The Lost And Forgotten Memories

      Although it’s almost eight in the evening, and it’s getting dark on the street, Terrence and Raquelle decided to go to the small abandoned beach – their favorite place where they love walking, listening to the sounds of the ocean, watching the waves, and enjoying the way the nice, warm wind is blowing their faces, clothes, and hair.       “I still have that scene before my eyes,” Terrence says with sadness in his eyes, holding Raquelle’s hand, as they slowly walk across the coast. “The emotions are much stronger than after watching a scary movie.”       “I’m shocked, too,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “But I was really surprised when the doctor said she had nothing but exhaustion and a lack of weight. I thought Anna’d have tons of traumas: from brain damage to fractures of bones.”       “Yeah, I was surprised, too. She had been beaten when the lads and I saw Anna jumping out of the car. And when that man beat her again, she could barely stand.”       “We could’ve lost her, Terrence,” Raquelle pronounces with wet eyes in a little shaking voice. “If you and the lads hadn’t been going by, we would’ve never known what happened of killing and burying her somewhere in the wood.”       “What a hit it would’ve been for her parents! They would’ve died of grief if their child had been furiously killed by the sick stinker. Who would’ve found a way to excuse himself.”       “What would’ve happened to all of us? What would’ve happened to Daniel? He’s fretting and fuming now, but her death would’ve defeated him at all.”       “We would’ve hardly helped him.”       “It’s hurtful to look at him…” Raquelle sighs quietly. “I was truly sorry for him when I was watching him… Daniel is madly worried about Anna but tries not to show it and to hold on somehow.”       “Everybody knows that he speaks and doesn’t believe himself. And I think Perkins understands this. But he doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him.”       “He’s trying to be strong.”       “Yeah. Daniel understands that he has a small chance to bring Anna back, and wanna bring this case to an end soon to leave her life forever.”       “I’m sure that she’ll surely take a note,” Raquelle expresses hope with a slight smile. “If Seymour doesn’t reject Daniel at all. Nobody makes her come back to him and cry about love anywhere. Anna just needs to give him a chance to prove what’s important to him.”       “It’s not the end. Everything can be fixed. And Daniel’s gonna use this chance. And Anna will someday say, ‘thank you’ to him for saving her and her parents.”       “As long as I've known her, she’s never been able to be angry for a too long time,” Raquelle confesses. “Anna isn’t vindictive and doesn’t keep offenses inside for ages.”       “Moreover, Anna still loves him. No matter how hard she denies it, we all see that girl isn’t indifferent to Daniel.”       “But now she won’t confess it.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Terrence hugs Raquelle around the shoulders on the way, pressing her to himself tenderly and caressing her head, while she has her arms wrapped around his waist, and her head rests on his shoulder.       “But when Potter started to threaten Daniel with a knife, Anna was scared and didn’t even try to hide it,” Terrence confesses. “She begged Julian to let him go and screamed every time one beat another. She was crying bitterly… She was ready to keep getting hits, so he left Perkins alone.”       “So, she does care about him. And the case is not about the fact that nobody wants to see the murder of a close person. It’s not a situation that would be described as ‘trouble unites people.’ I mean… The case is about that… But the most important reason is different – Anna just loves Daniel and always has. And she won’t be able to live quietly if something happens to him.”       “She understands it, but will hardly confess it. Though, I really want Anna to realize she would feel better next to him. Daniel is a wonderful and loyal man. He would’ve never cheated on his girlfriend if he’d remembered everything. If the car hadn’t hit him, that man would’ve given his everything to help and protect her.”       “We all know it, sweetie.”       “The things I like about him are his loyalty, ability to keep his promises, and determination. The fact that he isn’t gonna refuse to help Anna and her parents makes me thrilled.”       “He just understands that if he does nothing, Anna will think he doesn’t care about her. And it will impact her decision about their relationship.”       “And he’s doing fine. It’s hard for him, but he’s holding on.”       “I think he has shown the real side of him. He showed his emotions and let himself be more vulnerable. Daniel seems a little cold, unbroken, and insolent at first sight, but he’s actually different.”       “Yeah, he can show weakness.”       “He reminds me of Peter a little,” Raquelle confesses. “We didn’t know the real him and thought that guy was positive and happy. But it was a mask. Under which an unhappy, lonely guy was hidden.”       “Definitely,” Terrence nods. “Actually, those two always seemed different to me. I was surprised by how they could be friends. One was a proud, cold, and confident man, who could kill anyone. And another was a timid, little naive, scared, and insecure guy, who was afraid of literally everything.”       “Yeah, I also thought they had nothing in common. Daniel looked like a man, who was ready to destroy Peter.”       “But as it turned out, those two are a sweet couple. They actually have a lot in common. I’d say they understand each other much better than anyone else.”       “They’ve known each other for much longer,” Raquelle shrugs.       “Right. So, I think that’s why Peter and Daniel are much closer to each other than the others.”       “And I’m more than sure that Rose knows what Perkins is silent about. What he’s hiding. What he’s feeling.”       “He does,” Terrence nods confidently. “As it turned out, those two recently spent time at Daniel’s house.”       “Hey, is Daniel not mad at Peter for not standing for Anna? I thought they wouldn’t talk for a long time!”       “No, they talked about everything on the same day. Daniel said he blamed Peter for nothing, and the blond showed his regret and promised not to hide anymore. And he kept his promise during the fight with Potter.”       “Good. I’m glad they solved it.”       “Yeah, and then the two spent a good time together with a bottle of beer and talked about many things. I don’t know the details, but Dan surely told Pete about his family and revealed the reason for his failures in singing.”       “Really?” Raquelle rounds her eyes. “And what was it?”       “He was smoking. And it was confirmed today when I found an empty pack of cigarettes in his car.”       “But I never felt that he smelt cigarettes!”       “Dan smoked too much but tried to hide it from us. He said he calmed himself down in that way. But he’s lately had tons of reasons to be worried.”       “Do you wanna say that’s why he got problems with his voice?”       “Yes. He can’t take notes because his lungs are damaged from cigarettes. And if you’ve noticed, he got a strong cough at some moment.”       “Does he have a chance to stop doing that?”       “Of course, he does. As Perkins personally confessed, he hasn’t smoked since the day when he got hit by a car. And now, as I think, there are some good changes: his cough is much rarer, and his voice got better. Today, I heard his singing when hanging out with the men and know what I say.”       “Did you and the lads know nothing about his habit of smoking? I don’t believe that you didn’t feel a smell of smoke and see him with a cigarette in his hands!”       “But we didn’t really see! And he hid because he was afraid we’d say it to Anna, who can’t stand the smell of cigarettes!”       “Anna?”       “Daniel confessed that Anna knew about his habit and fought with him because of that many times. She tried to wean him away from that, but he kept smoking in stressful situations. And… It eventually led to a serious scandal, after which Perkins left his home on the day he got hit by a car.”       “Wait…” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “Did Daniel and Anna fight because of cigarettes on that day?”       “That’s correct,” Terrence nods. “Daniel said he just wanted to get cool because their fight was too serious. I don’t know what they told each other, but that’s true. Though, Dan has already regretted it millions of times and says he would’ve rather locked himself somewhere in the house.”       “Wow…”       “But now the picture is clearer.”       “Oh, c’mon, there’s no point in talking about it…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “It’s too late… But I’m very sorry for him.”       “We’re all sorry about him…” Terrence replies with sadness in his eyes. “But sadly, we almost can’t help him with his conflict with Anna. They should choose their future. Yes, we can change Anna’s mind, but she must make any solutions. We can’t make her do it.”       “Let’s at least try to hope that this story will end well,” Raquelle suggests. “Anyway, no matter what Anna decides, we’ll always be by her side and support Daniel as much as we can.”       “I’m trying to believe in the best. Though, I’ll be very sad that we can’t spend time all together if she decides to leave him.”       “Me too. Because of them, we may feel embarrassed.”       “I’m gonna be honest, I’m missing those times.”       “Not just you, honey. I’m missing all of that, too.”       Two seconds later, Terrence and Raquelle stop slowly and sit on the sand next to each other in front of the furious ocean. The man hugs the girl tightly with both arms, presses her close to himself, and kisses the top of her head, while she watches the waves without emotions and caresses his arms softly, not caring that her hair gets into her eyes and mouth due to the wind that got stronger.       “Too much has happened lately…” Raquelle notices with sadness in her eyes. “Like out of the blue…”       “I agree…” Terrence exhales slowly. “Nothing told us about trouble before.”       “Yeah… You and the lads were performing at shows and promoting your album. And the girls and I had the pleasure of watching you and singing along… We were happy you finally made your dream come true.”       “I don’t know when we’ll come back to performances. The situation is complicated, and George disappeared and doesn’t answer our calls. But he had canceled or delayed all our scheduled events…”       “Besides, we shouldn’t forget about your wedding with me. The wedding of Edward and Natalia. We haven’t been able to start to do just something for a hundred years.”       “Ah, yeah…” Terrence smiles slightly. “I forgot that my little bro and I are gonna get married on the same day…”       “We were told you and I were made for each other. But we haven’t been able to get married for nobody the hell knows how long.”       “Hey… As I understand, our lovebirds have solved their problems and don’t remember misunderstandings. Or did they decide to delay the talk about the wedding for a better time?”       “Well, as my friend is picking up a dress with enthusiasm, a wedding is gonna happen.”       “Edward, the guys, and I will be walking to stores to pick up suits. But wearing it all day long is gonna be hard for my bro, ‘cause he hates them.”       “He’ll have to do it. The blonde is gonna be mad if he comes to his wedding in ripped jeans and a shabby t-shirt.”       “I think Edward would put on these clothes if not for those formal things,” Terrence laughs shyly. “But Natalia is gonna hit his face much stronger than you did when we met for the first time.”       “Prevention would be good for your bro.”       “Anyway, our love cats will definitely get married and move into their house of love.”       “You’re right,” Raquelle cracks a smile. “The guys can’t do without each other as well as you and me.”       “Yeah… Those two bastards made them feel stressed.”       “Natalia had to suffer a lot…”       “As well as Edward. Even if he barely talked about it. He just did what he should’ve done… And then disappeared… And I thought we’d really never meet him again…”       “Maybe, we wouldn’t have done it. If Rochester hadn’t agreed to come back to him.”       “Agree, the blondie literally brought him back to us. And she made him much better than before.”       “Nah, why we should remember that,” Raquelle sighs quietly and smiles shyly, putting her head on Terrence’s shoulder. “They’re very happy now and gonna get married. Nobody will stand in their way. No Wainwright.”       “Wainwright is burning in hell. And Uncle Michael is living his last days in prison.”       “It would’ve been so hurtful if they’d really broken up.” Raquelle locks her fingers with Terrence’s fingers. “I’ve always loved their couple that makes all of us smile.”       “You know that I love their couple, too. And I think nobody fits Edward better than Natalia.”       “Right, because you don’t know any of his exes.”       “I don’t have to know! If I say Natalia is the best partner for him, it is the truth.”       “Oh, MacClife…”       “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I know what would be better for my little bro,” Terrence replies confidently, caressing Raquelle’s cheek with the back of his hand. “And I’ve already approved of the candidature of our friend for the role of his wifey.”       “I’ve gotta agree with you…” Raquelle smiles shyly. “Knowing some of Blondie’s exes, who didn’t fit her at all.”       “As they say, those, who find, will find.”       “I think Natalia got much tender and softer after Edward came into her life. Sometimes she used to act like a sassy and proud girl, who was ready to kick everyone’s asses. But now nothing is left of that. She started to show weakness much more often and aims to hide behind someone to be stronger.”       “But when she has to, Natalia can brace herself and kick the ass of anyone to wish to hurt her. Yes, she’s tender and weak, but she can be brave at the right moment.”       “Moreover, Natalia has always given a lot of attention to her appearance. But now she spends much more time on it.”       “She wanna be beautiful for her sweetheart,” Terrence smiles with the corners of his mouth. “Though, Natalia can do nothing because Edward would admire her anyway.”       “As well as she admires him.”       Terrence and Raquelle fall into silence for a few seconds and just press themselves against each other while sitting in front of the ocean. At some moment, the man starts to think about something bad with sadness in his eyes, scanning the ocean waves and listening to the calming and relaxing noises. The girl presses herself against her beloved man with closed eyes and caresses his hand. But then she, frowning slightly, moves her head off his shoulder and glances at the sad man.       “What’s wrong, Terrence?” Raquelle expresses anxiety with sadness in her eyes and caresses Terrence’s cheek with the back of her hand. “Are you okay?”       “Yeah, I’m okay,” Terrence nods without emotions in his eyes.       “Still thinking of what happened to Anna?”       “I’m shocked. Deeply shocked. It was the first time I saw a man beating a girl. I never thought I’d be a witness to something like that. I had to watch a man injure a girl many times, but I never watched a girl getting beaten.”       “The lads were also white and dumbfounded.”       “That was horrible… My heart squeezed when I tried to imagine what the poor girl experienced while that sick bastard beat her.”       “Believe me, honey, I’m also shaking from what we saw,” Raquelle says softly, putting her hand on Terrence’s shoulder. “And I can imagine what kind of horror you felt.”       “You know…” Terrence moves his sad eyes to Raquelle. “Watching Anna, I… Unwittingly imagined you instead of her and myself instead of Daniel…”       “Terrence…”       “It’s true, Raquelle. I… I would hardly bear it if you were instead of your friend.”       “Don’t think about it, sweetheart. It’s okay.”       “I’m overwhelmed at just one thought about it.”       Terrence looks at Raquelle with pity in his eyes, grabs her face softly with his warm hands, and caresses it, moving some strands of hair off the girl’s face.       “Your face…” Terrence pronounces quietly, caressing Raquelle’s cheeks, forehead, and head. “If it had all of those bruises and blood…”       “Please, stop thinking about it,” Raquelle begs softly with sadness in her eyes. “Don’t torture yourself…”       Terrence moves his eyes to Raquelle’s hand, which caresses his hand. Then he takes it softly and caresses it with his fingertips.       “They could also be on your arms…” Terrence adds with a quiet, little shaking voice. “Your whole body could be covered with big bruises… Bleed…”       “For God’s sake, sweetheart…” Raquelle pronounces softly. “You’re making yourself feel worse.”       “Ugh…” Terrence shakes sharply. “I’m even afraid to think about it! I won’t take it!”       Terrence glances aside sharply and shakes his head, breathing a little heavily from excitement and clenching his shaking hands into fists.       “Quiet, quiet, my lion, calm down,” Raquelle calms down softly, caressing Terrence’s head, hugging him around the shoulders, and fixing his hair slightly. “It’s okay, don’t worry…”       “I…” Terrence pronounces in a little shaking voice, looking at Raquelle with pity in his eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do if something like that happened to you…”       “Stop, Terrence,” Raquelle smiles shyly and caresses Terrence’s cheeks with both hands. “It’s okay.”       “But I’m afraid… I’m afraid that the same or something much worse might happen to you.”       “Even if danger threatens me, I exactly know I have an amazing protector, who will be next to me when I need it.” Raquelle kisses Terrence on the cheek cutely and smiles much wider at him. “I fear nothing because you’re with me, my best and bravest man.”       “No…” Terrence shakes his head. “No… No danger will threaten you… I promise… No… Nobody will dare to come to you to harm you. I won’t let it happen.”       “I don’t doubt it.”       “Raquelle, sweetheart…” Terrence takes Raquelle in his strong hug, presses her closely to himself, and caresses her back and head tenderly, nuzzling his nose against her shoulder. “Nobody will hurt you… Nobody.”       “I know,” Raquelle puts her arms around Terrence’s neck, kissing him on the temple at some moment and caressing his head. “I know…”       “Believe me, hear me…” Terrence squeezes Raquelle’s hair slightly. “Believe! While you’re with me, nothing will happen to you. Nobody will dare to do what happened to your friend. A stinker, who would dare to challenge me, will be dead. I swear, Raquelle…”       “I believe, Terrence, I do…” Raquelle pronounces in a little shaking voice and sniffs quietly, as she nuzzles his shoulder. “You will always know where to find me… If danger is threatening me.”       “I will… Wherever you are, I shall find you. I promise.”       “Okay, my sweetheart, relax…” Raquelle says quietly, caressing the back of Terrence’s head and leaving a couple of kisses on his cheek. “You’re too tense…”       “Just know it,” Terrence slowly runs his hand over Raquelle’s back. “Never forget that I’ll always protect you, wherever you are. I shall find you anywhere… And give my everything to protect you.”       “You’ve proved it so many times. Do you still think I doubt you?”       “I’d like to believe it’s true…”       Two seconds later, Terrence steps back from Raquelle and caresses her cheek tenderly with his warm hands, while she looks at him with a cute smile on her face and shyly touches the tip of his nose with a finger.       “Hey, why did you break down?” Raquelle asks softly. “You’re my strong man! A strong and confident man, who can be ruined by nothing!”       “Not nothing, Raquelle,” Terrence replies quietly. “I feel pain when you suffer.”       “I know, Terrence.”       “I’m worried about you and wanna know you’re safe. I need to know that nothing and anybody threatens you.”       “While I’m with the man, who has a lion’s heart, any terrible person will be afraid to come to me,” Raquelle says confidently with a slight smile, putting her hand on Terrence’s knee and caressing it. “With you, I feel a weak, but fully protected kid.”       “Don’t worry, my sunshine beauty,” Terrence takes Raquelle’s hands softly. “With me, you will always be safe.”       “Aw, sweetie…” Raquelle puts her head on Terrence’s shoulder for a second with a much wider smile. “How it’s nice that you take care of me like a child.”       “You will always be my unprotected child.” Terrence kisses Raquelle on the cheek and caresses her head tenderly, moving some hair behind her ear. “I want to take care of my baby, protect her from any evil, and make her very happy.”       “You can do this, my lion,” Raquelle replies with her head proudly raised and puts her hand on Terrence’s lap. “I believe in you.”       Terrence looks at Raquelle with a much wider smile for two seconds, caressing her cheek softly with a feeling of a little relief. And then, not moving his eyes off her eyes full of admiration, the man grabs her face with both hands, gives her a tender, short kiss on her lips, steps back from her, and looks at her again. Seeing a much wider smile and a slight blush on her face, he cutely kisses the tip of her nose, making her laugh shyly, and rubs his nose against it, while his hands hold his fiancée by the curves of her waist.       “So, what are we gonna do?” Raquelle asks in a lower voice. “Wanna go home? Or stay here for a while?”       “I’d go anywhere with you,” Terrence replies confidently and leaves a couple of short kisses on Raquelle’s lips and the tip of her nose. “But to be honest, I don’t wanna go home.”       “So, let’s walk a little?”       “With pleasure. I was inside four walls for too long.”       “I forgot that I’m gonna sleep with you tonight…”       “And I can finally embrace and press my beloved girl to myself.” Terrence hugs Raquelle tightly and caresses her head tenderly, while she is enjoying the warmth that he is spreading. “A few days seemed like infinity.”       “Yeah…” Raquelle purrs quietly with a satisfied smile.       “By the way…” Terrence steps back from Raquelle. “We weren’t here for ages! I can’t remember when you and I walked at this place the last time.”       “Yeah, we kind of forgot about our favorite place.”       “So, we’ve gotta fix it, my love.”       With these words, Terrence kisses Raquelle tenderly on the forehead, softly holding the back of her head, and caresses her cheek again with a wider smile. At some moment, he does not refuse to kiss her again and runs his fingers through the lady’s soft hair gathered in a high ponytail. The girl smiles widely, enjoying the long-awaited attention and love of her man. But he also shows her love for him at some moment by kissing him cutely on one cheek and caressing the other. Later, she gives her fiancée a more continuous and tender kiss on the lips, grabbing his face. And he answers it with great pleasure, putting his hand on the nape of her neck.       And when Terrence hugs Raquelle tenderly and hides his face in the curve of her neck some time later, she answers his hug and caresses his head and back, showing how much this man means to her. Who feels much better, while he is next to his beloved girl, who is the bright fire in the endless darkness, and wakes up his wish to take care of her like a little, unprotected child.       

***

      Peter and Helene decide to go for a walk in the city after leaving the hospital with the hope that they will come to themselves. But even the beauty of the small park located not too far away and the happy smiles of some children and teenagers, who they meet in their way, do not make their mood better.       “Yeah, I didn’t think this day would be over like this,” Helene says with sadness in her eyes, slowly walking next to Peter to where their eyes look.       “I’m afraid to think what would’ve happened if I hadn’t remembered about the video, and the lads and I hadn’t gone to the home of Anna’s father,” Peter replies thoughtfully, keeping his arm wrapped around Helene’s neck and pressing her to himself.       “What would’ve happened if you hadn’t been going by the place where that man was beating the poor girl? What if nobody had been able to help her?”       “Oh, I can’t stop thinking about it… If everything had gone otherwise, we could’ve really lost Anna. She was totally lucky that the guys and I saved her from that beast in time. I mean, I saw her first and warned them.”       “By the way, I’m really surprised that the doctors didn’t find anything serious. How is that possible? Judging by those bruises, that stinker never pitied poor Anna!”       “The lads and I thought so. She was getting worse every minute. I was afraid that she wouldn’t take it too long. That we wouldn’t have time to bring her to the hospital.”       “No, no, not that,” Helene shakes her head and embraces herself with both arms. “If Anna dies, I won’t take it. No… I don’t want.”       “It won’t happen, sweetheart.” Peter cutely kisses Helene on the top of her head. “Luckily, we saved her from that monster at the right time. Thanks to our efforts, Anna is alive.”       “I know. You did everything you could.”       “When she wakes up, we will let Anna know she can count on us. And we won’t let anyone hurt her.”       “What if the doctor lied to us, and she was diagnosed with something serious? If she’s unconscious, something is wrong!”       “If something serious happened, he would tell us.”       “I dunno… I don’t like all of this…”       “Anyway, Anna is now under the control of the doctors, who will help her. And after her release, we will take care of her and protect her until that stinker is arrested.”       “Do you think you and the lads can deal with that man?”       “We’ll do our best,” Peter promises confidently. “Moreover, Potter isn’t dangerous if he doesn’t have a gun. He can’t or doesn’t wanna fight. Without a gun, he gets nervous.”       “Yeah, but you shouldn't underestimate him. What if he gets wild, and you won’t deal with him next time.”       “Don’t worry, Helene, it’s gonna be fine,” Peter smiles slightly. “The most important thing is not to let Daniel fight with him alone.”       “No, don’t even dare!” Helene shakes her head sharply. “Potter was mad at him, but now, when Perkins beat him enough, his hate is gonna be stronger.”       “And Perkins isn’t as strong and enduring as Edward, Terrence, and me. He may get tired quickly and stop being able to protect himself.”       “And if that man asks someone to go with him not to be alone, Dan will be dead.”       “Right… But if there are four of us, we should do it. Besides, Sammy is gonna help us, too. The puffy isn’t as sweet and innocent as it seems and can show his teeth when he has to.”       “Yeah, Sammy is a good boy…” Helene flashes a smile.       “Potter is definitely afraid of dogs but hides it. But we saw a scare in his eyes when the bandit was growling at him. And how he was screaming when Sammy grabbed his hand! We thought that man would lose his voice!”       “By the way, dogs feel that someone’s afraid of them and hates them.”       “And they can feel sorry,” Peter smiles shyly. “You must’ve seen how nervous he was because of Anna! He was barking and whining and didn’t leave her alone while the poor girl suffered from strong pain. And how hard he protected her! He was ready to tear Potter apart when that man tried to get close to her. And he was so nice to the Seymours that they liked him immediately.”       “It would be great if she got a dog. No stinker would come to her in this case.”       “Just because Anna isn’t afraid of Sammy doesn’t mean her fear of other dogs is gone.”       “Right… But she’d love her own puppy…” Helene sighs quietly. “It would be a little consolation, which would help her forget that hell and come to herself… If she wants to leave Daniel, at last.”       “She won’t leave him, Helene, I’m sure,” Peter assumes confidently. Anna was shaking strongly when that man was threatening Daniel and fighting with him. Seymour tried to do something and begged Perkins to leave and not to put himself in danger. She shouted after every single hit of Potter. After every single failure of Dan…”       “I’ll be very upset if they break up. They were always a very cute couple that I liked so badly…”       “I’d be upset, too. Anna is a wonderful girl, with whom Daniel always felt good. I considered her an excellent partner for him, even when I didn’t know her.”       “Besides…” Helene moves her sad eyes to Peter. “How could we spend time with those two if they really decided to break up? All of us would be nervous and embarrassed.”       “No, sweetie, they will not break up,” Peter replies confidently. “It’s impossible to strike out what's been happening for a long time and pretend that nothing happened. Besides, the two love each other. Even if Anna denies it. She betrays herself with her actions. She wouldn’t care what Potter did to Daniel if she were really indifferent to him.”       “Even if it’s so, she might be headstrong and refuse to listen to us, herself, and her feelings.”       “Perkins saves her from the Potters, she’ll surely notice it and be so grateful that she’ll forget all the offenses later.”       “You’re kinda too sure about it…”       “I just know girls love actions. Anna wouldn’t resist it. Someday, she’ll realize that our buddy could crash himself just to know that she’s happy, healthy, and unharmed.”       “Hey, didn’t Daniel tell you anything interesting when you and Sammy were at his house?”       “He repeated that he was madly sorry about doing what he didn’t want to. Daniel didn’t really wanna cheat and was always loyal to Anna. And I believed him. I felt sorry for him.” Peter swallows up nervously. “I… I never saw him being so depressed. He talked about what he felt so openly for the first time.”       “Poor guy… Got into the trouble…”       “Hey, he also told me what happened between him and Anna on the day when you and I found him unconscious.”       “They fought?”       “Yup. They had a big fight. Because of his habit of smoking. Which he hid from everyone so hard.”       “I didn’t know Daniel smoked… But how long?”       “Since a teenage age. But as he said, he did it only when he had strong stress. He said cigarettes helped him calm down.”       “Listen, Peter, couldn’t his voice issues be caused by smoking?” Helene frowns slightly. “I believe he’s been coughing a lot lately.”       “It’s true,” Peter nods confidently. “All of his singing issues were caused by cigarettes.”       “It explains a lot…” Helene says nothing for two seconds and frowns slightly. “I hope he understands he should wean himself away from it… That’s bad for health and the voice. Smoking does very bad things to your lungs, which must be good if you want to sing well.”       “At least, he says he hasn’t smoked since he was hit by a car,” Peter shrugs. “But I don’t exclude that he might start smoking again because of what’s happening to Anna.”       “Thank God, he doesn’t at least take drugs.”       “No, he won’t drink or take drugs. Daniel understands that Cassidy needs him. Even if Anna leaves him, he should take care of his sister. She can’t wean herself away from her dependence and get rid of her psychological traumas on her own.”       “I wish he held on for her,” Helene sighs heavily with sadness in her eyes. “I was so sorry about Cassidy when I saw her. Such a sweet girl… So unprotected… Sad… She must not stay alone.”       “He will do it for her!” Peter says confidently. “No matter how lousy he feels now, he’ll hold on for his sister. We all see that this man is madly worried about his breakup with Anna. But he does make himself hold on.”       “He was so nervous when watching Anna.”       “If not for the doctor's ban, he would’ve come to the room first. And he would’ve stayed with her all day as well as Raquelle was with Terrence when he was in the hospital.”       “Trust me, Pete, when the doctor allows us to visit her, Daniel will literally move into the room. He’ll hardly get close to her after she wakes up.”       “That’s right. One of those, whom she will wish to see much less, will be Daniel.”       “But I must confess that he’s doing well enough.”       “I agree,” Peter agrees. “But we all know that this man is pretending now. Pretending that he is fine and believes in the best.”       “But he is not okay.”       “But I’m glad Daniel doesn’t refuse to help Anna, even if he knows he might hear no thanks from her.”       “He loves her, Peter. And he does all of that for his love for her. For his wish to let her live quietly. If that man was indifferent to her, he wouldn’t help at all. His feelings and wish to know nothing threatens her are obsessed with him.”       “Poor guy… Yeah, he was wrong… He wasn’t always right and did the wrong things. But he didn’t deserve what’s happening to him.”       “Right. Everyone makes mistakes.”       “And he keeps feeling guilty for Anna and all of us… Even if nobody but your friend judges him. Everybody supports that man. Even Anna’s parents, knowing about his betrayer, treat him very well.”       “Those people find him their last hope. And he’s trying to meet their expectations. And make amends…” Helene sighs heavily. “And it hurts that we can’t help him. Having friends is good. But to become truly happy, he needs his beloved girl.”       “Yeah… He needs Anna…”       “I can’t say I’m so sure about their reconciliation. But I exactly know that Daniel will do what he promised and won’t give up in the middle of the way. Moreover, we have the help of Anna’s parents and her rejected fiancé.”       “That’s great! The more, the better. And getting an ally from your enemy’s family is much better! Ryan is not like his sick brother and would be much better than Julian.”       “He doesn’t seem suspicious to me, either. He’s quite a smart, educated, and friendly man… Very young at first sight.”       “But too tense and insecure during the talk.”       “Right… His voice was shaking. And he looked at us so scarily as if we should’ve done something bad to him.”       “I think he’s just ashamed of his brother and father. Ashamed of calling himself their family member.”       “Oh, I would also be ashamed of such a sick brother,” Helene sighs tiredly. “And his father is definitely a snake. Worse than his sonny.”       Peter says nothing and just nods with sadness in his eyes set into the distance. Helene thinks about something and wants to ask something when she and the man come to the bench placed from afar and sit on it.       “Hey…” Helene pronounces thoughtfully, pressing herself closely against Peter, who puts his arm on the back of the bench. “How did it happen that you forgot to tell us about the video? We could’ve done something much earlier if we’d had that record in our hands!”       “I’m sorry that I forgot the most important thing. I swear I wanted to tell you about it after I saw that fight. But while I was going to go to the meeting with all of you, I got so excited that I forgot half of what I wanted to say.”       “Was it so terrible? Worse than what happened today?”       “No, everything wasn’t so horrible… But what the lads and I saw was like a scene from a scary movie.”       “I got it…”       “I think I will never forget it…” Peter shakes his head. “I never saw such cruel mockeries over a girl. I… I was really scared… I still see that scene before my eyes…”       Peter thinks about what was happening to Anna again, setting his sad eyes into the distance, rubbing his hands nervously, and feeling how his heart squeezes badly. Helene watches her boyfriend for two seconds and caresses his cheek tenderly to comfort him a little.       “Don’t think about it, Peter,” Helene says softly. “Thank God, it ended well.”       “You can’t imagine how many efforts I had to apply to keep my mind straight,” Peter replies thoughtfully. “Horror caused by what I saw literally paralyzed me… It let me do nothing… On that day at the parking… Today on the road… I… I can’t forget it!”       “Be glad the lads and you met Anna and drove her to the hospital in time.”       “I am happy…” Peter pronounces in a lower voice with sadness in his eyes. “Anna is a friend of the men and me, whom we’re attracted to, as well as the girls and you.”       “Believe me, sweetie, none of us feels good now,” Helene says softly, caressing Peter’s head, and touches the small scar on his forehead closer to the roots of his hair with her fingertips. “I had goosebumps on my back when watching her through the window in the room. Our young, weak, and innocent Anna…”       “My heart was tearing apart from what I saw…” Peter shakes his head and exhales slowly. “Now I hate bastards that dare to raise a hand on a girl much more.”       “It’s okay, it was the last time Potter beat Anna. He’ll no longer come to her. And his next meeting with you, the guys, and the Seymours is gonna lead to the police’s arrival.”       “I don’t understand how someone could get pleasure from beating and humiliating someone. How they could think it’s fine.”       “When someone doesn’t face an example of a healthy relationship, you shouldn't expect anything good from them.”       “I think… I was beaten and humiliated not only because I was too cowardly to stand up for myself. Adult people didn’t teach them to treat people kindly. Despite their appearances, bodies, habits, and hobbies.”       “No matter what happened then, you’re now much stronger and braver.” Helene presses herself closer to Peter and wraps his neck with her arms, putting her head on his shoulder. “You’re a fearless and loyal wolf that wouldn’t stand aside if their friends were in trouble.”       “That’s just my duty. My duty is to help my friends. The friends I owe. I can’t leave them when they count on me. Daniel does. I promised to be next to him. Be ready to help. I can’t betray him.”       “People are right when they say you’re an amazing friend.”       “If men aren’t strong, many innocent girls will suffer.”       “Anna could stand up for herself,” Helene says quietly. “That stinker just got her exhausted. Morally and physically. He deprived her of her wish to hold on and fight for something.”       “Julian is much stronger than Anna and would literally crush her,” Peter exhales sharply with sadness in his eyes. “To fight with him, she doesn’t have enough power. She’s too weak to challenge him. And her strong power of will won’t help her, ‘cause his benefit is his physical data. But Anna isn’t so strong in this case.”       “But she’s not alone now. We will all help her. Daniel will tear Potter apart if he dares to come to her again.”       “The lads and I wouldn't mind giving her another lesson in good manners.”       Helene says nothing and just looks into the distance. Peter takes the girl’s hand, tenderly caresses her head placed on her shoulder, and kisses her cutely on the top of her head.       “You know…” Peter pronounces hesitantly. “I… Briefly imagined you instead of Anna…”       “Me instead of Anna?” Helene rounds her eyes.       “I started to shake when I thought that a certain scumbag could beat you in the same way. That those bruises would be on your body…”       “Erm…”       “Oh…” Peter exhales sharply, shaking his head, and hugs Helene tightly with both of his arms so that she hides her face in the curve of his neck, and caresses her head tenderly. “I wouldn’t take it… I feel bad when I just think I’d see you there…”       “Honey…”       “I’d rather twirl in pain than watch you suffer,” Peter whispers in a little shaking voice, swallows up nervously, and closes his eyes for a second, understanding that he cannot breathe from excitement. “I don’t know how Daniel can hold on, watching Anna in such a horrible condition… I’d go crazy if something happened to you…”       “Were you thinking of it when watching Anna?” Helene asks quietly, running her hand through Peter’s hair on the back of his head.       “Yup… And it made me wish to protect you much more.”       “But you’ve got no reason to be worried about me. I don’t have enemies, who would love to harm me.”       “I don’t need the world without you.” Peter exhales slowly, while he is squeezing Helene’s hair with his shaking fingers. “I’d lose a wish to live if something happened to you, or you’d… Died…”       “Quiet, Peter, quiet, don’t think about it.” Helene steps back from Peter, kisses him on the cheek shyly, and caresses his head again. “It’s okay, my sunshine, relax…”       “Ugh, I feel bad when I just think about it…” Peter squeezes the bridge of his nose for two seconds and runs his hands from the top of his head to the nape of his neck. “I can’t…”       “Sweetie, don’t do this, please…”       Helene takes Peter in a tender hug, pressing herself as close to him as possible, caresses his head, and kisses him cutely on the temple. A few seconds later, she steps back, grabs the man’s face with both hands, and caresses it softly, looking into her boyfriend’s sad eyes with a tender gaze.       “I’m here, I’m okay…”       “I know, but I’m afraid to lose you to death…” Peter confesses without emotions.       “As well as I. I’d also go crazy from grief if someone beat or killed you.” Helene shakes her head and leaves a short kiss on Peter’s lips with her shaking lip. “I’m shaking strongly at this thought…”       Peter says nothing for a few seconds, looking at Helene or his hands with sadness in his eyes. But then he moves his widely open eyes to the girl hesitantly and takes her hand with both of his ones.       “Helene…” Peter pronounces hesitantly. “Say… Would you forgive me if it happened that… You and I were instead of Anna and Daniel? If I had a memory loss and… Cheated on you…”       This question makes Helene confused, and she swallows up nervously, looking at Peter with widely open eyes, while he is waiting for her reaction and answer.       “Oh, excuse me, what?” Helene specifies hesitantly.       “You’ve said many times you wouldn’t forgive a cheater,” Peter replies thoughtfully. “And I’d like to know if you could forgive me if I cheated on you without a wish and became a victim of amnesia…”       “Don’t tell me you wanna leave me.”       “No, no! Not at all, sweetie! I swear!” Peter caresses Helene’s cheeks with both hands. “I only love you! I don’t need any other girl.”       “But why are you asking?”       “I’m just wondering. Wondering to know what I’d expect in this case: forgiveness or criticism.”       “Erm…”       Helene starts to twirl nervously on the bench and finger over, while her widely open eyes are running from one side to another, and she starts breathing a little heavily.       “You’re silent…” Peter pronounces with sadness in his eyes and inclines his head. “Wouldn’t you forgive me? Would I suffer as much as Daniel?”       “Oh, sorry, Peter, but…” Helene pronounces in a shaking voice, moving her eyes shamelessly aside. “I don’t know what to tell you… This question made me confused…”       “Don’t worry, sweetheart, be honest…”       “I…” Helene looks at Peter with sadness in her eyes. “I don’t really know… It’s… A very complicated situation…”       “But maybe, you give me a chance to fix everything and prove that I didn’t want it?”       “I think… If I calmed down and let my offense go, I could give you a chance.”       “Would you?”       “But the question is how long I would be mad. I wouldn’t really forgive a man for cheating and would leave him, but in this case… In this case, you can try to understand the man.”       “I get it…”       “I dunno… I think this is the case when I can’t give an answer immediately.”       “Yeah… Sure…” Peter moves his sad eyes down, but later looks into the distance. “But I am afraid to run into something like that someday. I don’t want to lose my beloved girl because of my stupidity… Because of someone, who deceives me and makes me betray when I don’t want it.”       “Gosh, Peter, why do you care about it?” Helene wonders. “The case of Daniel may not happen to everyone! Not everyone would get hit by a car, lose their memory, and snuggle with someone to pretend to be their sweetheart.”       “I just need to know if I lost you if something like that happened to me. Would you keep believing me? Would you like to leave me? Wouldn’t you give me a chance to fix everything? Maybe, you get mad and leave me after you find out that I remember nothing?”       “Maybe, I doubt what I’d do. But I didn’t say I’d leave you after finding out about your amnesia and seeing you cheat on me.”       “But you almost let me know it.”       As Peter looks at his hands, Helene raises his face up, putting her warm hand on his cheek and making him look into her eyes.       “But there’s one thing I know for sure,” Helene says softly. “I wouldn’t behave like Anna, who started to ignore Daniel after she found out about his amnesia. I wouldn’t leave you if you cheated on me without knowing it. Yes, I know that Seymour felt very hurt and bad. But she shouldn’t have left that guy so easily.”       “So, would you give me a chance to get better?” Peter rounds his eyes with hope.       “In this case anyone needs help,” Helene smiles shyly. “And I would do my best to find the courage to stay with you and help you recover the lost and forgotten memories.”       “Really?”       “I can compare it with a situation when someone leaves a terminally ill or disabled person, who needs help, love, and care. Daniel needed it for some time and wasn’t able to take care of him. And we were with him, even if he didn’t believe us and started to reject us one day. We just knew he needed us and would surely thank us.”       “But would you leave me after I remembered everything if you knew about how I cheated on you and stayed with me to help me get my memories back?”       “I think all the offenses would be gone by that time. I’d only think about taking care of the suffering person. I’d have no time to be mad… And if everything was over, the pain from the undesired betrayer might be gone. Or be weaker…”       “Sounds hopeful…” Peter cracks a smile. “I believe there is a minimal threat of getting a slap and hearing the words about me being a betrayer?”       “Ah, Peter…” Helene runs the back of her hand over Peter’s cheek. “Why did you start this talk?”       “Just wondered,” Peter shrugs.       “You’re torturing yourself for nothing, blond. I don’t doubt your loyalty that everyone may be jealous. I’ve never met a more loyal person than you. You’re like a dog that is loyal to their owners ‘till death.”       “You’ve calmed down a little. Because I mayn’t be left after cheating. I’ve never wanted it and will never wish.”       “Maybe, I wouldn’t leave you,” Helene replies thoughtfully, rolling her eyes with a mysterious smile. “But I’d find a way to punish you a little… I think ignoring you for some time would be a good lesson for you.”       “Okay, I’d survive it somehow.” Peter shrugs. “I did tolerate your silence when you were mad at me because of the situation with your grandmother.”       “No, Pete, don’t think about it…” Helene moves her eyes down shamelessly. “I am terribly ashamed of the way I behaved…”       “For you, I’m ready to survive anything,” Peter smiles shyly, fixes Helene’s hair slightly, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Because I love you…”       Helene says nothing and just hugs Peter tightly, putting her hands on his back, which she caresses tenderly, and rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. While the man presses the girl to himself tightly but tenderly, kisses her on the cheek cutely, putting his hand on the back of her head, and exhales slowly with a wider smile.       “Would you forgive me if I had this situation?” Helene asks hesitantly.       “I’d stay with you, despite nothing,” Peter replies confidently.       “But you’d be mad and obsessed with anger!”       “I wanna believe I could overcome this feeling. Besides… I love you too much to leave you.” Peter puts his hand on Helene’s cheek and caresses it tenderly, cutely kissing her on the top of her head at some moment. “I’m ready to fight for our love until the very end.”       Helene smiles much wider, hugs Peter tighter, and presses him to herself, while he holds her in his strong and trustworthy arms as if she is the dearest and favorite thing that he has with a slight smile on his face. And some time later, the lovers step away and look into each other’s eyes, which are at a short distance. Which cannot make them hold down the wish to smile shyly. After hesitating a little, the blond puts his hand on the back of his sweetheart’s head and gives her a short kiss on the lips, but steps back later and examines her face with a wider smile, caressing it with both hands.       “What about staying with me for a night?” Helene suggests in a low, nice voice, shyly running her hand over Peter’s chest or drawing something with her finger. “If you stay, I’ll feed you well.”       “It would be great,” Peter smiles mysteriously. “But I’m afraid that Sammy might be jealous of me and you again and get wild if I wanted to hug and kiss you.”       “It’s okay, I’ll agree with him.” Helene tenderly kisses Peter on the cheek and, holding his face with both hands, leaves a couple of short kisses on the area behind his ear. “Buy him a new toy or something from meat…”       “You think he’d be a good boy?”       “He’d drool if I briefly talked about a delicious pork bone.” Helene leaves a short kiss on Peter’s lips and the corners of his mouth, while one of her hands strokes his hair, and another just lies on his lap or caresses it tenderly. “For that, Samuel would even stand on his head.”       “We’ll see…”       “Anyway, he’s gonna be under the control of my grandma,” Helene says confidently, caresses Peter’s ear with her lips tenderly, while he tense his muscles a little but smiles shyly from a nice shake caused by his girlfriend’s actions. “I need to pay attention to my visitor… Of course, if he accepts my invitation.”       “Well, as you’re inviting, I’d lead my beloved beauty to her home, spend a night with her, and protect her sleep,” Peter replies in a low, nice voice with a cute smile.       “Wonderful then, my kitty!” Helene scratches the area under Peter’s chin with her fingertips like a cat, making him smile widely and blush. “Meo-ow…”       Helene laughs shyly and gives Peter a tender kiss on the lips, putting her hand on his cheek and running the fingers of her free hand through his blond hair. And after a few short kisses on the lips and some open parts of their faces, the lovers involve each other in a more continuous, tender kiss. The girl puts an arm around the man’s neck and caresses his head, smiling widely into his mouth with a heavy breath. And he grabs her face with both hands to caress it and warm it up with his soft hands, sometimes gives attention to her silk to touch dark hair or caresses his lady’s knees, while the warm evening wind with a bit of slight coldness is nicely blowing their clothes and faces.       

***

      Edward and Natalia also decided to spend the rest of the day together and went to the girl's home. Using the fact that there was nobody at the apartment, the man did not refuse to spend some time with his fiancée. The lovers went to the kitchen to drink a cup of coffee. While Edward is sitting at the table with sad eyes, Natalia quickly makes a strong drink for him and herself, puts one of them in front of him, and sits down against him with another one.       “Yeah, here’s the quiet day…” Edward says thoughtfully, bringing the cup of coffee closer to him and glancing at what’s inside it. “The schedule was super busy. In a bad sense.”       “Hard to deny it…” Natalia sighs quietly with sadness in her eyes. “But I knew Anna would end up in the hospital early or late.”       “I was so sorry for her. I shook every time Potter beat that poor girl. And the most horrible thing was that he was beating her for nothing! And his father went crazy because of revenge and supports all of these mockeries…”       “Did she really jump out of the car that was driving at a high speed?”       “True,” Edward nods. “Peter saw it. And Terrence, Daniel, and I saw her trying to get up and run. We thought she could’ve crushed herself or damaged something…”       “My heart squeezed painfully when you all said it.”       “I don’t know what she thought about when she decided to do that. Yes, Anna tried to save herself, I get it. But she wouldn’t have run away far in her condition.”       “Right… It didn’t help her…” Natalia drinks some hot coffee from her cup.       “She was really lucky that the lads and I went by and saw her,” Edward says thoughtfully. “Of course, I’m sorry that we didn’t find her earlier. But thank God, she stayed alive and is now in the hands of the doctors.”       “Did she see the car of the lads and you when jumping outta Potter’s car?”       “She did.” Edward drinks some hot coffee from his cup. “Anna wanted to run to us, and we got ready to seat her into the car. But Potter caught her quickly and started to beat strongly.”       “Oh, God…” Natalia sighs heavily, looking at the reflection in her cup of coffee with sadness in her eyes. “I never thought she’d get into this situation…”       “She wouldn’t have if her parents had woken up in time. I mean, if her father had woken up and opened his eyes.”       “But she saw what kind of man he was and didn’t wanna have anything in common with him,” Natalia runs her hand through her hair. “Though, the girls and I couldn’t even think Anna could’ve been a part of the family of the man, who beat her to half-death.”       “Poor girl…” Edward pronounces with sadness in his eyes and drinks some coffee. “So good and innocent… That’s unfair she’s suffering like this…”       “Does that man hate Anna and her parents so much? Or does he dance attendance upon his father and do everything he tells him?”       “He hates not only Anna – all girls and women are terrible, brainless, and stupid to him,” Edward confesses without emotions, looking into the distance. “Without rights…”       “But why? How did the female sex hurt him?”       “I guess, a girl rejected him somehow, but he got mad at all women and pretended to be a lord, who can treat women worse than doormats.”       “Or his father was rejected… Who got mad at women and taught his sonny the same.”       “Who knows… Anyway, a woman is nobody to them. Just a machine. That must serve them, give birth to his children, and never meddle in men’s business.”       “Oh, how could Anna’s father be so blind and not notice that something wasn’t right with his daughter?” Natalia wonders and drinks some coffee. “She did give him signs, which he ignored, thinking that stinker would help my friend come to herself after the breakup.”       “Yeah, he helped,” Edward hums quietly. “Helped the girl end up in the hospital… He almost brought her to another world…”       “I’m still shaking because of what we had to see…” Natalia shakes her head with horror in her eyes. “Seriously, I was scared to death. I’m even afraid to think about what the poor girl tolerated when that stinker was beating her.”       “Anna was madly lucky she didn’t have traumas. She… She was really born in a shirt, as her doctor said.”       “Anyway, I won’t forget what I saw for a long time,” Natalia drinks some coffee from the cup that she is holding with her shaking hands. “That’s too horrible…”       After taking a little sip of coffee, Edward puts his cup on the table and puts his hand on Natalia’s hand, saying softly:       “I get it, sweetie.” Edward takes Natalia’s hand with both hands, caresses it tenderly, and squeezes slightly. “Trust me, I was also shaking when watching her getting beaten and being in the room. I still can’t forget that horror.”       “That’s horrible…” Natalia pronounces in a shaking, quiet voice. “Terrible…”       “I’m sure that the men are also deeply shocked and would say the same. And the girls are also scared.”       “Weren’t you afraid to deal with such a dangerous man?” Natalia asks hesitantly. “Weren’t you afraid that Potter could do something horrible to you?”       “No, Natalia, when the case is about our close person, we won’t stay aside and be cowardly,” Edward replies confidently. “Anna is our friend. Our close person that we love. Moreover, Peter, Terrence, and I must’ve helped Daniel because he wouldn’t have dealt with him alone.”       “Next time, he’s gonna kick your asses. Potter won’t forgive you for beating him so hard and giving him no chances for victory.”       “It’s okay, we’re the four, but he’s alone. Even if he takes his father with him, he won’t be able to run quickly and beat our faces. He’ll just threaten you with a gun. But if we disarm the two, we’ll quickly deal with them. Julian can’t fight. Or he’s just afraid.”       “But please, don’t underestimate him. Remember my words, that man won’t let you deal with him so easily next time.”       “Don’t worry, sweetheart, we can do this,” Edward assures with a slight smile, caressing Natalia’s hand from all sides with both hands. “We’ll do our best to protect Anna and not to let that scumbag get close to her.”       “The girls and I don’t want any of you to suffer,” Natalia says quietly with pity in her eyes.       “Nobody’s gonna suffer, I promise. We’ll do our best for everybody to stay safe and sound. What happened during the fight with Wainwright won’t happen.”       “You’re sure?”       “I am. We were fighting to protect our close people. I tried to protect you. But now Daniel’s trying to save Anna.”       “I think he completely understands your feelings. He knows why you were fighting with Wainwright.”       “Much better than Peter or Terrence. And I do understand why he aims to deal with Potter so hard. Why he got pleasure from beating that deadbeat. Daniel finally got the chance to kick him and will deal with him again with pleasure. His goal is protecting Anna and giving Potter as strong pain as possible.”       “I’m sure he would’ve done it much earlier if he’d known the story of Anna’s family and still dated her. So, as she told us everything briefly, we know almost nothing. And… Maybe, we understood some things wrongly to some extent… Anna described her life with her parents as if they kept her under lock and key, controlled almost everything, and decided how she should live and with whom. No… I don’t say it never happened. Vice versa – maybe, it happened before. But I don’t think everything was so bad…”       “I personally see nothing bad about it. Those people just spoke different languages and didn’t understand each other. And Anna could exaggerate when being mad and resented.”       “I think so. Her parents seemed very good to me.”       “Yeah, they’re really very good. The Seymours were very nice to the lads and me and weren’t bad to Daniel. And now those people know who is who.”       “I believe what happened to Anna will change their world forever. They’ll never be the same.”       “And I think they won’t mind her meetings with her friends and relationship with Daniel. And I’m sure that if he helps them and Anna, Mr. and Mrs. Seymour will treat him like a son. Just like Ryan. It’s clear that they find him a very close person and truly love that guy.”       “Yeah…” Natalia pronounces thoughtfully. “It’s amazing that the boy doesn’t seem to be bad, doesn’t pretend, and really wishes Anna all the best.”       “I dunno… I personally find him suspicious.”       “You don’t trust him?”       “At least because Ryan is the brother of Anna’s offender. I don’t say I have something against him, but I don’t advise you to trust that guy completely.”       “Anna’s mother would’ve hardly agreed to Ryan’s wedding with Anna if she’d known he was bad. That woman said many times that Julian was terrible. And Mr. and Mrs. Seymour say very nice things about his brother.”       “Maybe, but I would keep him on the leash. What if he pretends to be an angel, so we don’t suspect that this guy is finding out what we wanna do to his father and brother?”       “Do you think he may be someone like a spy and tell those two about our plans?”       “I don’t exclude it. So, I wouldn’t like to tell him all of our plans.”       “No, Edward, I don’t think so,” Natalia shakes her head and drinks some coffee from her cup. “When talking to that guy, I felt no disgust. Moreover, Anna is his friend. She did understand who was good, and who was bad.”       “We can trust nobody now,” Edward replies quietly and takes a sip of coffee. “The Potters may have lots of familiars, who literally watch the Seymours. And Ryan is a member of their family.”       “And what? He said he had a bad relationship with his brother and father! Sometimes you can find fresh fruit even among rotten ones.”       “I know, but we shouldn't trust him completely now. We’d better just watch him for some time. Not to be aggressive to him, but not to reveal the soul.”       “But I think Ryan is harmless. He’s got a too naive and even little scared look. I actually think Julian and his father treat him so badly that Ryan is afraid of them. He did say he tried to keep himself far from these two.”       “I can’t trust the one, who is a part of the family of the bastards that mock the innocent and her parents.”       “C’mon, Edward, don’t find bad things about everything,” Natalia smiles shyly and drinks some coffee. “I understand that you’re careful, but I think we shouldn’t make that guy one of our enemies.”       “Oh, I dunno…” Edward exhales sharply. “Maybe, I’m really wrong… But we should be careful anyway. I don’t want the Seymours to pay for the absolute trust in Ryan.”       “Listen, you did see Julian and know how he looks. Don’t you see the differences between them? Remember, Ryan is quite skinny and much lower than you and the men. Lower than Raquelle. But a few centimeters taller than Anna.”       “Yeah, at first sight, Ryan is really better than his brother.” Edward drinks some coffee from his cup. “Julian is much ruder and colder… He takes care of him well, but looks like he’s ready to take a gun and shoot everybody to the heck.”       “I don’t even know if Ryan could fight as well as someone to have good physical data.”       “You know, appearances can be deceiving.”       “But you can understand something if you listen to your feelings,” Natalia drinks some coffee. “If you feel a little discomfort, it means something isn’t right with that person.”       “I know… But I’m just trying to guess all the possible events.”       “Okay, my strategist, you can do this,” Natalia smiles slightly. “Being careful is always nice. But I’m personally sure that we don’t need to be afraid of that guy.”       “But I shall keep that guy on a short leash.”       “Don’t forget that Anna never said anything bad about him. She doesn’t just love him like a man – that’s all. But she does run from Julian and finds him cold. And as it turned out, there was a reason.”       “I could trust him if Ryan found out the reason for his mother’s death,” Edward confesses, drinking some coffee from his cup. “Something isn’t right with that story. A healthy person without heart issues wouldn’t die from a heart attack.       “This story seems weird to me, too. It would’ve been okay if that woman had been old and sick. But Ryan said she was young. It’s like someone helped her die, you know…”       “And I wouldn’t be surprised if Julian and his father really had to do with that.” Edward takes a sip of coffee again. “If they hate women so much, I don’t exclude that those people could bring that woman to another world.”       “I think they did it. There’s a motive. A very serious one.”       “Anyway, we need proof. We could suspect anyone, but nobody will believe our words.”       “It’s Ryan’s responsibility. Since he promised to find out something, let him keep his promise.”       “Yeah… Okay… And we don’t care how. He could do anything he wants, but Ryan must find out the truth and put an end to this story.”       “I want it so badly…” Natalia drinks some coffee. “I want Anna to be able to live a good life again…”       “This story can’t last forever.”       “The poor girl doesn’t deserve all of that,” Natalia shakes her head. “Anna shouldn’t suffer…”       “It’s gonna be fine, my love.” Edward takes Natalia’s hand with both hands and caresses it softly, smiling with the corners of his mouth. “We’ll save Anna from this nightmare. She’s now under our protection. That was the last time that stinker came to your friend and beat her.”       “I can’t be so sure about it…”       “Daniel will do his best to end this story. And Terrence, Peter, and I will help him. Together, we’ll do our best for that bastard to go where he belongs.”       “If only he didn’t find out where Anna is, come there, and help her die,” Natalia sighs heavily.       “No, my sunshine, he will do nothing to her. Anna will always be under someone’s view: doctors, parents, or friends.”       “I don’t wanna lose my friend, Edward…” Natalia takes a big sip of coffee, barely holding down her wish to cry. “I don’t…”       “It’s gonna be fine, trust me.” Edward caresses Natalia's cheek tenderly with a free hand, still holding her hand. “Soon, Anna will come back to us and live a normal life.”       “Nothing will remain the same…” Natalia sighs heavily. “If she doesn’t forgive Daniel, we won’t be able to spend time all together. If they’re somewhere together, they’ll feel terribly uncomfortable. Just like all of us.”       “Maybe… Anyway, I exactly know that we’ll save Anna from Potter and his father.”       “I do know she’ll suffer if she doesn’t wanna forgive Daniel.”       “Alas, she’s gonna decide it. And if Anna doesn’t find the courage to forgive Daniel, we’ll have to accept it. It’s her life, and we can’t make her do what we think is right.”       “We will, but they hardly will.” Natalia drinks the rest of the coffee and puts the empty cup on the table. “These two love each other!”       “I know. Daniel is suffering because of this situation. Because Anna can’t forgive him. And the men and I are really sorry for him. He didn’t want it to happen. He loved Anna with all his heart and wasn’t gonna leave her.”       “This situation breaks my heart…” Natalia confesses with sadness in her eyes.       “But I’m sure that his wish to help her and her parents will be good to him.”       “I don’t know, I’m not sure…”       “And I am,” Edward says confidently with a slight smile.       “It’s all too complicated…”       After sighing heavily with sadness in her eyes and grabbing her throat for a second, Natalia gets up slowly from the table, takes her empty cup, and turns the faucet on to wash it.       “Too much has been happening lately,” Natalia says in a quiet, little shaking voice. “There’s no hope for the best.”       “But everything’s getting better,” Edward shrugs. “Daniel got well after amnesia and found his sister, Wainwright got what he deserved and died, and Terrence left the hospital.”       “I know, but what? We didn’t get better!”       “Why didn’t we? We did!”       “Yes, Edward, but…”       “Now we only need to help Anna and her parents and find out what’s happening to Raquelle. But Terrence will work on it. He did want to come back to this question after leaving the hospital. Luckily, Anna is okay. We have a chance to help her. And her relationship with Daniel… Time will decide it.”       “You see it!” Natalia puts the washed cup in a closet with tableware and closes the door. “We’re too far from a quiet life.”       “Since we solved those problems, we will solve these.”       “Yeah, but what was it all worth?” Natalia asks with despair and turns on Edward sharply. “Terrence and Cassidy suffered during the fight with Wainwright. And Anna would’ve been dead if you hadn’t found her.”       “Anna’s gonna be okay. The doctor said she got nothing serious. She’ll spend a few days in the hospital and go home. And then we’ll think about what to do.”       “This time, someone’s gonna suffer, I’m sure about it.” Natalia sniffs quietly. “Anyone might become a victim next time! Anna again! Daniel again! Or someone else!”       “Nothing will happen to Anna anymore,” Edward promises confidently. “And don’t worry about me and the men. We can stand up for us and will deal with Potter and his father.”       “What if you won’t? What if those people kill one of you, as well as Wainwright almost killed Terrence?”       “Potter isn’t as strong as it seems, and the men are the four. Yes, we’re gonna apply much effort, we can defeat him…”       “I don’t want any victims, Edward…” Natalia replies in a little shaking voice. “I don’t want anyone else to suffer. We’ve got enough victims!”       “But they are all alive!”       “And what? They did suffer!”       “Listen, Natalia…”       “That’s unbearable… Just unbearable…”       While Natalia says it, she wipes a couple of tears that slowly roll over her cheeks from her wet eyes. Then she falls into silence, closes her face with a hand for a second, sniffs, and goes to the living room slowly, embracing herself with both arms. Then she sits on the sofa, doubles over, and looks into the distance with her dead eyes. Edward swallows up nervously, drinks his coffee with one big sip, gets up, goes to the living room after his fiancée, comes to the girl from behind, and puts his arms around her neck.       “Quiet, quiet, sweetheart, quiet,” Edward says softly and kisses Natalia crying quietly on the cheek and the nape of her neck. “It’s gonna be okay.”       “Insanity…” Natalia pronounces in a shaking voice. “Just insanity…”       “I completely understand you’re worried about Anna and don’t wanna lose her. But you shouldn’t say it as if she’s about to die.”       “When will it all be over?” Natalia makes a quiet sob. “When will we finally live quietly?”       “Nothing lasts forever. Even nightmares come to an end, early or late.”       “It’s endless for her.”       “Believe me, I’m also overwhelmed by what I saw today. But I exactly know that we’ll get through this trouble. I didn’t use to believe in the best because there was nothing to hold on to. But now everything’s otherwise. There’s a high chance of solving everything. We are not alone. We have the support and help.”       “I’m scared…” Natalia pronounces in a shaking voice and sniffs quietly, looking at her hands, while Edward kisses her on the top of her head and caresses her head tenderly. “I’m worried about my friend… My heart bleeds when I try to imagine everything she’s experienced.”       “Don’t think about it, sweetheart.”       “Any girl could’ve been instead of her… Any of my friends… Or even me…”       “Natalia…”       “We could’ve been beaten to half-death and tolerated all of those terrible tortures, after which… We’d probably… Wish to die… Not to feel that unbearable pain.”       “No, no, Natalia, please, don’t say it!” Edward presses Natalia closer to himself and kisses her tenderly on the cheek and the temple two times, while she keeps crying quietly. “You’ll never get through anything like that. Hear me, never. I won’t let it happen!”       “I couldn’t bear it, Edward… I could not…” Natalia moves her wet eyes full of pity to Edward. “I’d prefer dying…”       “No, no, say nothing! Don’t even dare to think about it!”       Breathing a little heavily from tension and horror, Edward goes around the sofa, sits next to Natalia, and hugs her as tightly as possible, putting his hand on the back of her head, caressing her back, and burying his face in the curve of her neck for two seconds.       “I wanna hear nothing about your wish to die,” Edward jabs excitedly. “Or I will go crazy…”       “I don’t want to be beaten…” Natalia pronounces quietly, starting to shake much stronger. “I don’t…”       “Nobody will beat you.” Edward caresses Natalia’s head tenderly and kisses her on her wet cheek. “Never. You’ll never feel the pain that your friend experienced.”       “Erm…” Natalia wipes tears under her eyes and looks at Edward hesitantly. “Say… What did you feel… When looking at Anna? When… Seeing her in that horrible condition…”       “Horror,” Edward pronounces quietly. “Horror and fear… I… Unconsciously imagined you instead of her… I was strongly shaking and got obsessed with such a strong shock that I… I barely held down a panic attack…”       Edward caresses Natalia’s cheek with his warm hand, while she looks at him with her wet, sad eyes.       “I wouldn’t take it… Seeing you like that and knowing you were close to death would be unbearable torture for me.”       “To me, too…” Natalia pronounces in a quiet, shaking voice, aiming to press herself as close to Edward as possible, putting her arm around his neck, and squeezing his t-shirt with the fingers of her hand. “I… I think I’d die from grief and stress…”       “Aw, my girl…” Edward kisses Natalia tenderly on the top of her head, exhaling slowly with a shake and starting to speak in a quieter, lower voice: “It’s gonna be okay… I promise…”       “I believe, honey, I do,” Natalia pronounces softly, caressing Edward’s head and kissing him cutely on the cheek. “If you’re with me, I won’t be afraid. Anything and anyone.”       “I’ll always be next to you, my angel,” Edward replies more confidently and caresses Natalia’s head. “Nobody will dare to hurt you while I’m with you. You’re safe next to me.”       Natalia says nothing and just hugs Edward tighter, moving her hands to his back and putting her head on his shoulder with closed eyes.       “I wish you were always next to me…” Natalia says thoughtfully. “I wish you never left me… But it’s impossible…”       “If I have to, I’m ready to be next to you all day long,” Edward replies confidently. “If trouble threatens you, I will be next to you until I know you’re safe.”       “I know,” Natalia cracks a slight smile. “I know…”       Edward tenderly kisses Natalia on the top of her head, holding the back of her head with a hand. And a few seconds later, the man steps back from the girl, grabs her face softly, rubs his nose against the tip of her nose with a cute smile, and kisses it tenderly.       “Don’t be upset, baby,” Edward whispers softly. “It’s gonna be fine.”       “I dunno…” Natalia shakes her head and sniffs quietly. “I kind of doubt it…”       “You better be happy your friend is alive, and we can help her. We’ve been waiting for this for so long! This is the moment when we’re able to save Anna from that stinker.”       “What if everything changes for the worse?” Natalia asks with horror and fear in widely open eyes. “Now everything’s okay, and we’re full of hope. But tomorrow, everything may get worse or…”       “Sh-h-h…” Edward does not let Natalia speak, softly putting a couple of his fingers on her lips, while she looks down. “Don’t do this.”       “I can’t…” Natalia pronounces in a shaking voice with tears in her eyes. “I can’t… I can’t do this.”       “It’s gonna be okay,” Edward says confidently, making a short pause between every single word, and takes Natalia’s hands. “Early or late. And you must believe me.”       “I want, but I can’t do this…” Natalia sniffs quietly. “I can’t be so confident.”       “I know it’s hard. But remember, we’re stronger together. Our power is unity. Love and friendship.”       “We can’t do this…” Natalia closes her face with both hands, doubles over, and starts to cry quietly. “We can’t…”       “Natalia…”       “Those scumbags will defeat Anna… They’ll bring her to death… She’ll become their victim. The innocent victim that did nothing bad to them.”       “Natalia, please, listen to me…” Edward says quietly, taking Natalia’s hands.       “We’ll lose her, Edward. Lose Anna… Forever.”       “Natalia… Natalia, look at me. Look…” Edward raises Natalia’s face by the chin with a free hand, while his other hand holds her cheek. “Look into my eyes. Look…”       Still making frequent sobs, Natalia slowly moves her eyes to Edward a few seconds later and looks into his eyes hesitantly.       “It’s okay, sweetie, relax,” Edward pronounces quietly and softly and grabs Natalia with both hands, confidently looking into her wet eyes that look at him hesitantly and run from one side to another but are focused on his face. “You’re tense. Very tense.”       Edward caresses Natalia’s cheeks tenderly, slightly touching her earlobe and the curves of her neck with his fingertips at some moment.       “Trust me and do what I ask you about,” Edward keeps speaking and caresses Natalia’s head. “Relax, Natalia, relax… It’s okay… Think about how tension is leaving you while I’m caressing you.”       Edward caresses Natalia’s head and face for a few seconds, pronouncing a very quiet, “Sh-h-h”, still looking into her eyes confidently, and aiming to pay her attention to his words and touches.       “Breathe quietly and deeply,” Edward says and raises Natalia’s face by the chin because she moves her eyes down. “No, no, don’t move your eyes down. Look at me. Focus your eyes on my eyes. And listen to what I say.”       While Edward caresses her face and runs his fingers through her golden strands, Natalia does not notice how she stops caring about what’s happening around her and the very quiet sounds that are heard even behind the closed windows. The girl makes fewer and fewer sobs every second and later stops doing this, letting tears roll down her cheeks slowly. Natalia is more focused on the words of Edward, into the eyes of whom she is looking deeply with her half-closed eyes, while he is caressing her face tenderly with his fingertips, relaxing the body of his fiancée and helping her get rid of tension and fear.       “Good girl,” Edward cracks a smile, while his hand holds Natalia by the back of her head or caresses her head tenderly, and puts his warm hand on her chest, noticing that the girl’s breath is quiet and calm. “Good girl…”       Edward cracks another smile, leaves a short kiss on Natalia’s lips, and puts his hand on her cheek, while she is looking into his eyes like charmed.       “I want you to remember one thing,” Edward says clearly and quietly and slowly runs his fingertips over the curves of Natalia’s neck. “Just one. Everything’s going to be okay. I believe our problems will be solved. There will be no more victims. Trust me, Natalia. You’ve always said you believed me. So, I’m asking you to believe me now.”       Natalia says nothing and keeps looking into Edward’s eyes, listening to the man’s quiet, calm, and nice voice and enjoying his tender touches that make her forget where she is and what’s happening around her.       “And never, hear me, never doubt that you’re gonna be okay,” Edward says confidently, tucks a couple of strands of Natalia’s hair behind her ears and grabs her face tenderly. “It will not happen. No threats. No problems. No torture. I shall let nobody hurt you. Nobody, Natalia. No-bo-dy.”       Edward caresses Natalia’s cheek with one hand and grabs her softly by the nape of her neck with another.       “You got it?” Edward asks quietly.       Maybe, Edward has some magical power. Maybe, a strong love and clouded mind are in action. But now Natalia is fully focused on the touches of the warm, tender hands of the man and his incredibly charming voice, which she wants to hear over and over. And she does not care about what he says. The important thing is the voice that she fell in love with on the day when they met.       “Natalia, I asked the question,” Edward recalls softly. “Did you understand everything I said?”       Natalia replies hesitantly in a very quiet, calm voice a few seconds later, still looking into Edward’s eyes:       “Yes… Edward… I… Got it…”       “Excellent, then,” Edward smiles shyly, caresses Natalia’s head, and kisses her on the forehead, holding the back of her head. “Good girl…”       Edward carefully wipes tears under Natalia’s eyes, takes her in his strong hug for a few seconds, and caresses her head tenderly, while she puts her hands on his tough, warm chest.       “It’s gonna be okay,” Edward recalls in a quiet, low voice and kisses Natalia on the temple. “It’s gonna get better.”       Natalia says nothing and keeps her eyes closed while enjoying Edward’s hug, the warmth that his body is spreading, and his touches that make her forget everything. A few seconds later, the man steps back from the girl, caresses her cheeks with both hands, and touches her soft lips for a couple of moments.       “So what?” Edward asks with a slight smile. “Better?”       “Yup…” Natalia nods. “I… Really got better…”       “Wonderful then.”       “Hey, what did you do to me?” Natalia tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “How did you do it?”       “Easy!” Edward smiles innocently. “I used the fact that you’re too sensitive to my touches and get insane from my voice.”       “So, you’re using my weakness?”       “But it worked perfectly!” Edward caresses Natalia’s cheek tenderly and slaps her playfully on the nose with his finger. “I see you started to smile.”       “Aw, MacClife, how sly you are…”       “I’m not sly, you listened open-mouthed. I felt like a hypnotist! You looked at me like you were ready to make all my orders.”       “Ha, I can also make you run around me like a hungry cat and look into my eyes!”       “Try it, then,” Edward challenges with a sly smile. “Subdue me.”       “Not today. I have a bad mood now.”       “Okay…”       “Actually, I’m ready to obey you without any hypnosis.” Natalia puts her head on the back of the sofa, looking at Edward, who is sitting next to her, with a tender smile. “I’m ready to become your slave at my wish.”       “I never thought of resisting your charms.”       Natalia says nothing and just smiles widely, while Edward caresses her cheek tenderly with the back of his hand. And when she tears her head off the back of the sofa, he grabs her face with a tender smile and gives her a little shy, continuous kiss on the lips. To which she answers immediately, putting her arm around his neck and starting to hold the nape of the one, while the fingers of her hand stroke the man’s soft hair. And some time later, Natalia steps back from Edward slowly and looks into his eyes for two seconds with a slight blush on her face, feeling a fast heartbeat and slight dizziness. Then the girl caresses his cheeks softly, feeling his uneven breath and understanding how her heart trembles nicely at the sight of his tender gaze full of admiration and his stunning, wide smile.       “Don’t you wanna stay with me for a night?” Natalia suggests in a quiet, low voice. “I’m gonna be alone tonight: my parents said they’d stay with Grandma and would be back tomorrow in the early morning. So… Nobody would bother us…”       “Honestly, I didn’t actually wanna leave,” Edward confesses thoughtfully and smiles slyly. “I was waiting for you to ask me to stay.”       “M-m-m, as it turned out, you’re insolent.”       “I just can’t miss a chance to be with my sweetheart.” Edward moves a couple of strands of Natalia’s hair off her eyes with a slight smile. “To be honest, I do love sleeping with you.”       “Just like I love sleeping with you,” Natalia pronounces with a little lower voice.       “Besides, I can’t leave you alone when you’re so upset. I must comfort you and caress you a little.”       “I’m gonna cook something delicious for dinner.”       “And I’m gonna give love, care, and warmth. Everything my blue-eyed beauty needs.”       Natalia presses herself closer to Edward with a wider smile and hugs him tightly with both arms. He presses her to himself with pleasure, caresses tenderly her cheek and head that rests on his chest as well as her warm hand. Later, the man kisses his fiancée cutely on the temple, watching her listen to his quiet heartbeat with a slight smile and close her eyes when his fingers tenderly start to caress the nape of her neck.       

***

      The next day, afternoon, Lillian and Maximilian went to the hospital where Anna is now. They met Daniel, who also decided to be with her, using the fact that she would not kick him out. Now they are in the girl’s room and talking about the ways to defend her against Julian. While Lillian and Maximilian are sitting in chairs in front of their daughter and aiming to press themselves to each other as closely as possible, Daniel is sitting on the hospital bed, holding the girl’s hand, and caressing her face or head tenderly at times.       “By the way, we talked to Victor Johnson this morning,” Lillian confesses, folding her hands in front of herself.       “Really?” Daniel asks hesitantly with sadness in his eyes. “And how was it?”       “We explained everything and showed the video that you gave us,” Maximilian says in a low voice. “He listened to us closely and agreed to help immediately.”       “You applied for a report?”       “Yes, Lillian and I applied the report about the attempt to assassinate our daughter and charged Julian. Mr. Seymour helped us do everything right.”       “But he said we also needed to record all of her wounds,” Lillian adds. “But don’t worry, Maximilian and I will care about it and talk to the doctor.”       “So, will Julian not avoid a punishment?”       “Mr. Johnson guaranteed that Potter would be caught.”       “I knew that man would help us,” Daniel replies without emotions in a quiet, low voice. “Now we may stop fearing that Potter will stay unpunished.”       “But I’m afraid that Anna will have to meet him again,” Maximilian confesses with sadness in his eyes.       “No, Mr. Seymour! Anna must not get close to that sick deadbeat again!”       “I know it, but this is not our wish. Mr. Johnson thinks the best way to arrest Julian is to catch him in a crime.”       “We can't take a risk like that!”       “We have no choice, Daniel,” Lilian replies with sadness in her eyes. “We all will have to meet him and his father.”       “Damn, I hoped we’d do it without it.”       “If the police go to his home and put handcuffs on him, he will find excuses. Everything is going to happen with witnesses. With the police.”       “It goes without saying, we’re terribly afraid to put our daughter in danger,” Maximilian adds. “But we have to.”       “So…” Daniel exhales sharply. “Let it happen. I trust Mr. Johnson and know he would not betray.”       “I hope you will not betray us, either,” Lilian expresses hope. “We do count on you.”       “Do not worry, Mrs. Seymour,” Daniel pronounces confidently. “I will do my best for you and Anna to be safe.”       “Don’t worry about us, we will handle it somehow,” Maximilian says quietly. “Your main goal is to save the daughter of Lilian and me.”       “When I have a chance, I shall do it.”       “But Anna may start to persuade us to give up on our plans and withdraw our claim from the police,” Lillian confesses with anxiety in her soul, grabbing her throat with a hand. “Or Julian or his father may press on us if they knew Max and I reported to the police.”       “No, no, don’t even dare to withdraw your claim,” Daniel shakes his head confidently. “If you do it, the life of your daughter will be in danger. That bastard will think he’s unpunished and do anything he wants.”       “Don’t worry, Daniel, we will no longer believe those monsters and will bring the case to an end,” Maximilian says confidently. “If he and his father want, they can deal with Lilian and me. But they must leave our daughter alone. We won’t let them bring Anna to death.”       “Yeah, no refusal to fight,” Lillian nods. “I don’t deny we’re terrified to suffer because of them, but our daughter’s health and safety are more important to us.”       “We will not leave you,” Daniel promises confidently. “You will also live a normal, quiet life.”       “We definitely have hope,” Maximilian confesses thoughtfully. “We can easily prove the violence against Anna. There are many witnesses, who would confirm everything, and our proof can’t be faked. Nobody will dare to say the video is a fake, and there are not my daughter and that sick bastard in it.”       “I shall do everything to help Anna and you. My friends will also help. I do know them well: they won’t let me solve this problem alone.”       “By the way, haven’t they visited Anna today?” Lillian asks. “I haven’t seen the men and the girls.”       “Not yet,” Daniel pronounces quietly. “They’ll come later. Everybody’s a little busy now. But my friends are impatiently waiting for any news about your daughter. I promised to keep them aware and call them if something changes.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Daniel holding Anna’s hand with sadness in his eyes caresses her cheek and head tenderly, while Lillian and Maximilian literally crying watch their unconscious and pale daughter with bleeding hearts that hurt because they see that their child is suffering.       “You know, Daniel…” Lilian pronounces quietly, fingering over nervously. “I must confess that those men are wonderful people. And I liked the girls, too. So sweet and shy…”       “Yeah, I liked them, too,” Maximilian nods. “All of them are very educated…”       “And how worried they are about Anna… How bitterly they were crying yesterday…”       “They’ve been friends since childhood,” Daniel recalls. “They’ve been like sisters.”       “Oh, God…” Maximilian exhales sharply. “We were so unfair to them.”       “Yeah…” Lilian nods. “We wanted her to befriend decent people and never speak to cads. But we didn’t know we pushed her to them.”       “We never showed a wish just to talk to them. We listened to our parents, who, not knowing the girls, added them to the blacklist.”       “Anna would never befriend bad people,” Daniel replies confidently. “You saw how hard she ran away from the Potters.”       “We realized and saw many things.”       “She’s got wonderful friends, who I really like. And I have nothing against her friendship with them. And Ryan is also a pretty good man.”       “No, Ryan is a very good man,” Lilian replies confidently. “He was always much closer to his mother and listened to her. She educated him not in the same way she educated Julian.”       “I talked to him at the cafeteria a little after everybody left. About Anna, their families, the wedding… Ryan said he knew about me thanks to Anna, who was always open to him. And he knew about her wish to run away from home…”       “Now I don’t think Anna and Ryan could be a couple,” Maximilian confesses thoughtfully. “I can’t imagine them as husband and wife…”       “Ryan has always treated her as a friend or a sister, but not as a girlfriend. And Anna honestly told him about her feelings for him. About her amicable feelings.”       “At least Anna wouldn’t have suffered with him as much as with Julian,” Lillian sighs heavily and caresses Anna’s cheek and forehead tenderly. “I did my best to save her from this marriage… Though, I was worried that Ryan wouldn’t be able to protect my daughter from his brother.”       “She tried to save herself, too…” Daniel pronounces quietly. “She was sure she had nobody to count on.”       “And Maximilian and I didn’t want to notice anything and didn’t understand she’d suffer with that monster. I’m sorry for not going against my parents’ wish to get my daughter married to a member of the Potters. I should’ve done that for my child.”       “I’m still ashamed of Anna for giving a damn about her all this time,” Maximilian confesses with sadness in his eyes, caresses Anna’s cheek tenderly, and moves a couple of red hair off her eyes. “She counted on my help and protection… But I, idiot, literally forced her to speak to that monster…”       Maximilian shakes her head, looking at Anna with pity in his eyes and still caressing her cheek.       “Forgive me, my sunlight,” Maximilian pronounces in a strongly shaking voice. “Forgive your brainless dad… He wanted to give you to that horrible man and unconsciously pushed you to the edge… I’m sorry, Anna… I swear, my girl, I didn’t want it to happen.”       “No, Max, don’t blame yourself,” Lilian replies quietly, caressing Maximilian’s shoulder. “We are both guilty of her… No matter what, we were bad parents.”       “Gosh, what was I thinking of when deciding that she’d be better with that bastard? Why did the heck I start to protect that scumbag and close my eyes and ears, listening to his sweet talks and believing he was an angel that came into the life of my daughter just in time?”       “I’m madly glad he was so brave and decided to go against older people.” Lillian softly caresses Anna’s cheek and takes her hand with tears in her eyes. “Anna… My girl… Forgive me and your dad… We could not save you…”       “Daughter…” Maximilian caresses Anna’s head softly. “You did count on us, but we didn’t meet your expectations. We’ve become your disappointment.”       “I can’t…” Lilian makes a quiet sob. “I can’t look at her like this… I can’t…”       Lilian presses herself close to Maximilian, who hugs her tightly with both arms, while she starts to cry in a heartbreaking way. Daniel watches Anna’s devastated parents with pity in his eyes and swallows up nervously, understanding that his heart is bleeding, as he has to watch this scene that would make anyone shed a tear.       “And there’s my fault for that…” Daniel says with sadness in his eyes. “I’m the one to blame for the fact that she’s here…”       “No, no, Daniel, for God’s sake, don’t blame yourself,” Lilian protests, moving her wet eyes to Daniel.       “If I hadn’t lost my memory and cheated on her, she would’ve avoided all of that. I swear I wouldn’t have let that happen. With me, Anna would’ve been safe, and Julian wouldn’t have touched her with a finger.”       “We know, dear. But nobody blames you for nothing.”       “I messed up everything… I didn’t do my duty…” Daniel runs the back of his hand over Anna’s cheek with sadness in his eyes and shakes his head. “The duty of care and protection. I could not save her much earlier. And I paid a high cost for that.”       “Daniel…”       “Damn, how many times I’ve messed up everything in my life… How many times I have not kept my promises… How many years I cared about nothing and wanted to be responsible for nothing.” Daniel sharply runs his hands over his face. “I guess my parents are twisting in the grave, watching me make mistakes over and over and betray those I owe.”       Maximilian and Lillian glance at each other, feeling how their hearts squeeze, while Daniel blames himself for his actions again, not knowing if he can have enough strength to hold on.       “Daniel, please, don’t blame yourself,” Maximilian says with sadness in his eyes, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. “We know that you wouldn’t have betrayed Anna if you’d had the memory. You just became a victim.”       “I didn’t want it…” Daniel pronounces in a little shaking voice. “I didn’t… I loved Anna and wasn’t going to leave her. And I still love her… And I am ready for anything to make her happy.”       “You aren’t guilty of forgetting everything due to your head trauma,” Lilian replies with sadness in her eyes. “I’d say you were madly lucky. Sometimes it leads to much more terrible consequences. You recovered and got your memory back quickly enough.”       “But I made as many mistakes as I had never done in my life. I cheated on the girl, believed the liar, and nearly fought with my friends. I could’ve lost everything! Everything that meant so much to me! My tricks made the guys so mad that I barely begged them for forgiveness. The men took much more. I thought they lied to me. And… They wanted to destroy me and provoked that case… Oh…” Daniel runs his hands over his face with a sharp exhale. “I’m terribly ashamed of thinking about what I charged them for… I’ll always be.”       “They just knew you were out of your mind. That’s why they found the courage to forgive.”       “Yeah, but it won’t work in the case of Anna. I tried just to apologize to her, and it made her much madder. Though, I had understood that I wouldn’t get her forgiveness so easily.”       “She can’t be mad forever, Daniel,” Maximilian says confidently. “And she should know you’ll have to decide what to do someday.”       “I shouldn’t just have left home… And gone nobody knows where…” Daniel slowly moves his depressed look to Maximilian and Lillian. “Everything would’ve been otherwise if I hadn’t wanted to leave.”       “What do you mean?” Lilian frowns slightly.       “Anna didn’t tell you?” Daniel rounds his eyes.       “Nope…” Maximilian shakes his head. “What should have she said?”       “What happened on the day I got hit by the car.”       “But what happened?” Lilian asks.       “Anna and I had a big fight on that day,” Daniel confesses. “Of course, we argued before, but we always found a compromise and reconciled quickly. But then we, as they say, went crazy.”       “But what was the reason?” Maximilian wonders.       “My dependence on smoking.”       “You smoke?” Lilian rounds her eyes.       “Yeah, but rarely. I only smoke in stressful situations. When it was too hard for me, I smoked… I could smoke a pack for one day.”       “And Anna has always hated the smell of smoke,” Maximilian confesses thoughtfully. “She aimed to leave when someone smoked next to her. For example, the Potters. Norman and Julian love smoking a cigarette or two.”       “We fought a lot because of that… And I always promised Anna to stop doing that. But… When I was put under stress, I broke down… And I’ve lately gotten tons of reasons to be nervous.”       “But do you understand that smoking is bad?” Lilian asks. “You’re a young guy, your life lies in front of you. Now you’re poisoning yourself, and you’re going to have health issues when you’re old.”       “I know, Mrs. Seymour, I know. I understood everything, but my hand reached the secret place where I always had a few packs of cigarettes when something happened. And Anna warned me about it hundreds of times. But I didn’t listen to her… I mean, I did, but I didn’t do what she asked.”       “So, do you want to say you and Anna fought because of cigarettes on that day?” Lilian frowns slightly.       “The case is not only about the fact that I smoke. It’s about the fact that there was an ache everywhere after I smoked… You see…” Daniel says nothing for two seconds to swallow up nervously. “And… I could’ve easily burned my house down. I accidentally threw the cigarette on the mat without putting it out… I wanted to take it and throw it, but Anna saw it and got mad. She shouted that I was an irresponsible idiot, who went crazy.”       “You know, my dear, her claims are quite clear,” Maximilian says thoughtfully. “You could’ve become homeless if that cigarette had burned the mat.”       “I know, Mr. Seymour, I do. I was actually always, so to say, a bonehead… And the case of the cigarette does prove that I’m kind of the same as I was a few years ago. You know how many times I could’ve burned my house down and become homeless! There was a case when I could’ve been electrocuted strongly. But someone saves me again and again.”       “You should do something, my dear,” Lilian replies confidently. “It wouldn’t lead to anything good. Anna was absolutely right when she swore at you. If your parents were alive, they would give you tons of hits on the head.”       “I do understand she was right. But I tried to protest… And because Anna kept screaming and insulting me, I started to lose my temple. We started to blame each other for nobody knows what. It wasn’t about cigarettes.       “We understand it, but why did you go nobody the hell knows where?”       “I swear I’ve regretted it a million times. I didn’t think my departure from my home would’ve made me forget literally half of my life.”       “I guess that situation will be a good lesson for you. And you’ll remember that you should think better before doing something.”       “I’m sorry…” Daniel moves his sad eyes to his hands. “I’m very sorry about what happened… Many things wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t ended up at that place…”       “Many things except the meeting with Julian,” Maximilian replies thoughtfully. “Nothing would’ve impacted it.”       “Maybe, it would have done it? The Potters didn’t know where to find Anna!”       “Anna would’ve run into Julian and his father early or late, no matter if she lived with you, Maximilian, or me,” Lilian notices with sadness in her eyes. “This story had started a long time before you came into her life. And you wouldn’t have changed it.”       “But If I hadn’t cheated, everything would’ve been otherwise. And if I had known the story when we were getting to know each other better, I would’ve done my best to protect her.”       “Lillian and I didn’t also think Julian and Norman would be so dangerous to our daughter and us,” Maximilian confesses thoughtfully. “We didn’t know… They could be vindictive scumbags.”       “Excuse me for the question, did you make such a terrible mistake if the Potters got so mad at you?” Daniel asks carefully.       “No, we just confused some things. You know, it happens to everyone… Tiredness, a lack of attention… But that accidental mistake led to the consequences for all of us. Though, Norman and Julian suffered much more. They lost a lot of money and barely saved their business.”       “That’s how…”       “And yeah, do you still remember our first meeting?”       “Yeah, sure. Why?”       “I told Anna her mother and I had some problems.”       “Yeah, I remember…”       “So, they had to do with the fact that Lillian and I decided to divorce and the work issues. Which Julian’s father gave us for revenge.”       “Julian’s father?”       “Yes,” Lilian nods. “He also made a few mistakes, because of which we lost many things.”       “Although we managed to avoid catastrophic problems, it was a long, hard process. Which got both of us exhausted. And that’s why the relationship of Lilian and me got much worse.”       “Right… It became another reason why we decided to start the divorce process. Nobody would’ve stopped us because our parents had died. And the marriage of Maximilian and me wasn’t canceled because of our daughter and parents.”       “Anna wasn’t too upset when she found out about your divorce,” Daniel confesses thoughtfully.       “She just saw that her mother and I didn’t love each other,” Maximilian explains quietly. “She experienced real love and realized that Lilian and I never had the one.”       “Our daughter turned out to be more insightful…” Lilian sighs heavily. “She saw what we didn’t see. What we didn’t want to see.”       “Excuse me, are you still working with Norman?” Daniel asks.       “Nope,” Maximilian shakes his head. “We stopped collaborating with him a long time ago. It had happened before he gave us problems, but after Anna’s escape from home. But it didn’t have to do with our personal relationship. Or maybe, it did… Anyway, nobody said we didn’t want to be colleagues because one framed another.”       “But we are no longer going to work with him,” Lillian says confidently. “Moreover, that man always wants to get as much as possible. He’s ready to give at least twenty percent of one hundred and takes eighty percent.”       “Yeah, a sly fox… He does everything for his best… He’s terribly afraid to wake up as a beggar someday: without a home, without money, and without a job.”       “He will not need it in prison. He and his sonny will pay for what they did to Anna. And if Ryan proves that his brother and father had to do with his mother’s death, they will not leave prison soon.”       “It will happen, don’t doubt it,” Daniel replies a little tensely. “Early or late, the Potters will get what they deserve.”       “The important thing is protecting Anna,” Maximilian says with sadness in his eyes. “That girl isn’t guilty of the fact that her mother and I nearly got the Potters bankrupt somehow. She must not pay for the mistakes of her parents.”       “It’s going to be alright, I promise. I will do my best to save your daughter. No matter what the cost.”       Maximilian and Lillian say nothing and look at each other, understanding that there is something that does not make them believe in the absolute confidence of Daniel, who caresses Anna’s head and cheek tenderly.       “Daniel, tell us the truth: do you really think everything will be over well, or just try to make yourself sure about it?” Lillian frowns slightly.       “Erm…” Daniel stutters, moves his eyes to Lillian slowly and hesitantly, and swallows up nervously. “Do you doubt me?”       “No, we don’t, but you look like you don’t believe what you say,” Maximilian notices quietly. “I understand that you feel very bad and are worried. But you aren’t quite sure about what you are trying to tell us.”       “We know you’re doing this for us and our daughter, who you love so much,” Lillian adds with sadness in her eyes. “You’re trying to make amends for becoming the victim and doing what you didn’t want.”       “I’m doing all of that not to prove my regret but for Anna’s calm,” Daniel replies in a lower voice, moving his eyes to his hands folded in front of him. “I need to know that she is safe. Sadly, I can’t give her the happiness that she wants. But I can do everything for her to start to live without Julian’s bullying. And I shall do this…”       With these words, Daniel moves his sad eyes to Anna, caresses her cheek softly, and puts his hand on her forehead.       “We’re happy you want to keep your promise,” Lillian says quietly. “But Anna won’t be happy. Without you. As well as you won’t be happy with your life without her.”       “Mrs. Seymour…” Daniel pronounces quietly.       “I see you need Anna. I see how much you’re worried about her.”       “I don’t hope for anything…” Daniel confesses with sadness in his eyes. “Yes, I madly love Anna and want to take care of her. But the chance to get everything back is too small. She will not forgive me for cheating. My act messed up everything I had been building for a long time and ruined it instantly.”       “I agree that cheating is bad,” Maximilian agrees. “But Anna completely understands why the betrayal happened.”       “No, Mr. Seymour… I don’t even expect any thanks for saving her from Julian… Erm… I’m just doing my duty for her and you.”       “Anna is a grateful girl, who doesn’t forget what someone does for her. Even if Lilian and I weren’t the best parents of hers, she finds something to thank us for.”       “I say again, I’m doing all of that not for the thanks.”       “Understand her. My daughter has the right to be mad. We don’t judge her. But we hope anger will stop clouding her mind and let her see what is really happening, early or late. Not what she wants to see.”       “I’m waiting for nothing, Mr. Seymour,” Daniel says in a low voice. “At the moment, I just want to end this terrible story and let her live a normal life. So, your daughter walks outside quietly, talks to her friends, and isn’t afraid of threats and mockeries.”       “Don’t be upset, Daniel, not everything’s lost,” Lillian replies with sadness in her eyes, caressing Daniel’s shoulder softly. “At heart, Anna still loves you and has said it to Maximilian and me many times. She won’t tell anyone about it yet, but her feelings are still alive.”       “It’d change nothing.”       “Yeah, didn’t you notice how she reacted to your appearance?” Maximilian asks thoughtfully. “When you decided to save her from Julian…”       “Erm, I didn’t notice her first reaction…” Daniel replies hesitantly, fingering over nervously. “But when Julian started to threaten me with a knife… Anna was screaming and begging him to let me go… And her last words before she lost consciousness were something like ‘I won’t forgive, but I’m afraid to lose and see the murder… But I advise you not to take those words seriously. Maybe, it was a delusion…”       “No, my dear, it wasn’t a delusion,” Lillian shakes her head confidently, shaking her head. “She showed her feelings to you. If you heard her right, Anna loves you and is afraid to lose, but she can’t forgive you now.”       “Anna will not remember those words when she wakes up.”       “My daughter isn’t indifferent to you, Daniel,” Maximilian says confidently. “She wouldn’t have screamed and said these words if she hadn’t cared about you.”       “She reacted like any person would do. Who was scared of a cold gun…”       “You’re trying to make yourself sure that Anna was worried about you not because she didn’t want to lose you.”       “Trouble unites people… A situation where people only think of salvation and well-being happened. In these cases, even enemies may be united if they had to.”       “Right, but…”       “Anna would be scared if her friends, or you were instead of me. As well as I’d be if I saw how someone threatened my close person with a knife or a pistol.”       “Yeah, you’re right about a scare,” Lillian says quietly. “But as Maximilian said, if she had been indifferent to you, Anna wouldn’t even have moved her eyebrow.”       Daniel says nothing and just shakes his head with a sad look that he moves to Anna.       “Listen, Daniel, stop finding the words to explain her indifference to you,” Maximilian says softly. “I’m sure that all your friends have the same opinion as Lillian and me.”       “I just don’t want to comfort myself with hopes,” Daniel confesses quietly. “I don’t want to have illusions and live in my dreams.”       “We completely understand that it’s very hard for you now. But first, don’t say it so confidently. And second, confess that you still have hope that Anna could forgive you.”       “Mr. Seymour…”       “Why haven’t you given up?” Lilian asks softly. “Why haven’t you decided to let everything go? Because your feelings control you. Make you do the impossible for her. Yes, maybe, you expect nothing from her. You seek no benefit. But deep inside, you hope your efforts will be worth it.”       Daniel says nothing for two seconds before moving his sad eyes to Lilian and Maximilian and saying quietly:       “You’re right. I want Anna to appreciate my efforts and come back to me. But, as I’ve said, it’s not the most important thing to me. I will bring this case to an end, no matter if your daughter comes back to me. Because I want to calm down and stop worrying about her. I promise I will not give up, despite her reluctance to see me and accept my help. Helping you and saving her is my duty. And I shall do it, no matter what the cost. Alone or with my friends – it doesn’t matter.”       “Are you sure you could do it?” Lilian asks hesitantly. “Could you take it? I don’t mean your physical data. I mean your mental health. Are your nerves strong enough to survive such a hard test?”       “I’ve experienced a lot in my life,” Daniel replies quietly without emotions. “For example, I didn’t think I’d lose my parents so early. I grew up with the thought that they’d help me. But my father’s illness turned everything upside down. And my mother’s deep depression killed all my plans and hopes.”       “There are those, who don’t get stronger thanks to these tests,” Maximilian notices with sadness in his eyes. “No matter how many problems they have, they don’t become stronger.”       “Right… But I had to brace myself. Because I had nobody to count on: my parents died, my sister disappeared, and my friends didn’t care about my problems. Almost all of them befriended me just because of money. Because I was able to have anything. And when I needed help so badly, everybody revealed their real side. They… Didn’t even try to offer their help… I stayed all alone and couldn’t share what I was worried about.”       “God shall help you get enough strength to survive this test,” Lilian expresses hope, caressing Daniel’s hand. “Luckily, you’ve got amazing friends, who you’d get better with.”       “I know… They’re always near when I need help.”       Maximilian and Lillian say nothing and just sigh quietly, and the woman shakes her head and fixes her hair a little.       “Oh, alright, I think we better talk about your relationship with Anna later,” Lillian says thoughtfully. “First, we need to deal with those two monsters.”       “We will,” Daniel nods. “I promise.”       “But you don't give up anyway and do hope for the best, no matter how hard it is,” Maximilian advises confidently. “I’m sure that everything may change for the better.”       “We’ll see it, Mr. Seymour… We will…”       Everybody in the room falls into silence for a few seconds, and Daniel caresses Anna’s head tenderly with sadness in his eyes and moves some strands of her hair aside. Meanwhile, Maximilian and Lillian hold the girl’s hand, caress it, and just keep their hands on it, paying attention to the small scar on her right hand, which the girl got after she got attacked by a dog.       “By the way, Daniel, we’ve already met your sister,” Maximilian says thoughtfully, caressing Lilian’s head that rests on his shoulder.       “Really?” Daniel rounds his eyes.       “She passed by when we asked her how to find this room,” Lilian confesses. “So, she told us and added that she was your sister.”       “So, don’t I have to introduce her to you?”       “Nope, we’ve seen her.”       “By the way, your sister is very sweet,” Maximilian adds shyly. “A good and shy girl.”       “Cassidy confessed that she was worried about Anna and wanted her to get well,” Lillian confesses.       “I’ve told her a lot about Anna,” Daniel replies. “And when Cassidy is really sorry about what happened and wants your daughter to get well, be saved from Julian, and come back to me.”       “Cassidy is worried about you not less than you worry about her,” Maximilian notices.       “I don’t know what I’d do without that girl. She’s my salvation… A shot of the sun in the infinite darkness.”       “That’s good you agreed to move Anna into your sister's room.”       “I didn’t want to tear myself apart between them. So, I asked the doctors to bring Anna here. So, I have a chance to visit my sister and your daughter at the same time.”       “If the girls get along, they won’t feel bored.”       “I am nervous about it a little,” Daniel confesses hesitantly. “I risked a lot by agreeing to place them in the same room. And if Anna shows aggression toward Cassidy when she knows I’m her brother, I’ll have to ask the doctor of my sister to find another room.”       “I hope my daughter will get on well with that girl,” Lilian expresses hope. “Cassidy isn’t guilty of anything and doesn’t have to do with your mistakes.”       “I’d like the girls to get on well. Despite the relationship between Anna and me. Who knows… Maybe, Cassidy will change her mind.”       “By the way, you never said you had a sister,” Maximilian notices thoughtfully. “And Anna never said a word about it.”       “Actually, nobody knew I had a sister,” Daniel confesses. “Including Anna.”       “Did you tell her nobody about your family?”       “Only about my parents. But I never showed the photos and videos of them and Cassidy.”       “But why did you never talk about your sister?”       “I just didn’t want to get upset. Cassidy disappeared for a few years… As she was dead, I decided to think less of her… My past. After my parent’s death and my sister’s disappearance, I got rid of many things that reminded me of my home. Because it’s still madly hard for me to remember that time. I… I don’t even find the courage to view photos… To play videocassettes… I hid them deep inside the dressing room, and I haven’t taken them since then… It’s been many years, but I can’t do this.”       “Excuse for my curiosity, but what happened to Cassidy?” Lillian asks hesitantly. “That girl is so young, but you say she was pronounced dead.”       “It’s a long story,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “But I will only say that my sister got in touch with one terrible man, who was the reason why I got hit by a car… And lost my memory…”       “Oh, my gosh!” Lilian closes her mouth with her hand, having horror in her eyes. “Did the poor girl suffer as much as my daughter?”       “Cassidy hasn’t accepted our parents’ death. She went crazy after Father’s death, but Mother’s death destroyed her at all.”       “Will she live with you after she’s released?”       “Sure. And I will do my best for Cassidy to forget the nightmare that she experienced. Now I’m responsible for her… It’s time to make my parents’ last wish come true.”       “Oh, Daniel, Daniel…” Maximilian says with sadness in his eyes, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. “I’m sorry for you… You’re taking care of your younger sister and going to help my daughter… Are you sure you can take this heavy burden?”       “Yes, Mr. Seymour, I will. Don’t worry.”       “Aren’t you afraid of going crazy?” Lilian expresses anxiety.       “I experienced much worse moments in my life. Besides, everything is not so bad. After I solve Anna’s problem, I will take care of Cassidy, and give my everything to my music band. My friends and I are going to come back for performances. The album is about to be out.”       “Anyway, we’ll always support you,” Lillian replies amicably. “Even after this terrible story ends, we will owe you.”       “Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Seymour,” Daniel cracks a smile. “You’re very nice to me.”       Maximilian wants to say something with a slight smile, but someone knocks at the door quietly, and Anna’s doctor enters the room two moments later.       “Excuse me, I will bother you,” the doctor says correctly.       “It’s alright, doctor,” Maximilian waves his hand.       “I came for two minutes. Just to check the state of Ms. Seymour.” The doctor comes to the apparatus, to which a little tube set in Anna’s arm is turned, and checks out something carefully.       “She has not woken up yet…” Daniel says thoughtfully, as he watches Anna with sad eyes. “No changes…”       “Do not worry, sir, she will wake up soon,” the doctor replies confidently, checking out something on the apparatus and taking notes on a piece of paper. “Not today, but tomorrow.”       “Excuse me, doctor, may the consequences let us know about them later?” Lillian asks with anxiety in her soul. “My daughter has been beaten many times and has gotten many bruises and hits on her head.”       “Of course, but I exclude it in the case of your daughter. She was definitely born under a happy star.”       “It’s definitely a miracle…” Maximilian pronounces thoughtfully. “After what that monster did to her…”       “This girl surprises me, too. I guess she’s got a super strong guardian angel, who saved her from something worse or death.”       “We don’t even want to think she could’ve died…” Daniel shakes his head.       “If she is not attacked shortly after her release, she will be alright. Ms. Seymour must be saved from any physical violence for a few weeks. And to be absolutely quiet, she has to go to the hospital for the examination for some time.”       “Don’t worry about it, we will bring her here when you tell us to do it,” Maximilian says confidently.       “Keep her far from some stinkers.” The doctor finishes examining Anna and writing down some data on a piece of paper that he is holding in his hands. “I would not like her to die. The girl is quite young.”       “But she is going to live thanks to you,” Daniel cracks a smile.       “Not thanks to me, young man, but thanks to you. You drove her to the hospital in time. A little bit before it would’ve been too late.”       “I did everything I could.”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which the doctor writes something down on the paper and moves his eyes to Maximilian and Lillian.       “By the way, Mr. Seymour, Mrs. Seymour…” the doctor pronounces thoughtfully, frowning slightly. “Have you gone to the police?”       “Yes, the report has been applied,” Maximilian replies confidently. “We will make the one, who did that, pay for such a terrible act toward my daughter.”       “I believe the police will need a medical report.”       “Yes, yes, doctor, we would like to talk to you about it,” Lillian nods confidently. “Can you help us?”       “Sure, ma’am. I wanted to talk to you about it and something else.”       “We are listening to you, doctor,” Maximilian replies quietly, folding his hands in front of himself.       “Something serious happened to Anna?” Lilian rounds her eyes full of horror.       “Yes, the talk is about to be about your daughter, but nothing serious,” the doctor replies. “I just need to specify something.”       “Alright, we’re listening to you…”       “Let’s go to my office.”       “Erm, should I go with you, too?” Daniel asks hesitantly.       “No, I want to talk only with her parents.”       “Alright, I got you.”       “Stay here, Daniel,” Maximilian says quietly. “We will talk about everything and come back now.”       While Daniel, still holding Anna’s hand, watch them silently, Lillian and Maximilian get up from the chairs, take their stuff, and leave the room along with the doctor, who lets them go forward. And when the three leave, Perkins exhales quietly with sadness on his face and looks around the room with his dead eyes. And then he moves his eyes to the unconscious girl, whose appearance makes his heart squeeze painfully.       “I’m sorry, Anna,” Daniel says quietly with sadness in his eyes. “You’re here because of me… I couldn’t protect you from that stinker and literally gave you to him. Even if I didn’t want it… But I’m not gonna excuse myself because I did the unforgivable thing. I cheated on you with that liar. And I won’t hide it. Because I want to be honest.”       Daniel takes Anna’s hand with both hands and caresses it tenderly, having an interest in looking at her thin, long fingers placed on his palms and noticing that her deathly white skin is still soft and velvet. The same as it was when he touched it for the first time. He also pays attention to the scar on her right hand, which he, to his surprise, had not seen before the girl showed it.       “I’m really, very sorry it all happened. And I’m guilty of that to some extent. If I had known the story of your family and hadn’t cheated on you, I swear you wouldn’t have stayed without my protection. I was and will be ready to give my life for you. I’m ready to sacrifice anything for your well-being and calm. And I will do my best not to let that bastard get closer to you. That’s my duty. Which I shall do, no matter if you want it.”       Daniel, still holding Anna’s hand and looking at her face, runs his hand over her cheek with a free hand slowly and tenderly.       “Trust me, I don’t need your thanks or something like that,” Daniel says softly. “Don’t thank me if you don’t want to. Don’t call me a hero. Keep insulting me. I don’t care! I just want to know you’re alive, healthy, and living a quiet life… It’s one of the reasons I’m doing all of that. And I’m also doing this for my feelings for you. For the one I love. I will love you even after our breakup. I will never deny it.”       Daniel runs his hand through Anna’s hair and lets his fingers through her strands.       “You’ve always been the shot of the sunlight that lighted up my world and made it brighter and more colorful. You… You’re the best thing that’s ever happened in my life. I was never as happy as I was when we were together. That time was the best for me. I felt beloved and needed. With you, I felt something like what I felt when living with my parents. You made me appreciate that time much more and… Love my house… I wanted to come back there over and over. Thanks to you, there was the same atmosphere as at my parents’ home. Which I missed so much… You literally recreated it…”       Daniel understands that he starts to breathe heavily from excitement, and his eyes full of pity get wet by themselves, no matter how hard he tries to hold himself down.       “I don’t want to lose you, but…” Daniel pronounces in a shaking voice. “But I understand I can do nothing to get your forgiveness. I completely understand that I’ll hear no good word and remain a betrayer for you even when the Potters are arrested. I’m not trying to be good. Now I just want to do something good for you… I wanna save you from that bastard Julian and know you could quietly spend time with your friends. I could easily give up on it, but I can’t. I can’t give up on my duty. My promises. I’ve broken them too many times… I can no longer be an irresponsible bastard that gives a fuck about everything.”       Daniel closes his eyes for two seconds, swallowing up nervously.       “No matter how bad I feel…” Daniel adds in a little shaking voice. “Yes… I feel too bad now… Literally worse than I did when there was nobody by my side. When I lost my parents, my sister, and my friends… When I had nothing… I’m trying to hold on, but it’s freaking hard… I am fucking sick! Sick of all these problems. Sick of owing someone. Sick of being sorry about everything I’ve done. Sick of having to live with the stereotype that men don’t cry and must be strong. Sick of waiting for my life to get better and be quiet!”       Daniel falls into silence for two seconds and exhales sharply, hoping that it will help him get through the strong tension.       “All those years, everybody thought I was cold, insolent, and unbroken…” Daniel says with a shake in his voice. “They thought that hurting a person or doing a dirty trick was easy for me. Weak people were afraid of me… Strong people tried not to stand in my way… They all judged me by my appearance. Though, nobody knew what was hidden behind the door in the story of my life. I've probably made millions of mistakes… I could’ve died from coldness, hunger, and my own stupidity millions of times. But I managed to be strong in these cases. I didn’t suffer as much as I did then. I’m giving in… Now… When I’m about to lose the dearest things I have… Fuck… I just wanna fuck everything off…”       Daniel scoffs nervously, feeling that he starts to shake strongly from the tension.       “Fuck, what am I doing? I’m now crying like a girl! I’ve gotten through so much in my life and never shed a tear. But now I’m the fuck doing this…”       Daniel exhales sharply, squeezes the bridge of his nose, and sniffs quietly, silently begging that nobody sees him in such a depressed condition.       “Shake up, Perkins, stop sitting and sniveling,” Daniel whispers in a shaking voice. “You’re a fucking man! A strong and confident man… But fucking unhappy without his sweetheart…”       Daniel doubles over, leans on his laps with his elbows, and closes his face with his hands, keeping this position for a few seconds. And at some moment, he starts to dry off the tears that roll down his cheeks, being in absolute despair and understanding that he does not have the strength to hold on. However, Daniel braces himself quickly enough, sniffing quietly, exhaling sharply, getting straight slowly, clapping himself on his cheeks, and blinking his wet, red eyes for some time. Then the man moves his much more depressed look to Anna lying on the hospital bed, softly takes her white, thin hand with both hands, and caresses all the sides of it tenderly.       “Forgive me, sweetie, please…” Daniel begs with despair and pity in his eyes. “I’m sorry about hurting you so much… I was never gonna leave you and wouldn’t have done it if not for that fucking betrayer. With you, I was madly happy. And now I hate myself for messing up everything.”       Daniel sniffs quietly, while multiple small tears roll down his cheek slowly.       “But I swear, no matter how bad I feel now, I shall do my best to save you and your parents,” Daniel promises in a little shaking voice. “I repeat, I don’t need words of thanks or the title of a hero. I just need to know you’re okay. And I shall do it. We will all do it. All your friends will always be by your side and help me save you. Everybody loves you. Everybody’s worried about you and wants to see you healthy and happy. To me, it’s the most important thing…”       Daniel caresses tenderly Anna’s cheek with his soft, warm hand and runs the back of it over it.       “No matter how hard you blame me for betraying… No matter how many slaps you give me… I’ll be by your side. At any time. I won’t leave the girl that I love with all my heart. Who I am strongly attracted to. All I do is just for you, Anna. For your quiet and safety. And my love and loyalty. If you’re alive and healthy, I’ll feel much better.”       Daniel raises his head up for two seconds, closes his eyes, and exhales slowly with a shake. Then he moves his eyes to Anna again and caresses her shoulder with a shaking hand.       “And only you’ll decide if we will be together, sweetie,” Daniel says quietly with sadness in his eyes. “I’ll accept your decision and respect it as much as I respect you. Yes, the breakup won’t stifle the fire of my feelings, and my love won’t be gone… But I promise not to succumb to my wish to chase you. Besides… I have the reasons to live… For example, my little sister… Or my band. I can’t betray my sister, the men, and my friends. I promised them to be strong. No matter how hurt I am, I must do it… And I shall do. Even through tears and suffering. All alone. Without saying something to anyone… And I shall do it. I will be strong for those, who are dear to me. Or I shall at least keep this illusion. For those I owe… For those, who need me…”       Daniel chuckles nervously, as if he is laughing at his own words and promises that seem unreal to him. After watching Anna and caressing her hand and head for some time, the man presses his back against the pillow, using the fact that there is enough space for two people. He carefully turns his sweetheart’s head on himself and looks at every centimeter of the baby face that he liked at first sight with interest. Every feature of her face is so close to perfection. Excellent, pronounced cheekbones, slightly shrunk cheeks, natural long eyelashes, careful eyebrows, a little, smooth, and narrow nose, and not very plumb, but not very thin lips… If she were not so pale now, her skin would have a tender pink color. And if her bright green eyes were open, they would look at the man with a little naive, childish glance.       Daniel’s hands reach every part of Anna’s face, and his fingers barely touch the tender, velvet skin, as if a little stronger might somehow harm it. The girl seems so unprotected and helpless. How much he wants to hug her with his tender but strong arms, kiss her, and let her know that no stinkers will dare to hurt her. And believing that his sweetheart hears and feels everything, even when she is unconscious, Daniel tries to be very tender and soft to Anna, not missing a chance to caress her, while she cannot ban him from doing this.       “It’s gonna be okay, my beautiful, I promise,” Daniel promises in a tender whisper. “It was the last time that bastard hurt you. Now you’re in the trustworthy hands. In my trustworthy hands. I will let no one hurt my princess. The one, who even dares to say a bad word about you, will pay a lot for this. My princess will be surrounded by only good people…”       Daniel puts his warm hand on Anna’s cheek and kisses her temple and forehead tenderly, feeling how his heart trembles but getting sad because this sweet fruit will become forbidden to him soon. After glancing at her thin, long neck, the most beautiful part of her body, in his opinion, he understands he would have the great pleasure of giving it as much attention as possible. It’s impossible to resist this elegant, shy, and intelligent beauty with a clean and innocent soul and a pure heart. However, Daniel quickly gets the thoughts out of his mind, thinking it’s absolutely stupid in this situation, even if he keeps caressing and kissing her cheeks, temples, the top of her head, and her cheekbones. At some moment, he puts her head on his shoulder and carefully moves the red strands off her face.       “I was such an idiot…” Daniel pronounces in a shaking whisper. “I’m losing you… Losing forever… I don’t know how I’ll live without you. I know I’ve gotta accept it, but I can’t do it. I don’t wanna believe it’s over. The end of the best time of my life.”       Daniel hides his face in the top of Anna’s head for two seconds, sniffs quietly, and exhales slowly, hugging her around the shoulders. And then he takes the girl’s hand, kisses it softly, puts it to his chest, to the place where his heart is, puts his hand over it, and caresses it tenderly.       “But even if we aren’t together…” Daniel says quietly with sadness in his eyes. “You… You can make me happy. I want to ask you about just one thing. About what would make me feel better. Just live. Live and be alive. For those, who are dear to you. For those, who care about you. You must survive for them.”       Daniel caresses Anna’s head tenderly with a shaking hand, running her fingers through her hair.       “Do it for me, as well,” Daniel begs quietly and sniffs. “If you feel just something for me, survive for me. Please, Anna… I’m begging you… Don’t die. If you want, leave me, but don’t die. If you died, I wouldn’t need this world. I’d give a damn about everything! I wouldn’t survive another loss of a close person. It would be too much! Please, sweetie… Live! As you want. With whom you want. But don’t die.”       Daniel exhales slowly, stopping to care about having tears roll down his face.       “After everything ends, I will leave and live my life. I don’t know who… But I will truly wish you happiness when we say goodbye. I promise, Anna. Just let me do my duty. I should feel relief in my soul. Not to feel so lousy.”       Daniel takes Anna’s hand that is put on his heart, grips it slightly in his hands, and kisses it softly, touching its soft skin with his lips, and keeps this position for two seconds with his closed eyes. And then he puts her hand on her stomach, caresses it again, moves his sad eyes to the girl’s face, and looks at this with interest for a few seconds. At some moment, the man’s hand reaches it, slides tenderly from her forehead to her cheeks, and stays on her gracious neck, on which he can feel very weak beats of her heart, which calms Perkins down and makes him think this girl is still alive. Daniel struggles with a wish to kiss Anna on her pale lips, which he sets his eyes on, and enjoys the emotions that make his heart beat faster for a few seconds. And later, his strong feelings and attraction to the girl make the man give up and give a damn about doing the wrong thing by caressing and kissing the unconscious girl, even if all his actions are innocent enough.       Daniel looks at Anna’s deathly white face with a tenderly sad look for some time, running his finger over her cheek. Then the man brings his face closer to the girl’s face, grabs it carefully, leaves a short, innocent kiss on her lips, and steps back a little, feeling that something nice is spreading all over his body and warming him up. After hesitating a little, he barely touches her lips with his lips again, freezes for two seconds, and kisses her top and bottom lips shyly. Then Daniel steps back from Anna very slowly, looks at her for two seconds, gives her a cute kiss on her forehead, and caresses her head tenderly.       “Your brave prince is near,” Daniel smiles shyly. “Nobody will hurt you anymore. I promise. Your savior is here, my princess. My moon-faced princess.”       While Daniel keeps caressing Anna’s face, giving more attention to the places that have bruises, and succumbs to his wish to touch her soft lips again, he does not notice that Cassidy returns to the room some time later. To be clear, she does not enter immediately and stays on the doorstep, seeing that her brother is sitting on the bed and saying something in a shaking voice full of despair. Since he is sitting with his back turned to her, the girl does not see his red and wet eyes, but she gets emotional from how tenderly and touchingly this man treats his sweetheart. Cassidy completely understands what her brother is feeling. She knows how bad he feels. She sees that he may easily break down and get depressed. This thought makes the young girl's heart squeeze, and she barely holds down the tears, being afraid that his love for Anna will put him in the grave or bring him to madness.       After watching Daniel for a few seconds, Cassidy decides to enter the room and comes quietly to her older brother, who inclines his head and closes his eyes tightly, while tears get out of them.       “My heart bleeds for you, bro,” Cassidy notices quietly with sadness in her eyes. “You’re so unhappy…”       Giving a start in surprise, Daniel turns on the voice and exhales slowly.”       “Oh, Cassidy, that’s you…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly. “You scared me… Creeping from behind as quietly as a mouse.”       “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Cassidy replies softly and comes to Daniel slowly. “I came here, noticed you talking, and didn’t decide to come in.”       “I’m using the moment while I can talk to her. When Anna wakes up, she won’t let me come to her.”       “You know…” Cassidy caresses Daniel’s shoulder softly and glances at Anna. “I saw the way you looked at her… So tenderly and touchingly… And you treat her like a brilliant.”       “That’s what she deserves.” Daniel caresses Anna’s hand tenderly. “This girl will always be the most expensive and dearest brilliant to me. Anna is my entire world. What my life doesn’t have a meaning without.”       “Daniel…”       “If she dies, I won’t take it. I won’t, Cassidy. It’s gonna be a real tragedy for me.”       “Brother…” Cassidy pronounces with sadness in her eyes and caresses Daniel’s cheek tenderly. “My sweetie…”       “That’s insane… Just insane…”       “My gosh… I never saw you in such a depressed condition. None of your exes gave you so much pain.”       “This time, it’s much harder for me than ever.”       “I’m sure you can do this.”       “I doubt it…” Daniel slowly runs his hands over his face. “I don’t know if I can take all of that…”       “Wanna talk about it?” Cassidy asks softly.       “Why?” Daniel shrugs, looking into the distance with his sad eyes. “Nothing will be changed from whining: my problems won’t be solved, and my beloved girl won’t come back to me.”       “But you feel bad! I see it!”       “Right… I feel bad… I’m sick of this hell… I’m sick of making mistakes and owing someone. You know how much I wanna piss everything off! Give a damn about everything! Give a damn about my duties and responsibilities!”       “Did you break down like this because of Anna?”       “You know the answer, Cass.”       “But she’s alive, and the doctor said she got nothing serious!”       “I know, but… I’m scared anyway…”       “Oh, Dan…” Cassidy caresses Daniel’s head, fixes his hair, sits next to him, and hugs him cutely around the shoulders. “You’re hurting me…”       “I know… I always hurt people. I always disappoint them.”       “C’mon, bro! You’ve always been strong!” Cassidy caresses Daniel’s cheek with the back of her hand and puts her head on his shoulder. “You never cared about anything and took hard times too seriously.”       “Sometimes I wish I was an irresponsible bonehead again,” Daniel confesses in a low voice. “When I gave a fuck about everything… When I wasn’t gonna take any kind of responsibility. When I owed nobody. When my biggest tragedy was Mom and Dad’s refusal to let me walk with my friends.”       “I get it…”       “Every year makes your age bigger and gives you much more responsibilities and people you owe something. So, be happy with your youth, Cass. While you’re a child.”       “Danny…”       “Forgetting my beloved girl was much harder than I thought. I'm powerless this time.”       Daniel doubles over and runs his hands over the top of his head to the nape of his neck, sniffing quietly at some moment. While Cassidy, frowning slightly, looks at her brother’s face better.       “Hey, your eyes are so wet and red,” Cassidy notices.       “Mine?” Daniel arches his eyebrows.       “Were you crying?”       “No…” Daniel pronounces in a low voice, shaking his head. “No, I wasn’t crying… I… I can’t…”       “C’mon! Your eyes are so red and puffy, as if you choked with tears here.”       “No, I didn’t…”       “Relax, man!” Cassidy hugs Daniel around the shoulders and cutely kisses him on the temple. “It’s me, Cass, your sis. You can tell me about it. I promise I’ll say nothing to anyone if you ask me about it.       Daniel says nothing for two seconds, then exhales sharply, and sniffs quietly.       “I had no strength to hold it down,” Daniel pronounces in a low voice and wipes tears under his eyes.       “Do you feel so bad that you’re crying?” Cassidy asks with sadness in her eyes.       “I’m not gonna lie… I wanna die…”       “Bro…” Cassidy caresses Daniel’s head softly. “My sweetheart…”       “I’m weak?” Daniel moves his wet, sad eyes to Cassidy. “Will you consider me a mollycoddle ‘cause I cry like a girl?”       “No, no, Dan, c’mon!” Cassidy shakes her head, puts Daniel’s head on her shoulder, and caresses his cheek. “Cry as much as you want. I completely understand your feelings. And I see nothing bad in a crying man.”       “You imagine what I’m doing?” Daniel asks in a low, little shaking voice and sniffs quietly. “I’m crying because of my love for the girl. I had never cried before! I didn’t shed a tear at our parents' funeral. Even when our mother died before our eyes. When you were screaming hysterically, pressing yourself to me, and begging me to bring her back.”       “Sometimes even strong people show weakness. Moreover, you’ve got a hard time now.”       “I think if I didn’t have Anna, all my friends, and you, I’d piss everything off… Lie on my bed at home like a vegetable and spit at the ceiling. All of you are the only thing that makes me hold on. Without you, I’d prefer to disappear. Being erased from this world…”       “My gosh, here’s what your love for this girl brought you to…”       “I can’t imagine my life without her,” Daniel confesses in a strongly shaking voice and wipes tears under his eyes again. “Anna is the best thing that has ever happened to me. But I’m losing her… I mean, I’ve lost her. Because of my own stupidity.”       “Maybe, everything is not lost?” Cassidy asks with sadness in her eyes, caressing Daniel’s head and running her fingers through his hair. “Maybe, you shouldn’t say it so confidently?”       “No, Cass, it’s all over.” Daniel steps back from Cassidy, gets up from the bed slowly, comes to the window, and looks through this with sadness in his eyes, leaning on the windowsill with both hands. “And I can’t impact it in any way.”       “Danny, bro…”       “I will never deny that I madly love Anna and am strongly attracted to her,” Daniel replies in a low voice. “But it will change nothing. I don’t believe that everything can be changed. Even if many people have said and keep saying I shouldn’t give up.”       “If it’s so, you shouldn’t give up.”       “No… I don’t wanna comfort myself with hopes. And actually, I wanna think of my relationship with her much less. The only thing I want now is to deal with Anna’s offender as soon as possible.”       “And you don’t believe you can do it?”       “No, I do believe this case will be over successfully. And I know I’ll bring this case to an end. Alone or with someone’s help.”       Cassidy sighs heavily, gets up from the sofa, comes to Daniel, stands next to him, and caresses his shoulder softly, while he keeps looking through the window with his sad eyes.       “But you didn’t want to give her pain,” Cassidy says with pity in her eyes. “You did it against your wish. Anna should understand it.”       “Cheating is a serious thing, Cassidy,” Daniel replies quietly without emotions. “No matter how it happened, people don’t usually forgive it.”       “You didn’t wanna betray her!”       “I swear on the grave of our parents. But it did happen! And the people will think they can’t trust me. It’s like if you cheat one time, you’ll keep doing it. Though, I’m not this type. I was loyal to all the girls I dated. Especially Anna.”       “No, Daniel, nobody thinks people can’t trust you. Everybody supports you and understands that it was a fateful mistake. The guys know you didn’t want it and are now cursing yourself for believing the liar, who could’ve made you fight with your friends.”       “Who cares, sis? Nobody can deny that I am a cheater. Yes, everybody supports me. But everybody judges me. They say I am the one to blame for everything. And they’re right. I really ruined everything and gave a fuck about the feelings that showed me the right way. It wouldn’t have happened if I had rejected that Spaniard with the thought that I wasn’t attracted to her.”       “Who would’ve thought about it when having amnesia?” Cassidy wonders. “You did all of that when you had the memory loss. The people should remember that.”       “It doesn’t matter. I am guilty anyway. Not only for that…” Daniel, leaning on the windowsill with both hands, inclines his head. “I should’ve just stayed at home on that fateful day and locked myself in a room after fighting with Anna. If I hadn’t gotten out, I wouldn’t have run into Wainwright and gotten hit by a car.”       “You would’ve met Wainwright anyway. Not then, but later.”       “Yeah, but Anna would’ve been with me! And I would’ve done my best to protect her and her parents from the Potters.”       “I know, bro…”       Daniel shakes his head, exhales slowly, and sharply hits the windowsill with a fist, while Cassidy caresses his forearm softly.       “I’m such an idiot, Cass…” Daniel says gloomily in a low voice. “I’ve been an idiot all my life… Brainless and irresponsible bastard… I used to think everything would be easy ‘cause Mommy and Daddy would always help me. Yes, they would’ve given me a kick on my ass early or late, but… I wouldn’t have gotten it so soon. So suddenly. I wasn’t ready for the responsibility that I got after Father’s death. I wasn’t ready for the life, in which I had to fight for what I wanted on my own. In which nobody would’ve come to help me.”       “I also thought my life would be easy and cool,” Cassidy sighs quietly with sadness in her eyes. “Mom and Dad kinda would’ve done anything for me and wouldn’t have left me on my own. But I stayed all alone. And drugs didn’t give me the happiness I was promised. I took them just because I couldn’t live without them.”       “And I got lost with cigarettes and alcohol. I never refused to drink a glass at a party. But it helped me until I woke up with a hangover.”       “I still can’t believe our parents are gone. And I believe they will get through the door and hug me tightly one beautiful day.”       “It was also hard for me to accept our parents’ death. And because Father, who I was deeply attracted to, died first, it was a great shock to me. I lost the best helper and adviser… Sadly, my talks with him were rare, but I always appreciated the time I spent with my dad.”       “I know…”       “It was madly hard for me to accept the death of both of my parents and your disappearance. I didn’t know how to keep moving on and couldn’t be absolutely independent. Yes, I came to myself more or less, but my pain still hasn't gone. It comes back to me every time I think of the past. And now I have one more reason to feel stronger stress… I feel I’m about to fall down and throw this heavy burden off my back.”       “I’m here, Daniel…” Cassidy hugs Daniel tightly with pity in her eyes, pressing herself close to him and putting her head on his shoulder. “You can do this, I know it. Because you’re strong. Strong and unbroken.”       “There’s nothing unbroken,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “Everything gets ruined early or late. By itself. Or because of people’s mistakes. Nothing lasts forever.”       “How can I help you? What can I do to make you stop feeling so depressed?”       “You can hardly do something.” Daniel hugs Cassidy tightly and caresses her head, kissing her on the top of her head at some moment. “Nobody can. No matter how much the guys comfort me, they won’t treat my wounds.”       “Don’t say it, bro.”       “Nobody knows I feel much worse than they think,” Daniel says in a much lower voice. “They all thought it was impossible to knock me out with a stick… I was kind of a tough, insolent, and cold man without a heart. They still judge me by my appearance. They think if I’m so cold and heartless outside, I'm really the one. Though, I’m absolutely different. I’m not a heartless asshole.”       “I kind of believe your friends know you much better than you think. They know what’s on your mind, no matter how hard you hide it. You wanna make them sure that it’s okay, and you’ll get through that. But that’s not true. You’re unhappy and depressed. And they all understand it.”       “Yeah, but I will not let them see me like this.” Daniel scoffs nervously and wipes the rest of the tears under his eyes. “Nobody will see my tears.”       “They see everything, Daniel. Don’t lie to them.”       “Yeah, what are you suggesting? Tell the men that I’m crying? Tell them what I am doing? They’re gonna laugh at me if they know I cry like a girl!”       “No, Dan, why do ya think so?” Cassidy wonders. “Nobody’s gonna laugh at you!”       “I’ll burn from shame if someone comes to the room and sees these tears in my eyes.”       “Do you think your friends felt better when they had problems with their girls?” Cassidy fixes Daniel’s hair slightly. “I’m sure they were desperate and cried at least once.”       “Men don’t talk about it. We don’t cry.”       “Only cowards don’t cry. Those, who are afraid to be a little weak, at least for themselves. Being a man doesn’t mean being perfect at waving your hands and screaming at the top of your lungs.”       “Did you see our father’s tears at least once? Did you see him twirling in a curl and crying bitterly? And our mother comforting him like a little child?”       “But it doesn’t mean he didn’t cry, at all. Maybe, he did! But nobody saw it! He also wanted to seem strong for everyone. Remembered about that stupid stereotype, which is the reason why all men stopped crying when they were drinking breast milk.”       “It’s not a stereotype, it’s the rule all men follow.”       “Give a damn about those rules! If you wanna cry a little, c’mon! Otherwise, you’ll get a ticket to the hospital room. God won’t let you die in the same way a Dad did it somehow.”       “Don’t dare…” Daniel sharply moves his eyes to Cassidy. “Don’t dare to tell anyone I’m crying. I will not bear this shame.”       “What kind of shame, c’mon! If a man cries from great grief and despair, I don’t think it’s a shame. I can judge a man’s tears in one case: if he cries for any reason. When he’s happy, and when he’s sad. But how could someone judge the one, who suffers and doesn’t know what to do?”       “Don’t do it, Cass, please… I don’t want everybody to see me like this.”       “But, brother…”       “Nobody’s guilty that I want the impossible. That I wanna be with my beloved girl. Or just know she’s alive and healthy. I won’t be able to live quietly if she dies. The case is not only about losing my beloved person. The case is that I’m gonna be kind of guilty of that.”       “She will not die, Dan. And you’ll save her from Julian and his father! And Anna’s gonna say, ‘thank you’ to you. But her parents will kiss you and fall at your feet like you’re a lord.”       “Say or not – Anna will decide it.”       “Don’t tell me you’ve become a prophet and know your future. Everything may be changed! I didn’t really think I would see you someday. But I saw you.”       “I just want to end this story as soon as possible. To forget Anna little by little and strike her out of my life.” Daniel shrugs. “I can’t suffer because of her ‘till the last day of my life… And if we have to break up, I’ve gotta find the strength to accept it and keep living. It’s not the end of the world… Life goes on even after the loss. Just like it did after Mother and Father’s death…”       Daniel moves his eyes aside, steps back from the window, and sits on Cassidy’s hospital bed with his arms crossed on his chest. The young girl watches him for two seconds with pity in her eyes and sits down next to him.       “Daniel…” Cassidy pronounces quietly.       “I’ll hardly find a girl like Anna,” Daniel replies without emotions, looking into the distance with his dead eyes, while Cassidy takes him by the shoulders and kisses him on the cheek cutely. “She’s perfection… She doesn’t have shortcomings… That girl is the perfection that I have been looking for all my life. The one, who was brought to me to make my life better.”       “Perfection of the appearance?”       “No, everything. Besides, Anna reminded me of our mom. She’s also very kind and caring… And how well she cooks! I never thought I’d eat such delicious dishes.”       “Really?”       “I felt lonely for a long time. But I found everything I dreamed about in Anna. Everything Mother had. That wonderful woman, who knew what to do for us to wish to come back home again and again.”       “You know better,” Cassidy shrugs with a slight smile.       “They aren’t alike at all… But they’re united by their gold hearts and inability to hurt even a fly. Mother and Anna never raised a hand on someone and screamed…”       “Do you think Mother would’ve liked that girl?”       “Don’t doubt. If she were alive, she’d treat Anna the way the Seymours treat me.”       “I believe you. I believe that Anna is as wonderful as you say.”       “None of my exes can be compared with her. For example, that hysterical girl, who cheated on me with my ex-friend is far from Anna.” Daniel shakes his head. “My relationship with her was the most toxic.”       “She never loved you, Daniel, she just used you. Although I was young, I understood that I disliked that bitch. Mother said a million times you didn’t fit her. Because… You were a toy in her hands… That gal cared only about the money that our dad was earning, a wish to take you to her bed at any time, and a need for permanent scandals.”       “The fact that she couldn’t live without scandals irritated me.”       “Mom and Dad never thought and always got on well. When they had misunderstandings, they solved them immediately. Without scandals and shouts.”       “Anyway, I don’t regret what happened. That event made me smarter and more careful. For example, I started to choose friends better.” Daniel cracks a smile. “And now I have amazing friends, who I’ll always be grateful to for what they do for me for the rest of my life. They’re my second family… Truly loyal people, who would never use me for their benefit.”       “As they say, quality is more important than quantity.”       “And I finally realized what I was looking for in a girl of my dreams. Just a little bit of love, care, and attention. And I found it all next to Anna. The girl, who was much better than I expected. I never thought someone would take care of me so touchingly.”       “Did you think of marrying her? Or were you gonna keep that girl as a servant at your house all day and a lover all night?”       “She is the one, who made me think about it for the first time. About the wish to get married someday. To Anna.”       “Wow…” Cassidy smiles mysteriously and claps Daniel on the shoulder. “I never thought… But you cared about your freedom so much and talked about the wedding as if it were something terrible.”       “My relationship with that hysterical girl impacted that. I never loved being limited, but that gal literally deprived me of oxygen. She played with me like a doll, but I didn’t like it at all.”       “But now, do you understand it’s not so terrible?”       “You’re right. Anna definitely made me sure about it. But it’s gonna be very hard to make me marry another girl. Because I’m loyal to the only one.” Daniel sighs quietly with sadness in his eyes. “I shall always be. Like a dog. For her, I’d easily sacrifice my freedom and become captive at my wish. Became her slave…”       “Sorry, bro, but I don’t know how to help you…” Cassidy takes Daniel’s hand softly and kisses him on the cheek cutely.       “Don’t think about it, sis. You should care about other things. I shall overcome it somehow.”       “But I wanna see you happy!” Cassidy exclaims with sadness in her eyes. “Strong and confident man!”       “I see no reason to be happy without Anna.”       “Excuse me, but I don’t recognize you. I don’t recognize my Dan. My big bro, who was the loudest one in the house and was never worried about failures, lectures, and scandals.”       “Just get cured and decide what you want to do to make me a little happy.”       “What about you? I wanna see life in your eyes! But now you look like you wanna jump off the bridge. Swallow tablets or take a knife and cut yourself.”       “No, Cassidy!” Daniel exclaims confidently, moving his eyes sharply to Cassidy and squeezing her hand in his hands tighter. “I will do nothing to me! For you! I promise! No suicide, no self-harming! No jumping from bridges, rooftops, and others!”       “I don’t want it, bro…” Cassidy shakes her head with pity in her wet eyes. “If something happens to you, I won’t survive in this world.”       “I swear, sweetie, I will never leave you.” Daniel grabs Cassidy’s face and looks into her eyes confidently. “I must take care of my sis and keep the promise that I gave our parents. I can’t betray them anymore. They have probably twisted in the grave like five hundred times from what I’m doing.”       “What if you can’t take it?” Cassidy asks hesitantly in a little shaking voice.       “No, despite nothing, I shall find the strength to keep living. I owe too many people. You, my friends, those, who my band is working with… I can’t betray them.”       “But you can’t do anything if you do something with a sense of agony.”       “It’s okay, I can do this.”       “But, Danny…”       “I don’t wait for Anna to come back to me,” Daniel replies quietly. “Now I am just waiting for the day when I deal with her offender and let her live her life, not chasing her in any way.”       “Okay…” Cassidy nods. “If you believe in the good end of this story, focus only on it.”       “Saving her is my main goal. And I believe in the good end because I’m sure about my power and my friends. And the police and Anna’s parents are helping us. We will be a great team if we unite our strength for a fight with the greatest enemy.”       “I’m glad you're aiming it.” Cassidy smiles slightly to encourage Daniel a little, takes his hand with both hands, and caresses it from all sides. “Anyway, I will always be by your side. Whatever you do, I will never leave you.”       “Really?”       “You’re my closest person, who I madly love.” Cassidy caresses Daniel’s cheek softly. “Remember, if you’re afraid and don’t wanna tell your friends or Anna something, say it to me. Maybe, I won’t be able to help you or give you some wise advice. But I can listen to you and… Give you my shoulder, so you can cry on it.”       “I know.”       “I’ve never judged you and will never judge you for cheating. Because anyone could be instead of you. And I know who you really are. I know how you treat those you love. What you could do.”       Cassidy’s words warn Daniel’s soul a little and make him feel a little better. The man even shows his smile, which is, however, tense and forced.       “Thanks a lot, Cass,” Daniel thanks amicably, caressing Cassidy’s cheek softly. “Thank you for supporting me…”       “I ain’t gonna stay aside when you feel bad,” Cassidy replies with a slight smile.       “You know… Every day, I make sure that I’m madly lucky to have such a wonderful sis. And I’m really sorry about not appreciating you when we were kids.”       “Of course, you’ve always been a pain in my ass,” Cassidy claps Daniel on the shoulder and pinches his cheek. “But I love you anyway. And I’m also happy to have such a cool bro. Who I started to appreciate too late, though.”       “You’re the best, sis! Even if you feel bad, you’re trying to be my shot of the sun.”       “Now, you feel much worse than I do.”       “Come to me, baby…”       Daniel kisses Cassidy’s cheek and takes her in his strong, emotional hug, which she accepts with a wide smile, putting her arms around his neck and caressing her brother’s head. Although he did not get better after the talk with his younger sister, the man is happy just because there are people, who love this man, despite nothing. For whom he could find the strength to keep holding on, even if all the events are against him.