Roses at Midnight 5

"So..." the blonde male was stroking a curl from his new girlfriend's hair as they stayed on the park bench, her resting heavily on him with her head on her chest and her legs at an angle across the remainder of space on said bench, "do you mind telling me about...her?"

Considering she'd just told him about her little sister, he knew it was going to be a very sensitive subject for her. So he'd have to be careful to avoid hurting her feelings, which could possibly end up his health. She looked to him with big, sad brown eyes and sighed, keeping her head on his chest as she spoke now.

"Well...I loved her," she blinked a couple of times, keeping her tears at bay sucessfully, "she was the only one I loved. My parents were both jerks, so I'd protect her when they'd...abuse us."

"You were absued?" okay, that was louder than intended. But what?

"Yeah, my mom was insane and severe drugee and acholhal addict, and my dad didn't do a damn thing about her beating the shit out of both of us," she was still trying to contain the waterfly, but this time she was failing, "I watched him stand there as Ami died in my arms. I want to kill both of them...so bad. Every day...I regret not being able to keep her from her. I miss her...every day..."

She hid her face now, and he clutched her tightly against his chest, trying desperately to comfort her pretty much permantly broken heart. He thought to Katie, and the thought of her being murdered like that...

Well, he'd be the same way.

She was grateful for him trying to comfort her.

But honestly, unless it happened to him himself, he'd never completely understand. Even when it wasn't on her mind, it was somewhere in the back of it, lingering there. The guilt was ever present in her broken, seeming to take her over. At night, it was usually the same nightmares over again, about her regret. There was no doubt that if she lost another, then she'd completely lose it. That was why she was so fiercely protective of Primrose, and distanced herself from getting emotionally attached to other people.

If she ever did, it was only going to kill her.

Primrose was greatly upset about what happened to her mother figure, but she confide in that to her later and she knew it. Then she'd find out she'd been spying, even she didn't know about Mr. James being with her, and then she'd probably in trouble. So she just scurried back to their apartment, crawling into her bed and sighing at the ceiling.

What to do to cheer her up?

"So...what do you remember about her?" Kendall was curious to see if she would talk about it, the theory being that talking about your problems made you feel better.

"Well...I remember how she loved unique," she bent down, plucking a single white rose from underneath the bench he hadn't seen before, "like this. She always saw the beauty in everything, especially when most others didn't."

"She sounds like she was a wonderful person..." he tried to chose his words carefully, and thankfully, she didn't take offense to it.

"She was much better than I can ever dream to be," she sighed, staring across the park silently for a moment in rememberance, "she was just so...hopeful and so promising. She was innocent."

"I think you're innocent," unlike the last comment from him, though, she didn't accept this one.

"No, I stopped being innocent when the abuse started when I was about five," she corrected, "Mom is a freakin' murderest...I bounced around homes after Ami died. I always winded up being stuck with them, though...and I hate them being near my little Prim. They hurt her, and I've sworn I'm killing them and then fleeing the country."

He tried to picture her doing so, and he was surprised to find that, when you add in all the factors...it was pretty realistic for the tough-as-nails and stronger-than-steel girl. He admired greatly, that was for sure. But there was something she was lacking...comfort. Knowing it was okay to be sad or weak, and he could see it in her eyes.

And he was willing to work with that.

She was rather surprised when he pulled her into his lap easily, still comforting and stroking her, "So what else did Ami like?"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," she snipped, but she had a little bit of a mind change when she saw his slightly hurt, yet steady expression, "well...she loved the Disney Princesses. She was young when she died, and so was I, so...yeah."

"Cute," at this comment, she had to smile.

"You know, Knight...you're pretty innocent yourself," she could just tell: The light in his eyes, the smile he had, the way he was empathtic to how she was feeling while not understanding.

"Me?" she saw a pint tint creeping his tan cheeks, and she poked it gently, teasingly. For some reason, she felt herself become more calm, but it wasn't because of talking about her late sibling.

It was something about him...

Prim beamed at her handiwork. She'd carefully drawn the picture she saw of Ami as best she could as seven year old, and she tip-toed into her mother figure's room, just in case she was home and she hadn't hurt. Relieved to find she wasn't, she took the tape and tapped it to the wall, right above her headboard.

"There," she smiled, "now she will have good dreams."

James had a plan.

Kendall was obviously showing him up with amazing girl. And she was so amazing, she was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. He decided then and there he was going to earn her love...no matter what it took. He felt a strong connection to her somehow...

And no matter how it happened for him in the long-run, as a sister, as best friend, or as lover...

He was going to love her for this point on.