6.

I watched him warily as he examined my scars. His face was washed over with utter sadness. It was the look of pity. I knew it well enough. He traced over my scars with his eyes repeatedly, almost pleading for a chance to heal them. He peered up at me for a second as if to refocus himself, then turned his attention again to the tender part of my skin. I couldn't bear to watch him look at me, I turned my head to the window at the far side of my room. He put his hands gently over mine, and lowered them so that my stomach was no longer showing.

Exposed, or not, the silence was suffocating me.

"Okay, you saw it… do you believe me now?" I asked, trying to swallow the embarrassment in my chest.

"Uhm," He cleared his throat. "Yeah… I believe you."

I let go of the breath I was unknowingly holding. "Okay. So what do I do? I don't even know who that was that just tried to abduct me."

"Should we tell your uncle?" He questioned thoughtfully.

"My uncle?" I tried to think of any positive outcome, but there were none. He barely knows me. And I barely know him.

Not that you know Caleb…

My brain wasn't wrong. It just so happened that my logic had rarely been chosen over the more tangled options. Besides, Caleb was there, Sebastian wasn't. Not to mention Sebastian was incredibly insensitive in the past few times we had spoken.

He would probably ship me off the first chance he got. I can't give him any reasons to get rid of me, I have nowhere else to go.

"I think… I should keep this to myself… until I know more." I told him.

What if, by Caleb being here, and being my friend, he gets caught up in the middle of this… whatever this is. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if another person I knew got hurt because of me.

My mind was numb. Countless thoughts raced through my head.

"What's wrong, Arya?" He extended his hand, searching for one of mine to hold.

I took a step away from him, looking down at my feet. I dug my toes into the floor while I played with my fingers behind my back. "I think you should go home, Gray." I mumbled, avoiding eye contact as if it would cause me harm.

"What was that?" He stood up.

"You… need to leave, Caleb." I looked up at him, crossing my arms over my chest. I only maintained eye contact for about five second, before the intensity pushed me into a mental corner.

"Arya, are you crazy? Someone just broke into your house, AND they just tried to take you!" He paused, glancing at my eyes. Then he let out a bothered sigh, and ran an anxious hand through his chestnut hair. "I am not leaving you here by yourself. We have no idea when he's coming back, or if he's coming back."

I didn't say anything back. I didn't look at him. I didn't want to think about how this was just the start of something terrible. I couldn't handle the thoughts.

"Look at me, Bambi," He demanded softly. He stalked toward me. With every step he took forward, I took one back, but I ended up trapped between him and my closet door.

"Look at me, Arya," He repeated, but more sternly, holding an unquestionable dominance m. He took hold of my chin, and gently raised my head, making me look at him.

I hummed in response, unable to form words.

"I'm staying here, and I'm going to help you figure out what the hell just happened, okay?" He stared from eye to eye, waiting patiently for my response, but something told me a 'no' wasn't going to work for him.

"Okay, Caleb. Okay." I nodded, exhaling tirelessly.

He turned, and moved to sit himself on the chair at the desk. My body felt cold, almost as if, in that short time he was standing right in front of me, my body had become accustomed to the heat he radiated.

"Okay let's go down the list." He looked at me.

I couldn't have been more confused. "What… what are you talking about, 'The List'."

"Come on, you haven't watched any detective shows?"

I shook my head. Sitting at the edge of my bed, a few feet away from him.

"Like… any!?"

I tried to think back, but I couldn't remember. The farthest back I could think was the accident. "I don't even remember, to be honest."

"If you did, you probably would remember. Shows like that are just too good to forget."

I roll my eyes at him.

"So what's 'The List', Mr. Detective?" I use my fingers as air quotes.

In seconds, his face turned from playful to gravely serious. "It's the list of questions that detectives ask to gain, and narrow down suspects of the intended, or committed, crime."

"Uh… okay. Sure." I nodded in slight understanding.

"Do you have glasses, like spectacles not for the sun?"

"You need glasses to ask these kinds of questions?"

"No… but I thought it would be fun."

I shake my head, smiling inwardly at his stupidity. "If you keep messing around I'll start throwing things."

He threw his hands up in defense, his smugness polluting the air. "Hey, violence is never the answer. But whatever you do throw, I'll catch anyway, so why waste the energy?"

"Shut up." I huffed through my nose, narrowing my eyes at him. "Just ask your questions, Gray."

"Okay. Do you have enemies, or people who would try to hurt you?" He asked, seriousness implied, but not implicated.

I tried to think, but I couldn't concentrate with him turning side to side on my spinning desk chair.

"Could you please stop doing that. I can't think, or take you seriously like that."

"Right. My bad." He nodded.

When I tried to think back, I couldn't remember. My earliest memories in life, inaccessible, because the moment in time my parents died posed as a roadblock.

"I don't know… I can't remember…" I looked down at the floor with hard eyes, trying my hardest to concentrate on even a single memory from before the accident.

He stood up, eyeing me carefully, "What do you mean, you 'can't remember'?" He moved closer to me. "Let me rephrase the question. Were you on bad terms with anyone?"

"You don't get it. I- I can only remember about an hour before the accident."

He scoffed and shook his head in disbelief, but he held a bit of curiosity and intrigue in his eyes.

"Wait… heh. Okay, let me repeat what just you said. You know, to make sure I'm not going crazy or anything… you don't remember anything before the accident?"