It feels like someone has put bricks over my eyelids making it harder for me as I struggle to open my eyes. They feel so heavy, almost like I'm being burdened under a lot of weight. There are whispers around me but I cannot make out the sound of it. But, wait? Where the hell am I?

The panic to find the answer to that question makes me shoot my eyes open and gasp loudly.

"Diana!" I hear a relieved voice and look at the source.

"Uncle Marcel!" I almost croak because of how dry my throat feels.

He hands me over a glass of water and I gulp it down in one go, trying to make a sense of my jumbled thoughts.

"How do you feel, dear?" Uncle Marcel asks.

"What happened?" I question him back, still trying to figure out how did I end up here.

I don't even know where here is.

"You passed out." He says and that's enough to stir the memories.

The parking lot! I was there with Ethan before he tried to pull a move on me and then I kicked him, I suppose. But, why did I pass out? I frown to myself as I try to remember what happened next but all I can recall is a blurred vision of me running away from the bastard and then..

Crying?

"Are you okay?" He asks again and I try to nod but my head is throbbing from inside.

"Yes, I'm fine. Can I go home? I need to see -"

I'm cut off when the door to the room opens, making me scowl at the person standing there, and the one behind him.

"What are they doing here?" I ask.

Although I want to sound mad, I cannot. I don't have the strength to put up a fight with anyone right now.

"They were the ones who found you, dear. I'll give you people a minute before you tell me what exactly happened." He informs before leaving the room and I try to sit up straight.

"Hey, don't! You need to rest." Lucy says and I give her a nod but still sit half up.

"What happened?" I find myself asking the same question again, trying to fill the blurred lines.

"I was going out for lunch when I found you crouched down in the middle of the parking and you were holding on so tightly to your phone, Diana. Your breaths were so shallow and you kept chanting something I couldn't figure out. I didn't know what to do so I went to look out for someone and I found him. When we came back, before you could actually say anything, you passed out. I called Mr. Wilson immediately and we brought you to my apartment, since it's the closest to the office." She finishes with a breath and I nod.

Uncle Marcel brought me to Lucy's apartment rather than taking me to the hospital. Well, at least someone remembers little details about me.

"He had a doctor come in here, the only thing doctor said was that you need rest." She gives me a small smile which I try to return.

"Thanks, Lucy. Err, thanks to both of you." I gesture towards them.

He hasn't uttered a single word ever since he stepped in here, though he hasn't even once flickered his eyes away from my face.

"Can you give us a moment?" I hear him finally speak and although he's talking to Lucy, his gaze is still fixed on me.

Lucy shares a look with me and I give her a subtle nod after which she rushes out of the room. He starts walking towards me and takes a seat beside me on the bed.

"Diana?" He calls for my name but I refuse to look at him.

But then I feel his touch on my chin and immediately slap his hand away, cringing under his touch. He scowls at my action as he reads my face.

"What the hell did he do to you?" He finally asks the dreaded question and I meet his eye for a second before looking straight ahead at the wall.

"Who?" I try to keep my voice nonchalant as I cross my legs in front of me.

"Diana!" He pushes and I finally turn around to face him.

"Aaron!" I give him a lazy smile.

His eyes flicker there and then he looks into my eyes, as if finding an answer to something. He looks confused and restless.

"You scared me when you passed out." He admits and I laugh a little.

"Don't worry, I wasn't waiting for you to make an appearance before I could take my last breath." I try to joke and he smiles a little.

"If you were going to die, I would have woken you up one last time to know your last wish."

I chuckle, "Well, you must be really confident that I'll tell you my last wish."

His smile drops at my words and just like that, the playful mood is gone. "You don't trust me enough to tell me your last wish before you are about to die?" He pouts.

"Er.. I don't know. Why are we making this a big deal? I'm alive and to be honest, I don't even know what my last wish will be." I try to subtly lie for the last part and he just stares back at me.

"You were crying when I found you." He says the only thing I never wanted to hear from anyone, let alone him.

"What? No! I wasn't crying." I try to shake him off as I make an attempt to get out of comforters but he a grasps my wrist, much like Ethan.

His touch immediately makes my skin tremble and I back away from him. "Don't touch me." I tell him, it's more of a request than an order.

I can't bear the thought of any person out of my comfort level being close to me. My voice sounds vulnerable but this is something I need, if anyone tries to take it lightly, I might have repeat telecast of what just happened today.

"Can you please call Mr. Wilson for me?" I request and he opens his mouth to speak something but closes it just then.

He gives me a small smile before leaving the room and after a minute, Uncle Marcel enters in. I hate putting him in a situation where he has to worry about me. The fact that he has been so low since morning because of Charlotte just adds upon my guilt.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Marcel. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble or spoil your day." I apologise and mean it.

He comes to sit by my side and ruffles my hair lightly, something he has been doing since I was a child. "Your old man is always here for you, young lady. Now, tell me Diana, what really happened?" He puts a comforting hand on my own and I flinch a little.

"I don't mean to cause trouble in your office, but do you remember Ethan Williams?" I ask and he scowls at my question.

"Yes, I do. Please go on."

"Well, he asked me if I would like to accompany him to lunch this morning and I agreed. You know how I despise my co-workers but I thought it would be a nice to have a change once. Anyway, I didn't feel like myself today and when we were halfway down the road to restaurant, I told him that we'll have lunch some other time because I wasn't feeling like myself today. Anyway, long story short, he offered me a ride home and when we reached his car, he made a move on me and tried to pester me even when I made it clear how I wanted nothing to do with that man." I tell him with a tense tone and I notice how his fingers turn into a fist at my words. "I got away somehow, but I don't know what happened Uncle Marcel, I just started panicking, I felt so paranoid." I choke out the words and he wraps an arm around me in a comforting manner.

"Oh dear! I had no idea you were having panic attacks again."

Why did he say it out loud? I didn't want to say it out loud, it would have been easier the other way.

"It was just one time thing." I tell him but he looks into my eye.

"How bad was it, Diana? You passed out!"

I can tell it's taking everything in him to keep his calm at the moment, especially knowing that someone else is responsible for what happened, but I just need him to sit with me, not talk about how it felt while I was present in that situation.

"You had a breakdown right after it, didn't you?" His tone is so concerned that even though I want to lie, I find myself nodding.

"Yes, but I'm fine now. I just want to go home, please just take me home." I hug him tightly and he returns the embrace.

"It will be okay, Diana." He shushes me up and we sit like that for minutes.

After a while, I go to the restroom and straighten out my clothes but when I get out, Uncle Marcel is long gone. Lucy tells me that he had something important to deal with and though I wanted him to drop me home, I think it's better if I take a cab back to my apartment. It will give me enough time to clear out my head.

"Where are you going?" Lucy asks when I collect my stuff from her dining table.

Is it bad that I feel way too tired to even respond to her question? I just want to lie down in my bed and not get out for next few month, if that's possible.

"Home." I tell her and she looks over at Aaron who stands beside her.

"I'm dropping you back," he begins but just as I'm about to cut him off, he continues, "Mr. Wilson's order, Miss."

I really want to argue with him but his last words shut me up. Also, I don't think I have it in me to fight with anyone right now. My head throbs and I just want to close my eyes. Aaron leads me towards the front door before I pass Lucy a thankful nod and she gives me a smile, which I return. It doesn't take long to reach Aaron's car and though I feel apprehensive to get into that enclosed space with him, I think it's much better option than taking a cab home.

The next ten minutes of the car ride go in complete and utter silence while I stare out of the window and Aaron focuses his eye on the road.

"You eavesdropped while I was talking to Uncle Marcel, didn't you?" I finally speak up, still not looking at him but I can tell when his gaze momentarily falls on me from my peripheral vision.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He says while his hold on the steering wheel goes slightly tighter, almost turning his bruised knuckles white.

"You're a terrible liar, Aaron." I state and he sighs.

"I don't know what got into me, I've never seen you like this in the few months that I've known you. For a fact, I knew you wouldn't ever talk to me about it but I just wanted to know if I could help you-"

I stop him just then when I look at him and speak, "Can you, Aaron? Can you help me?" I ask, almost scoffing and he pouts.

"If it helps you, I never liked Ethan. He always was a douche to everyone, considering he was my boss. But, I'm really sorry for what happened, you didn't deserve it." He says and I look away.

"Of course, I did. After everything that I've done to other people, I did deserve it. I'm such a horrible friend and - well, err.. person," I sigh a little before continuing, "And what are you sorry for, Aaron? It's not like you could have done anything to stop him."

"Don't say all that stuff in front of me. And if I hadn't been such a jerk to you yesterday, we would have gone to lunch together and it would have saved you the pain."

I read his face and a crushing truth dawns upon me, a part of him blames himself for what happened today. Damn! I feel myself tongue tied at the realization as I just stare at him. He glances back at me and our eyes meet just for a second before he sets his eyes on the road again.

"Uncle Marcel went to fire him, didn't he?" I ask.

He gives me a sad smile, "Yes, how did you know?"

"I figured."

He just nods to that but I can tell he wants to ask something. He's restless in his driving seat and I cannot handle enough squeaking right now.

"What's on your mind?" I finally ask, making it easier for him to talk.

"I know you already dislike me enough and you absolutely hate it when I meddle with your personal business, but I was wondering that you just passed out like that, wouldn't you want your parents to know?" He asks and I can tell he's not too sure of himself even when he states the question.

A part of me wants to tell him to shut up and mind his own business but how long can I tell people to do that?

"I don't have any parents, Aaron. Uncle Marcel is enough of a father figure to me." I shrug and he just stares at me to which I speak up again, "Eyes on the road."

His face flushes at that but not enough for him to stop asking questions, "Does that mean they are-?"

I beat him to that, "Dead? Yes!" I sigh and look away.

"I'm sorry, Dee." He uses the nickname that not even his brother calls me from but I don't point it out.

"You need to stop apologising for things that aren't your mistakes." I inform him and he nods. I know if none of us start a conversation within seconds, the rest of the car ride will turn real awkward very soon. What do I even talk about? Just as I'm wondering something strikes me and I immediately open my mouth, "You were with Lizzy, no? Where did she go?"

"I sent her back home after I found you."

I almost go stiff in my seat as I question him, "Please don't tell me she encountered all that too."

"Don't worry, she didn't even come near you." He says and I sigh in relief when my gaze falls on his hand again.

"What happened to your hand?" I ask out of curiosity and I notice the way he immediately scowls at it.

"Nothing." He responds, way too uptight.

As if on cue, it strikes me, "You punched him, didn't you?" I gasp and one look from him is enough for me to know that I came to the correct realization.

"Diana, -" he starts but I cut him off.

"No Aaron, why would you do that? And when did you even do it?" My voice is laced with utter shock.

He takes a deep breath, "Right after you passed out. I didn't know what he had done but his name was the last you uttered before you fainted. So, I located him in a distance in the basement and well, that was it."

What do I even say to that? No one has ever stood up for me like that, except the small amount of people I consider family. Why did he even do it after all I've done is treated him like shit?

"Thank you, Aaron!" I blurt and mean it.

"You're not mad?" He sounds surprised and I laugh a little.

"Why would I be mad? Ethan deserved it! And after the way I've treated you since the day I laid eyes on you, I'm not sure if I deserve you being this nice to me." I tell him honestly.

"You're most welcome, Diana." He smiles and puts his hand above mine and despite my instinct, I don't flinch away.