50

It was already dark outside and I stared stunned at the small TV set on Micah's desk.

After I told him everything and cried to him, we were silent for a long time until I dragged myself back up to his bed, exhausted. He probably didn't know how to deal with me himself, but I was really happy to feel so safe with him, even though I missed Kiyan's presence so much.

"I made you something to eat," Micah pulled me out of my thoughts and when I sat up wrapped in his black duvet, I saw the beautifully decorated plate that he placed on the bedside table next to me.

There were salami sandwiches, chopped tomatoes and even a spoonful of Nutella.

"I don't know how you can eat this together, but I know that you love this combination," he then added and I tried to force a grateful smile on myself.

"Thanks, Micah," I whispered, grabbing one of the sandwiches while he walked to the window and looked out.

"Not for that," he replied awkwardly, and just as I'd swallowed the first bite, the doorbell rang for the second time that awful day.

I immediately held my breath, almost choking, but Micah put his hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down.

"Everything is fine. I'll be right back," he said softly and then turned to the door.

"But what if that's my mother, or worse, Thomas?!"

"Then I'll slam the door in their faces. You don't seriously think I'd let one of them in," he winked, then left the room, leaving me alone and nervously sitting on the edge of the bed. I immediately grabbed the spoonful of Nutella and popped it in my mouth. Sugar always helped me when I was nervous, but this time it didn't do much because the trembling just wouldn't stop.

I looked excitedly at the door, but I heard absolutely nothing and didn't dare to check what was going on until I suddenly heard the front door slam and noticed several steps on the stairs.

My heart was racing and with the spoon in my mouth and my eyes wide open, I suddenly looked into the familiar brown eyes that seemed full of tears.

"I'll leave you alone," Micah said, but I felt caught in Kiyan's gaze and didn't notice anything else at all.

"I'm so sorry," he immediately approached me, squatting in front of me and taking my trembling hands to blow a kiss on both of them.

That had to be imagination...

I snatched my hand from him, took the spoon out of my mouth and put it on the plate, shaking, noticing all the blood on Kiyan's hands.

"What happened?" I asked him, startled, but instead of getting any answers, tears were suddenly streaming down his face, which made me feel like my heart had stopped beating.

"Mia," he sobbed, distorted in pain, and I immediately began to cry bitterly, too, and let myself slide off the edge of the bed onto the floor to hug him tightly.

"Kiyan... My father..." "I know."

I lay crying in his arms and the more I burst into tears, the more I felt how he pulled himself together and wanted to be strong for me.

"The blood is from Thomas," he breathed in my ear and I clung to him even tighter at the thought of that disgusting guy. Never again did I want to go home, never again did I want to see that man whose disgusting touch was burned into my back.

"I'm so incredibly sorry that I jumped to conclusions like that," he broke away from me and looked deep into my eyes. "I'm here and we can do it. I'll come up with something."

With tears in my eyes, I nodded wearily and let my head fall back onto his shoulder to close my eyes, sobbing.

There was silence between us for a while, and he gently stroked my hair, using his other hand to pull me tightly to his heaving chest, before breaking the silence.

"We should go," he whispered softly and carefully, as if he didn't want to overwhelm me and with a sad look I broke away from him to look at him questioningly.

"Where to?"

He ran a hand through his hair overwhelmingly and then took a deep breath.

"We can't go to Zayn. He has no place," he then considered and looked at our now clasped hands.

"Why don't we stay here?" I then asked him, but he immediately shook his head in the negative.

"You know how crappy I feel towards Micah. He said he understood, but I don't want to do that to him," he explained and I looked at him confused. "Mia, should he watch us snuggle together here? The guy is absolutely in love with you and I can't even imagine how he feels around us."

Of course he was right and I didn't want to do that to Micah either.

"Come on," Kiyan stood up and helped me to my feet. "I know where we can go."

He grabbed my hand and ran out of the room and down the stairs with me, stopping briefly in front of the kitchen.

"See you," he said to Micah, who then walked up to us and hugged me tightly.

"If something is reported," he looked at me intently and I nodded to him.

"Thank you," I whispered to him and then left the house with Kiyan to get into the black car and drive who knows where.

Hopefully in a good place... but with Kiyan by my side I already felt a lot better, like he shared my pain with me, like somehow I could survive all this shit... together with him...

Completely exhausted, I looked at the passing houses and trees, mentally went through everything over and over again and often had to struggle not to sink into the darkness again.

Kiyan didn't say a word and whenever I glanced over at him, I could see that he was struggling with something deep inside. I didn't want to ask any questions, let alone talk at all, because I didn't have the strength to keep myself alive at all.

"We're here," he suddenly said quietly and my eyes fell on the house on the edge of the street, which made me immediately look over at him in amazement.

"What are we doing here?" I asked him confused and he just stared past me at the huge building.

"My parents knew his well, after all we grew up next to each other. Even though I don't have much to do with him, his parents promised to always be there for me," he explained calmly and then took a deep breath to get out of the get out of the car.

I looked at the house again, but when Kiyan opened the door for me, I looked at him lost and didn't know how to behave at that moment.

"Don't worry," he whispered, carefully taking my hand in his to help me out of the car.

"And if you call my mother?" I looked at him uncertainly, but he immediately shook his head.

"Trust me."

I swallowed hard, looked him deep in the eyes and then let him pull me across the driveway to the front door, where he immediately rang the bell longer.

I nervously squeezed his hand and snuggled even closer to his side. He immediately began to stroke the back of my hand tenderly with his thumb, which calmed me down a bit, but my head was still in chaos.

"What are you doing here?", the front door was then opened for us by a amazed looking Cody, who seemed almost cute with his curly hair and red pajamas.

"I have to talk to your parents. Please take Mia to your room," Kiyan then instructed him, and when we were standing in the large hallway that I already knew, he let go of my hand and just kept walking, I immediately felt lonely again and leaving.

"Come on then," Cody smiled awkwardly and ran with me up the marble stairs to the side, where he opened the first door on the right and let me in.

His room was just as I had imagined.

The walls were painted blue, with posters and movie posters everywhere. His bed was at the far end and covered with several colorful pillows and blankets, while opposite was a dresser with a large TV. Otherwise it was the typical boy's room with the clothes lying around and the used plates on the desk.

"I don't mean to be rude, but you don't look good at all. Did something happen?" Cody asked from behind me and I froze for a moment. I couldn't and didn't want to talk about what happened again, that would only destroy me even more.

"No, Kiyan just wanted to clarify something with your parents," I said quietly and ran to the dresser on which several boxes of some films were standing.

"Hmmm okay," he said and I could tell from his voice that he didn't believe me, but I didn't care at that moment.

"Would you like to see it?" he then came up to me and pointed to the box I was watching.

"What's that?" I asked, taking a closer look at her.

"The Hobbit," he explained with a smile, and when I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, I immediately saw the sparkle in his eyes. I immediately broke away from his gaze and hung my head to pause for a moment. This feeling, which was constantly trying to overwhelm me, was so destructive that I even panicked it would never stop, dragging me into a deep, dark depression.

"Mia?" Cody spoke to me cautiously and when he put his hand on my arm, I jumped back and immediately crossed my arms defensively. I was just completely overwhelmed. Felt tired, exhausted and a stranger and lost in this big house.

"I'm sorry," he said immediately after my reaction, and I felt sorry for him again. He was just worried and I made him feel like he did something wrong.

"Go ahead and turn on the movie," I managed a wry smile to cheer him up, and it worked. He beamed and made me what he called pride of place on his bed, then turned off the light and sat down in his desk chair himself.

"Let's go then," he said, and I looked at the TV, but didn't really take in anything of what was happening, because my body continued to poison itself with blame and grief. I tried to keep my eyes open just because I was hoping Kiyan would come at any moment, but the movie just kept going and going and no one was coming through that door, making me more and more desperate.

"You see, that's Thorin," Cody pointed enthusiastically at the TV and only then did I realize that this must be a film about little dwarves. For better or for worse, I tried to really focus on what this Thorin was up to, but I didn't understand anything, except that the one with the gray hair was probably a wizard.

Eventually, when they had to go somewhere, the last question I asked myself was why wouldn't the wizard just magic them there...

... then reluctantly I closed my heavy, tired eyes and fell asleep with the smell of Micah's sweater, which at least gave me a little comfort in this strange environment.