Chapter IX

Days went by and Aelin started to feel better, as " better " as she could afford given her circumstances. He was more of a stranger lately, rarely sleeping in as he was gone most of the time doing business. Aelin felt like she could sit back a bit from all the mind blowing shit she encountered up until now so she slept most of the time, cooked for both of them even if most of the times she was not sure if he ate or not, cleaned up the house and gazed a full 4 hours through the windows at the sunsets she enjoyed since childhood.

Tranquility was a blessing but it wasn't meant to last long and one night he came home like a storm and Aelin was not prepared for it for sure. He came trough the door stumbling with his clothes ripped all over and the bruises.. They were surreal. She stood straight watching him dragging his tall body like a heavy rock, he then stopped and looked up at her breathing heavily. His beautiful face was scratched, more like punched, his lips were coated in blood and so was his temple, it was oozing from his head all the way to his left eye. Aelin started to panic since it was not normal for him, she had no idea he knew to fight nor if he was a powerful guy but she was sure as hell down below that he was not a weakling. He saw through her, he knew that even if all of her fears and nightmares were his doing, she would still feel sorry for him and he also knew that he was the one who can either protect her or end her, but what she would not admit was the fact that she was glad for his given situation, glad that he finally was at her mercy or so she thought.

- 'Evening madam!

Aelin noticed his lost gaze, his heavy breathing and his wobbling head so she needn't have to think twice to what was about to happen because her body moved on its own and started leaping the few stairs she had left from finally reaching him before he reached the floor. He was heavy and she was frail so they both fell on the ground with a loud thud. His head was buried in the crook of her neck and his hot breath fanning over her skin made her blush, truth be told the whole closeness made her shy, she not once held the hand of a guy, so the whole thing made her nervous but something snapped her from of all the stupid things that were running around in her head. Tears, hot tears were dripping on her neck and chest, they were not many, but she still noticed. She put a hand on his head and lifted his face and saw rage, pure hatred and rage, they were not aimed at her but she still felt them like punches. Aelin thought that something really bad must have happened and that he needed help and she said to herself that maybe they could figure something out but that was one hell of a wrong move because pity was not something you can show to someone like him, and not because he was a criminal but because he would rather die than accept it so that's when he snapped. He was towering over her screaming and punching the ground inches away from her head, he punched so many times she thought his fists were bound to melt in the wooden floor. She felt small drops of blood on her face and she was sure that it was not hers, she then noticed the way he looked, his features were far from what she got used to, there was no malice, not a hint of amusement, no smirking, no threat, no judgement. All that was to see was grieve, sorrow and pain. And those things scared her, they terrified her to the core because she not only noticed those expressions, she felt them. So she did something stupid, foolishly stepping on her boundaries, she lifted her small hands and covered his head with them trying to stop him in a childish way. A hug. She hugged him, trying to get him to stop, to help him, to make him feel better about whatever was troubling his soul, trying to get him to share at least a small amount of his pain with her, she hugged him so tight until her knuckles turned white and her arms were hurting but Aelin would not let go. He tried to punch the floor a few more times but then he stopped. He actually stopped and cried in silence. Like a human being born to give in at least one time in his life to his tears.

The rest of the night went silent, only the rain outside was pushing the limits of the silence that was reigning in the house. The floor was cold and hard, but he was asleep and Aelin wouldn't dare to disturb the peace that was embracing his features. Somewhere, sometime maybe she could tell someone the whole story about that day, the day she found out something she thought she'll never know, saw something she thought she'll never see. But those were far-away worries and not-to-be-bothered-with-right-now things.

Aelin fell asleep that night as soon as she closed her eyes. Feeling tired, exhausted actually but calm. She was holding him in her arms and they were both sleeping on the floor like dogs. She was not sure about what she was doing but she was crystal clear about two things.

A man lost a brother that night and another one will pay for it.