‘Fear.’

That’s the only thing I remember.

And ‘him…’

‘Ashton’, my mind screams

I open my eyes, squinting at the bright light. Something moved just beyond my field of vision and I turn my head to look at it, wincing at the pain.

“I see you finally decided to wake up,” Ashton says loudly. Or maybe he didn’t say it loudly but by the way my ears are ringing, I can’t be sure. He sets down the book he was reading and reaches over to lightly run his finger against my neck. His knuckles are scab covered and I shiver as the heat of his touch. I push his hand away and he sighs. “Want to tell me what happened the other night?” His deep blue eyes search mine. I bite my lip hard and shake my head. “Fine… How about telling me your name?” I shake my head again and he spears me with his gaze. “Oh, c’mon. I saved your life and you’ve slept in my bed. I think I deserve to know your name.”

“Fine,” I say, sighing. “Faith.” He raises and eyebrow. “That’s my name, Ashton. Faith.”

“Okay. Let’s get some water into you, Faith.” He picks up a cup of ice water and puts it up to my lips. I take a gulp of water, downing half the water before he pulls it away from my lips. “Take it slow, Faith.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Since Friday night.” I raise an eyebrow. “Three days.” He stands up, towering over me. “Come on, time to get up.” I wince as I slowly pull the covers off myself.

“Ashton…” He looks at me. “Are you sure I should get up so soon?” He chuckles and grabs my wrist, pulling me up. My free hand clutches the side of my head as I squeeze my eyes shut. I glare at him.

“I’m sure. The longer you stay down the more your body will hurt.” He gives me a sheepish smile. “I think. Don’t test me on it. Anyway, it’s best if you get up now not later.” I sigh and slide my legs over the side of bed, my toes curling at the coldness. I twist my wrist out of his hand and set both of my hands on the bed, palms down. I slowly stand, gratefully clutching Ashton’s arm.

“Easy. You’re going to be dizzy.” ‘Obviously’, I think. ‘My world is already spinning.’

“I’ve been in fights before, Ashton. I think I know what’s going to happen.” I glare at him, my head pounding.

“Fine.” He takes a step back and my weak grip on his arm loosens and I almost fall. “If you know what it’s like, then I’m done helping.” His eyes flash like fire before he turns on his heel and walks away. I wrap my arms around my midsection. ‘How dare he? I’m the one who’s hurt.’

I pull on the hem of the long black shirt the hangs down to my knees. ‘Wait a second…’

“Ashton!” After a few seconds he comes back into the room, his eyebrow raised. “What is this?” I gesture to the shirt. He looks at me as if I lost my mind.

“A shirt.” He crosses his arms. “A black one to be exact.”

“Obviously.”

“Then why ask?” I glare at him.

“How did it get onto my body?” I ask, gritting my teeth.

“I put it on you.” He smirks and steps in front of me and his hand reaches out to touch my long, silky blonde hair. I stare at him, wide eyed and open mouthed. He gives me a half smile. “I didn’t look, I swear.”

“Yeah, right.” I say, pushing my hand away. “Look, I just want to get a shower.” He nods slowly.

“I understand. Down the hall to the right. Second door.” I sigh and step past him, but he grabs my arms and pulls me to his side. “I’m gonna have to tell,” he leans down and whispers, his lips lightly brushing my ear, “why I decided to save you.” He turns his head slightly and lightly touches his lips to my cheek before letting my arm go and walking away briskly.

I slowly and painfully get dressed, my head throbbing. Ashton must have gotten my size from my other clothes, because these black jeans and neon green shirt aren’t mine. I lightly touch my forehead and lean against the still closed bathroom door. The air is still misty from my shower and my skin still tingles from the heat and pressure of the water.

Downstairs, I hear a loud bang and I straighten, dropping my hand. I start the task of brushing my wild mane of hair when I hear footsteps. They stop right outside of the door and somebody knocks on the door once causing me to jump.

“Come on, Faith,” Ashton growls through the door. “You’ve got to be done by now.”

“I am,” I say as I open the door. His eyes are trained on mine. I glance down at his clasped hands. A drop of blood falls from his fingers and I feel my eyes grow wide. “Oh, my gosh, Ashton.”

“It’s nothing,” he says, pushing past me. He turns on the water and shoves his hand under its flow. “Ahh…” he says painfully. I stand next to him.

“What happened?” He smiles sheepishly through gritted teeth.

“Well,” he says, his blood turning the water pink. “I was trying to do something nice and make lunch but apparently I don’t know how to handle a knife.” He flips off the water and, still keeping his hand in the sink, he bends down and opens the bottom cupboard and pulls out a first aid kit. He sets it on the counter, opens it, and starts to go through it, one handedly. I nudge his hand away.

“Here,” I say, pulling out some antibiotic cream. “I’ll get it.” I take his cut hand lightly and he freezes, staring at me. I take the towel that I dried my hair with and lightly dab the rest of the blood off before lightly rubbing on some of the cream. “What?”

“Nothing.” He winces slightly. “Why?”

“Sorry,” I mumble. “Because you’re staring at me.” I lift my eyes to meet his before looking away to grab a bandage.

“It’s hard not to stare at you, Faith,” Ashton says as I place the bandage on his finger. I roll my eyes and crumple the wrapper in my hand.

“Please,” I say, throwing the wrapper in the garbage can beside the sink. “Just stop.” I meet his eyes and he takes a small step back. “It’s not going to work, Ashton.” I close my eyes before stepping past him. “I’ll be out of your hair by the end of the day.” Even as the words leave my mouth, my head starts to pound even more. Ashton grabs my arm and turns me toward him. His gaze is like lasers taking in everything about me. He finally meets my eyes.

“No,” he says slowly. “You don’t need to leave. I’ll back off.” He releases me and with one more look he steps around me and jogs down the stairs. I run my hand through my hair, the excess water sticking to my fingers. I quickly tie it into a tight braid as I walk down the stairs. I put a rubber band at the end and drop it, the longest strands lightly tickling my lower back. I walk through the living room into the kitchen. Ashton is at the counter, making cutting peppers look painful. I smile slightly and reach over to take the knife handle.

“Here, I’ll cut it.” Other than turning his head to look at me, he is still. I pull the knife out of his hand and take the pepper.

“I could have done it,” he says, straightening. I quickly run my knife over the top of the pepper and pull out the seeds.

“I know,” I say, turning the pepper upside down and tapping out the rest of the seeds. “How do you…” Ashton reaches over and lightly lays his hand on my cheek. I turn my head to look at him.

“Faith…” His thumb starts to lightly rub my cheek.

“Why were you there?” I blurt out.

“Where?”

“In the alley. Why were you there? And why did you decide to take me in?” He drops his hand and takes a step back.

“You’ll never believe me, Faith.”

“How do you know? Maybe I will.” I cross my arms and stare at him. He looks away.

“Fine,” he says looking back at me. “Don’t freak when I do this.” He shoves his hand in front of him, his palm up and his fingers slightly bent. His hand starts to glow a deep red and a ball of what looks like fire lifts from his palm. I take a step back.

“What the heck?” I say quietly. He sighs and closes his hand, the ball of fire disappears. “What was that?” I demand, meeting his eyes. He closes his eyes and runs a hand down him face, looking tired.

“It’s a long story.”

“I have time.”