As soon as Arthur heard her screams, he jumped up and ran towards the bathroom. He arrived just in time to see the door closing and he pushed it open and ran outside. He drew his gun and turned off the safety.
"Ariadne?"
He yelled. He heard shuffling from the side of the building and then a thud. He tried not to think about what it could be and ran towards the sound. He found the man holding a knife to Ariadne's throat as she cried silently.
"If you just let her come with me, no one will get hurt."
He said, his voice holding no sign of any accent. He was American, beyond a doubt.
"What do you want from her."
Arthur asked viscously, the gun pointed at the man's head.
"We just have a few questions, that's all."
That's never all.
Arthur though.
"I don't know if that line usually works, but you're not taking her anywhere that I'm not. She stays with me."
Arthur snarled.
"I don't think there's room for negotiation here, sir."
The man told Arthur.
"Lower the gun and we'll leave. If you don't, she dies."
Arthur shook his head, his eyes full of tears at the thought of loosing her, normally, he would never let his emotions slip through but this was Ariadne. He lowered the gun slowly but shot the man in the leg. He screamed in pain and as Arthur leaned down to pick up his architect, the bastard slid the knife across his forearm in a hail Mary. Arthur groaned in pain but lifted Ariadne up nonetheless. He carried her bridal style to his car.
"Are you okay?"
He asked her once they were both sitting.
"No."
She answered simply and he didn't say anything, he just drove. He wasn't worried about the restaurant going after them, he had left a generous amount of money on the table that would surely cover the price of their half eaten food along with a generous tip. He decided to go to a hotel since now they were onto them and he wanted to keep the house safe. When he arrived, Ariadne's eyes were closed but he knew she wasn't sleeping. He went around the car and to the other side and picked her up again. She put her head on his shoulder and dragged her arms around his neck. He walked inside.
"Hi I need a room."
"Yes, what kind?"
"Just a regular room, for two nights please."
"Are you alright sir?"
The receptionist asked, eyeing his bleeding forearm.
"Yeah I'm fine."
"And is she okay?"
"She will be."
He said, urging her to give him the keys.
"You'll be in room 23, here are your keys, it's on the second floor, I assume you will close the bill tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Then I just need your credit card information."
He gave her the number of his safe credit card. He took Ariadne up the stairs and dropped her on the bed, sitting down next to her and pulling her right back to him. She buried her head in his chest and cried. He had never felt so useless. He kissed her head and rubbed her bruised arms and back until she calmed down and then he picked her up again and sat her on the counter in the bathroom.
"I'm just gonna clean the makeup off your face okay?"
He said and she nodded slightly. She had only put on mascara and lipstick to look a bit nicer.
"Ariadne, what did he do?"
A new batch of tears came out of her eyes as the words came tumbling out of her lips.
"He grabbed me and when I called for you he covered my mouth with his hand and I bit it but he didn't move and then when he saw you following us, he dragged me to the side of the building but I wouldn't stop moving so her got mad and hit me in the stomach and banged my head against the wall and then you came-"
She couldn't finish, her breathing was too bast and her sobs too violent.
"Hey, it's okay, you're fine now, we're safe."
She nodded and he picked her up and put her back on the bed.
"Here, you can have my shirt for tonight, it'll be more comfortable than your dress."
He said, unbuttoning his shirt and handing it to her. She took it gratefully and he turned around so she could change.
"You can turn around."
She said when she was done. He sat back down on the bed next to her.
"Can I see it?"
He asked and she knew he was talking about the bruise. She nodded and lifted the shirt, exposing her underwear but honestly, she couldn't care less, and a massive bruise of a sickening combination of colours.
"I'm gonna call for some ice."
He said immediately and a few minutes later, the ice arrived.
"Okay, it's your turn now."
Ariadne declared, pointing to the cut he hastily bandaged with a napkin from the restaurant.
"I'm fine, it can wait."
"No it can't, it'll get infected."
"I'm fine, Ariadne."
He pressed.
"When are you gonna get it through your thick skull that you matter too?"
She asked, tired of his silliness. He sighed.
"Okay."
She nodded solemnly and called for a first aid kit which arrived promptly. Ariadne cleaned the cut and grimaced at its size.
"You should go to a hospital."
"No, I can't."
"You went yesterday."
"Yesterday, I could have defended myself if anything happened. If I go there with this, they're gonna come during my appointment and I won't be able to fight because they'll have me on drowsy medication."
"Okay, so what do you suggest we do?"
"You're gonna sew it back up."
"What?"
She asked, shocked that he would propose such a thing.
"There's sewing stuff in the kit right? Use it."
"Arthur, I can't sew."
"Sure you can, I trust you."
She shook her head in disbelief and proceeded to do her best at sewing up the cut. She covered her handiwork with a bandage.
"Can we talk about it now?"
Arthur asked.
"Yeah."
She complied.
"Okay, that guy? He won't be the last. I'm gonna train you because I won't always be there for you and I can't stand the thought of another guy doing what that man did to you tonight."
She leaned over and pressed her lips to his. At first he kissed back, but he stopped.
"No, this isn't right. You're not thinking right at the moment and I would feel like I'm taking advantage of you"
Ariadne lowered her head in his neck, suddenly ashamed.
"You're right, I'm sorry."
She said, pressing a quick kiss in his neck and laying down under the covers.
"Thank you for saving me tonight, and although I hate being the damsel in distress, I'm glad you were there."
"I did is as much for you as it was for me, I'm serious, if you died, I would never forgive myself."
He slid under the covers next to her and wrapped his arms around her middle.