Kurosaki pulled his car into the parking lot of their apartment complex. As Daisy, this had seemed like a good idea, but now he wasn't so sure. She had slept at his place before, but that had been before his feelings for her had been fully matured, it was also before she had been beaten and almost raped. He found himself worried, not only for her feelings, but for his own sanity.

She sighed, she had somehow talked him into letting her stay at his place, but now she was scared she had made the wrong decision. She grabbed her bag and got out of the car, then proceeded to follow him up to his apartment. She watched him fumble with his keys until he got the correct one to open the door. She liked watching the way his hair moved along with him. The way it moved, it looked like the air stopped doing what it was doing just to tousle his hair. She smiled at him when he opened the door.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked trying his hardest to stay neutral with his tone, to hint nothing at the fact that he wanted her to say yes.

She wasn't sure what to say, on one hand, she loved him and wanted him to make her safe… but on the other, she wasn't sure if she was ready to be alone with a man again… especially since if something went wrong, no one could help her… not even her daisy. One look into his deep eyes gave her an answer. "Yes." She said with a meek smile. She knew what she was getting herself into, and she saw all she needed to in his eyes to know her choice was right.

He smiled back at her and hoped she made the right choice, for both of their sakes. He motioned her through the door and when they were both inside he closed it gently. Not really expecting visitors, his apartment was a mess, not in a dirty way, but in a disorganized way. There were books, coffee cups, and dirty clothes everywhere.

She laughed as she looked at his coffee table, she had never seen more cups squeezed on to such a tiny surface in her life. Sitting down on his couch she found more dirty laundry piled on the cushion next to her. She blushed crimson when she realized what was on top of the pile… a pair of black and white checkered boxers.

He looked at her and wondered why she was smiling and blushing, then he saw what she was looking at, a pile of his clothing, with a pair of boxers on top. "Shit" he muttered, now embarrassed himself he said, "Sorry… I haven't had the chance to do my laundry in a while…" He picked up the pile, "Actually… I haven't done any house work in a while…"

She laughed, "It's fine, I can tell you weren't really expecting visitors anyway." She suddenly felt like she didn't belong in his home. She wondered if she was being a bother. "Would you like me to leave?"

"No!" He shouted without meaning to be so loud, then he continued in a quieter voice, but in trying to undo the damage his shout made, he lost his cool and began to speak faster, "Well… I mean, you can if you want to, but I don't mind having you here, really! I mean, you aren't bothering me or anything. I actually like having you here. But you can leave if you want. I'm not going to keep you here, if you want to go, but if you don't want to go, please stay. I mean… I just…"

She walked closer to him and touched his hand, " You just what?"

He sighed, he had really dug the hole deeper for himself. He wasn't sure how to word it correctly, and he didn't want to scare her. Maybe saying it to her would be too much, he didn't want to scare her or come on too strong. No, he was going to say it, he was going to confess his love to her. He was going to tell her how much she meant to him and how much he cared about her. He was going to tell her that no matter what, he'd always be there for her, as her protector, as her friend, as her lover… "I just want to protect you." He looked away, angry with his own cowardice for not telling her how he really felt.

"Oh…" she said as she released his hand, " I see". She was angry for getting her own hopes up… she should have known that all she was to him was someone to protect and defend. Nothing more, and nothing less… He wasn't in love with her… or at least in the way that she wanted him to be.

"So…" he said to her, "What do you want to do?" A part of him hoped she'd say something involving him and his bed or the couch, but the other side of him chided himself, she was not ready for something like that… she was too young… too easily hurt… and most of all, she was hurting right now. He didn't want her to remember her first time as something scary or painful.

"I'm not sure… what do you want to do?" She actually knew what she wanted to do, and that was lay down with him, in his bed. Not for sex, but for the secure feeling his arms would give her. But she got a feeling, that's not something you should ask for.

He looked at the clock, it was 12:20. "You hungry?" He asked her hoping she'd say yes. If there was any way to win her over, it would be a warm bowl of homemade soup on a cold day like today.

"A little… but I'm not really in the mood to eat right now…" She muttered, feeling like a bother again.

"How about I make us dinner later?" He said hoping his smile would cheer her up. He hated to see her so down like this.

"That would be great." She said and faked a smile.

"Okay." He said as he took her hand, "Come on, I think you need some rest."

She followed behind him, now truly smiling as he opened his bedroom door. Amazingly, it was immaculate… at least compared to the rest of his home.

"You can lay down in here if you want…" He gestured towards his bed, " Or on the couch if you think you'll be more comfortable there…"

She smiled and pulled off her borrowed hoodie, "Here will be just fine thank you." She walked a few steps and laid down on his bed.

"Is there anything I can get you?" He asked as he walked towards the door.

"Two things.." She said blushing.

"Anything you want."

"One… my pajamas from my apartment… and two…"

"Yes?" He said smiling lightly.

"You…"