Cold.

It’s so damn cold.

Where the hell am I?

“Paige.”

I moved my head to where the voice was coming but everything was black. I tried opening my eyes but I still couldn’t see anything and I began panicking.

“Paige.”

I recognized that voice. It belonged to my mom. She’s calling me.

“Paige.”

With all my strength, I forced myself to open my eyes, anything, just to see my mom again. Her voice wasn’t enough.

It’s not enough.

Mom, I want to see you.

You and dad, I missed you so much.

I’ve been hurting ever since you left me and I don’t think I could continue living like this.

I wanna be with you.

Please.

“ -- ey.”

I gasped, my body awakening from slumber. The moment I opened my eyes, bright light blinded my eyes and it hurt.

“Mmmmhm,” I grunted, feeling parched all of a sudden.

“What do you need?”

I slowly looked to the right, my neck craning to see who it was talking. It was a tall guy, brunette hair, bright blue piercing eyes with a pointed nose, perfectly-shaped lips and a strong jaw.

Damn, this guy’s handsome.

“...water,” I answered, ignoring the fact that a good-looking guy was inside my room.

Wait.

My room?

I stared at the ceiling and I’m pretty sure I’m not in my room. The smell was different too, almost as if I’m in a hospital.

“Here,” the guy said, coming back to me with a glass of water.

I stared at him for the longest time.

“...w-who are you again?”

He stared back and an amused smirk showed up on his face.

“Clark’s my name,” the foreigner nonchalantly answered, giving me the glass of water.

I was utterly confused.

“What? D-do I know you?” I asked.

“No. But I know you.”

I blinked at Clark.

“I don’t…understand.”

He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed someone’s number while I gradually drink the water. My throat was so dry.

“You better get your ass back here. Your prince charming is awake,” Clark said to whoever he was talking to the phone.

Facing me, he put his phone down and smirked at me.

“You know, if it wasn’t for him saving you, you could have died.”

My heart skipped a beat. The memories of Jon beating the shit out of me re-appeared in my mind. It was hazy and I was in the brink of passing out from the extreme pain of Jon punching and kicking me.

But before I pass out, I was sure someone scream my name.

It was a deep voice. It sounded nostalgic, familiar, like I’ve heard it a hundred times in my ear.

Hiro.

It was him who saved me.

But how? There’s no way he could have if he was in North Vale.

Noticing the bandages wrapped around my arms, I scowled. I wonder what happened to Jon. I’m so pissed at him for what he did and I wanted nothing more but to see him rot in jail.

But…

“LEAVING ME ALL ALONE, HUH?! DO YOU THINK I WANT THAT?! I GAVE MY LIFE TO HER! LOVED HER, TOOK CARE OF HER FOR WHAT?!”

I lowered my head in contemplation. Jon still loved my mother and when she left, he was devastated.

It broke him.

But it wasn’t enough reason for him to hurt me. Every punch, every kick, every insult and curse, it stabbed me deep in my heart and it ached so bad.

Physically and mentally.

Clark woke me up from my grim thoughts when he took the empty glass from my hand. I looked up at him, tilting my head.

“Why are you here? You’re a friend of Hiro’s right?”

He put the glass down on the table beside the bed.

“Yeah. He has an errand so he left you in my care,” Clark answered.

“What?”

“Your step-father, I don’t know what will happen to him now.”

My eyes widened in realization.

“Wait, where is he? Is he not in jail now?” I asked.

Clark stared at me.

“You think Hiro will let him go after what he did to you?” he sarcastically asked.

I felt my chest tightened.

“What do you mean?”

“Hiro’s the type of man who will kill anyone who dare hurt the people he cared for,” Clark said.

“K-kill?”

Hiro’s…killing people?

“I don’t…understand.”

Clark smiled.

“You know already, right? What kind of person Hiro is.”

“I offer a unique service of…let’s say, making people disappear.”

I lowered my gaze and thought about the calling card he gave me before.

It was a calling card of an assassin.

Hiro’s really not an ordinary person.

“I…I wanna go home.”

Clark raised a brow at me.

“I don’t think so. You’re still badly beaten up. The doctor said you have to stay a week here to recuperate,” he informed.

I looked at him again and asked, “why? Why are you doing this? I don’t even know you.”

Clark smiled again but I saw a hint of amusement and curiosity on his face.

“Because someone’s deeply in love with you.”

--

I stared outside the window, thinking about what Clark told me this morning. It’s dark outside and I wasn’t sure what exactly happened after Hiro saved me from Jon. Clark was just giving me blank answers.

I checked the time. 11 in the evening.

Normally, I would still be in 7-Eleven waiting for my step-father to go to bed so that I could escape his wrath.

I grabbed the sheets and pulled it closer to my body.

What would happen to me now that’s Jon’s gone? I don’t have any relatives I’m close with. After my parents died, I was left alone my step-father. I don’t remember anyone who might be interested in taking me in.

I shook my head.

No, Paige, it’s gonna be alright. I’ve been independent after mom left me. I’ve been living alone even if Jon was with me.

I could support myself.

It’s gonna be alright.

It’s gonna be alright.

It’s gonna be alright.

I hugged my body and buried my face on the pillow to stop myself from crying.

Why am I so miserable?

Why am I --

I froze when the door opened. Thinking that it was the nurse doing her rounds, I remained still to feign sleeping.

I was expecting footsteps but there was nothing. I suddenly felt goosebumps after realizing that there might be a ghost. It’s not uncommon for ghosts to appear in hospitals, right?

Oh fuck, every inhibition in my life got tossed out of the window now that I’m thinking that there really might be a ghost who just entered the room.

A hand appeared in my head and I screamed so loud only to find out that it wasn’t a ghost.

It was Hiro Blaise.

“Fuck, you just busted my eardrums,” he complained, rubbing his ear while glaring at me.

Oh damn, damn, damn, this was the second time I’ve seen Hiro but unlike the first time, I feel like I’m going to faint. I held my chest to calm my heart down but it just kept beating faster like I’ve ran a marathon, which of course, was highly unlikely because of how fat I am.

“W-w-what are you doing here?!” I asked, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

Hiro put his hands inside the pockets of his jacket.

“Checking up on you.”

Furrowing my brows, I asked again, “why?”

“Because you just got your ass kicked by that fucker,” he said in a crude voice.

“Where’s Jon?” I asked, still holding my chest.

He should be in jail by now but Clark said he wasn’t. I’m afraid he might come for me again to finish what he started and that scared me.

Hiro sat on the chair near the bed, crossing his legs while staring at me. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him for some reason. The intimidating air he had was still there and now that I know what he’s capable of, it increased my reason to fear him even more.

His eyes, they don’t belong to an ordinary person who’s living a mundane life. Hiro’s different from the rest of the people I know.

“He’s been taken care of,” Hiro casually answered.

I finally lifted my head to look at him but for some damn reason, I couldn’t look straight into his eyes. Instead, I focused my gaze down his chest, admiring the collarbone that was peeking out from the black v-neck shirt he was wearing.

“What do you mean by that? Where is he? Is he still -- ?”

“Alive?” Hiro finished for me, smirking in amusement, “why do you care if he’s still alive?”

I couldn’t answer his question. I wanted to tell him that I’m scared of Jon, of what he might do to me after all of this but deep inside my mind, I was worried.

I wanted to tell Hiro everything I’m feeling but I couldn’t.

I bit my lip, clasping my hands together.

I’m really all alone now.

“I’m scared…”

Two words and it brought great pain in my heart. I don’t have a friend to confide my problems with. In all these years, I’ve been taking in the abandonment of my parents and the isolation of my classmates in school. I never had someone’s shoulder to lean on and I never realized how difficult it was to say what you’re truly feeling to another person, especially if that person was Hiro Blaise.

“Scared of what?” he asked.

I stared at my hands.

“Of…of…everything…”

Droplet of tears fell on my hand and a dam just broke, releasing all the anguish I’ve been feeling for the past years. It was such a simple question and yet it broke me into tiny little pieces. I’ve been holding on for so long, of not having someone beside me to support me. After my parents died, I’ve been all alone.

And as much as I hated admitting how scared I was, I kept it all inside. I wanted to stay strong, positively thinking that everything’s going to be alright.

But my life was never alright.

Everyone left me.

Why would they even stay? For someone like me, who’s hideous enough to be scorned by other people, I’m sure no one would stay.

I covered my face to hide it away from Hiro. I didn’t want him to see how ugly and pathetic I am.

Not him too.

Everything stopped when Hiro walked towards me, putting a hand behind me head to push me close to him. There was a smell of something expensive on him, maybe a branded cologne or something and it usually puts me off but now, I wanted nothing more but to bring myself closer to him. His warmth, it’s calming me down.

The hand caressing my head was telling me that I was safe, away from everyone who had hurt me, who had left me.

I’ve never felt a person’s warmth after my parents died and I’ve forgotten how nice it feels when someone’s hugging you.

Such a simple gesture and yet it’s all I need.

It’s all I need.

--