I took him to my room, anxious about his judgement about my space, which was so not me. I never bothered about others opinion about my organizing skills though mostly were from my close ones. So bringing a stranger and one that I didn't want to be here, made me a little concerned.

He stepped into the room and repeated his actions. He inspected my room, photos and even bathroom. It didn't feel like he was just exploring but trying to find fault in something. I could tell by his scrunched eyebrows and sharp eyes.

"It's cozy", he commented shaking his head, looking at the wall photos.

He plopped on my bed, as if he owned it. Not even a hesitation.

I turned on my heels and walked into my bathroom, brushed my teeth and gave myself a pep talk that Papi was gonna be okay even if my gut said otherwise. I was exhausted to think about the worst.  My hair was frizzy and my dark circles were dissolving around my eyeballs and crying sagged my eyelids further. It seemed like I aged in a few hours.

I pushed open the door. He had his eyes shut with head on the headboard.

I cleared my throat which made him peek his eyes.

"Do you want something to eat?"

"Vodka", he mumbled which was loud enough in the silent room. 

I rose an eyebrow and looked at him dead panned.

"Coffee will be good", he answered.

Thanks to my bare consciousness I almost mixed salt in the coffee. I poured milk into mine and carried the two cups to the purple room.

I kicked open the door taking the cups and handed him his coffee.

"Where are you going?", He asked as I turned towards the door.

"To the bed", I said taking doorknob in my palms.

"Stay with me for a while", I turned back surprised by his words. Without dwindling much on his words, I sat on the edge of the door. I never know my closet door was this soothing while drinking coffee because my eyes were glued to for a long time.

"Thank you", I said softly slowly sipping from my coffee.

He nodded. The reason for words died down as we sat drinking our coffee.

I made out of my room after he deemed tired and I was about to drop dead even a second more in my comfy bed.

I didn't even notice my mom beside me until late 4 when I woke up to pee.

I could hear rattling sound in a distance as I trudged along the corridor to the stairs.

"Mom, what are you doing?", the raw throat made my voice gruff and harsh.

Mom lightly startled but became composed after seeing me. It was early 5 and my mom was busy cooking. Did she even sleep properly?

"Why are you cooking this early?", I stood next to the fridge still not over sleep hangover.

"I am cooking for Dad. He didn't eat anything after lunch and I know he won't eat there. ", She stirred the pot as she spoke.

"Its too early mom", I sighed rubbing my face

"I know baby. I am just worried about your dad. He is a coward when it comes to his family. ", She grunted taking the hot pan from the stove. I chuckled at her accurate understanding about dad. No detective job or handling criminals gave him strength to endure family concerns. Mom complemented in this area taking care of the family when its going through tough times like these.

She left the house after leaving us some food. I made a bee line to the room I was sleeping and drained myself to sleep.

If it had not my phone blaring and bleeding my ears I would've slept the whole day. My mom called me bring Dad's pressure tablets.

My haze slowly cleared as I heard muffled voice at a distance. It was 9 am and I totally about certain someone under the same roof as mine.

I grunted as I rolled out of the bed and did my morning routine. I could barely open my eyes and headache was out of the world. People said if felt hammering during hung over. I swear they didn't cry themselves to sleep and had headache that felt like a bulldozer scrunching the skull.

Funny how my sense awoke when I angry Luke's angry voice. I flew down the stairs to see Luke and Ryder having an intense stare. Luke was bit shorter than Ryder but well built. It was difficult to predict a winner if they went against which I wished never happened.

"Leave the fucking house right now!", Luke screamed at his face. I rushed to Luke and helped Abby to pull him away from Ryder. 

"Why the fuck is he here?", Luke seethed at me. 

"Stop it Luke", I retorted to snap him out. He dashed out of the house, slamming the door. Abby looked at us, shook her head and followed Luke.

Ryder's jaw was set, hands in a tight fist. He didn't move his eyes from where Luke was standing. I was genuinely concerned about my safety. I didn't know his anger and the glimpses I saw when he was, I would die in a punch.

" Ryder", I sighed moving into the kitchen keeping a good distance. His eyes diverted to me, anger swirling in the green orbs. My heart rate slowly soared when he took a step towards me. I kept a hold on the spatula wishing he would be scared of the weapon.

Something changed in his eyes and in a blink he disappeared. I ran to the door to see his car at the end of the road.

He left.

"It's good he disappeared. I would've murdered him any given second", Luke said as we three went to the hospital. I didn't reply as I stared out the windows. The emotions I saw when I left. It was playing in my head like a goddamn recorder.

The hurt he showed me for a split second. The emotions I had never seen and didn't expect to see. 

All these days, he was a heartless monster. His kind gestures were red flags for me. I kept my guard aware of his intentions. He wanted to destroy me for nothing. He had a sadistic glory in other's pain. The thought I had to face all the lies at once was sickening.

I had to give that guy, he made me think about him more than I liked.