20. Mea...

By the time he was done, she had fallen asleep. "Should I just let her sleep?" he wondered, crouching down next to her, observing the lines and curves of her face. "You're asleep, and yet you're still scared." He said in a whisper, his hands reaching for her face, his fingers tenderly moving her hair from her face. He eyed her from head to toe, and she was covered in bruises.

"No!… No please!!... Please don't do this!!"

"Hey, Hey wake up, it's just a dream… hey!"

"Please don't!! Please sir… please sir! I'm only sixteen!... No! No_please No!_NO!!!"

"Damn it! Wake up!! It's just a nightmare! Wake up!!" He yanked her by her shoulder, shaking her out of her nightmare.

"NO_NO!! _NO… LEAVE ME!!! NO!! PLEASE!! NO!!" She kicked, and punched, and scratched the man in her nightmare, but at the same time did the same thing to Marco who was trying to pull her out of the bad dream.

"shh_shh_ it's okay_ everything is alright_ you're safe" he instinctively climbs onto the couch too, holding onto both her hands, pressing her deep into his embrace, stroking her hair with his other hand, whispering words of comfort to her.

"You're alright now_ shh_Nobody's gonna hurt you. You're safe with me_ just calm down_ you're safe now." He whispered again, and slowly, she began to calm down, her breathing going stable, the rise and fall of her chest became even. Her heavy eyelids soon flips open

"Ahhh!!" she screamed at the top of her voice, pushing him with all her might, sending him crashing painfully to the ground.

"You__" he didn't even know what to say to the woman. Once again, he could see that fear again, just like when she slapped him. She was scared of being struck. But where could he possibly hit on her skinny body? Tsk…

"You were having a nightmare, so I just tried to calm you down, that's all." He explains in a simple sentence.

*grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* the rumbling sound of her empty stomach filled the room, "pfft_tsk tsk tsk" he scoffs as he lifts himself off the ground and walks towards the dining. "I suppose you're not hungry, but your stomach is, so get over here and stuff yourself." It wasn't a request, nor was it just a statement, it was an order, and even though she was wary about him, she was really hungry, and his spaghetti looked and smelled rather enticing so she slowly places both her feet on the ground, dragging down her dress again, she moves closer to where he had drawn out a seat for her.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation? Start eating." he sits across from her, but she just keeps on biting her nails and staring at the food, it was like she was wondering whether to eat the food or not.

"What? You think I'll poison you?" he sarcastically asks, but she just nods a NO. "Then why are you not eating?" he asks again. "You don't like spaghetti?" he wondered out loud, and she nodded another NO.

"Then what is it, why are you not eating?"

"B_Because you could have drugged it. T_That's what most of them do." She finally speaks, and for some reason, her reply made him clench his teeth together in anger. Not at her, but at the ones who turned her into an over-cautious person.

He doesn't say anything further, instead he stands up and she flinches, it was like even the slightest movement frightened her. He walks over and takes a bigger bowl, he dumps his own portion of spaghetti into the bowl, then walks over to her side, not minding that she was still curling up in fear beside him. He takes her portion and dumps it into the bowl too. Stirring the whole lot together, he takes a seat next to her and picks up his fork, not once looking at her again, he starts eating.

Biting and chewing her nails anxiously and hungrily, she watched as the fork went in and out of the bowl, and then into his mouth, she watched as he chewed, and as he swallowed, she also swallowed down on her saliva. It can't be drugged, she says in her head. If it is, he won't be eating it… she tried assuring herself.

He wasn't even looking at her, he just continued gulping down the food, he was literally eating food for two, and he had almost cleared out the whole bowl while she was busy thinking.

Seeing that he wasn't even planning on leaving any for her, and seeing that the bowl was almost empty, she quickly picks up her fork and literally shoves her head into the bowl, scooping up as much as the fork could carry and sending it straight into her mouth, "Ahh!" she screeched as the hotness stung her lip that was cut. But that didn't mean that she slowed down, she hadn't even chewed on that one when she scooped up some more and stuffed her mouth, her cheeks all puffed up with food.

A smile played on his lips as he left the bowl for her, "there's still some more, so slow down." He says, and the glint in her eyes when he said those words made something move in his chest, he didn't know food could make a person light up like that. He stands up and brings some more for her.

Sitting down next to her, he watched her hungrily eat, but in a very shy manner. It made him wonder if she was always this shy, because she didn't seem that way in the bar.

"So, do you have a name, Or should I keep calling you 'Hey'," he finally asks. Slowly she looks up at him, then instantly removes her eye and starts biting her fingers again. "Stop biting your nails and chew on the food instead." He reproaches her, and she instantly does as she's told, stuffing her mouth with more spaghetti.

"So… your name." He demands again, and she looks up at him again… "MMgrhh_" she muffled, spilling some food on his face, causing him to cringe with disgust, while she just sat there thinking the fantasy was finally over, she had finally messed up. Her beating was way overdue, it was going to come now for sure, he was going to yell and slap the hell out of her now.

But again, it never came. He didn't yell, and most definitely didn't hit her.

"Normal people swallow first before they talk." He tilts his head to the side, raising a brow at her as he picks up a napkin and wipes his face with it.

"Mea" she swallows and says. "My name is Mea," maybe it was the sound of her voice, or just the way she said her name, or the name itself, but it just made him smile unconsciously.

"Mea?" he asked again with a wide smile, and she was thinking, ``he has a nice smile. "Y_Yes sir"

"Marco. My name is Marco not sir." He corrects her. "Say it, Marco."