When I wake up, I feel much better. I open my eyes and see Dante sleeping, his head was torqued and facing away from me. I yawn, still feeling tired but not wanting to sleep anymore. Sleep usually brings nightmares. I realized I was still wrapped in Dante's arms so I gently tried to free myself without waking him, which I was successful at. I walked over to the air conditioner and sat in front of it, feeling the nice cold air. I can hear the rain falling, it's very soothing. I start to feel very tired so I turn my head to face Dante on his bed, I want to get up and go over but I'm so tired I just stay sitting and lean against the wall.

When I wake up I hear Dante laugh lightly, I pick my head up and look at him, he's right above me and looking down at me with a grin.
"Take a look at yourself." He said, still grinning. I look down at myself and notice that my skin is light blue. Before I was able to freak out, Dante picked me up and said: "You need to warm up, you're a human popsicle." He grabbed the blanket off his bed and wrapped it around me before sitting down on the bed and pulling me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me. I smile lightly and say "I feel better." Dante smiled in return and said "Good, 'cause you still haven't eaten yet." I was about to get up but Dante held me tighter and said: "Nuh-uh, you still need to warm up, human popsicle." I laugh lightly, finding it so amusing for some reason.

After 10 minutes I was released, my skin back to its normal pale color. I got dressed in black skinny jeans, black ankle socks, and my white and red converse.
"Aren't you gonna change your shirt?" Dante asked me, I just smiled lightly and said: "Nah, I like wearing this." Dante smirked and said "I'm glad you like my shirt. Put on a coat and we'll go get something to eat." I smile and grab my blue winter coat, quickly putting it on. I run over and take Dante's hand, he smiles at me and leads me down the stairs from his apartment. As we descend the stairs we enter what looks like a shop. There is a desk with a phone on it, I see a jukebox and some couches.
"What is this place?" I ask,
"Oh, it's my shop. I run a business." Dante said as we left the shop.

As soon as we're outside, the rain starts pelting us. Dante quickly flips my hood to cover my head, when I look at him he just smiled lightly and said: "Don't want you getting sick again." He said we would be walking because the place is only a 10-minute walk. While we walk I can't help but look around, scared to see Michael somewhere. Dante said it was okay and that he wouldn't come near me but I'm still scared. Dante looks his age, 19. Michael also looks his age, 31. He thinks he can take on anyone younger than him.

After 5 minutes of looking around and seeing nothing, I start to feel better. I turn my head to face forward but I see someone in the corner of my eyes. I turn my head and see Michael glaring at us from across the street. I screech and tug Dante's hand, saying "We need to go! we need to go!" He looks at me and says "Why do we need to..." Dante cut himself off when he heard Michael's heavy footsteps run away on the sidewalk. Dante then growled and said, "I'll keep that bastard away from you, I'll kill him if I have to, and I will." He let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close to him. He started walking faster and I had to struggle to keep up with him.

Soon we made it to a small restaurant and he stopped rushing, I stopped as well and tried to catch my breath.
"Sorry for making you rush, I just wanted to hurry up and get here," Dante said and ushered me inside. As soon as I entered the restaurant I was hit was hot air which caused me to immediately take my coat off. I looked around and saw we were in a Japanese cafe, it looks nice, kind of familiar. A small Japanese woman, smaller than me, came over and took my hand in both of hers, saying "Oh darling, you finally found someone to take care of you. Come, come this way." She led us to this table that was close to the ground but there were rectangular holes around it for us to sit and dangle our legs.

We sat down and the lady put her hand on Dante's shoulder, saying "Thank you for helping out Gardenia, she's an angel who has been through hard times." It wasn't until the lady walked away from us that I remembered who she was.
"You know her?" Dante asked me, I nodded and said "Yeah, her name is Yuka Hatanaka. When my mom was still alive she would take me here and Yuka would always be the one to serve us. I would always insist Yuka sit with us so we could talk. She's a really sweet woman." Dante placed his hand on my shoulder and said: "Your mom is dead?" I nod and say "Yeah, she died soon after my dad, broken heart syndrome. She couldn't go on without him. They've known each other since they were in kindergarten." Dante hugs me gently and says "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I'm over it," I say even though I'm not.

Yuka comes back over and places a pot of tea on the table and says "Can I get you two anything to drink?" Dante picks up the drink menu but I don't have to. I was able to remember all the drinks here and I said: "Aloe vera juice, please." Yuka smiled and said "Of course, you would order it every time you came here. It's good to see you here again. Now, what would you like, dear?" Dante looked through the drink menu for a bit longer before saying "Orange soda." Can't blame him. A lot of the drinks here suck. Yuka smiled and said, "I'll go get that for you." As soon as she left, I rested my head on Dante's shoulder and smiled. This is the happiest I've been in a long time.

I hear someone enter the restaurant and Dante turns his head to look at them. He tenses up but doesn't say anything and I don't think anything of it. Yuka comes back quickly and gives us our drinks. She smiled and said, "Mr. Azuma is so happy you have returned and that you found a nice man to take care of you that he said your guys' meal is on the house as a celebration. Now then, what would you like to order?" I smile and say "Soup dumplings, please." Yuka threw her hands up in fake exasperation and said "Why, why just that? Your meal is free! Take advantage of this!" I laughed, Yuka would always do this when my mom brought me here, whenever I ordered something small she would do this whole fake irritation act and say how I'm too skinny and I need to eat more, she would do it for so many other reasons just to make me laugh.

After a bit, we had ordered a lot of food, chicken tempura, soup dumplings, yakitori, tonkatsu, onigiri, karaage, and mitarashi dango. As soon as Yuka left, I open my bottle of aloe vera juice and hand it to Dante, saying "Try it, it's so good. It's so sweet, like candy" Dante took the bottle and said, "It's cloudy and there is stuff floating inside it."
"If it's cloudy then you know it's good and the stuff floating inside is the pulp," I said it with such a big smile Dante smiled lightly in return. He took a sip and immediately handed me back the bottle, saying "Oh god, that's awful." I laugh and say "It's not that bad." I take a big gulp to prove the juice is good.

Dante was about to make what I was sure was a smart ass remark but suddenly I hear a little girl scream and see her come running out of the bathroom. She went over to her father and tugged on his pant leg, saying "There's a creepy man in the bathroom!" I look towards the bathroom and the man ran out. He was running so fast it was a blur and I couldn't see him clearly. Dante gripped my arm tightly as he watched the entrance, after a minute he looked away and noticed the grip he had on my arm. He immediately released it and said "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I would have to get you out of here so I wanted to keep a hold on you."
"Why would you think you would have to get me out of here?"
"I thought that guy was Michael, but I couldn't tell, he had the same build but he had his head down and his face was covered by a hat," Dante said. I tense up when I hear that. Is he stalking me now? Oh god, he's gonna get me, I just know it. What is he gonna do when he gets his hands on me? Is he gonna kill me? Or is he gonna do worse?

I was so lost in thought I didn't notice Dante shaking me. I look at him and say "Sorry, what?"
"Are you okay? You zoned out for a bit."
"I'm fine, I just... I'm fine."
"Very convincing," Dante said, sounding a little sarcastic and a little annoyed. I sigh and say "I'm just worried Michael will get his hands on me."
"I won't ever let that bastard touch you, if he even comes near you I'll slaughter him," Dante said and placed his arm around me. before I could say anything the food arrived. Dante smiled and said, "Alright, this should make you feel better." I smile and grab one of the yakitori skewers, taking a bite of the chicken. Dante grabbed a soup dumpling so I quickly said: "Do you know how to eat those?" He looked at me and said, "What are you talking about?"
"With normal dumplings, you can just pop the entire thing in your mouth without a second thought, but not those. They are filled with a steaming broth that you have to drink first. You bite a hole at the top and suck it out. If you were to eat the entire thing like a regular dumpling then you would burn your mouth pretty bad." Dante grinned and said "Thanks for the tip."

After an hour we had finished most of the food, my favorite was the soup dumplings and the tonkatsu, Dante liked the chicken tempura and the karaage. Yuka stayed with us for part of our meal but she couldn't be with us for long, the place was really busy and she was only one of two waiters here today. She came by when we were done and asked us if we wanted dessert. I shook my head and said "I can't eat anymore." Dante laughed and said, "I feel like a balloon about to pop." Yuka smiled and said "Well it was nice to see you again, Gardenia. And it was nice to meet you, uh..."
"Dante."
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Dante. You take good care of Gardenia."
"I will." After that, Dante and I left. It was still raining out so I put my coat back on and Dante flipped my hood before I had the chance. I laughed, finding it to be funny.

We walked not even 4 minutes before I heard someone scream "You'll pay, you whore!" I recognized it as Michael. Before I could turn around I heard a gunshot. I flinched, but it wasn't me who got shot. I looked and saw Dante stagger and fall. Oh no.
"Dante!" I scream in panic and fear. I wanted to check to see that if by some miracle he had survived but I took off running when I heard Michael start walking towards me. As soon as I started running he started running. I had to find some place safe. I looked around, trying to find anywhere I could go. The only place I could think to go was Love Planet, all the girls there will protect me, they know me and love me. We would always do each others hair and makeup.

I turn into an alley as a shortcut but halfway through I twisted my ankle and fell, scraping my knee badly. I cry out in pain and try to get up. I hear someone running towards me and I know it's Michael. I cower in fear and scream "Get away from me!"
"Gardenia, it's me." That voice. I look up and see Dante. He's alive!
"Dante!" I cry and hold my arms out like a child wanting to be held. Dante picks me up and says "You got a pretty bad scrape. Let's go home and I'll take care of it." He said calmly. I bury my face in his shoulder and keep crying.
"I thought you were dead."
"He only shot my shoulder. The bullet went right through, I'm fine." Dante said in a calming voice. I thought he was shot in the head, he staggered like he was. I don't care, I don't care. As long as he is okay.
"Wheres Michael?"
"I don't know, he took off running down a different alley as soon as he saw me chasing him," Dante said and adjusted me.

Once we got back to his apartment, Dante set me on his bed and told me he'd be back. I took off my coat and set it down by the bed. My jeans were wet, dirty, and a little bloody. I touch my knee a bit and it stings like crazy. Dante came back in the room and knelt down in front of me. He examined my knee for a second before saying "You're gonna need to take off your jeans." I felt nervous for some reason. I know he isn't gonna do anything bad but I still feel nervous and a little scared. I slowly remove my jeans and set them near my coat. Dante grabbed a cotton ball and poured some disinfectant on it. When he started to clean the scrape and I made a small pained noise and moved my leg. Dante just held it still and said: "I know it hurts but it needs to get cleaned." Now I feel embarrassed. I'm 17, I shouldn't act like a kid about this.

Once my knee was cleaned, a bandage was put on it and it was done. I stand up but have to bite my tongue so I don't cry out in pain and I have to lean on Dante so I don't fall. He looks down and see's that I'm only standing on my left ankle so he makes me sit down and removes my shoe, immediately saying "Oh shit, I think you broke your ankle."
"What? No, I just twisted it." I say, I look down and realize that Dante is right, I did break it. He picks me up and says "Well, gotta get you to the hospital so we can get a cast on it." I put my coat back on and Dante helps me get a pair of yoga pants on. He carries me downstairs, out into the rain and sets me on his motorcycle. He gets on and I wrap my arms around his waist. As soon as he starts driving I start feeling tired so I rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes, within an instant I'm asleep.