C o l e

It's been exactly a week and two days since I've last seen Eros' face and a part of me was hoping that I'd seen the last of him but when I walked back to my hotel and saw a particularly expensive looking car in the lot of the run down motel, I knew my hopes were too damn good to be true.

If I was being honest I gave his offer more thought than I would have liked to but every time I did, it just ended up in me weighing out the pros and cons and only coming up with cons.

Surprisingly enough, none of my father's men have tried to track me down and that could only mean one of two things. One being they don't care and they're actually letting me go (haha yeah right) and two being they haven't realized that I'm gone yet. Though I have also been spending each night in a different motel and using different names to keep myself from being found just in case.

Heaving a sigh, I walked as far as possible from the car just in case the man I was dreading to see was in there but that was completely unnecessary because when I got to my door, he was standing there with one foot propped up against the wall and his hands in his pockets.

How long has he been standing there? I hope it wasn't too— wait, why did I care how long he's been standing out here? If anything I should have wanted him to wait longer, maybe he'd get frustrated and leave.

"Are you going to come over here or continue to stare?" Eros question and turned his head to look at me.

I'd really rather not be within 10 feet of him but as fate would have it, it seems to be impossible. Maybe if I manifested it hard enough, he'd disappear in to thin air.

Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go awa-

"I won't disappear simply because you will me too" Eros said with a chuckle as he pushed himself off the wall.

Fuck, how did he know?

"Your face may not be expressive but your body language is saying it all. The way you're so far from me as though I'd snatch you up...it's telltale really" Eros explained after once again somehow reading my mind.

"Fuck off..." I grumbled before coming closer to unlock my door. I left it open as I walked in, assuming Eros would just invite himself in anyways like the other night but even after I put my things down, he was still standing at the threshold.

"What the hell are you just standing there for?" I asked.

"I want you to invite me in" Eros said.

What the fuck? Deciding I didn't want to deal with his antics, I just complied with his wish.

"Get in or stay out" I said bluntly and Eros gave a sigh as if he were disappointed.

"You lack manners" he said and walked in before closing the door behind him.

The only "manners" I've practiced is giving someone a swift death to prevent them from suffering. Other than that, basic manners were kind of out the window.

I ignored him and just sat down at the table. Eros joined me and for a moment the two of us stared at one another, just like the other night. I wasn't particularly intimidated by his stare but I did have to admit that it got a little uncomfortable after a while. Those eyes saw many things and right now it felt as if they were staring into the very foundation my being.

"I trust you've thought about my offer?" Eros started and I stayed silent for a moment before nodding my head.

"That's wonderful, naturally I am not pressuring you to do anything you don't wish to" He said and I was actually surprised to hear that but didn't let it sway me. I just had to wait for the catch.

"Though that doesn't mean I won't try to convince you with everything I've got" Eros finished and just like I expected, there was a catch.

"Why are you so hell bent on me joining your group? You said it yourself, my family is the reason for the loss of your friend. Asking me to join is just cruel to your members" I said.

"Don't worry about that, your situation isn't as easy to understand but with some explaining they'll come around. Besides, if anyone bothers you just let me know and I'll handle it immediately" Eros said with a...kind? smile. I don't know, I think the smile was supposed to reassure me but I didn't really feel any of the assurance.

"I couldn't care less if your members liked me. I can take care of myself" I said.

"Mm, that may be the case for you but it doesn't sit right with me. I'd hate for a misunderstanding to cause you harm" Eros said, his arms folding over his chest.

"I can take care of myself." I said again, this time with a glare but Eros just brushed it off.

"Perhaps there is some kind of deal I can offer you that will appeal to you? Is there something you want?"

"Freedom" I said without hesitation. That is all I have ever wanted, it would be my dying wish if anything.

Eros took my word into consideration for a moment before speaking.

"Alright then. Stay with us for one year. That is all I ask, and if by then you still don't wish to be with us, I'll let you leave. But if you leave, I'll have no control over what happens to you anymore" Eros said.

"And I'll say to you, when the time comes, what I have been saying to you again and again. I can take care of myself" I repeated for the third time and this time it finally seemed to stick as Eros nodded.

"So I take it we have a deal?" Eros asked and stuck his hand out towards me. I looked at it but didn't move to shake it just yet.

The Limosa name would be stripped from me the moment I shook his hand but oddly enough, I didn't think anything of it. There's nothing for me being with that group, nothing at that house, nothing with that family, and nothing anywhere I would go. I was truly and utterly alone in every sense of the word.

And then a lone, tired, thought hit me.

Is this what's best for me?

"What if I decline?" I asked randomly and Eros raised a brow.

"You have that right though there are things I can get you that you can't get without the right connections. Such as a proof of your identity" Eros looked me in the eye when saying that and I knew he was just adding more incentive by doing that. His offer should have appealed to me greatly and while it kind of did, I was still skeptical.

"But I do have a condition with that"

Oh great another catch.

"You have to take my last name" He finished and I could swear my jaw dropped to the ground.

"Why the fuck do I have to do that?" I asked, bewildered at the very thought of it.

"Don't worry it'll be as if we're newly weds" he joked but I was hardly in the mood for it.

"Quit fucking around" I said and Eros sighed as he said something about me being a stick in the mud.

"You'll take my name because it's the best method of protection I can offer you. No one will think twice about doing anything to you when they hear you're apart of my family, even after you leave. Oh, it also won't look good for me if a Limosa is joining my group" He explained

Oh god...not only was I going to betray my family, I was also going to take the name of their enemy? What did I ever do to get myself into this shit?

It was all suspicious in a way.

What he was offering was more than he had to. He didn't have to get me an ID, or offer me air tight protection, nor did he even have to take me in as one of his own. I would never get a better deal than what he is giving me right now and he knew that. He knew that I would realize that at some point and accept his offer, it's no wonder he doesn't seem irritated or frustrated with my lack of positive response.

I hated to prove him right but I really had no other choice so sucking up my pride, I spoke up.

This was for my freedom after all.

"Alright. I'll...join your group" I said, still unsure of my words even after uttering them but it was too late now because the clockworks in Eros' mind were surely doing overtime now.

"Shake on it?" He asked and I sighed before grabbing his hand. They weren't that much bigger than mine but he sure had a firm grip and that just made this feel so much more real.

"Alrighty, grab your things and let's get out of this shitty excuse for a motel" he said and I could swear there was a bounce in that fucker's step as he walked out the door.

I gathered the very minimal items I had and caught up with Eros who was waiting for me outside. After paying at the main office, the two of us walked off.

"So what exactly is it that I'll be doing?" I asked as we walked to his car. A man was standing next to it, waiting for us to make our way over so that he could open the door.

"Ah, yes, you must be dying to know. First off, Johnny, you're fired" Eros said as we reached him and while I looked at him in shock, Johnny seemed to take it pretty well.

"Aw" Johnny said but didn't really have much protest. He probably saw this coming one way or another.

"You'll be my new bodyguard as I just had to fire my old one" Eros said and at that moment I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

Great...I thought I'd just be told to run errands or some shit but now I have to spend my every waking moment with this man? I'm gonna need to down a bottle of the strongest Advil out there for the many headaches this man is going to cause me.