The rest of the walk was silent. When you finally were in the apartment Shizuo spoke for the first time since your little "spat".

"I'll sleep on the couch. You can take my bed." Somehow he knew you would protest, and he was right.

You frowned "But this is your apartment. It wouldn't feel right to have you sleep anywhere but your bed."

"You're right; it's my apartment so I can sleep wherever the hell I want and you sleep where I tell you. And I say I'm sleeping on the couch and you're sleeping in my bed."

"But my sister told me that-"As you rambled on about you sister teaching you right from wrong, etc., Shizuo knew he would snap soon. The last thing he wanted to do was scare you. No matter what you said he knew he was scarier than you would ever be. Not that he believed you could ever be scary; you were so small and cute it was impossible for anyone to think you could be scary. Like trying to compare a puppy to a wolverine.

Without a second thought Shizuo went to the nearest night table and searched through the drawers until he found what he was looking for. He then turned towards you, you were still talking but Shizuo had tuned you out long ago. He lifted you up and carried you over his shoulder like a sack of flour. As you flailed around in protest, Shizuo made his way to his bedroom. There, he threw you on the bed and held you down with one hand, using the other to lift up the roll of duct tape and cut a piece with his teeth. He stopped when he felt you stop resisting. Confused, Shizuo looked down at you. You were pale white and your eyes were widened in fear. The former bartender felt your heart racing and you were shaking badly.

"Are you-"

Tears began sliding down your face. Shizuo immediately let you go and backed away, fearing that he hurt you in some way. What freaked him out even more was that you were completely silent. Not one cry escaped your lips, nor a whimper, or gasp; nothing. As soon as he let go of you, you brought your knees to your chest,

"(F/N)? I hurt you didn't I-" You surprised him by flinging your arms around him and crying into his chest.

"Y-You di-didn't h-hurt m-me." Shizuo heard you say, your voice muffled.

"What's wrong then?" You said nothing and Shizuo knew he had to calm you down before you could tell him anything

After Shizuo gave you a chocolate bar and some milk you were more relaxed.

"I guess it's about time I tell someone…." You paused

"Only if you want to listen."

The man shrugged "It's good to let stuff of your chest; go ahead."

You took a deep breath, "Well, in elementary I was bullied a lot, a-and one day I was out in a field looking for butterflies. I was alone and very weak at the time. Some middle school kids came and-" You paused when your voice started quivering again.

"T-The boys pinned me down and lifted up my shirt, a-and the girls began beating me. I cried and yelled but no one was outside. One of the girls got close enough to my face so I spat at her and kicked the boys that held me. I ran home and told my sister I fell out of a tree…" You stopped and looked at Shizuo; his face was serious, but he nodded for you to go on.

"I-I guess when you pinned me down I –I relapsed, It wasn't your fault so don't beat yourself up for it." You gave him a tired smile.

"Besides you're the only one I've ever told so you should feel pretty damn special about now." Shizuo wasn't laughing though.

"Why didn't you tell your sister? I thought younger kids could depend on their older siblings?"

"Well, me and Emiko are different. She's very shy and passive; never speaks her mind, never gets what she wants. The fact that our parents don't like her lowers her self-esteem even more. I feel the need to protect her versus her protecting me. I'm stronger and can take more hits then she can."

Shizuo said nothing; instead he got up to leave the room.

"It's late, you should get some sleep. You've got school tomorrow don't you?"

You nodded

"I'll walk you home. Where do you go to school?"

"(Name of your High School)"

"See you tomorrow." Shizuo turned off the lights and started closing the door.

"Shizuo?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"Just go to sleep already." As he left you snuggled a pillow. He might not admit it out loud, but both you and Shizuo had made a friend that night.