He was gracious enough to pull her underwear and pants up after his own. She was grateful for that, it got less awkward to quietly stare into the wall that way, and right now that was all she wanted to do. Or at least, the only thing she could bring herself to do.

The intense waves of breathtaking bliss were all gone, now serving as nothing more than a taunting contrast to the emptiness inside and the pain in her body.

The back of her head was pounding so hard she could feel her stomach turning blood was dripping out of her wound in a steady stream.

"Uh-oh, what did I do.." he mumbled and her eyes flew open as the clowny voice reminded her of his presence.

She jumped like a scared rabbit as she felt his warm fingers on her back, an inch above the wound. She turned around in an instant to protect it from further harm, from him.

Her eyes moved quickly as she studied every inch of his face. His chin was covered in the blood from his bottom lip, but his eyes were now warm and cocoa tinted as opposed to the sinister, charcoal coloured orbs she had seen before.

"You have.. uh, bled through your bandages." he said and the tone to his voice revealed another sign of humanity.

"I know.. I'll get Ben." she mumbled and made an attempt to leave the room but was stopped in her tracks as he caught her arm.

"What for? I'll do i-t."

His grip around her arm hardened slightly and his eyes kept searching hers for something, she met his gaze and wondered what he was looking for.

"..Why?" she asked, furrowing her brows.

She caught a slight, quick jerk of his head and saw his lips tensing into a straight line.

"I was, uh.. use-less when you got sho-t, but I can do this." he muttered and nodded as to affirm himself.

"Right.. but you know, Ben is careful." she said with as much acidity as she could muster.

"I'll be careful." he muttered, definitely bothered by her words and tone.

"Oh really? Why start now?"

She jerked her arm out of his grip and felt her teeth grinding as she studied him, it pleased her to see some loss of his usual confidence.

He leaned a bit closer with a smile, seemingly constraint, and poked her lightly on the apple of her cheek.

"Don't be difficult sweet-pea, let me take care of ya. Wait here." he said and left the room.

She heard the wooden steps creaking as he walked downstairs, probably to fetch what he needed to fix her wound.

She didn't know what she had done to deserve the treatment she had just received. At least she had learned something; no matter how furious she was with him, all he had to do was to put his painted, soft lips and his warm tongue on her skin to make her forgive him for anything. The way her body ached for this man was ridiculous.

It didn't bother her, she had always longed for feeling even something close to a desire like this. His hands could set her skin on fire by the lightest touch, and it was both a thrill and a nightmare that he had such a dangerous weapon to use.

She was so deep in thought she didn't notice him standing in the doorframe, studying her with a thoughtful look on his face.

He walked up to her and she got curious about what his eyes were looking for when they gazed into hers this way. He slowly, almost cautiously, brought a hand up to her right cheek and gently caressed it with his thumb.

"You might bruise a little on this side.." He mumbled and smacked his lips. His paint was a mess, the black and red was smeared out far from where it was supposed to be and almost a third of his skin was visible through it. Just take it off already.

She nodded slightly, confused by the warm liquid suddenly pouring down her face. She could taste the salt as some of it trailed its way down to the corner of her mouth and a thick lump in her throat forced her to swallow repeatedly.

"Why..?" was all she managed to get out as she looked up at him and the word came out of her mouth in a pathetic little whisper. He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes as he looked at her and she turned her gaze down as she didn't want to see him.

"Silly.." he mumbled and she allowed him to wipe away the tears with the sleeve of his sweater.

"Come here." he said softly and pulled her in for a hug, she wanted to resist it but couldn't find the energy. Instead she leaned in against his chest and cursed as the warmth from his body made her heart beat faster. Always so damn warm.

He leaned his cheek against the top of her head and caressed her back with comforting strokes, as if he was some type of caring and gentle human being.

"You know.. I ah, remember hurting you really badly the first time we met. It didn't seem to face ya, not, one, bi-t.. you laughed and told me your name was Daffy Duck." he said and the memory made him giggle into her hair.

"Aaah.. I was really struggling to keep a straight face, you were laughing in the face of pain and death.. In my face. I liked ya immediately, darling."

He hugged her a little harder, making her feel his heart beating as if he wanted to prove to her that he had one.

"My point is.. what I did today was nothing in comparison. You haven't gone soft on me, have ya?"

He pulled away a little bit and pressed a finger under her chin to make her look up at him. He studied her with furrowed brows, looking like he tried hard to understand.

"It's not about the pain, it's.. hard to explain."

"Mmm?"

"I've missed you. And when you finally come here you just.." she said and turned her gaze down, away from him.

"You've missed me.."

She could feel his eyes on her and she knew he wanted her to meet them, but she felt close to tears again and looking at him was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with."

She pulled away from him, removed a single tear from the corner of her eye and went to lay down on the bed. She felt the weight shift in the mattress as he sat down and when she sensed his hands closing in on the wound she pushed her face down into the pillow.

"Relaaax toots.. I'll be careful."

"I am relaxed." she said, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"You're shaking, dummy. Just breathe."

She realised he was right, the wound felt like it had its own damn pulse and the thought of him touching it in a careless way was frightening. She flinched as he pulled her tank top up and slid one of his warm hands over her back.

"I'm being gentle, see?"

He spoke softly and kept caressing her back, she took a deep breath to relax her body.

"Good girl.."

"You often touch my back."

"Mm.. I love your back."

"What do you love about it?"

He chuckled.

"Want to hear me say nice things, do you?"

"Yes please, I need some sweet talking."

She mumbled into the pillow and couldn't help but smile a little as she heard him laughing.

"Gotcha. I uh, really like this curve.." he said and moved his hand to the small of her back.

".. The way your back arches right here. And the scars.."

"I hate them."

"Tsk, tsk, you shouldn't, without them you wouldn't be you."

"Yeah, and that would be such a tragedy.." she muttered sarcastically.

"It would."

She shivered with delight as she felt him lean down and kiss one of her scars.

"I'm flattered."

She chuckled as she felt him proceed down until he rested his whole head on her back as if she was a pillow.

"What's going on back there?" she asked and noticed that both his weight and breathing got quite heavy.

"J..?"

She reached a hand back to lightly tap him on his shoulder, he stirred with a snorting sound and once he lifted his weight off of her she turned around and laughed at the sight of him. He looked very disoriented as he licked his lips and absentmindedly scratched his cheek.

"Did you fall asleep?" she asked with disbelief.

He tried to steady his sleepy gaze on her and finally managed to do it, somewhat.

"A little bit." he mumbled quietly.

He reached for something to clean her wound with, she didn't even notice as she was busy laughing.

"Why are you so tired?" she pried and heard him scoff.

"The number of hours I've slept since you got shot I can count on my fingers, sweetcheeks."

"Jesus..It's been two weeks J."

"Mmm."

"Why?"

"I can't. When I close my eyes and everything is quiet I get.. Extremely uncomfortable."

"The ants?"

"Mhm, and something more.. not sure what."

"What does it feel like?"

"..Panic. Can't breathe."

"Oh.. I'm sorry."

"Would be nice if ah.. you could stop almost dying all the time."

"Not my fault this time! I even told you to watch out for him."

"..Don't remind me."

He sounded bitter and serious yet she couldn't help but chuckle. She twisted her upper body so she could see him and reached a hand over to his hair, then she did her best to mess his hair up as much as she could.

"It's.. kinda sweet that you don't want me to die. Such a cute widdle sweetie-pie!"

Her voice was loud and childish and she laughed as he tried to look at her between the mess of strands now hanging down in front of his face.

"So fucking stu-pid." he said with a toothy grin and shook his head at her. When she finally stopped laughing she sat up and gently fixed his hair back to normal, letting her hand affectionately brush the side of his face before moving it away from him.

He licked his lips and looked at her with a dreamy smile.

"Mmmh.. You don't often touch me, toots."

"Well you know.. for the most part my hands have been tied."

She answered, giving him an innocent smile.

"Touché."

"You like it?"

"Ve-ry much." he purred.

As she was taking in his words and the playful look on his face as he bit his bottom lip, the last of the lingering anger she had towards him somehow melted right away. She leaned forward a little bit and caressed his cheek, just like he often did on her. The way he instantly leaned into her touch made her smile.

"I don't want to lose you either, you know? You make me feel alive, somehow."

"That's.. the best thing I've ever heard." he said softly and laid down to rest his head on the pillow. He reached a hand up and tugged at her arm to make her do the same, she laid down on her side just like him so that they were facing each other.

"Aaall done, by the way."

"It didn't hurt much, thank you."

"I told ya."

She couldn't help but smile when she looked at him now that he was so close. Every now and then he relaxed his features and it transformed his face completely, he looked handsome and young, even kind of innocent and sweet.

"Wha-t, doll?"

He raised a brow as she started laughing.

"How many pet names do I have?"

"You don't like 'em?"

"I don't mind, they're all nice."

"Good."

"Earlier you said you were useless when I was shot, what did you mean?"

"You don't remember?"

"No.. some fragments here and there."

"Mmm.. I should have stopped the bleeding, but I didn't."

"..You went after Antonio?"

"Pfft.. No, I just sat there, paralyzed. Like some fucking clown."

"Oh.."

"The bullet itself wasn't a big problem, you got lucky. The danger was the bleed-ing.."

"I survived though."

"Can't die twice, hmm? You're a diamond." he purred affectionately and gave her a small smile.

"You think I've died already?"

"At least once. I'd like to hear about it one day."

Out of nowhere his eyes widened and she watched with confusion as he hurriedly got up and out of the bed.

"Wait here." he said and quickly walked out of the room, she heard him go down the stairs and out the front door but barely had time to wonder where he was going before she heard him come back in and walk up the stairs again.

He entered the room with a strut and a toothy grin plastered all over his face, she noticed he was holding his right hand behind his back. He sat down on the edge of the bed and patted repeatedly beside him on the mattress, she chuckled and got up to sit next to him.

"What's going on?"

"I've got a little something for ya." he said and wet his lips with a flick of his pink tongue, smiling mischievously.

"Oh?"

"Guess what it is!"

"Uhm.. I have no idea, give me a clue?"

He bit his bottom lip as he thought about it.

"Hmm.. it's, uh, something fit for a dazz-ling beauty." he said joyously and she studied him intensely, feeling butterflies fluttering in her stomach out of curiosity.

"I don't know! ..a pair of panties? Since you cut my only pair into pieces?"

He laughed and shook his head but forced her to keep guessing until she finally grabbed him by his sweater and begged for him to show her.

He revealed a beautiful, sleek, black case about the size of his palm, as he handed it over to her she noticed it had an inscription in silver of her name. She hesitantly took it and opened it with shaky hands, she gasped as she saw the breathtaking necklace.

"Holy SHIT!"

The scarred faced man grinned as he studied her every reaction closely.

"You like..?" he purred expectantly, she closed the case and handed it back to him.

"I can't take this! Are you mad? It must have cost a fortune!"

"You're assuming I bought it? I'm flattered."

"Ah..it's stolen?"

"No, I bought it from the fence."

"Shit.. J, get your money back.. I don't deserve this."

"It's even got your name on i-t." he muttered and she shook her head.

"I don't even dare to touch this.."

"Just take it."

"Are you serious? You're giving this to me?"

"I am, doll, and I'll be very disappointed if you don't take it."

"Shit.."

She swallowed hard as she picked it up and studied it. The dainty chain felt cool against her skin and the shimmer from the diamond covered pendant was almost blinding. In the middle of it sat a stone similar to a diamond with one difference, it was glimmering in many different colours. As he explained what it represented tears started pouring out of her eyes like an unstoppable waterfall.

The first gift she had ever gotten was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. A wave of affection rushed through her as she saw the excited look on his face when he helped her put it on, she thanked him over and over as she crawled up into his lap and hugged him as hard as she could. He simply wouldn't stop giggling.

"You're like a clingy little monkey."

"Sorry." she mumbled into his neck.

"I do not mind-ah.." his voice vibrated and she somehow managed to cling to him a little harder.

She drowned in his scent. Aside from having the most intoxicating body odour she had ever come across, the hints of smoke coming from his hair and the odd scent from the grease paint were always present. Everything blended together into his own, unique and incredibly addictive cologne. She didn't know if he actually smelled truly divine or if she thought so just because this scent belonged to him.

Either way, she realised she was in big trouble. Right now he could have had her do anything for him, absolutely anything.

Soon they switched positions to lie down, he stretched out on his back in the middle of the bed with a loud groan and she rested her head against his chest.

Wanting to feel more of him, she found her way in under his t-shirt to touch his stomach. Soft skin, toned.. so, so.. warm.. Shit.

He sighed pleasurably, seemingly enjoying the way she let her nails lightly scratch his skin.

"I should have bought you jewelry a long time ago.."

She scoffed and snuggled her face into his chest.

"No, you should have removed my ropes a long time ago."

"Mmm.. maybe."

"So this is the way it's going to be, huh? You hurt me and then buy me stuff to make up for it like a real douchebag?" she said jokingly and he chuckled.

"Funny.. We're almost like a real couple."

"You want to be my boyfriend J?"

She asked him teasingly, he scoffed and started running his fingers through her hair.

"I don't care what you call i-t Freya, but you're mine."

He said it playfully, but there was an unmistakable warning in that tone.

She inched herself up all the way to his face and stared down on him. His messy, filthy hair, yellow teeth and smeared makeup stood out more than usual against the clean, bright white sheets in the bed. He looked so odd, so out of place. So beautiful.

"You know, I think I'm starting to agree with you.."

She whispered and leaned down all the way and hovered right above his lips until he understood what she was waiting for. He parted his lips and everything around her disappeared as she kissed him, everything but his soft lips and warm breath.

She turned her head to the side to get a better angle, really wanting to kiss him deeply.

Her chest tightened when she found his tongue and she lost her breath altogether when he sighed lustfully against her mouth. She felt his breath on her lips and could taste it on her tongue, as sweet and addictive as always.

He nestled a hand into her hair and forced her down a little harder, really allowing her to explore the velvety and warm inside of his mouth. She affectionately touched the side of his face and his neck, her heart pounded harder when he responded with a quiet moan.

Once they finally broke the kiss she smiled down at him, enjoying the way her lips were tingling. Something had stirred awake inside of her, an almost desperate need to satisfy his seemingly endless hunger for intimacy. He met her gaze, looking very giddy.

"Mmmmh… you're lucky I'm exhausted, doll.. or I'd give you another round riiight now.." he purred deeply and sucked on his bottom lip.

"Unlucky you mean.."

Her voice was throaty and she playfully rubbed the tip of her nose against his. He closed his eyes and sighed frustratedly.

"You really do look exhausted.. why don't you close your eyes?"

"No."

"I'm not saying you have to sleep, just close them and see how it feels."

He looked slightly annoyed but took a deep breath and closed his eyes. She kissed every inch of his right scar before nuzzling her face into his neck. She used her free hand to scratch and caress his chest and stomach under his t-shirt, hoping to somehow distract him from whatever it was that was going on inside of him.

"Do you feel okay?"

"..Mm. Don't stop."

"I won't. I think you should let yourself fall asleep if it's possible."

"In a house owned by two people whose children I've threatened to kill very painfully?"

"They won't do anything, they're too scared. And.. I'm here."

"My little bodyguard?" he said and chuckled.

"Yeah.. you're safe, I promise."

"Don't go anywhere."

"I won't." she assured him and pulled the cozy, thick covers over them both.

The peace was disturbed by his phone vibrating somewhere in his jeans. He picked it up to read the message and sighed annoyedly before putting it back into his pocket.

"Evan keeps digg-ing his own grave-ah.."

"..What?"

"He's obviously smitt-en with you, one thinks he would be smart enough to hide it from me."

"Was that him..?"

"Mhm. He asked for the hundredth time how you're doing."

"Oh.."

Her mouth went dry and she couldn't think of anything to say at all.

"What do ya thin-k of him..?"

His voice didn't reveal anything, but she knew she had to answer this exactly right for Evan's sake.

"Dunno.. he seems alright? Seems like he's got some good connections."

"Uh, yeah.. connections. His whole family does. But the fence is also my connection now."

"Well that's good. But he seems to respect you, I don't think he would do anything to offend you."

"He better no-t."

Freya decided not to continue the conversation if she could help it, it resembled navigating through an area full of landmines.

It didn't take more than a few minutes in silence until his chest started to rise and fall in a deep, steady rhythm. It made her happy that he had managed to fall asleep, but the image of Evan's bloody, cut up face and lifeless body left her with a very heavy stomach.


Okay, SO! Too fluffy? Let me know what you think!

Also, I'm going to be a bit slower with chapters, because I'm in something of a slump.. I am not sleeping and I'm drowning in my own insecurities atm, in other words; I can't focus and I hate everything that I'm writing and pretty much everything I'm doing, hah. (I often get these slumps, I think most people do..? They always pass though.)

Writing this is still so much fun but I might be a little slower and I'm going to spend some time going through my old chapters and hopefully improve them.

Thank you for your support!! Love ya xxx