Tessa slowly followed after the daunting officer before her, ensuring to keep her distance from him and stopped as he halted at the counter, no doubt retrieving her meager belongings. Standing at the other end of the room, she watched him smile at the receptionist and talk to him lightheartedly, shaking his hand before grabbing the yellow raincoat he offered the officer, She watched him turn towards her, noticing his eyebrow raise in surprise to find her at a distance from him, and Tessa swallowed quietly when he covered the distance between them in four long strides.

Instantly she lowered her gaze and fidgeted with her fingers, waiting for him to say something, but gasped and jumped back when he held out the raincoat for her. The officer looking at her with furrowed eyebrows at her reaction to his movement.

Without looking up at him, she took the jacket with trembling fingers before pulling it on, and followed him out of the building. Shielding her eyes from the sunlight, she blinked away the momentary blindness before catching sight of the police officer half way across the parking lot. Jogging to catch up with him, she was informed to settle in the front of the police car.

The seats were uncomfortable, Tessa realized. The material of the seats squeaked with the raincoat as she shifted to find a comfortable position to settle down in, jumping when his voice spoke up.

"Do you fully understand your verdict?" Officer Robertson inquired as he turned on the indicator for his turn.

All Tessa could do in her fried mental state was shake her head.

"Basically, you get to live like any other teenager, with the exception that whatever you do, I will be aware of." He momentarily glanced at her disheveled appearance from the corner of his eyes. "You will be living with me, and you are not to engage in any criminal activities for the duration of your probation, otherwise you will be sent to jail."

"Get it so far?"

"So...basically, you're my court-ordered-guardian?" She inquired and stared at the dashboard in concentration.

"Yeah..." He trailed, momentarily surprised at her phrasing of the verdict. "Something like that,"

Tessa nodded in understanding and turned to look out at the passing scenery.

"Whatever I say goes," He added, to clarify the ground rules.

"Okay,"

"And you follow my rules,"

"Alright,"

"If I find you engaging in any illegal activities, I will personally send you to jail. Understood?"

"Yes, sir,"

The officer looked at her in momentary confusion, surprised by her corporation. She didn't put up a fight, nor any snarky remarks, or shown any hesitation towards agreeing with him. Felons were never this corporative and cordial with any officer, as far as he had experienced. However, before he could ponder any more on this, he pulled into the underground parking of his apartment complex. Telling her to follow him, he got out of the car and into the elevator where they ascended to the sixth floor.

Unlocking the last door to their left, he entered and left the door open for her to follow.

Tessa stood at the other end of the threshold, peeking around the door and just standing. The sound of the officer's footsteps had her jolt back to reality before she exhaled and stepped inside with her eyes shut tight as if though she were expecting something to happen to her.

Standing still in her place, she waited two silent heartbeats before cracking open her eyes and relaxed her shoulders as she was awestruck by the interior.

She stood in an open concept entryway with the lounge to her right; consisting of a beige four seater with its back to her and facing the flat screen T.V. with two single seater tilted on either side of it. The flat screen T.V. which the furniture was facing was encased in bookshelves on every side of it with a hearth beneath it and various picture frames on the mantle; with a glass coffee table in the middle of it all.

To her left there was a wooden dining table for eight. Further than that was an open-concept kitchen with a rectangular white granite counter in the center with barstool on one sides and an L-shaped kitchen with matching counters and white cabinets.

Then there were two doors on the wall before her with a hallway going down to the right.

Officer Robertson informed her that the door to her left was going to be her bedroom with the one at the right being the bath. Pushing open the bedroom door, she was surprised to find a queen sized bed against the wall with a study table beside it, shelves, and a wardrobe opposite the bed. The room was a comfortable size and reminded her of her own room back home. Her home.

She had been so busy admiring the proportions of the room and the various options it provided that she never heard the officer come up behind her, until he startled her with a clearing of his throat.

Jumping out of his way, he noticed him to be holding sheets, pillows, and a blanket in his arms. Tessa watched him put down the things on the bed and rub his eyes tiredly.

"I can do it," She spoke up before thinking, instantly flushing when he looked at her with one eyes closed. "I mean, if you're alright with it,"

He sighed tiredly and ran a hand over his face, mulling over the offer in his head before relenting with a nod and stepped out of the room and making his way down the hall to his own. Setting up the bed, Tessa removed her shoes and jacket, took a quick shower to wash off before getting some sleep herself.

Within the next three days, she figured out the officer's routine.

He woke at six a.m. and went out for a run, returning around seven before heading to shower. His showers didn't last longer than eight minutes – she timed it – and during the time that he would be gone for a run, she would prepare everything for breakfast. Running back into her room the moment he came home, and fried the food and set up the table in the eight minute window his shower provided; taking her own plate and eating in her room.

The first time he found the bar counter set up with a plate of eggs and bacon, he was surprised, but grateful, and made himself a cup of coffee with the food before settling down to eat. Leaving at nine once he had eaten and cleared things away.

He had a twelve-hour shift at the precinct, and was home by ten p.m. on most nights.

Since Tessa moved into his apartment three days ago, he always had a warm dinner awaiting him at the table upon his return. It crossed his mind to thank her and invite her to sit with him, but the few times that he did enter her room, he had found her sound asleep.

By the fifth day, Tessa had become very comfortable with this routine of avoiding him and wondered if she could resume it for the year she was here. The man making her nervous whenever he was around. Even now, as she heard the washroom door click into place, she made her way out of the washroom and began frying the pancakes, having just put the last of the batch onto his plate and hummed along to the song softly playing on the radio.

"Good morning to you, too," His voice greeted her from behind, the suddenness startling her as she whirled around with the spatula in hand.

Tessa found the officer leaning against the kitchen counter, dressed in denim jeans and a grey t-shirt as he sipped his coffee; looking at her in amusement from over the rim of the mug. Catching him watching her, she instinctually lowered her gaze and began fidgeting with her fingers in her nervousness and swallowed thickly as her stomach twisted into knots.

"Guess I frightened you," He spoke softly, putting the mug on the counter behind him. "I work four days a week, so I'll be around the next three days. Thought I'd let you know,"

Tessa did not know that.

"I'll leave you alone, officer," She murmured quietly with her head lowered as a looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"No," He stated and she visibly tensed. "I want you to join me for breakfast,"

Tessa simply nodded in acknowledgement before she returned to the frying of the remaining pancakes. Both of them worked their way around the kitchen in silence before she stilled and her fingers trembled to find the officer leaning on the counter beside her, gently sliding a steaming mug towards her.

"It's Daniel," He spoke as Tessa looked at him in momentary confusion. "My name. It's Daniel Robertson. Not 'officer'," She nodded in understanding, not trusting her voice to stay stable in her anxious state.

"How do you like your coffee?" Daniel asked and looked at her with his chin rested on his shoulder.

"I don't drink coffee,"

Almost instantly he choked on his own beverage and looked at her as if though she had grown another head. The muscles in Tessa's body coiling as her knuckles turned white with her hold on the spatula and the pan's handle to keep them from shaking as she held her breath.

"Okay..." He spoke slowly, recovering from his shock. "What will you have?"

"I'm alright," Her voice came out tight as Daniel raised an eyebrow at the words.

"Come on, you drink something with breakfast," He chuckled. "Tea? Hot chocolate? Juice?"

She momentarily looked up at the curiosity reflected on his expression, thinking that he doesn't want anything more than to know what she drinks.

"Juice..."

"Orange juice it is," He nodded before pushing himself off the counter and opened the fridge to grab a carton. "By the way, thank you for the meals. They are very delicious. I especially loved the creamy chicken and sautéed vegetables you made the other day,"

"Really?" Tessa was astonished to hear him compliment her cooking.

"Yeah, loved it," He nodded. "I wanted to thank you, but you were already asleep by then,"

She simply nodded to his statement and Daniel found himself looking at her like she was a difficulty Sudoku puzzle that he had trouble solving. Silently musing to himself, he began to pour her a glass of orange juice as she turned off the stove and shifted the last of the pancakes onto the plate.

"You don't talk much," He voiced his observation. "May I ask why?"

He wasn't expecting a response, but he was most definitely not expecting the response he received.

"I'm not supposed to talk unless spoken to," She murmured solemnly and Daniel's attention shifted to her in confusion.

"What-?" He began to ask, but instead cursed out loud when the glass overflowed and juice spilled onto the floor.

Instantly, Tessa whirled around at the cursing, the abrutness of her movement resulted in her hitting the glass and sending the contents spilling all over Daniel's shirt. The man shrieking at the sudden chill and held his shirt away from him.

Her throat closed up as she backed away, knowing she was in trouble and a lump lodged itself into her throat, her entire body trembling with her knees knocking together as tears welled in her eyes.

"I-I am so sorry," She stammered out and watched Daniel wipe the front of his shirt with a towel. "I am so sorry,"

"It's okay-" He began to say dismissively with a wave, but the moment he raised his arm, a frightened shriek escaped the girl before him as she collapsed to the floor, her back pressed into the corner as she tried to sink into the closed cupboards. Daniel watched with shock as she covered her face with her arms, shrinking into herself and sobbing.

"Please-please don't hurt me," She whimpered through her tears. "P-please. I-I-I am sorry,"

Daniel's mind went reeling at her reaction, his eyes wide and his mouth open before he swallowed the sudden dryness of his throat. Slowly putting away the towel, he cautiously approached her as Tessa's sobs grew louder and more frightened, looking like a caged animal: helpless, desperate, and alone. Raising his hands in surrender, he slowly lowered himself onto his knees, looking at her visibly shaking and weeping form pressed into the corner.

"Tessa," He called out gently as she tried to fold into herself, small whimpers escaping her. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you,"

She peeked up at him with bloodshot and puffy eyes, hiccupping and sniffling to see his concerned expression. His lips were pressed into a thin line and his eyebrows knitted together as he rested his hands on his knees.

"It's okay," He tried to assure her again as she pulled her knees closer to her chest.

They both sat mirroring each other's position, sitting in silence as Tessa sniffled into her arms and Daniel watched her in concern that she may burst out into tears again.

"Tessa," He called out softly as she hesitantly peeked up at him, watching him cautiously inch closer to her with his arms raised to assure her he meant no harm. Sitting with his legs on either side of him, he slowly brought his hands towards her face, gauging her reaction as he cupped her cheeks into his palms and rubbed the pad of his thumb beneath her eyes to wipe away the tears. His eyebrows knitted in concentration, creating a crease on his forehead as he wiped her tears with gentle fingers.

And Tessa couldn't help but stare at him in astonishment and at the comforting gesture he was providing her, to calm her.

"I want you to answer this question honestly, okay, Bambi?" He spoke gently and held her face into his hands, his eyes conveying the seriousness of his upcoming question. "Were you abused?"

Her lips trembled at the question and the tears welled up again as she tried to pull away from him, tried to go back into a cocoon in the deepest crevice of her mind, but his large and calloused hands, gently placed against her cheeks forced her to stay grounded, forced her to remain present and she felt the tears stream down once more.

"It's okay, it's okay," He assured her gently, stroking her hair. "No one is going to hurt you here, I promise," Daniel found the words tumbling out of his mouth as his chest burned with the realization, wondering why he felt so...helpless.

Swallowing thickly, she tried to stop the sob from surfacing and closed her eyes to try and gather herself, the tears continuing.

"I'm here, shh...you're safe," Daniel continued. "You're safe, bambi. You're safe. I promise you, you're safe."

Without warning, he pulled her forward and held her against him. The sudden movement having Tessa's heart jump into her throat, terrified that he would hurt her, but instead found herself cocooned in his embrace.

"Who hurt you?" He murmured into her hair. "Tell me who hurt you so I can prosecute them,"

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Tessa couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with emotions. Not understanding why he would do something like that for her. A girl who joined a gang to survive. A girl who was caught robbing a drug store. A girl whom he was court ordered to look after. But most of all, a girl he knew nothing about, and here he was, asking her to tell him who hurt her so they could pay.

Why?

Why would he do that?

The tears blurred her vision and the lump choked her as a sob slipped past her lips and she clutched onto his shirt, moving closer to his safe embrace and never wanted to let go. The sudden realization hit her with full force, and had her sob once more at the reality that was her life.

She had been so devoid of love and affection, that even something as simple as a hug or compliment had her reeling back, had her feeling a warmth in her chest which she experienced so little of in her life. A warmth like comfort and safety and assurance.

Tessa choked on her tears and Daniel simply held her against him, giving her all the time she needed.

"You're safe," He murmured into her ear as the tears soaked through his already wet shirt. "You're safe, okay? I promise you, you're safe and I won't ever let anyone touch a single hair on your head, you hear me?"

"You're safe with me, bambi," He hugged her tighter. "I promise to protect you,"