Hey, my readers ! Ladystarlet09 here. I have always wanted to do a bit of a Red Eye fanfiction story. This one has been in my mind a lot as of late since I watched the movie a few nights ago. Please leave a Review as always and keep an eye out for more updates!~

Chapter 12: Feelings

Lisa slowly peeped outside her door later that evening and found that all was quite save for a faint sound of football playing downstairs.

So she wasn't quite that alone. Slowly descending the stairs one by one, she kept a look out for Jackson but didn't find see or hear him anywhere as she reached the first floor of the condo.

There was a hot plate of mash potatoes, green beans and steak lying on the dinner table along with some water and a small glass of red wine. Her stomach rumbled very loudly as she approached the kitchen table and sat down with a backward glance into the living room where she saw Romeo's big profile sitting quietly on the couch. He loud a curse when his team didn't make a touchdown before turning his head and finding her sitting there. "Oh, so good to see that you are much more relaxed and hungry for food finally." He told her as he stood up with an empty glass in hand. He slowly walked into the kitchen as she warily watched him.

"I don't mean you any harm, if that's what you are thinking, Miss. Reisert." He told her as he poured himself some beer from the fridge. "Think of me as your overgrown babysitter." He added with a friendly smile. Lisa let out a small giggle before covering her mouth. Romeo pointed with his cup. "Are you hungry? I made that personally for you since I heard that you didn't' eat anything since last night."

Lisa bit her lip as she tentatively picked up her fork and started to stab at the green beans before hungrily taking a bite. He watched eat for a minute before taking a seat across from her. "So I suppose that I should properly introduce myself since we will be seeing each other often from now on." Romeo smiled as she took a sip of her water.

Lisa let out a small burp. "I already think we covered that yesterday morning, Romeo. But its nice to meet you nonetheless." She held out her hand across the table.

He stared at it for a moment before gently taking it into his own." Pleasure to meet you." He let go to allow her to finish her over late meal, mentally noting the quick glances she gave the front windows. "If you are wondering about Mr. Rippner," He said while playing with his cup a little. "He won't be back until early morning."

"Where did he go?" She found herself curiously asking dispirit, the down feeling inside. Jackson didn't look very much like a sociable person when it came to anything outside his business.

"He went to a club." He glanced down at his watch. "And speaking of going out, can I trust you that you won't be escaping from here while I take care of some quickly business?"

Lisa had to bit back a sudden out burst of not leaving her behind. Instead, she merely shrugged as she focused on filling her stomach. So what? It wasn't her business anyway to comment or even think about Jackson's personal affairs. He even said that he didn't' much care for her anyway. "I don't have any place to go to after he made it rather clear that if I even stepped a foot outside the door, I'm a dead person."

"Miss. Reisert, if you don't mind me speaking my mind about what transpired between you and Mr. Rippner," Romeo said while sitting back with one hand resting on the table before him. "I don't think you understand what he is feeling."

She fought the urge to want to hit him. She tighten her fingers around her fork. "So?"

"So, you really need to listen to him if you want to continue to live. Jackson does have to think more than just you. He's got a job to do and if you choose to hinder him at every single turn, it will only make things worse for everyone involved. Period."

Swallowing hard, Lisa emptied her wine glass in several gulps. "Then what am I supposed to do with a man that refuses my simple request of calling my father? Doesn't he know what my father is going to think-"

Romeo cut her off suddenly by holding up his hand for silence. "That's enough." He told her in a hard voice. "I see why he is getting mad about you, Lisa." His dark eyes flashed for a moment with irritation. "If anyone of us gets killed in the process of protecting, I sure in hell know who to thank for it in the end."

Lisa watched him stalked to the kitchen sink to put his empty cup. "I'm sorry." She said in a small voice. "Its just I'm scared."

"I know you are very scared, but you need to trust us and most importantly, trust him." Romeo said in a more gentle voice. "Now, I have to go make that call to your dad and let him know you are ok." He looked down at his watch. "Just keep a low profile while I'm gone. Go watch some TV, they have some good TV series hat you might end up liking."

She didn't say anything as she watched him exit the house and hearing him lock the door behind him. Everything, save for the TV, was silent and she felt lonely. She knew that Jackson only wanted to keep her safe, but somehow in her heart, it refused to fully trust his instinct when it came down to talking of killing people and such. How could a normal person such as herself stomach being alone for God only knows how long, in the presence of her former assailant?

"I guess I better do something productive for a while." Lisa said out loud the empty house. Getting up, she gathered her dirty dishes and carefully cleaned and dried them before putting them away in their respective places. Then she went back upstairs to grab her teddy bear and a spare blanket she had found in one of the walk-in closets before hurrying back down the living room where she proceeded to wrap herself up in it and flip through the channels.

Just how many channels does one need? She thought in amazement as hundreds and hundreds of various TV channels came up. Is he that bored that he must have a full package of Comcast?

Lisa settled for the old retro channel, giggling slightly to herself at the image of Lucy and Ricky arguing over burnt breakfast. How much she longed deep down for a life of love and a good argument from time to time. Someone who would love and hold her in his arms while whispering love poems and promises of endless devotion. That was the kind of life that Lisa Reisert had always dreamed of since she was little girl until that one night where every dream was shattered by one man.

Her smile faded as her hand absently went into her shirt to touch the knife scar underneath. It still was ugly and big whenever she laid eyes upon it, but it also made a proving mark that she somehow managed to survive even after enduring hours and hours of pain from the rape. Her father had made sure that after the man was arrested and charges were filed against him, that her rapist would never see the light of day again as a free man. Then one day, it came as a surprise to her when they were eating breakfast and the local morning news had reported that her rapist hand died of apparent suicide in the middle of the night, two and half weeks after he was sent to the federal jail to serve life without a possibly of parole.

Lisa remembered how quiet her father was after they watched the full report. He had told her that perhaps the rapist felt so guilty and fear of facing a life of solitude away from society that he couldn't handle it well and decided to take his life instead. Lisa felt a slip of pity for the man, but firmly told herself that at least other women like her would no longer have to hide in fear from a monster such as himself.

She felt her eyes become droopy after a while and soon after, she was lightly snoring away as Lucy and Ricky kissed passionately under a full moon on the TV. That was how Romeo had found her after he came back from his call. He carefully walked into the living room after finding that the young woman was fast asleep on the couch with the TV still on. He turned it off and tucked her more firmly in before dimming the lights to a soft glow and retreating a safe distance to a nearby armchair so he could catch a few Z's himself with his gun resting very casually in his lap. It had been too long of a day and night for them all and he prayed silently that they would live another day without any violence for the time being.