So messed up...

He was mad... he was broken inside... after seeing the tape of what he... what that... he couldn't even finish his train of thought. It was too hard. It was too hurtful. He could only imagine how she must have felt... how scared she was... the horrors she went through... he wanted to cry but couldn't. She would wake up soon and he had to stay strong. For her.

When the gas's effect vanished, Meg started to wake up: she needed a couple of seconds to remember what was happening, her body was still hurting, expecially her bottom. But what was happened? Was she fainted? She hoped for an entire life to faint during similar moments, and this never happened, so it was improbable. So what? Suddenly she realized that she wasn't anymore on the floor, nor on the unconfortable madrass. She knew even too well that soft bed. Immediatly she opened her eyes, crossing with her look the villain's figure. *Oh crap! Oh crap! OH CRAP! Hadn't I still enough troubles?!* she couldn't help herself to think, opening wide her eyes in panic. Still dizzy, she gasped, falling back on the bed putting as much distance as she could between her and the villain "It wasn't my fault!" she exclaimed as soon as she could talk again, already searching around to see the knife. She was still naked, but actually in that moment it was the last of her problems.

"I know..." he said quietly. "It was mine..."
He tried so desperatly to disguise the guild and pain in his voice, but without luck.
"You're safe now, don't worry Meg... I won't let him touch you again..."

Meg looked at him surprised, still feeling the shivers on her back. Even if there wasn' the knife, and even if she told her that she was safe, she was still anxious and tense, still as far as possible from him, like a trapped animal. Sittedn on the bed, naked, her back that was touching the wall and her arms that were tighting strongly her knees to her chest. She stared at him for a while, then she looked elsewhere, without a word. It was so evident that she didn't trust him: she was just waiting for his next move, for the next torture.

He smiled slightly.
"Hungry?" he asked gently when she looked away.

For a second it seemed like she wanted to say something, for a second her body became even more tense, but then she shaked her head replying with a silent 'No' to his question. Then, slowly, she raised from the bed "I-I need a shower..." said in a silent request, looking at him only for some seconds, already approaching the bathroom but still waiting for an answer from him.

On the outside he was amused by the way she looked at him. On the inside he was crying...
"Why do you look at me like that? Need help?" he asked while smiling.

"No..." she barely whispered back to his question, entering in the bathroom and closing the door behind her but she didn't lock it. She simply entered in the shower, already naked *5 minutes, just 5 minutes. The time for a shower. Then i'll feel better. It's all ok. It's finished. It's finished* but even if she tried to calm down, as soon as the water started to cross her shoulders, loosening muscles and tension, from her eyes started to fall the tears. Soft and silent sobs shook her body. She rested her head on the wall, while the water flowed over her body and on her face tears mingled with the water.

Why? he thought.
Why wasn't I there? Why was she alone? Why did she have to go through that? he put his head in his hand and sighed.
Why did he have to choose exactly that day to go out with Cindere...

Cinderella.

He had left her alone outside... and now it was dark. Shit.

He went to the bathroom door and opened it. Was he really going to leave Meg? What if she needed him?
Who am I kidding? I'm the last person she needs right now...

"Meg, I have to..." he stopped in the middle of his sentence seeing her naked in the shower, sobbing. He didn't think of her naked, wet body... nor her beautiful hair that laid seducingly around her firm breasts... he could only think of her pained expression.

He ran to her and took her out of the shower. He didn't care if he got wet. He just needed to comfort her, even if it didn't help, he needed to hold her close. Let her know he cared... that he wouldn't hurt her... He held her close to his chest.

"Meg..." he whispered gently in her ear.

She was really surprised when he entered in the bathroom, immediatly she rose her head, rasing her eyes to try to stop crying, closing her mouth to try to stop to sob. When he held her, she tried weakly to turn away from him "It's... it's ok... i'll be fine... it will pass... as always..." she replied trying to smile, but her only result was a little bitter smile that hadn't a long life. But tears was continuing to fall, and she couldn't stop them: even if she didn't want cry, the only time that she did in front of him she repented it so much, but she was still too tense and weak to wear her usual mask again.

"I know what he did to you..." he whispered.
I know way too well...
"I won't let him touch you again... I won't let anyone hurt you..."

Meg laughed bitter, the tears still falling on her cheecks "It's not that! I've spent my entire life with people like him! It's not the first time. Probably won't be the last one. It's..." she didn't finish, bit her lips strongly, looking elsewhere and trying to calm down,

Still holding her close he lifted her chin with his hand and held her gaze.
"It's what, Meg?" he asked worried.

When he meet her gaze she couldn't stay anymore: she almost shouted in the tears
"You could stop him! You could stop him and you didn't! You left me in that room! And i... I really hoped that you would do it! I really did! I hoped to listen the phone ring! I hoped to don't have to go through this!" She looked in his eyes while she was shouting, for that moment no barriers, no protection, and there was more than sadness in her eyes: there was desperation. As soon as she finished she looked down, covering her eyes with one hand trying to stop the tears and to calm down. With bitter voice and a bitter smile she whispered, more to herself than to him "Nevermind... Just... After a life of this... i still don't realize that nobody ever comes... nobody does... nobody will..." She neither realized it, but she was trembling.

"I will," he said almost before she could finish her sentence.
"I would... I wasn't there... I was out... I didn't know Meg... I didn't know..."

"Nevermind... forget it... forget it... after all i'm still a whore... not a big deal if someone hurts me..." replied bitter, looking down, still trembling

He picked her up and carried her over to the mirror over the sink in the bathroom. He stood behind her holding her in a way that forced her to look at her own naked reflection.
"What do you see?" he whispered.

She didn't have the strenght to oppose to him, when he forced her to look at herself in the mirror and made her the question, bigger tears fell from her eyes. She turned her gaze away from her reflection.
"Just a whore..."
she replied in a barely udible whisper.
She was still trembling, still all of her barriers were down. She had to recover, to stay strong, to pretend as always, she knew it. But she was really too weak in that moment. And maybe for the first time he could see the real person behind her mask: a woman slightly more than a child, a hurted woman, a lonely woman, a weak woman, that if used to be ironical, and sarcastic, and pretended to be strong always, was just to try to protect herself, the broken girl that she really was...

He smiled gently and wiped away her tears.
"Look again," he whispered and made her look at her reflection again.
"I see the most beautiful girl I have ever seen... with the most sparkling eyes and the softest skin..." he took her hand in his and gently pressed it against her chest over her heart.
"Now... what do you hear...?" he whispered yet again.

As soon as he made her look again at her reflection, new tears took the place of the ones that he wiped, so many that her gaze was blurred by them. She listened his words, but she couldn't reply, and she couldn't neither to his question, only after a while she replied in a whisper "Pleas stop..."
it was almost a prayer *Pleas stop, or i'll finish to belelive it... please stop, or i'll finish to trust you.... please stop, or i'll start to ask why, if your words were true, i had to live a life like that... please stop, or i'll never be able to stop to cry...*

He gently laid his hand over hers that was holding her chest.
"You know what I hear...?" he whispered gently.
"A big heart... the same big heart that would put a little girl in front of yourself... the same big heart that manage to feel enough to cry all these silly tears," he said gently and wiped away more tears.
"The same big heart that can love... and hurt... and cry... and smile..."

She listened his words, she wanted to stop him, she wanted to cover her ears and don't listen him, but she couldn't do anything. And when he stopped, she couldn't try anymore to stop or refrain herself. She cried desperatly, sobbing and trembling, covering her face with her hands before to turn and to rest her head on his chest, approaching closer to him. A voice in her head whispered an hurted *you'll regret it* but in that moment she felt like she had nothing to lose.

OOC: sorry, Meg is in safe now

"You're beautiful Meg..." he whispered in her ear as he held her tight.
"On the inside too..."

"Please stop, stop, stop..." she whispered back in the sobs, shacking her head and clutching to him, still trembling

"No Meg... it's true... and that's why I love you..." he kissed the top of her head.

When he said the last three words, Meg opened wide her eyes with a shiver, gasped doing two steps behind to turn a bit away from him, before whispering a broken "You know that i don't..." If possible, now she was trembling even more. So, was again time for the torture? For the knife? Time to end everything again, to face again the worst part of him? She wasn't ready. Not in that moment. Not again. Her hands went on her hair, tightening them while her arms was covering her face.

He pulled her close.
"I know... but I do..." he smiled down at her.

She looked at him surprised: no knife? No torture? Really? She hadn't the braveness to ask it, even if she had more than 100 of question in her mind
*No knife? No torture? Won't you punish me? Won't you send me again in another room? Won't you hurt me again?*
She just looked down, finally she was starting to calm down, not that she was feeling better, but simply she had cried enough.

He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.
"Are you ok?" he asked carefully.

"M... more or less..." she replied vague, finding then the braveness to continue "I was just wondering for how much time i can stay... in safe..."

"I'll keep you safe," he promised and smiled at her. "Don't worry about that."
His clothes were soaking wet now, and his white t-shirt had gotten see-through.
[i]Damnit, I have to go get Cinderella... but where do I...? What do I...? I can't leave any of them...[/i
"You should dry yourself," he laughed.

She nodded at his first words, she still didn't trust him at all but, however, she couldn't have a better reply. She barely laughed at his words "yeah... you're right... i think that i'll need a dress too..."

"You can have any dress you want," he said with a smile and nodded to a closet barely visible outside the bathroom door.

"Choose you, for me it's the same" she replied with a smile

"Of course it is.." he said with a smile.
"Anything suits you doesn't it?"
He walked over to the closet and pulled out a violet dress who would fit perfectly after her curves.
"Here you go," he said with a smile.

She laughed softly at his words, then, when he passed her the dress, she took it and weared it. "So... where will i wake up tomorrow?" she asked joking, showing more braveness than what she felt, but she simply needed to know.

He came close to her and held her tight.
"In my arms..." he whispered gently.

She smiled to him biting her lips "Well, it seems confortable..." she replied in an half joke *He still doens't want have sex with me?* she asked to herself, but this time she hadn't the braveness to ask it. Instead, she continued "You know, i think that now i'm a bit hungry..." it was a lie, she wasn't hungry as always, but she knew that she needed to eat and she wanted have an excuse to change subject

"Good to see you're finally starting to eat," he said and laughed before picking her up and carrying her to the kitchen.

She smiled a bit, and then she laughed softly when he picked her up, surprise as always from this gesture, passing her arms around his neck "Hey, i still can walk!" not that, after all, she really wanted it.

He sat her down on a chair and opened the fridge.
I have to buy groceries tomorrow, he thought and made a mental note.
He pulled out a plate with some marzipan cake he had saved a few days ago. He liked treating himself.

She looked his gestures, sitted on the chair, and looked the piece of cake that he gave to her: as soon as she saw the cake she regretted to have asked to eat, but it was too late and even if her entire body didn't wanted to eat, her mind continued to tell her that she had to. "Thanks" she said however to him with a smile and, even if without enthusiasm, she took a first bite.

"You don't have to fake it Meg," he said and chuckled before pulling out a chair for himself. He slid his finger over the creamy surface of the cake and licked it with a smile on his face.

She smiled guilty, finally swallowing the first bite and taking after some seconds a new small one, even if disgusted "I think that you like this cake more than i like it" she said amused looking him eat the creamy part, then she took a new piece of the cake with the fork and approached it to his mouth.

He took the bite and smiled at her before swallowing.
"What's not to like about it?"

"The fact that has to pass trough my mouth" she replied joking but honest, taking another little piece of cake with the fork and approaching again his mouth with it.

"So what were you planning on? Starving yourself?" he asked jokingly.
You know that's exactly what she was planning on...
He gestured for her to take another bite.

[OOC: Going to bed now ^^ 'Night ^^]

"If you're not hungry it's not like you make yourself starving" she replied joking.
"And... since you like it more than i do... it's better if you take the rest" she replied with a soft smile

ooc: night hun! See you tomorrow

"Actually, I ate right before you woke up. So it's better if you eat it all up," he smiled at her and looked at the clock on the wall.
Damnit, it's late... Cinderella...
"You eat up, I have an errand to run," he said and got up to kiss her forehead.
He went out to the hallway before going outside, locking the door after him.