DPOV

I started on my daily report for Jesse.

I finished and looked it all over and realized I'd left out the little details I'm sure Jesse wouldn't have been interested in that didn't pertain to the case.

Small details that I'd notice about Rose in the few hours I've known her.

She twists, tucks, and tugs at her hair when she's nervous; on the rare occasions when her head isn't bowed and she lifts her eyes up, they're unnaturally, yet, beautifully large and round; she's almost always lost in thought or terrible memories.

Anytime I'd touch or speak to her in trying to get her attention she'd jump but in the few hours since we've been paired up together, we've quickly learned to assimilate and live around each other.

We don't know how long this case can go on or what's going to happen so it's best we get used to each other now and it's working.

I finished typing up the report.

It was always quiet around here because I was usually working but right now I noticed the quiet was ironically deafening. It was too quiet for there to be two people in one apartment.

I looked around and realized I hadn't heard Rose in a while. The only noise was from the shower shutting off and I'd remembered I'd offered her one of the large bathrooms so she could clean up a bit. I thought it might do her some good and clear her head.

She came out a little while after in long track pants and pulling on a black sweater over her tank top.

She stood awkward in the middle of the hallway, her duffle bag in her hand.

It took a few weird second of us staring at each other for me to realize she was waiting for me.

"Oh, um…you can sleep in my sister Victoria's room. I've been using all of the other rooms for a bit of storage lately," I told her. I moved from behind the kitchen counter to the bedroom and flicked on the light. Rose smiled.

This girl hasn't had a real bed in a long time.

I took her bag from her hand- actually I had to pry it from her hands- and sat it near the window seat. She stood in the doorway just looking in.

"You can come in if you'd like."

She blushed and stepped in hesitantly. She took slow steps toward the bed and sat at the edge of it as if testing to see if it was really there. She laid back after a while on top of the blankets.

"You might want to lay on top of those. It gets pretty cold in here, even with the heater on. Not to mention its storm season."

She just sighed and stared at the wall, closing her eyes.

"This is good enough."

"Okay. Goodnight."

I turned the light off and was about to close the door.

"Goodnight Dimitri," she whispered still facing the wall.

RPOV

Its always surprises with me.

Never the good kind either.

This time it's different though.

By helping the police arrest my father, I'd be doing something good and not just leading the dead end life I assumed I would.

Am I scared?

Definitely.

Am I worried that I wont live through this?

Definitely.

Am I alone?

For once in my life, no.

I could hear Dimitri in the living room. Regular noises that made me feel at home. The kitchen sink turning on and off, dishes clinking together. Sounds I hadn't heard in a while.

I was jumpy and scared at first but I was getting used to it around here quickly. Normally, I didn't get too attached to people or places because most of my life they'd been taken away. I was feeling too comfortable here. The second I start really liking it; I know it'll change. It always does. The only thing I can do about it is hope for sleep and wish for all of this to be over soon.

DPOV

Four o'clock is when the screaming started.

I'd only been asleep an hour or so.

Instinct told me to reach for my gun in the nightstand. I grabbed it and rushed toward the bedroom the screaming was coming from. It took a moment for me to realize for the first in a while I wasn't alone in the house. I shook my head remembering Rose was here.

I pushed the door open and flicked on the lamp by the side of her bed.

She was squirming and flailing.

I grabbed at her arms to wake her up.

"Rose, it's okay. You're all right. No one's hurting you."

She sat up panting and shaking. Her eyes rested on my own for a second and then widened when she spotted the gun in my hand.

I stifled the scream building up in her throat with my fee hand, putting the gun on the side table.

"It's okay, Rose, it's me."

It took a few times to calm her down. She sat up and leaned against the wall of the bed as far from me as possible but calm.

I brought her a cup of tea from the kitchen and put my gun back in my nightstand.

"Thank you," she muttered taking it.

"I'm sorry I scared you. It's kind of a cop's instinct to grab the gun first."

She smiled a little and sipped the tea.

"My first night here isn't going so well. I woke you up at four in the morning. I'm sorry," she apologized.

"This is going to sound weird but I'm glad to have the company. It gets pretty quiet around here."

"I can imagine. Why not just move back in with your family? From the way you describe them I'm sure they'd love it."

"Because, yeah, it gets quiet but I like it out here. And not to mention moving back in with my mother at twenty-four years old because I'm lonely is kind of pathetic."

She laughed.

"My mother expects me to be married and giving her grandchildren by now."

I couldn't figure out why I was spilling my family history to her .I guessed it was because she was actually here to listen and from the expression on her face she didn't mind. In fact I think she was happy to hear about someone's life other than her own.

"Why aren't you married?" she asked. "You're good looking, you have a good career, and you're good looking."

"You said that twice," I pointed out, my lips rising into a smile.

Her eyes grew and her cheeks flushed a deep red. She looked down at her cup then and ran her finger along the edge.

"Then it must be true," she muttered.

We sat in another awkward moment.

"You should get some sleep. This time without nightmares," I said taking her cup of tea.

"Hopefully," she sighed lying back down. I pulled the cover up over her and tucked her in tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered already falling asleep.

RPOV

For the first time in months I woke up on my own, in a clean room, with a few rays of sunlight streaming in through the window.

I could already hear Dimitri moving around the house. He was so nice and gentle yesterday…

The first time anyone was there when I had a nightmare who wasn't a fellow homeless person trying to rob me, grab a feel, or both.

I felt safe.

The gun freaked me out but nonetheless…

I got up and put on a pair of jeans, slipped on my tennis shoes, and a t-shirt to go over my tank top. I pulled on the only sweater I own and walked out into the living room.

Dimitri was in the kitchen, putting a skillet in the sink.

An entire breakfast was laid out in front of me.

"I made you breakfast," he said his back to me.

Wow, he was cute even from behind, I thought looking from his silky hair, to his broad shoulders, down his back…and further.

Checking him reminded me of the stupid, most embarrassing thing I could have said when I told him he was good looking.

It was true though he was hot.

I shook my head when he turned around to face me, handing me a glass of orange juice.

"Thanks." When I reached for it, my own fingers wrapped around his accidentally. They were warm, a little rough, but warm.

"Jesse called me," he told me as I released his fingers. Immediately I missed their warmth. "He wants you to go back to your father's today." It came out in a long exasperated voice, like he was tired from arguing.

"That was fast. I thought I'd have a few days." I sounded tired my self even after a nights rest.

"So did I but he's adamant on getting this done."

"What do I do?"

"The best way we can do this is for you to approach your mother first. Tell her how Victor scared you into coming back home and maybe she'll soften your father up for you."

"I doubt it," I muttered. The last time I ran to my mother for help she was the one that gave me up to Abe in the first place. "It's a good idea though."

There was a brief pause before he said, "She loves you, Rose. She makes mistakes and is probably just as scared but she loves you."

"You don't even know her," I laugh bitterly.

"No but all moms are alike in one way or another."

It sounded like he was speaking from experience.

I could relate.

Dimitri drove me a couple of blocks away from the suburban street my father's house was on.

I could see the tall brown, three story house from here.

"I'm here. If you want out-"

"I know."

He looked over at me then as if he'd known me all of my short life.

His eyes were so deep brown than and warm and comforting I almost backed out of going.

No, I have to do this.

"I'm ready," I said more to reassure my self than him.

I climbed out of his truck and walked toward the house without looking back.