leave behind the entire 'school thing' altogether, and become, oh, a pop singer. Wouldn't she like to see her Momma's face then. Of course, the entire idea was ridiculous. She couldn't sing a single note, let alone an entire song, not that talent seemed like much of a requirement to be famous these days anyway...

Shaking her head abruptly, Pippa forced herself away from that train of thought. Glancing at her watch, she registered a confirmation of '2:32', and groaned inwardly. She had wasted nearly ten minutes with her day dreaming, and hadn't she said that she was only going to leave her apartment for five? Just a quick bite to eat, and right back to studying. But, there she was, occupying a booth all by herself, her sandwich looming on the plate half-eaten, and nothing really accomplished. She didn't really want to go back, only to stare blankly at pages of text, all the while wishing that the information would just jump off the page and directly in to her brain. Of course, she didn't necessarily want to sit there alone in a diner, in the middle of the night no less, like some wayward, friendless reject of society. And yet, she couldn't force herself to make the effort of standing up, walking over to pay her bill, and then skittishly hurrying back home. She just wanted...well, what exactly did she want? Admitting defeat, she simply went back to mindlessly staring at the table top, and trying to forget that she had responsibilities she should be seeing to. Hey, they'd still be there when she finally returned. In the mean time? Well, it didn't matter.

It was so cold out... So cold that she couldn't stop shivering. Too cold for her to sleep in the little hiding place she'd been sleeping for the past week or so after she was found in her first one.

The door jangled as it opened ever so slightly, just enough to let the small girl inside. No one really noticed her as she made her way to a back booth and curled up on the seat. Warmth... It was so warm in here and felt so good after being in the cold all day.

And the food smelt so good.

The first moment it hit her nose, it made her stomach grumble. Maybe... Maybe that cook was working again. The one who would give her a bit of food when she was here. Rayne didn't have any money of course, but there were nice people in the world... Ones who would help others when they could.

She sighed softly and lay her head on the table. But she jumped as she heard a voice. "Hey there darling, are you okay?" A young woman asked, frowning at the sight of the little girl out so late at night.

"Oh... Yeah. Um... Is Miss Rachel here?"

"Rachel? Oh, sorry darling. I'm afraid she's not here now, she worked this afternoon and left around eight. Is there anything else that I can do for you? Why are you out on your own this late at night sweetie? Aren't your parents worried?"

Rayne shook her head. "No... No thank you. And.. I... I'm okay. My mom knows where I am." She murmured softly.

So she wasn't here... Maybe she'd be here tomorrow... But she was so hungry... But she would have to wait. Well... She could wait for food, but she wanted to stay warm for a while. It was too cold to go out right now. But from there? Who knew... She didn't want to just stay in the diner. Maybe her mom was out there looking for her... She could be, right? She could be looking for her right now.

But... But in her heart Rayne was starting to think her mother wasn't coming back. Had Jeff hurt her? Had he hurt her and was that why she hadn't come back yet?

Her stomach gave another growl, wanting the food it smelt. She wanted to leave, but she knew that this was the only warm place that she could find that would let her in this time of night. Maybe she could hide and sleep somewhere?

Glancing up briefly, as if suddenly startled, Pippa was momentarily jarred out of her reverie by the sound of the bell announcing the arrival of another customer. Her gaze flitted to the door, more out of desperate curiosity than anything, and she found herself rather surprised by the sight of the scraggly looking little girl. She watched discreetly as the child trudged across the room, and took a seat at one of the other booths. Pausing for a moment, Pippa then looked back at the door expectantly, waiting for the girl's caretaker to make an entrance.

And she waited.

And waited.

After awhile, it became apparent that the child was there alone. Considering the hour, she thought this to be incredibly odd. She watched as the waitress spoke to her, before walking off again, catching snatches of the conversation such as 'Miss Rachel', and 'not here'. Feeling that the situation might be a bit more unusual than the staff of the diner seemed to think, Pippa finally made up her mind to find out what exactly was going on herself. Hey, at least it was a distraction, and gave her a legitimate reason not to be back home, studying for her classes.

Sliding out of her own booth, she abandoned the sandwich for the time being, and slowly made her way over to where the child sat. She didn't want to alarm her. Though she didn't have any of her own, she was pretty sure that kids tended to be afraid of strangers.

"Hello there." Pippa stated in her friendliest voice, offering the girl a smile. "Are you here by yourself?"

Her head on the table, Rayne was dozing peacefully in the warm diner before she started at the sound of someone sitting across the booth from her.

She gave the young woman a wary look as she spoke... But if there was trouble all she had to do was scream and the diner staff would be wondering what was going on. No one else in the staff really knew who she was, and maybe they just thought that she was one of Rachel's nieces or something, but they had all seen her around, and adults hardly notice a little girl milling about.

"I... I'm waiting for my mom..." Rayne said quietly. And while that was the truth in the long run, that didn't answer the young woman's question. By herself? Yeah... She was. But she wouldn't say that. She was waiting for her mom. Her mother loved her and wouldn't leave her all alone now. She wouldn't do that.

"It's just cold outside..."

Rayne gave a little shrug, wanting to sleep to forget the hunger that kept poking at her. She'd never been so hungry before, but she could wait.... Wait until she saw Miss Rachel again.

"Aren't you here by yourself?" She asked in return, as if the situations were one in the same.

"Well, yes, I'm here by myself, but, well...that's different." Pippa managed another smile, though, this one appeared somewhat weak. She didn't want the girl to think that she was talking down to her, but, at the same time, she had no idea how to respond in an 'appropriate' way. After all, she was an only child. She'd never actually spent a lot of time around young children.

"It's just very late. Late for anyone to be out, really. Is your Mother going to be here soon?"

She could not imagine why any responsible adult would allow their young daughter to wait for them alone in a restaurant at nearly three in the morning. What kind of scenario would make such a risky situation necessary? Besides, the little girl looked a little worse for ware, like she had been through something, or been left outside for too long. So it was that Pippa suspected that she was not being told the full truth.

Was her mother going to be here soon? Was she coming to get her?

"I... I dunno..." She murmured, looking down at the table. "I... I hope so... She said she'd be coming back soon..." But it had been so long... It had been almost a month now. A month since her mom told her to wait on the bench and that she would be back.

Her mother wouldn't have abandoned her. Her mother loved her more than anything, she wouldn't do something like this to her... She wouldn't.

With a little murmur she lay down on the bench and curled up slightly. So tired... So hungry... At least she wasn't cold. Maybe if she just stayed quiet here, she could sleep until the morning, sleep where it was warm. And maybe... Maybe Miss Rachel would be working in the morning... And she could get food. So hungry...

"She'll come for me... She will..."

Pippa was somewhat taken aback by the girl's behavior. It just seemed somehow, well, bizarre to her. Of course, that probably related back to the whole 'only child' bit. Still, she didn't think this was how healthy, normal kids usually acted.

"Well, uh, look. Can I do something for you while you're waiting?"

She glanced briefly back at her abandoned sandwich at the other table.

"Are you hungry at all?"

She hoped earnestly that the child could see that she only wanted to help.

"No... I... I'm okay... Just tired." She said quietly, not really wanting anyone else to know she was here. Hopefully the other server thought she left and she could sleep peacefully.

Hungry? Rayne's eyes opened at that question almost expectantly. "Well... A... A little. But I'll be okay." She said, even as her stomach gave a little grumble. "I'm not that hungry..." Of course it was a lie, but oh well. She didn't want the girl to spend money on her... She could get free food later and well... She was almost too tired to eat.

Rayne shut her eyes hard as her stomach cramped in a quiet protest. She was fine, even if her stomach disagreed. She wasn't all that hungry, not too hungry where she couldn't wait.