Finally! Here's the next chapter. I know I probably have you wondering what happened so here ya go. Hopefully you won't be too mad at me.

Mya awoke with a start. Her whole body was trembling. She was covered from head to toe in sweat. 'My God, had that all been a dream? It felt so real. Shit I guess I am losing it.' She slowly sat on the edge of her bed and put her head in her hands. 'I need to see Dwayne. There's no other way to make me feel better.' She stood up and quickly got dressed.

Dwayne was startled as he heard a knock at the door. 'Who could that be at this hour?' He slowly got out of bed and headed towards the door. He looked through the peep hole and saw Mya standing there. 'Must've been another nightmare. Poor thing.' He unlocked the door and let her in.

"I hope I didn't scare you," she said as she took off her coat.

"No not all. Are you okay? You look a little shook up," he said as he walked over to her.

She avoided his gaze. "I am actually. I had a bad dream and I decided to come over. Your the only one who makes me feel better."

He couldn't help but smile. "Aw thanks sweety. Just knowing that makes me feel good. Do you want to talk about what upset you so much?"

She shook her head. "Not really but I guess. I had one of those dreams within a dream, you know? I know that sounds crazy but that's what happened. It just had to do with some bad stuff and it scared me. That's why I just came over instead of calling first. I needed to see you face to face."

He was taken back a little by what she said. 'It must've been a bad one.' He put his hands on her arms. "Well you did the right thing. I'm proud of you. You want to sit down? You look a little tired."

"Sure. I feel kinda funny just standing here."

They both sat down on the couch. She rested her head on his shoulder and they just sat in silence. He slowly put his arm around her and pulled her close. He wanted to show her that nothing bad was gonna happen to her. That she was safe with him.

She could feel her eyes getting heavy. She slowly closed them and fell right to sleep.

He could feel her body relax and her breathing deepened. 'She must be asleep. I'll just stay here with her so she won't be scared.' He started to stroke her hair as she slept. Slowly but surely, his eyes started to feel a little heavy. He closed his eyes and fell asleep with his arm still around her frail form.

They slept on the couch the rest of the night. Daylight slowly crept through the blinds as morning came so quickly. Dwayne was the first to stir as he slowly opened his eyes. 'I must've fallen asleep after all.' He looked beside him to see Mya asleep with her head on his chest. A smile slowly crept across his face as he watched her. Her delicate features were still at the moment, almost at peace. It was almost like watching an angel. His heart began to race as he stroked a stray hair from her cheek. 'She is so beautiful. I wish I could kiss her without waking her.'

As if on cue, she started to stir. She let out a small yawn and slowly opened her eyes to find him watching her sleep. She couldn't help but smile. "Good morning sleepy head," he said. "Morning. How long was I out," she said while stretching her arms. "I think we were here the rest of the night."

"Wow. Well after the nightmare I had, I feel much better knowing that I'm with you," she replied while looking into his eyes.

"Glad I could be of service ma'am," he said with a wink.

"Silly." She sat up trying to get her stiff muscles moving.

He did the same while walking towards the kitchen. "Would you like some juice or something?"

"Yes please. I'm thirsty," she replied while watching him. 'My protector. How can I be so lucky? If things weren't so complicated, I'd tell him how I really felt and see where it would go from there. Maybe seal things with a kiss? Who knows.' A smile crept across her face at that thought.

She could almost see how things would go. He would take her in his strong arms and look into her eyes. Almost by accident, lightly kiss her on the lips like in the movies. As he pulled back to see her reaction, she would smile, put one of her hands behind his head and kiss him with all the passion that was left in her. She couldn't help but sigh at that thought. If only things weren't so...

Screwed up, you mean? Honestly sweety, you really need to stop day dreaming. It's not going to come true any way. Once he finds out about what you do to yourself, well, there's only so much a man can handle. Why must you keep torturing yourself over this guy? Does he really mean that much to you? Your knight in shining armor? Your hero, your savior? I almost laugh at the very thought. You know what you should do? You should test him by telling him your dirty little secret. That way you can see if he's really the prince charming you make him out to be. C'mon honey. I double dare you...

She closed her eyes, trying to shut the voice out. 'Why does it have to ruin everything? Why can't I be happy and stay that way?' She wanted to scream, let out all her aggression on whatever got in her way. Anything to shut that damn voice up. She could feel that familiar feeling gnaw at the back of her mind, like it always did. The numbness began to slowly creep through her body especially through her arms. Her scars began to ache and she could almost feel the sensation of the blade on her delicate skin. She could almost feel herself going into a trance.

Yes that's right. Give into it. Come back to where you belong. You know you can't get enough of it. You and I both know that. I'm just better at dealing with it than you are. Once you try to pick yourself up, I'm always there to remind you what you are. No one wants you. You just keep telling yourself all those stupid lies in order to feel better about yourself. Like you actually matter to him. Please give me a damn break! He'll find out sooner or later. I'm hoping it will be a lot sooner. I just love to watch you suffer.

Dwayne didn't know what was going on behind him. All he could think about was how beautiful she was. 'Am I falling for her or am I just imagining things?' He smiled at that thought. 'I think I am. She's everything a man could ever want. It's just...I wish I knew what she's trying to hide. Is it really that bad?' After he got them both something to drink, he went back to where she was only to find her gone. He didn't know what to think. 'Where did she go? She was right here a minute ago.' He put down the glasses and walked around the apartment, seeing where she could've gone. He noticed that the bathroom door was shut. 'Maybe she's in here.' He softly knocked on the door. "Mya, are you in there?" He could hear sobbing and knew right away that she was in there. He slowly opened the door and found her on the floor crying. "Honey, what's wrong?", he said as he walked over to her.

She looked up at him with tears running down her cheeks. She didn't know what to say to him. Looks like someone got caught. All she could do was shake her head and cry. 'Just go away. Leave me alone, please.' He sat down beside her and put his arms around her. She embraced him and just let it all out. All her anger at herself, the frustration, the loneliness. It was all coming out along with her tears. She didn't want to hold it back any more.

He helped her stand up and took her over to the bed. Together they sat down and held onto one another. He felt her sobbing form against his chest. All he could do was stroke her back, trying to calm her down. 'What brought this on? Will she tell me or keep me in the dark like it never happened? God please just tell me.'

After what seemed like forever, she finally had the strength to lift her head from his chest. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying so hard but she didn't care. She just wanted to look into his caring eyes, silently telling her that everything will be fine. "Are you okay?", he said to break the silence.

She slowly shook her head and smiled. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I really need to quit doing that," she said with a laugh.

He gently wiped the tears from her cheek. "Not at all. You're beautiful no matter what," he whispered.

She was taken back by that comment. She felt speechless. Almost like her breath left her at that moment. She smiled and slowly brought her face towards his. She felt her lips touch his. She could feel his body stiffen then relax as he returned the favor. Time stood still at that moment. Nothing else mattered. His hands started caressing her back, sending chills down her spine. Her hands seemed to move on their own, moving slowly across his chest. The kiss deepened and their tongues danced with all the fire and passion that was held back for so long. The desire was so strong, everything felt so right.

Before they both passed out from lack of air, they slowly pulled apart and rested theirs heads against each other. Both of their hearts were racing. Their breathing was heavy with love for one another. Mya helped take Dwayne's tank top off and touched his bare chest. She could feel his heart beating and the goosebumps caused by her fingernails as she caressed his skin. The wanting in his eyes was so apparent that it sent a chill through her. He brought her close to him again and stared kissing her feverishly. His hands explored her skin, wanting to be even closer. He slowly started kissing and sucking on her neck, causing her to gasp. She could feel his lips on her shoulder and suddenly realized what was going to happen next. She opened her eyes and snapped out of her desire induced trance. 'Oh shit. I...I can't do this. I can't let him see my scars.' "Wait, Dwayne please stop," she said as she backed away from him. "What? What's wrong?"

She stood up and tried not to look at him. "It's just...I can't do this. I just can't. I'm sorry but I gotta go." She started to walk away from him but he grabbed her wrist. "Whoa wait a second. Just tell me what's wrong. Was it something I did?", he said wanting to know what happened.

"No it's not you. It's just...Look I'm not someone you want to get involved with, alright? Just please let me go."

He pulled her back towards him. He wanted to know what brought on her change of behavior. "Mya just tell me. What's wrong?"

"I said let me go. Leave me alone!", she said while trying to get her wrist free.

"Tell me what happened," he said trying to get a straight answer.

"I said stop! Just let me go please!," she yelled as she pulled her wrist from his grasp and fell on the floor. Little did she know that her sleeves to her sweater rolled up, exposing her scars. Dwayne's eyes widened as he saw deep, wide marks criss crossing the flesh on her forearms.

'What the hell?'