03:06.

the kitchen was dark; quiet and filled with the heavy air of strangled breathing and silent whimpers. roma's bare feet were met with the harsh cold of the black and white tiles, slowly hopping from one foot to the other. hands frantically searched through her cupboards for something that could be of use to her;

tried to distract herself from the impending desire to be close to him, as well as the fear and air of secrecy as to how he'd ended up in her flat, again.

roma's heart beat rapidly. she was frightened.

baekhyun was leant over the sink, having rid himself of his stained leather jacket. revealed were the dark purple bruises inflicted upon his knuckles; upon his pale, cracked skin. the sound of the rushing water from the tap only emphasised the lack of conversation between them.

roma was scared, nervous; fumbling through the drawers and shelves in an effort to find the bandages and plasters. hands and fingers shook. water rushed loudly, like a waterfall. baekhyun groaned quietly. light from the prevailing moon slithered through the half-open window, shadowing the flooring.

she had flicked the light switch on as they'd entered together, repeating the action as the darkness remained, only to find that the bulb had gone, leaving her with the sole light provision of a few lit candles and the half-moon.

no words. nothing but silence. her mouth opened, but closed shut again.

baekhyun grumbled, the water flowing over his bare, wounded arms.

she found the bandages; climbed down from the counter and headed over towards baekhyun. bare feet silently touched the floor, didn't make a sound.

an arm carefully wound around his back, roma notifying him of her presence.

"baekhyun," she whispered, fingers stroking the material of his shirt.

he winced, turned. stared.

like a child, he looked lost and unsure of what to do, his bloodied hands shaking from the impact of what he'd done. as always, roma wanted to ask, to know something or anything or everything about this mysterious and confusing boy. but couldn't formulate the words to do so.

red and raw skin was evident, painful, even in the dimness. roma offered her help, holding out her hands to dry his freezing, cold arms with the towel. baekhyun complied, allowing roma's gentle touch to carefully wipe away the cold water and remaining blood stains.

after, she put the cloth away and to the side, fumbling and dropping the plasters on the counter in her attempt to grab them. she cursed herself silently, bent down to pick them up as she thanked the darkness, the shade obscuring her embarrassed state; her frantic gestures and movements.

as the silence fell, roma questioned her own sanity; questioned why she was doing this to herself. it was dark, and baekhyun's eyes were shining and reflecting like glass from the shadows of light. roma's heart was beating so loudly and violently, it felt as though it would burst right out of her chest.

"roma, you don't have to."

she knew she didn't have to. she also knew that baekhyun didn't mean that, as his pleading expression wasn't easily disguised, trembling lips suggesting otherwise. blood-red, still stained hands rested within her grasp as she unravelled the white material and wrapped it around his knuckles, making sure to be especially careful, clasping his fingers together.

if i didn't have to, then why are you here?

she didn't reply to him.

he winced, and her eyes shot up to meet his, searching for the pain and apprehension. searching for anything. baekhyun only looked down, not wanting to meet her in return.

roma continued her task, concealing his wounds in the soft fabric, listening to his unusually unsteady and hard breathing. baekhyun sounded scared, too, the lack of continuity in his intakes of breath implying the heavy and quick rate of his heartbeats.

she finished, still not uttering a word, gathering the things she'd taken out and escaping to the other side of the kitchen to put them back into the cupboard. roma could still hear his breaths, matched with her own.

footsteps echoed. silence surrounded. roma sighed quietly.

scrunched her eyes and bravely turned around, slowly but surely.

"baekhyun?"

clear voice punctured the silenced atmosphere.

roma walked a few steps forward. one foot after the other. keeping her gaze upward.

he stared at her.

she stopped. stood in front of him.

she brought a quivering hand up to remove the stray strands of hair that had fallen over his face, stuck to his forehead, obscuring his vision.

roma gasped again at the parts she'd missed, seeing the large, dark purple bruise puffing the skin around his eye, the painful, scarlet cut still open and sore, a trickle of blood dried down the side of his cheek.

roma acted quickly, forgot what she wanted to say, grabbing the cloth again and letting the cold water drench it, the tap water gushing and hitting the bottom of the metal sink. baekhyun didn't protest, watched her intently as she squeezed some of the water out.

she decided that she hated, more than anything, seeing him like this, so unthreatening and so broken, so that she had to take charge and be the one to take care of him this time.

his strong arms were damaged and scarred, shaking from the impact, unable to hold himself up.

ridding the cloth of its heavy dampness, roma cupped one hand upon the side of his face, keeping him in line with her. she quickly brought the towel up; began to dab at the gushing cut, fading the blood into a paler colour of cerise.

he winced, eyes squeezing shut.

"sorry," roma apologised. she really was.

"it's fine," he mumbled.

she choked back the tears.

roma continued, wiping away the remnants of his mysterious and unknown actions. gentle touches soothed his aching entirety, her caressing hand relieving him of his most recent, dark memories. he tried to focus on her only; observed her fumbling yet sharp and careful movements with an air of curiosity overpowering the pain from his bruises.

emptiness encompassed the small kitchen once again.

don't cry.

she couldn't help herself, though, seeing the blood-soaked kitchen towels and the visible swellings of his beautiful skin.

before she could stop the sniffling and hide away the prevailing tears, baekhyun had lifted up her face.

"hey," he said sympathetically, pulling her into a warm hug, the action only causing her to sob even harder. the second time she'd cried tonight.

she felt like such an idiot: so naïve and pathetic and stupid.

"baekhyun," she murmured into his chest, clinging to him desperately. "what happened?"

her question went unheard, the sound of his name falling helplessly from her mouth only resulting in him holding her tighter, to try and make her forget.

"i'm sorry," he said, for what must have been the hundredth time.

baekhyun's arm carefully encompassed her within his grasp. his hand reached around to stroke her hair, the back of her head, comforting her despite him being the one suffering from the physical pain. soft fingers ran through the dark strands, his body starting to rock backwards and forwards, taking him with her in his hold.

roma peeled herself from him, using her hand to wipe away the escaping tears. focus turned again to his damaged form and features, a single finger reaching up to trace the engraved cut on the right-hand side of his face.

"what happened? tell me."

her voice was still thick with tears and desperation.

"nothing happened. you don't need to worry," he explained casually. and roma was so done with all this pretending and him acting like this.

"don't lie to me," she spoke through gritted teeth.

"roma--"

"baekhyun, tell me what happened."

"i can't, i--"

"what did you do?"

the demanding tone of her voice cut through the thick tension in the atmosphere. roma was blunt, sharp, taking baekhyun aback even in his current weakened state.

"it was nothing, i just got into a bit of a fight at the club, it was busy and all that. nothing serious. it happens."

"baekhyun."

"what, roma?"

she took a deep breath. counted to three.

"you have to tell me what's going on, i-if this is how it's going to be."

both of them weren't really sure what she meant by that, but the thudding of their hearts suggested something else.

the way baekhyun reacted, paused, after the words left her mouth, confirmed to roma what she supposed already.

her heart stopped; her mouth creasing into a shocked and scared frown, as she lifted his face up to look at her. roma searched for the honest truth in his shining eyes.

"baekhyun," she let out, her breath heavy and shallow. "baekhyun, you didn't."

her tone was incredulous. he didn't respond, simply averted his gaze and bit down, hard, on his lower lip.

roma knew. he'd gone to find jack.

"it was jack," she stated.

baekhyun looked up at her momentarily, still not able to come up with a viable explanation as to his violent and somewhat sudden actions.

"why?" she mumbled, completely at a loss for words, not sure what she had to do to react appropriately to this situation. "how?"

roma was staring at him, shocked and finding it difficult to maintain her breathing.

"because he's a dick who deserved it. no-one can do that to you and fucking get away with it, roma."

roma couldn't believe that either of them had it in them to result in such terrible injuries. she watched him wince and groan occasionally as the words he spoke painfully stretched out his mouth. his protection over her made her heart thud heavily against her ribcage.

"he's worse off than me, anyway. he hit like a girl."

a curve of a smirk ghosted across his lips, as if it was all a joke. roma didn't even want to imagine how jack looked right now, if he was worse. fear bubbled up inside of her, as she analysed the man stood facing her; realised his capabilities. he was dangerous. not good for her.

"i can't believe you," she managed, stepping back slightly. "why would you do that?"

he moved forward, closing the gap between them, encircling her with his overpowering being of dark eyes and sturdy form.

"roma, he was going to hurt you."

his voice was so deep and gravelly, so defined by what he meant.

she gasped, his hand snaking around her waist, their foreheads resting upon one another.

"i don't like seeing you like this," she sighed, eyes shut, holding onto his arm in a comforting manner.

"i'm sorry."

"just...please. never again, okay."

roma was at a total loss of communication, her muddled mind and puzzled thoughts all merging into a mess of her bringing baekhyun even closer to her shaking form.

she couldn't think straight. everything he'd just said seemed unreal and unbelievable. instead of trying to make sense of it all, she just held him, assuring herself that it was going to be okay.

"roma," baekhyun began, pulling away slightly.

"hmm?"

"i don't really know what the fuck's going on, but all i really know is that i need," baekhyun paused, looking so deeply into her that she was, once again, grateful for the darkness, "to be around you." 

it was inexplicable, but roma decided that it was too early in the morning and she'd cried enough for one night to ask what he meant by that.

taking one last long look at his damaged face, roma let out a deep breath and buried herself into the crook of his neck, clinging to him.

"stay," she whispered.

"okay."

that was all that was needed to be said.

roma didn't quite remember the gentle but fervent touches, or the pained smile he flashed her, or the way the dim lighting made his eyes seem darker. nor did she remember exactly how baekhyun ended up staying the night, coming back to her room, watching the lights go as they left the kitchen and entered her bedroom.

but she woke up the next day, one of his arms draped sleepily across her waist, her back to him, laying comfortably in her bed. the sound of his heavy breathing reassuring her.

she sighed peacefully.

//