Staying over anywhere was uncomfortable to Cassie; she couldn't sleep how she wanted, she couldn't listen to what she wanted to and most of all she would have to worry about getting attacked or assaulted by someone. Not that she thought she was important enough to be attacked, but the thought still scared her.

So naturally, when Ankara explained everyone in the company was to go on a retreat for their various jobs, the first thing that popped into Cassie's head was this. How was she going to sleep? Not that she did, but a few hours would be good enough, but she wasn't even sure if she'd be able to get that much while on this trip.

Cassie stood alone with her earbuds in, they weren't even plugged in. The end was just stuck inside her bag so no one would bother her, but of course someone did. She turned and nearly dropped everything she was holding.

"I'm glad to finally see a familiar face." Hayate said with a small smile. Shit, I forgot Hayate worked here! "Though I thought only certain departments were coming." Hayate questioned.

"Yeah, I did too. I didn't see anyone besides people I know so I just assumed." Cassie said while removing her earbuds hoping the end wouldn't pop out.

"Looks like Ankara went all out for this huh?" To accommodate over a thousand people, yeah he did. "Still, how about we stay together? This way if anything happens we just have to look for each other." Cassie nodded to him, she was actually happy he proposed this idea, because she was worried about so much that having one thing off her hands was a blessing.

"Yeah! That'll be really nice." She said, Hayate smiled and kept talking to her after that. Her and Hayate remained together and even on the train ride they sat together and occupied all their seats just to be alone. Cassie tried to remain busy, but her anxiety wouldn't allow her to, so instead she found herself staring out the window of the train trying to watch whatever she could as they sped by. I wonder if I'll see someone dead outside the train, that'll suck so much dick.

"Cassie?" She looked to Hayate.

"Yeah?"

"I remembered you told me you wanted to use my tablet for something."

"Oh yeah, it has a pen so I was thinking you might have Photoshop or something like that."

"Well I'm thinking of sleeping for a bit, so if you want to use it now you can."

"Really? Well, thanks!" He chuckled and gave her everything she needed.

"There's no lock on it so don't worry about knowing a password." Cassie nodded and eagerly opened it trying to see all the applications he had, she heard Hayate laugh and looked up to see him digging through his luggage for something. Well, if he was laughing at me I don't care, I can finally see how my book cover might look!

...

The train ride lasted a full day and a half before they finally arrived at their destination. They were only going to be staying here for a week and each department was to see their sponsor in order to find out specifically what they would be doing and why they're here in the first place. Cassie spent a full day with her department listening to an experienced author; she learned about the publication process as well as dealing with things such as book signings, business offers and he also taught them about not concerning about being a 'big name' author because they make the same money and get the same amount of publicity, the only extra thing they get is having to deal with the public heavily scrutinized them.

So after this, they were let go for dinner and were to spend the rest of the week however they wanted. Cassie immediately got her food and took it to her hotel room where she ate in peace there. Her dinner was finished and she thought to write a bit before finally heading to bed, but it was almost like everything was against her. She had gone out to throw away her trash when suddenly the light in the hallway went out.

She stopped moving and stepped back until she hit a wall. She remained there motionless. "Fuck me, I knew I should have brought my phone!" She whispered to herself. Cassie began to sldle against the wall hoping to find her door so she could go and get her phone but after a bit she had only run into a corner.

Her room had been on the floor above the one she was on and through another set of doors up the stairs, so she'd have to find the right door, go up the stairs and hope she was on the right side of the hallway then hug the wall again until she found her room. Great. She hated this. Instead, she just remained standing on a wall hoping for the power to return.

After a minute she saw a light down the hallway, it went off as soon as she looked at it and her worst fears rose up. This is some shit I would write! Someone shut off the power and is looking for hopeless people in the dark, but you ain't killing me today! Cassie began to move to the other hallway as fast as she could, but then heard Hayate call out to her and stopped abrputly. Oh, it's just him. Cassie stopped and went back, Hayate held up the light in his hand for her to see him before shutting it off.

"Why'd you run off like that?" He asked once he caught up to her. Because I thought you were a killer.

"I just didn't know who it was." She admitted with a soft voice. He smiled at her, "But why'd you turn off your light?"

"Because my phone's about to die." Wonderful.

"Well, I can get my phone for us, I just can't see." He nods and turn on his own phone once more and they go back to her room easily. Along the way, they ran into a few people who were also just as confused about the power being off, so they were going down to the main desk to complain. Pretty much Cassie's entire floor was empty now, she opened her door and came back with her phone, Hayate turned off his and they went back out to the hallway.

"Do you think we should just go back to our rooms?" Cassie asked.

"We could, but if this is something serious I think we should know what's going on. I say we wait until one of them returns to ask what happened." Cassie agreed. "Speaking of which, is the internet off too?" She checked and confirmed that it was.

"Maybe it's faulty wires? They said this place is pretty ancient."

"Well if it is, it'd be good for us to stay together then." Hayate explained.

"Why?" Cassie had to ask.

"Because if a fire breaks out being together would be better." Fuck, I hate how smart he is.

"Yeah..." Cassie smiled softly causing Hayate to as well.

"Since we're by your room, maybe staying here would be good." No, maybe sleeping in the hallway sounds better, but she agreed and returned to waiting for everyone else in the silence and darkness of the hallway.

Okay, so there are some slight problems with you being in my room Hayate. The fact that I'm a huge pervert and have next to no idea how NOT to think about us having sex. You smell like you just took a shower so at least you won't be getting undressed in my room, but where are you going to sleep? Cause' I kind of want my bed but it's gonna be uncomfortable as hell for you to sleep on the floor or even in one of those chairs so...

Cassie was running her brain ragged until finally after seventeen minutes, the groups that had gone to the front desk returned and explained the manager said an electrician wouldn't be out until the morning, but since it was already night time, it really didn't make a difference if the lights were on or not.

"They also said that they'd be taking extra safety measures in case this was something else." One of them explained. This essentially told them just to sleep and forget about the power for now. None of them could say much else and just returned to their room.

"I guess we should sleep too." Hayate suggested to a more than completely dazed Cassie. "Cassie?" Touching her shoulder got her attention and she looked to Hayate as he chuckled at her reaction. "We should sleep." He reiterated. Cassie nodded and went into her room with him.

With the door now closed, Cassie's mind somewhat ran wild. She kept that to herself and quickly went to the side on the furthest side of the bed.

"You're room is different from mine." Hayate said after a while.

"How?"

"My room had a long sofa in it, but I guess they replaced that sofa with the desk in your room." He explained, Of course they did. "But I can always just sleep on the floor." And run the risk of everyone bug on the planet crawling into your mouth?

"No, you don't have to, I stay up late anyways making sure all my work is finished, so you can just sleep on the bed and I'll likely pass out on the desk." She said with an awkward chuckle.

"You know I can't do that." You actually can, but for some reason guys think they're doing a bitch a favor by making shit harder! I already told you just to take the bed!

The pair went on about suggesting ways for them to sleep, but it eventually came down to the conclusion of them sharing the bed but faced in opposite directions.

As much as she wanted to trust the Hotel, how the hell was she supposed to? Plot twist, one of the staff did this to get his murder fix. Cassie sighed a bit but suddenly tensed up when she heard a small thump on the wall. Come on, why does this have to happen now? Cassie wined to herself and brought the blanket up to her nose, she kept her eyes and ears open and noticed every small shift and soft noise and found that it was now three in the morning without her sleeping. However, there was someone else who hadn't been sleeping either.

Cassie felt something heavy over her and she looked over her shoulder to see that Hayate put his arms around her.

"I know you're awake..." Hayate said softly. She didn't move, "And you keep jumping at every little noise, but you shouldn't be worried because I'll be here to protect you if anything happens." Cassie wanted to say something, but she remained quiet. Hayate gripped her tighter and pressed her back to his chest. "It makes me a bit upset that you can't relax even with me here so I guess I'll have to prove that you have nothing to worry about with me." Hayate's grip on her got even tighter and Cassie felt like she'd passed out from not breathing. She grunted and turned to face him, she kept her head down but soon felt Hayate's hands in her hair. Little by little, she calmed down and couldn't even hear anything besides his heart beating, with that rhythm being the only thing she could hear. She felt sleepy and finally shut her eyes...

Cassie slept until pretty much the afternoon of the next day, Hayate wasn't around her and she figured it all just had to be a dream.

The bathroom door opened and she found Hayate walking over to the bed. No, it really happened!

"Did you sleep well?" Hayate calmly asked. She just nodded, "That's good, but I was thinking to go back to my room now." She nods to him, Hayate just smiled at her and got his phone before leaving her room. Cassie sat there in disbelief now.

"Fuck, I really hope this doesn't mean anything. I-I mean I was just being comforted because I was scared right? Right?" She told herself that and got up trying to forget about what happened and move on with her day.