"How did you end up here?" asked the therapist.

Sango Sorvino was a 19 year old girl who loved life, or at least that's what she thought. She was a high school graduate and a hard-working woman, at that. She was currently enrolled in college and trying to get her PhD. She was only 19 but had already battled many wars and fights within herself and with the world. She had long dark brown hair and hazel green eyes that sparkled in the sunlight.

She was a fighter and wasn't afraid to take risks. She had always had a bad history with dating and had made the decision to give up on love. After all, love can be painful. She had two loving parents and two older brothers.

"I'm not sure..." she replied as she said and sat up from the couch she was sitting on. "Life has felt like such a blur these past few years, I'm not even sure where I stand anymore."

"But you love him?" said the therapist.

"I do...more than life itself. How is that even possible?" Sango commented as she started having flashbacks.

**Two years ago**

It was a cold stormy night on college campus. Sango had just gotten through with classes and was on her way back home. She had moved out when she was 17 and rented her own apartment near her college. She had always loved the sound of rain and the thunder. But she wasn't much a fan of being caught in the midst of it all.

As she walked in the pouring rain without an umbrella, she couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy as she passed a young couple, laughing and being silly together. She had always wanted things she knew no other 17 year old would probably want or even think about.

"Why can't I find someone like that? Who loves me to the fullest and makes me feel wanted." She thought as she passed the couple. She sighed as she got to her buss stop and sat down, happy that she was finally out of the rain. She pushed her wet hair back and put it in a ponytail, so it would stop dripping in her face. At that point in time, she had not noticed the young man who had sat next to her on the bench with his hoodie on.

She glanced over at him as he glanced over to her side and gave her a small smile of greeting. As she returned the gesture, she couldn't help but notice how breathtakingly handsome he was. He had beautiful light blue eyes and ear length hair that looked to be a strawberry blonde.

"I'm Miroku." He said extending his hand out to shake hers. As she shook his hand, she couldn't help but noticed how soft his hands were.

"Sango..." she replied. He was handsome with a nice smile. But since it was dark, she couldn't fully see his face. But something in her made her feel like she had jumped into a pool of cold water and had her breath taken away. She was lonely, she wouldn't deny that. But she had been through so much with her past relationships, that she had honestly given up on love or finding happiness to share with someone else.

She had been so hurt, she even had her plans to have kids from a sperm bank planned out. Because, those in cups deserve love as well, right?

As she looked back down at the ground, still waiting for her buss to arrive, she couldn't fight the urge deep inside to just stare at this man sitting next to her. She could tell he was in his early 20's, but wasn't really sure how early.

Before she had a chance to get another glimpse, she heard her buss pull up and the doors open. She proceeded to get up and get her things, with Miroku being in front. As she started walking towards the buss, he stopped and turned to face her.

"Ladies first." He said was he motioned for her to go first. She smiled, saying thank you as she stepped onto the buss. There weren't many people on the buss. One female, two men, and her and Miroku.

She took a seat in the back, hoping to be ignored and put her headphones on. She had forgotten that Miroku had gotten on the buss as well and was sitting a little rows in front of her. As she started to go through her playlist, she couldn't help but overhear a conversation the two men were having in Japanese in the row in front of her. Sango couldn't fully speak Japanese, but she knew enough to know what the two men were talking about. They were talking about her.

Sango, at the time was only 17, but she was short for her age. As she tried her best not to make it seem like she was listening in, she looked out the window with her headphones still in. She could hear them talking about how great of a body she had and how they would place a bet on which one would get her to talk to them and more.

A sick feeling formed in the pit of her stomach, as she felt her heart racing. She was young and always had guys hitting on her. She was used to it but for some reason, this one felt different. This one felt wrong, red flags popped up.

"Hi there, you're cute." One of the guys said to her. He was tall, with blonde hair and green eyes. He looked innocent enough, but Sango wasn't feeling it. She ignored him, keeping her headphones in and hoping he would get the hint and just walk away, thinking she couldn't hear him.

"Hey," he said while pulling one of her earbuds out. "I said, you're cute.'

"Okay. Thank you." She replied taking back her earbud and putting it back in. "Rude, much?" She thought to herself.
"I'm Cody." The man said, taking her earbud back out.
"Well Cody, I appreciate the compliment, but if you don't mind, I'd like to be left alone. She said with an annoyed look on her face.

The other guy stood up at that point. He was shorter with red hair and looked like he hadn't bathed in a few days.

"Look, I'm just trying to talk to you. No need to bite my head off!" Cody said as he laughed and took her hand.

"Leave me alone." She said with an angry look on her and as she snatched her hand back. At this point, the shorter guy had walked up and sat next to his friend, Cody.

Cody sighed and moved closer to Sango, "How about we make some plans tonight." he asked. His voice was a creepy spine chilling tone, that made her skin crawl.

"No." She replied, "I'm not interested."

At this point, Cody was getting irritated and grabbed her arm, but with a heavy force than he had with her hand. " I wasn't asking you, I was telling you."

His grip was tightening on her arm and she could feel her hand going slightly cold.

"Let me go!" She shouted as she tried to pull away, attempting to stand. But he jerked her back down and got in front of her.
"I don't think so-" he started to say bu was cut short by the force of being pulled back by his shirt and half choked.

"She said leave her alone!" Miroku said as he held the guy by his collar up against a pole in the middle of the floor. "What part of no don't you understand?!" At this point, the other shorter dude had gotten up and was trying to help his friend, Cody, out. But Miroku shoved Cody into his friend knocking them both down. "If I see you on this bus again or harassing this lady, you both are going to end up in the hospital, clinging to life itself!" He shouted. The two men scrambled to get up and rushed out the bus door. Miroku looked down at Sango and sat next to her. "Are you okay?" He asked, looking at her arm that was now slightly bruised from the force Cody had put on it. "Yeah...I'm fine. Thank you." She said as she took a breath. She was shaken up, but not as bad as she thought she'd be. She thought it was really nice of him to step in and save her, she couldn't imagine what would have happened. "Your arm looks pretty bruised up. You sure you're okay?" He asked with a look of concern in his eyes. Sango couldn't help but meet his eyes and just stare. She couldn't deny it, she was taken aback by how beautiful his eyes were. Like a comfortable ocean bed that she couldn't turn away from.
"Oh, yeah. I'll be fine, really. Thank you for helping me." She replied, chuckling a little. "My pleasure." Miroku said sitting back next to her. Sango knew what was happening here, and as crazy as she might have sound, she felt like she was falling for this man. How crazy is that? Before she could say anything else, her bus had come to a stop. She was at her bus stop a few blocks from her apartment. She sighed and stood up, picking up her bags and books. "Your stop?" Miroku asked. Sango nodded and gave a slight smile, trying not to make eye contact. "I'll walk you to your place. You shouldn't be out here alone at this time of night. It's not safe." He said getting up. But before she could protest, he had already taken her books and her bag and started for the door. That was it, she knew right then and there, she was hooked on this man she didn't know from Adam. And that terrified her, because it meant she was falling.

**Present**

"I love him...And sometimes, the amount of love I have for him...It hurts."