"I'm underneath your skin
The devil within.
You'll never know what hit you."
Digital Daggers "Devil Within"

Robbie was aware of nothing but pain. Excruciating pain. The kind that went through your body and soul, making you pray for instant death.

He took several deep breaths hoping to ease the pain that throbbed in his family jewels. He was aware of the police standing over him talking to Christina. He hoped they would throw her in jail and lose the key for what she did. That evil girl. He will never forget the sharp glare in her eyes right before she got him in his happy spot.

Christina stood over him. Robbie mumbled for some ice. God, the pain! If he had known she was going to play dirty like that he would have just let her have the damn remote.

Christina returned with an ice pack and held it out to him. Robbie grabbed it and held it onto his groin. Finally the pain was starting to fade a little. He could breathe easier.

"Are you okay?" Christina asked.

Hell no I'm not okay, you bloody twat, Robbie thought. You kneed me in my damn groin. He didn't dare say those words out loud. She might cut his dick clean off. Plus he was still too hurt to speak.

Christina left him alone and went into her room. When he was able, Robbie got up and limped into his room and fell onto his bed with a sigh. God, what a day!

Things were awkward at breakfast the next morning. Robbie played it safe and got his own coffee and toast. They sat quietly at the counter while they ate.

"Hey, listen," Robbie cleared his throat before speaking. "I wanna say I'm sorry for being a jerk to you. I didn't mean to say those things to you."

Christina smiled. "It's okay. I'm sorry for kneeing you. . .down there. Are you okay now?"

Robbie shrugged. "I've been better. I think I'll live to see another day."

They smiled shyly at each other.

"So can we be friends now?" Christina asked. "Can we please stop with the fights? We have to live together, we can at least get along."

"Okay by me, I won't argue with you. Believe me, I won't." Robbie joked. Christina nudged him playfully and they laughed, all bad feelings gone.

"Hey," Robbie said. "Do you like carnivals?"

"Sure."

"There's this carnival that just opened the other day. It's near my studio. I was thinking about checking it out. Wanna come along?"

Christina hesitated. "I don't know." She looked at him warily. "Are you going to behave?"

"I promise I won't be a dick," Robbie raised his hand. "I swear I'll be nothing but good."

She relaxed. "Okay, I'll go. It's been a while since I've been to one. I really want to go."

"Great," Robbie polished off his coffee. "I get out early today. How about I pick you up later and we'll go straight there?"

"Sounds good."

"Great."

They found themselves suddenly gazing at each other for a while. Christina was aware at how green and intense his eyes were. Robbie noticed the sky blue of hers, so deep and pretty.

They jumped and refocused their attention back to their breakfast.

Later after work Christina found Robbie parked in front of her building waiting for her. She was excited to see him at that moment. Must be the carnival she thought.

The carnival was large and crowded. Loud music played while people screamed on fast rides. They walked around looking at everything.

"Wow." Christina said.

"Where do you want to start first?" Robbie asked her.

Christina pointed. "How about the roller coaster there?"

"Hell no!" Robbie backed off. "Try again."

"What, are you scared?" She teased.

Robbie ducked, embarrassed. "No. No. No. No." He scoffed. "Who's scared of a roller coaster? Not me. Ha!"

Christina nodded. "Sure you aren't. How about you prove it and get on?"

"Shut up."

They got on a few rides closer to the ground. Robbie bought her an ice cream cone, then played a couple of games at the pitching booth and won her a large brown teddy bear with a pink ribbon around its neck.

"Oh he's so cute." Christina hugged him. "Thank you, this is so fun." Things were finally good with them. She was happy.

Robbie returned her hug. "You're welcome."

They held each other for a while before breaking apart.

"Hey," Christina pointed. "Let's get on that."

Robbie turned. She was talking about the huge lighted ferris wheel nearby. "Oh, no," he shrugged.

Christina tugged his arm. "Come on, let's go. The line isn't that long."

"Nah," he shrugged, trying to be cool. "I'm gonna sit this one out. You go on ahead."

"Aw come on," she begged. "I don't wanna go by myself, where's the fun in that?"

Robbie gave her the big teddy bear. "Here you go. Mr. Bear will keep you company. You're not alone. I'll be right over here waiting for you."

Christina pouted at him before getting in line. She didn't have to wait too long before she and the bear got on. Soon she was riding near the top. The view was amazing. Although it was nice having Mr. Bear tucked next to her, Christina wished he was Robbie.

Christina looked at the area where Robbie was. He smiled and waved at her. She waved back.

The second time she went around she looked for him. What she saw shocked the hell out of her.

Robbie was lighting a cigarette.

The cigarette dangled from his lips as he flicked a lighter and bent his head to touch the cigarette to the flame. He pulled his head back and sucked in his cheeks as he inhaled, then blew out a long stream of smoke.

Christina couldn't take her eyes off of Robbie as he leaned against a wall and puffed away. This was new.

When the ride was over she dragged Mr. Bear over to him. He took one last drag before flicking it away.

"Where to now?" Robbie asked her. "You want something to eat?"

"Were you smoking?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Yeah, that's not a problem, is it? I don't smoke indoors so you can relax."

Christina didn't want to argue about it, just when they were getting along. "No, no problem."

"Good. Let's go eat, I'm starved."

On the way home Christina couldn't get the image of him smoking. "Hey, Robbie, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"How long have you been smoking?"

Robbie was quiet for a minute as he concentrated on the road. "I don't know, about a year or so, why?"

"I'm just wondering," Christina said, watching his profile. "Why do you do it?"

"Stress, stuff on my mind, you know." His jaw was clenching and he shifted in his seat.

"But what made you start?" She asked. "There must be a reason--"

"Christina, can you drop it please?" Robbie blurted out. "Just let it drop, okay?"

Christina looked at him closely. She thought he was back to being his mad self. Instead he seemed sad and a little hurt. She wanted to cheer him up and lighten the mood.

"Hey," she said brightly. "Thanks again for taking me to the carnival. I had so much fun tonight. Thanks for winning Mr. Bear for me. And thanks for not being an ass."

Robbie cracked a small smile. He glanced at her and chuckled. "You're welcome, Christina. I'm glad you had a good time."

At home they walked Sandy together before retiring to their bedrooms without any arguments. Christina hoped that things would always be like this. Much better than fighting all the time.

In the middle of the night something woke Christina. She sat up and listened. It was the sound of something sliding, like the balcony door. Was it a break in?

Christina got up, slowly opened the door a crack and peeked out. The door to the balcony was opened. Sandy was sitting nearby panting with her tongue hanging out. She wouldn't do that if there was a stranger nearby.

Quietly Christina stepped over toward the balcony. She smelled cigarette smoke. Robbie was outside leaning on the balcony rail with a cigarette in one hand. His back was to her. She watched him as he took another deep drag and blew a long stream out into the night.

Christina watched as he repeated the movement. She stayed quiet, not letting him know she was there. She felt like she was invading his privacy. She wondered what was on his mind that drove him to do that. She wondered about this man that she was living with, realizing she knew very little about him.

A/N shoutout to all you readers on 600 reads. Thank you all :-)

Cover by @ravioli_is_life_xx