Anaya got off the car and the guard escorted her upstairs. She never thought that a house she despised being in would make her feel safe. Anaya was still stunned and almost traumatized by what happened. What had happened to her in the past few hours was more terrifying than the few months she had to live here.

The two guards escorted her upstairs, and into Ali's room.

"Why am I here?" She asked one of the guys.

"This is the safest room in the whole house," He said, before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Anaya closed her eyes for a split second letting loose of the blazer she held over her head. Not a second later, the negative thoughts started to kick in. The last time she saw Amee was when Noah dragged Anaya out to another room, she had lisped to Anaya- 'I love you' before the two of them were separated. Anaya started to remember what Noah did.

His hands pulled off her hijab, while she struggled to get away from him, but he put the gun to her spine pushing it in. He touched her face, and touched her waist, outlining her figure with his fingers, she couldn't move, she couldn't speak, as the man violated her.

As His hands reached the zip of her abaya, but he halted, as a gunshot echoed all over the house. The cruel events running through her head, making her agitated and dizzy.

She wondered where Ali was now, how much danger he put himself in to keep her protected. She leaned against the door and opened the door to peek out. The two guards standing right by her door, their radio sounded and she listened closely.

"Shot's fired, sir is on the ground." The radio said.

Anaya's breathing started to fasten, her heart hammering against her check, blood rushing to her face as her already vulnerable body began to quiver, she lost the energy in her legs and closed the door, falling on the ground. She patted her chest, as she the pressure of her drawn-out breaths began to impact the back of her neck.

She was crying, but there were no more tears left.

The door opened, and Anaya couldn't even lookup.

"ANAYA!" Martha said.

"Are you okay? Darling breathe, drink some," She said, handing her the glass of water she had brought.

Anaya tried to hold the glass, but she had no strength. Martha brought up the glass to her lips, and Anaya took a couple of sips, trying to breathe. She sat up straight and looked up as Martha rubbed her chest.

The daylight began to make it's way out, as navy washed over the sky. Anaya sat there on the edge of the bed, just where Martha left her. Anaya sat there soundless, no movement, just her thoughts overtaking her

Where will she go, what will she do.

No Ali.

No Amee.

She had no one.

"I brought some soup. Please drink it, and if you can try to tell me what you're thinking." Martha said, placing the tray on the side table.

"I-" Anaya began

"W-what will I do?" She spoke, her words losing sound by the end of her sentence.

"About what? What happened?"

"He- he- he is de-.." Anaya tried to say, but she broke down yet again. She put her face in her hands.

"It'll be okay.." Martha said still confused.

"Martha, you're needed in the kitchen." One of the maids said, after knocking on the door.

"Okay. Anaya, try to eat. Please." She said, before leaving the room.

Anaya sat there, looking around the room. She got up and walked around, the familiar scent of his cologne filling her nostrils as she passed his dresser. She picked up the red bottle that was fuming out the luxurious scent, a single tear dropping falling on it.

"Be careful, that's really expensive."

Anaya halted as she heard his voice looking up in the mirror to see his reflection standing by the door. His hair disheveled his face bloody with a cut by his eyebrow. She instantly put down the bottle questioning herself before she could turn around, was she hallucinating?

She turned around and slowly walked up to him. Placing her shaky hands on his chest, tapping her fingers to see if they went through his body like a ghost, or if it was him in reality. Ali took her hand in his and looked at her.

"Are you okay? Don't worry... Jameela is in her room, she had to rest." He reassured, his voice soft as to not alarm Anaya any more than she already was.

Tears fell down Anaya's face as she just quietly stared at him.

Ali wiped her tears with the back of his hand and held her face.

"I-..." She started to speak.

"I-.. I thought. It-thought you d-die..d," She said, her voice losing sound.

"I'm alive, sweetheart. It's going to be okay now." He said, his thumb caressing her left cheek.

Anaya took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat, standing there for a good minute to apprehend all that had happened, her heart finally settling and her headache simmering down.

"You're hurt." She said, looking at his cut.

"It's nothing. Did you eat?" He said looking at the untouched tray of food and then looking back at her.

"How could I eat, when your guards were saying their boss is dead? Do you know how scared I was?... It'd be my fault if something happened to you or Amee, it would've been my fault because I wasn't able to stand up for us, I was weak and stupid, so so so stupid. I couldn't think ahead, and guard her or.. or-," Anaya began to rant, her body finally letting go of the until she felt her lips close by his.

At that moment, Anaya felt the most secure. As if the entire world was now blacked out, all that was bad was put aside, as they shared a moment full of nothing but pure love.

Ali let go of her lips and backed away to look at her.

"None of this was your fault. Never blame yourself for anything that happened. What matters is we're here now, and I'm going to protect you with every fiber of my being." He said.

Anaya looked at his stern eyes and didn't hesitate to trust him, and nod.

"It's been a very long day, rest." He said, guiding her arm gently towards the bed.

"Wait." She said.

Walking back to the dresser she pulled out the first two drawers, looking for the first aid kit, finding in the second one. She opened it and took out the alcohol pad, and a band-aid. Going back to Ali, she sat him on the ottoman and opened the alcohol pad wiping his wound while blowing on it, even though he wasn't even flinching. There they were, in the same circumstance they were in a few days ago, only now, they knew what they felt.

Anaya applied the bandaid and threw away the wrapper.

She looked at the bowl of soup and looked at him.

"Can you eat this with me?" She asked, in a whisper. But the silence of the room, making it easy for her to be heard.

Ali got up and took the tray, placing it on the bed. As they sat in front of each other, sharing the soup until the bowl was empty. As Anaya drank some water, Ali got up.

"I'm going to go take a shower." He said.

"Okay. I'll take this down." She said, holding the tray.

"You don't need to, let me call-"

"No it's okay, I want to."

Anaya took the tray and walked down the stairs, and into the kitchen. All lights were off, except the lobby. So after she placed this dish in the sink, she walked into the room that was Jameela's.

She opened the door very quietly and saw Amee, In a different scarf, asleep on the bed. Anaya walked up to her and planted a kiss on her temple.

"Anaya?" She whispered.

"Sorry, I couldn't check on you. I lost all my energy." Amee whispered.

"I'm fine Amee. We'll be okay now." She said, caressing Amee's arm.

Amee had already fallen back asleep before she could reply Anaya.

A light knock was heard, and Anaya got up to see. Ali stood there, in his drenched hair, looking as if he rushed.

"I want you to sleep in my room tonight." He said.

"I-.. I thought I was going to sleep in my old one."

"They're still cleaning yours."

"It looked pretty tidy to me.." Anaya, said trying to hide her smile.

"Just- Just come upstairs." He said, turning around and leaving.

Anaya smiled. She quickly went into her old room, and turned on the lights, and went into the closet. The clothes were still there, so she took a pair of undergarments, and a blue shirt as well as the black pants.

"I'm gonna.... yeah" Anaya, just heading into the bathroom quietly.

She took a quick shower using his non-cologne scented products, relieved that he wasn't like those weird men who used the four-in-one products, after she finished, she got dressed. She saw the packaged toothbrushes that were set out, and she opened one and brushed her teeth.

She finally left the bathroom and saw Ali laying there his arm over his eyes, and his shirt off. The blanket covered him, but Anaya still became flushed, she walked over to the other side of the bed and sat on the very edge of it, fiddling with her fingers.

She brought her legs up and leaned against the frame, and when she looked back at him, he was looking at her.

She quickly looked away and laid down covering herself with the blanket, facing her back towards him. She closed her eyes, and then she felt a hand wrap around her waist and pulling her back towards him. She could feel his chest against her back, so she turned herself around looking up to see his eyes closed, her head under his chin. She too closed her eyes.

And for the first time in a long time, Anaya wasn't afraid of the dark, or nervous for her safety, she was at peace as she very hastily fell into a well-awaited slumber.