Great sound of knocking awoke me, I sat up in bed looking around. Once I got my bearings I stood up still hearing the three straight knocks what time is it? Walking to the door I saw it was three in the morning "who would be up?" Opening the door I was met with a pair of Onyx eyes, ones that I once, and maybe even still, adored deeply "Vasco? What are you doing up?" He looked pitiful, his hair was dishevelled, he was in his gym clothes, his posture was slumped "talk" my three hours of sleep seemed to be blocking messages to my mind to complete this sentence for him. I just moved aside "come in" he came in about five steps them stopped. I closed the door going to my bed picking up the photos and letters tucking them away in a drawer "what are you doing up?" I asked again seeing his eyes lazily look around my temporary room, he went over and sat on the edge of the bed. I stayed leaning against the desk, my right fingers intertwined with my left ones. They stayed in front of my abdomen where I had an uneasy feeling. Is he going to speak? Its like that one time...at the park thinking about it nearly made me giggle, I wasn't in the place to laugh though "Vasco" he looked up at me, I felt a ping in my heart. He looked beaten "want to hear some more of the story?" He blinked, his eyes swirling with the answer, then I could see it in his expression. He remembered and nodded cautiously.

"Let's see, the girl worked at the factory for half a year until she found out her brother; the chubby boy. Was relocating schools, she knew something bad must have happened so she quit going to live with him supporting him, silently protecting him from any bullies. After all she was his shield. She moved and when she met him he was happy, he ran into a problem, a big one. It turned into a secret, which she helped him keep. The girl after spending time with her brother, found out that he was capable of protecting himself. In many ways he was a push over. But when he has had enough, he had enough and could do anything to protect the ones he cared about. It wasn't himself that made him realize this, he had friends that went to his school. A three girls, one who had a crush on him made him feel as if he should protect her, he didn't know she truly liked him. Then there were a couple of boys. Also like the girl, one of the boys liked him too. Among those boys was one man, he looked rough and quite scary. But he was a marshmallow under all of the stiffness, he was close to the boy, even tried helping him exercise once-" stifling my laughter I shook my head "-it didn't turn out well, but that time spending with the younger boy made him have confidence. Having all these people along the way was truly and experience for him-" "what about the girl....during that time...I want to hear about her" looking at Vasco he no longer held his head up, his head was lowered looking at the rug "-she..... well, when she found the boy she would always protect have friends, without a doubt she felt useless, but then the scary knight that was a marshmallow underneath would always make her happy. There was an event for the school she went to, he close friend tricked her to confessing her feelings for the marshmallow knight, he reciprocated the feelings, after that they were a couple.....then after some time they weren't, she-" "how much did she hurt, did she care?" I squeezed my hands lowering my head also, it was still a tough subject "-she did hurt every day, when their relationship ended she stayed inside her home, starving herself and using things that she never used. All to change her appearance. She didn't want to be herself. No, she wanted to be something unrecognizable, she didn't want people coming up and asking about her past. About her ex. She wanted to put on a mask, create a fake person to be. Before she could even put the mask on a friend of her brothers came and practically drug her back to school. Where she was greeted with warmth, making her realize and say to herself 'yes life is hard, I have been threw a lot. A will be threw much more, hiding shouldn't be an option. As long as I'm me, I will succeed' she was determined...." I shifted my weight to my left leg letting my right leg rest "...Few close calls on her life happened after her new change, one person from her past that used to torment her, then show his love for her in a phycopathic way. She was scared when that happened. She was going to be thrown off the roof, she heard her friends come up to the roof, among them was someone she held dear, the marshmallow prince. Among the drama he tried to lower the situation by getting on his knees, she at that time. Was surprised and angry. She thought 'how dare you get on your knees! Where is your pride? Get up, get up. Why would you lower yourself to him!' She was angry and scared. Even with the knights attempt, it was no use. She was dropped off the roof but her brother saved her-" I rose my head looking towards Vasco.

He clenched his fists so tight, the whites of his knuckles were showing "-After the incident occurred, she had time to think about the situation. She thought of the knight, how he got on his knees, in an attempt to save her. She wanted to thank him but didn't want it to be awkward. She found comfort in his presence, he had saved her. Just like her brother. Just like her brothers friend. She wondered why she was the one being saved. When she went there to so the saving. Now she has things she's thinking about, her past, her parents past, her brothers future. All these things. Even her own future. What does it say? What will it do?-" I shifted my weight to my right leg looking at my fingers "--that's all of the story, for now.." "angel" I looked at Vasco who lifted his head, he had his left hand propped on his knee, head resting in his palm "come here?" he asked in a soft tone. I hesitated but pushed myself off the desk and walked till I was standing three feet in front of him "closer.." I moved a foot in, he stopped looking at the direction I once was and looked directly into my eyes. He moved his right hand resting them on both my hands, I felt a sense of calmness come from his touch. The warmth, the gentleness, the lingering feelings. All within one touch, I loosened my grip on my other hand and Vasco snuck his hand into my right one, he held my hand bringing it to him. His warmth was putting me to sleep, I could feel the daze I was slipping into from only having three hours of sleep "does the knight have any chance?" The question woke me up, he didn't make eye contact while he asked the question, he stared at my hand which he held ever so gently.

I knew it was a hard question for him to ask, and likewise, it was a hard question for me to answer "she...the girl doesn't know if her heart is ready. She trusts him, indulges in the time being spent with him, sneaks peaks at him, She even gets jealous when she hears girls talk about him. She knows it wasn't her place to get jealous, but she did. She has all these positive emotions one negative lingering over all. Fear. Shes scared another incident will happen to cause them to fight. She did care about herself. But the knight, she remembered his face when he broke off the relationship, she didn't want him to hurt. She cared for him in a way she knew would screw over her mind...she would give up her mind for his heart" "does he have a chance? Yes or no?" He wasn't demanding just...pitiful. She-I was hurt, I shouldn't even think about dating him. I couldn't dare do that. After all I've been threw how could I simply go back to him. It was impossible. In the end, no I shouldn't. No I couldn't. No, he shouldn't. No, he can't. "Yes, he does" the words fell from my mouth and I widened my eyes. Why did I say that when I thought the word no!? I went to open my mouth again to correct myself but he pulled me into a hug, I was on my knees wrapped in his arms "angel" He held me tight and whispered in my ear.

"do you want to hear a story?"