I'm sorry for all the angst at the moment, but my life is a little shitty right now, so I vent it off like this. I'm sure it will pass...

During the next three weeks, Catherine didn't leave her room. Leonardo would come in with a tray full of food, three times a day and put it on her bedside table. He tried to make conversation with her, tell her how Derek was still learning how to paint, how Miley still annoyed Ezio, but he continued teaching her the ways of assassins.

"Nothing too dangerous" he would always say, but Catherine just stared out the window, deaf to anything else.

He also noticed she wasn't wearing the nightdress anymore, but a pair of men's pants and shirt. The shirt was hanging off one of her shoulders, so he guessed it was Ezio's, and the pants must have been her brother's, since they apparently fit her.

When Derek came in to take the tray away, he would find that she had eaten only a small fraction of what they had offered her. He was happy enough though, when their parents had dies, Catherine had to stay at a hospital for a whole month because she refused to eat. When Derek had finally lost his patience and said she was abandoning Miley and Annabelle, she started eating again. One week later she was out of the hospital. But now, he didn't know what to do.

One day, they were all quietly doing the dishes after one dinner, and were surprised to see Catherine in the doorway. Her hair was thrown back exposing her pale face. She had dark bags under her eyes. Miley put the cloth she was using to dry the dishes on the table and walked over to her sister.

"Cat?" she reached over to hold her hand. "oof."

Catherine had knelt down and pulled Miley to a fierce hug and started sobbing in her shoulder. Miley sniffed and hugged her sister's neck. Soon they were both wailing on the floor. Derek sniffed into Leonardo's shoulder, making Catherine look up from Miley's curls. She reached a hand out to Derek, who knelt next to them and joined the hug. Leonardo turned away to wipe his tears and Ezio swallowed thickly.

"Cat?" Miley sniffed. "Cat?"

"Shh, she passed out." Derek cradled both his sisters in his arms.

"Wh-why?" Miley sobbed.

"She's fine, Miley, she hasn't been eating enough, she's just weak." Derek shushed her.

(LINE)

Ezio started visiting Catherine ever since she came down, trying to lure her out of her room to have breakfast downstairs with them. He would wake up, get dressed and knock on her door. He never got an answer, but he let himself in anyway. Catherine would still be sleeping, and Ezio would kneel down next to her head and start stroking her hair.

"Hey." He would always say when she opened her eyes. She would blink at him. The most complex answer he would get was a snif. He tried to persuade her to come down, that she had to eat a little more, that Miley and Derek were getting every day a bit more nervous. But all she did was stare at him in a way that made him feel he was invisible.

One day, when he came back from a mission, late at night, he was a little hungry. He strained his hearing for anything, but found that everyone was asleep. Good, he didn't like it when Miley saw his blood stained robes. Then, he had an idea. He made two cheese sandwiches and crept quietly up the stairs. He entered Catherine's room and sat the sandwiches on the night table. He knelt by her head and stroked her hair.

"Anny!" she jolted straight up.

"Hey, it's okay, it's just me." He whispered.

She flopped back down on the bed and looked at him with watery eyes.

"I brought you something." He gave her the smaller sandwich. "Please eat a little. Everyone's worried about you."

She looked at the sandwich for a moment and sat up slowly. Ezio gave her the bread and she nibbled on it. He himself took a huge bite of his. He looked up when he heard quiet giggling.

"You look like you haven't eaten in a month." She had taken a tiny bite from her sandwich.

"So do you." He poked her ribs. Dio, he could count them.

They ate in relative silence, Ezio breaking it to make her take one more bite. He had finished his sandwich long before she had, but he felt so victorious as if he had just climbed a mountain when she handed him the empty napkin. He stood up and bent over her to kiss her forehead.

"Thank you for eating. Try to go back to sleep." He tucked her in and turned to leave, but felt something tugging at his sleeve.

"Stay with me." She had sat up and was looking at him with lost eyes.

"I'm all dirty, let me wash up and bring a chair." He motioned to his blood stained shirt and smiled at her.

"No. just…" she took a deep breath. "just take your shirt off. Come here. Please?" she scooted back to make room for him.

"Catherine, sleeping with me won't make the pain go away." Ezio whispered.

"I don't want to sleep with you." She said, a little bit of her tone coming back. "Just…sleep." She whispered again.

Ezio studied her face a little more and sighed. He unbuttoned his shirt and threw it in the corner where the smell wouldn't reach the bed. He sat on it and looked at her.

"If Leo makes the wrong assumption, I'm not taking the blame." Ezio tried to joke to see if she would smile.

Of course she wouldn't. He leaned back and slipped under the covers. Catherine turned and snuggled closer. She put her hand on his chest and felt the smooth skin underneath her palm. His body was so warm and nice, she snuggled closer until her head was on his chest. She felt the heat on her cheek and started crying softly, remembering Annabelle's cold body. They had left it in the streets. She knew they couldn't bring her back, it would bring up questions, and even if she asked Leonardo, who she knew would immediately agree, she didn't want to bury Annabelle's body in the yard. She didn't want to look at the tombstone every day.

Ezio wrapped his arms around her shaking body and turned to the side, so she wouldn't have to bend her back so much. He ran his fingers through her hair and shushed her softly, ignoring the faint pain her nails were inflicting on him when she clawed at his chest. He let her cry until she calmed a little, then reached in his pocket for a tissue. He dabbed her cheeks and put the piece of cloth away in his pocket again.

When he raised his hand to stroke her hair again, he hit her fingers. In his short period of confusion, he felt her fingers at his belt. He only reacted after he heard the thump of it hitting the floor. He grabbed her wrists and held them to his chest.

"Catherine, no." he said softly. "This isn't going to help."

"I need to forget." She whispered.

"You're never going to forget, that would be an insult to her memory." Ezio kissed her fingers.

"I want to forget, just for now." Her eyes begged for him to succumb.

"No." he stated firmly. "This isn't what you want."

"Ezio, please." She watched as he kissed her fingers again. "Please."

"Catherine." He kissed her forehead, then touched it to his, looking her in the eyes. "If you want it so much, we can sleep with each other after you've calmed down. Give it a few more days."

She shook her head and tried to pull her hands from his grip.

"I want to forget, Ezio, please."

"No. you're going to regret it later." Ezio held her hands under his chin. "Don't tempt me, Catherine, please."

"Then get me wine. I can't bear it, Ezio, I want to forget, just for a little while."

"I'm not letting you get drunk." Ezio shifted closer to her.

"Ezio, it hurts so much, please make me forget." Catherine snuggled her face to his warm chest.

Ezio held her tightly and sighed. He started stroking her hair again, and played a little with the tips of it. The moonlight coming in through the curtains made her hair look a bit blue. He kissed her head again when she stopped sobbing.

"Do you feel a little better?" he asked.

Catherine raised her head to look at him. Her eyes were red at the edges and her face was wet. Ezio ran his palm over her cheek and cupped it. He touched his forehead to hers and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"I…" he started, but choked on his words.

"What is it?" she asked him.

Ezio opened his eyes again and looked in hers. They were still so empty and sad. He took another deep breath and leaned forward until their lips met. For a moment, she froze. Then, slowly, she leaned into him and let him curl his arms around her and stroke her back. Ezio felt a shy, wet muscle on his lips, and met it with his own tongue. The kiss was deep and slow, and when they parted for air, she looked questioningly at him.

"I thought you would find that better than spur of the moment sex." He gave her that crooked grin of his.

She sighed and kissed his neck, right where Annabelle had been cut.

"Thank you." She whispered.

He let her snuggle to him and continued playing with her hair until he heard her breathing even out. He felt like he was being used as an oversized teddy bear, but he didn't care. He liked to feel her nose and forehead rub on the crook of his neck when she snuggled deeper into his embrace, and the tickling of her breath on his chest when she sighed.

"Meow."

Ezio frowned in confusion.

"Meow."

He turned his head to look behind him. Next to the bed, on the floor, was Leo the kitty. He looked at Ezio with big blue eyes.

"Mrrreooow."

"Come here…" Ezio whispered.

The cat looked at him for a moment longer, then jumped on the bed. Ezio felt his little paws on the blanket coming closer, and looked at Catherine, to see if she had woken up. She stirred when the kitty settled himself between Ezio's and Catherine's chests, and opened her eyes. She moved her hand from Ezio's chest and pulled the kitty closer, making it lay on its back. The fur on his belly was light orange and looked very soft. As if reading Ezio's thoughts, she took his hand, put it on the Kitten's belly and put her own on top of his.

A/N: D'awww, kitteh tiem!