Hi everyone :) Thank you to those who added this story to their favs and alerts. Thank you Pneumonia and Guest who reviewed! That was so kind of you both. I'm so glad you are enjoying this story!

I just had to update. I had a great time writing this chapter so I decided to update early :)

If the first chapter didn't offend anyone, I guess that's a good start, but I have to warn you - this story will contain adult situations. I've also made Dante more pervy than he should be, especially because the story starts out when he's only meant to be sixteen years old, so some things he will do could be considered controversial. Again, sorry if it offends -bows-

Warnings: Strong language

A TALE OF TWO SHOWERS

A few days passed since Dante's arrival at the orphanage.

Trixie hardly saw him. He took her room and she didn't think she saw him enter or leave. It was better that way, she thought, she didn't want to get mixed up with his sort. Apparently the rest of the orphans avoided him like the plague, too. Father Tam occasionally spoke to him but could not get much conversation from him nor did his preachings really sink in. No-one dared speak to Dante since he would just make an obscene hand gesture or spew forth a stream of profanity at them. He was a frightening young man with violent tendencies, a skewered personality and a potty mouth to boot. It was not surprising as to why no-one went within a five meter radius of the youth.

She was surprised he would even speak to her that day of his arrival. From the looks of it, it appeared Dante came fresh off the streets judging from that permanent scowl on his handsome young face. The cuts and bruises exhibited on his features were evidence that he'd spent his life in fights and scuffles. She wondered what his background was. Dead parents? Abusive parents? Abandoned at birth (like she was)? Most of the kids who arrived here were not of Dante's 'breed' so to say; Trixie was a great example.

She'd been in St Christoph's orphanage most of her life. As mentioned before, her parents abandoned her in an alleyway when she was a baby, and when she was five, she transferred from a nunnery to St Christoph's. She had no recollection of her parents or anything else from the ages one to five (or six, at least). All she knew was that when she had been abandoned, she was found wrapped up in nothing but damp newspaper and a rusty old locket around her neck. There were no pictures inside it but she kept it around her neck everyday. Father Tam was literally a surrogate father to her and the rest of the orphans were akin to her siblings... but Trixie wanted to leave. She wanted a proper home and family. She wanted to be adopted and so did the others, including her best friend Becky, but it seemed Dante wasn't on the same page as either of them. No, he would only be here for a couple of months before being transferred to a youth correctional facility apparently. Maybe that's why he never bothered talking to the other orphans.

Father Tam described him as a lost sheep that had been separated from the flock. No-one born into this world is evil, Tam had told her. People just turn bad due to their environment and circumstances. Father Tam would then tell her to make an exception for these kinds of people and simply acknowledge that they exist and that it wasn't their fault, nor were their actions and behavior completely their fault either. Not everybody was as lucky as she was. She had to learn to forgive them, Tam said, it was the right thing to do. It was what God would do. Trixie was not as devout as she should be despite Father Tam's teachings but she still listened to his words and found herself agreeing.

It would be an early Saturday morning when she would bump into Dante again. She had woken up before everyone else did, and despite wanting a long lie-in, she found that she could not get back to sleep so decided to get up. She grabbed a change of clothes, her wash cloth, a toothbrush and mug, then waddled out of her new room (which she still took some time to get used to), and made her way down the hallway to the communal bath. St Christoph's Orphanage was a small building which contained a lounge, dining room, some spare rooms that were used for get-togethers, and upstairs were the dormitories that housed roughly five girls and six boys. Dante made seven. There were two bathrooms - one for the boys and one for the girls - and Trixie entered the segregated girl's washroom, stopping at one of the sinks. She stared at her tired reflection in the mirror, scratching at her back whilst yawning.

She could hear one of the showers being used inside but thought nothing of it as it was probably Becky or one of the other girls. Trixie switched on the hot water tap and filled her mug up; she heard the shower taps squeak to a close and as Trixie fumbled with the toothpaste, a tall figure sidled into view and Trixie's eyes widened, the tube of paste falling out of her hands in shock.

"DANTE?!" She yelped, as the young man stepped towards her direction, naked as the day he was born. It didn't help that he was also wet and dripping from the shower. Trixie immediately covered her eyes with her hands but she'd seen it all and now her heart had begun thumping feverishly against her ribs. "You're...W-what are you – this is...what!?" She spluttered out.

"...Stop yelling. It's annoying." Dante muttered, staring at her with hooded eyes. Unfazed, he meandered towards the towel rack by her right and as he leaned over her, she shrunk away. She felt his presence closeby; the heat from the hot water radiating off his body. "Move." He grunted; despite the fact that he sounded sleepy, it was still enough to make Trixie's heart pound even more furiously than ever.

Trixie took a few baby steps away to allow him to reach the towel. "This is the girl's bathroom!" She added feebly, still hiding behind her hands.

"It's cleaner." She heard him mutter as he leaned off her; she also heard the fumbling of fabric and when deemed it safe, slowly lowered her hands from her eyes.

Dante was standing there, wrapping the white fluffy towel around his waist. She could not help but stare at his toned chest, the sculpted arms, the thick muscles and the strange tattoo on his back when he turned. She didn't think he would be allowed to get tattoos at his age but there it was. She also spotted a black string around his neck and saw a familiar gleaming red pendant hanging from it – the one he had when he arrived at the orphanage. Trixie continued to gape with her mouth open as he reached for another towel and slung it over his shoulder before exiting the bathroom altogether, still half naked. Before he left however, he threw his glance over his shoulder and as their eyes met, Trixie froze up all over when he smirked.

When he had finally left the bathroom, her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground in a heap of disbelief.

...

It was evening and she was in the dining room sitting beside Becky with her hands in prayer when she opened one eye and glanced around the table. The rest of the orphans were here, with Father Tam at the foot of the table. He was loudly reciting the prayer and after they murmured 'grace', everyone began eating. Trixie glanced around, noticing that Dante's seat was empty. It had been that way since Dante arrived, which had been at least three days ago. She wondered if anyone had mentioned it and raised her arm.

"Father Tam?" She began.

"Yes, Beatrice?" said Tam, as he began serving roasted potatoes onto the orphan's awaiting plates. Whilst everyone devoured their rations hungrily, Trixie barely touched her plate.

"...Dante's not here."

"Ah, yes. Dante refused to join us for dinner again. I have put aside some leftovers for him when he feels like eating."

Trixie said nothing until Becky elbowed her playfully. "Ooh, are you worried about the new kid? There's no need, it's better this way. He'll just ruin dinner time with his swearing and ranting."

"Well...I suppose you're right..." She left her sentence trailing when she realized she was confused herself as to why she'd questioned and thought about Dante's absence.

"Oh, by the way, has anyone introduced themselves to Dante yet? I think it might be good if someone shows him around the place." Tam said, and he was met with silence. "Hm? No volunteers?"

"It's not that, Father." Becky piped up as she stabbed at a carrot slice with the prongs of her fork, "I tried talking to him. He told me to get lost."

Suddenly, the youngest of them all - little Toby - raised his tiny hand. "Father Tam? Can I ask a question?"

"Yes, Toby?"

"Why does Mr Dante look so angry all the time?"

"Because he is a lonely, misunderstood soul who needs God's salvation." said Tam.

"Father Tam? Can I ask another question?"

"Yes, Toby?"

"Mr Dante told me to go fuck a duck." Toby said. Immediately the dining table went deathly silent and all eyes landed on the little boy. "What does 'fuck a duck' mean?" Little Toby added. He was only six years old.

"Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick!" cried Becky, her fist curling tightly around her fork, "Father Tam! Do something about this maniac!"

And Father Tam frowned at her in response. "Rebecca. How many times do I have to tell you? Do not slander His Lord's name like that."

"But Father!"

"Okay, okay. Everyone, calm down." Tam said, hands clasped together as though in thought. "Aha! Perhaps if we choose someone to keep a close eye on our new guest, perhaps his behavior shall improve. Anyone want to volunteer?" As predicted, no-one raised their arm following his question. Tam's glance wavered over to Trixie, who immediately averted eye contact to concentrate solely on her plate of food; never had she stared at a potato so hard before in her entire life. She had hoped Tam would not think about choosing her but then - "What about you, Beatrice?"

She winced, glanced up from her plate nervously as soon as her name was called out. "...Why me?"

"You and Dante are roughly the same age. You might get along better."

"So what?" Trixie protested, "Becky and – "

"Heeey, don't drag me into this." Becky said quickly, and Trixie's lip wobbled as her so-called best friend turned away, munching on a piece of broccoli, "Besides, I'm already looking after Toby. I don't need to babysit another kid."

"I'm not babysitting anyone." Trixie said quickly.

"It's not babysitting. You are the best behaved out of all the children, Beatrice. You shall thus set into place a shining example for Dante to follow and hopefully make him see the errors of his ways. Even if you spoke to him, got to know him a bit better, I would be very happy, knowing that he is not completely being left on his own all the time."

She lowered her gaze to her plate glumly and prodded at a potato carelessly with her fork, smushing the skin in with the gravy. "...Fine."

"Thank you, Beatrice." Tam said, and she felt even worse.

After dinner, Trixie was on her own when she made her up to the dormitories. The door to her room – sorry, Dante's room – was ajar and the light was on, which was rare for a change. At first, she wondered if she should go in, so she mustered all courage and walked up; before she knew it, she had knocked on the door lightly with her clenched knuckles. She was not doing this because Father Tam had asked her to speak to Dante; she herself had been wondering why Dante was skipping out on meals. There was no response but she pushed it open to a little extent and stepped in, spotting Dante sitting on the bed adorned in a black tank top and his combats, covered in scrapes and cuts and smoking (as usual). The only thing different was that his face was rather bruised and his bare arms were also covered in cuts. It looked as though a blade had sunk into his flesh.

He looked up from the red pendant he was holding in hand. Trixie recognized it as the one that he had looped around his neck; the same one she saw him wear on his first day. Even during the shower incident she noticed the pendant, too. However, as soon as he spotted her, he lowered the pendant and glared; the murderous aura he was emitting was suffocating, the venom within those gray-blue eyes of his was enough to render her gut twisting into a tight knot. "The hell do you want?" He barked, "Go away."

Again, she was surprised at his hostility. He wasn't like that this morning. He was just...rude, but not horrible like this. Trixie wasn't quite sure what she was doing or what she wanted either. "What happened to you?"

There was a silence and Trixie instantly regretted her words when he draped the pendant back over his neck, stood up and maneuvered over to her in the same predatory manner he did on his first day; Trixie took a few steps back that she left his doorway and into the hall, leaving Dante to stand at the doorframe. "Hey. You are one nosy brat."

"You're bleeding – "

"Are you retarded or something? Didn't you hear what I said to you idiots on my first day? I said Stay. The. Fuck. Away. From. Me."

She was at a loss for words for a moment and her face grew hot again, but this time it was not because of their close proximity or the fact that his handsome face was inches from hers. Humiliation and embarrassment burned deep inside her and without hesitating any longer, she spun on her heel and dashed down the hall. Dante slammed the door shut so violently that the walls shook and trembled in his wrath. Trixie was panting heavily by the time she stopped; she'd run as fast as she could away from the room, exited the orphanage grounds and into the garden. She couldn't believe it, but she was scared; she was scared of him! She stopped to catch her breath, moving down to sit on one of the benches. Holding her hand to her heaving chest, she suddenly realized something was amiss. Freezing up on the spot, Trixie searched around her neck desperately. Her eyes widened in horror but she already knew. Her locket was missing.

Oh no, I've dropped it...where could it be?! Abruptly, she dropped to her knees and checked the surrounding area, rifling through the undergrowth and shrubbery of the garden for the missing trinket. She did not leave any stone unturned, literally. And after an hour of searching around, Trixie had no success in finding her locket and gave up due to exhaustion. Fatigued from her fruitless efforts, she collapsed over the grass and closed her eyes.

"Beatrice?"

Trixie re-opened her eyes, looked up immediately and scrambled to stand up only to see Father Tam at the back door that led to the garden. "Yes, Father?"

"What are you doing?" He enquired, "It's getting dark; come back inside."

"But I lost my locket..."

"Beatrice, you're covered in mud. Hurry up and take a bath. You're filthy all over. Where did you drop your locket? I'll have a look around for you."

"No, I won't rest until – " She stopped in mid-sentence from the taxing look Tam gave her.

"Beatrice, come inside. It's getting cold and I don't want you falling ill." He assured gently, "I will look for it."

"...Alright. Thank you, Father."

As Trixie told Father Tam where she thought she believed she had dropped her locket, Tam nodded and agreed to search for it briefly whilst Trixie went to the showers. Grabbing her towel and change of underwear and nightclothes with her from the room, she set off to the washroom along with toothbrush and mug. Inside, she noticed it was empty. Everyone else must've showered already judging by how steamy and clammy it was inside. Shrugging, Trixie proceeded to strip herself of her clothes and rushed under one of the showers, turning on the tap and adjusting the water to the suitable temperature. Closing her eyes, she reveled in the hot water running down her body and then turned to the inshower radio that was affixed to the tiled wall beside her (Father Tam had one built-in for both washrooms) and after fiddling around with the dials, began humming along to one of the tunes. She was enjoying the solitude and her shower when suddenly, there was a rough nudge on her shoulder from behind and she opened her eyes.

"Pass the shower gel, will ya? And while you're at it, change it to Base FM."

It was a male's voice. Her blood seemed to have turned cold. Horrified, Trixie spun round only to see none other than...

"DANTE?!" came her horrified scream; she didn't mean to look but it couldn't be helped by the fact that he was standing before her; his appearance was enough to make her leap a foot or two in the air and she hastily covered as much of her body with her hands. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

He was in one of the showers, naked, just like this morning. Bubbly water was dripping down his damp hair, running down one side of his neck and over the bumpy outlines of his honed body. She desperately tried not to look but her hands were covering her body so she resorted to clamping her eyes shut. He said, "I told you, it's cleaner here."

"Oh my god!" Trixie backed towards the wall, inching blindly away from the shower spray before she made a fierce grapple for the towel she had left on the rack without having to move her arm as much. As soon as she had a firm hold on it, she proceeded to wrap it around herself and finally opened her eyes but kept her gaze focused on Dante's upper half as much as possible. "I didn't even hear you come in!"

"Because you switched on the radio." He replied. It seemed he had no intention to leave the shower; he was still leisurely scrubbing away at his body with the shower gel which he took off the rack where Trixie had been showering in.

"I was taking a shower!"

"Yeah, I know."

"And you still came in?"

"Yeah."

"I-I...This is...You can't..." She spluttered out feebly, helplessly, "I thought you told me to stay away! W-what are you doing here, w-what do you call this? H-How long were you in here anyway?"

"About five minutes."

"Five minutes!?" She squawked, before she hurried past him and towards the sinks. She hastily wiped herself dry and left the showers, furious. Grabbing her clothes, she dressed herself in the changing room, hearing dance music being blasted from the shower radio inside. Growling, Trixie marched out and into the hall, making a beeline for Father Tam's office.

...

After Trixie voiced her disdain to a hapless pastor, she returned to her room, although as soon as she arrived, she realized someone had been inside since the door was left open. Trixie opened the door to its fullest anxiously, before spotting her locket lying on the desk. She stared at the trinket in bewilderment; there was a crumpled note underneath with words scribbled in blunt pencil. The handwriting was unfamiliar; it was not Father Tam's, that was for certain. Tam wrote neatly, his words resembled elegant squiggles.

The writing here was choppy and messy and she had a fairly good hunch who may have left her the note. As soon as she read the contents, her face reddened considerably.

It said: You dropped this earlier on. PS. Nice tits.