"Alright" He said awkwardly. "I just wanted to say... I'm uh... you know... trying not to make your stay here awful."

My heart plummeted once I realized he was not apologizing. I thought I was about to be set free, but no. I'm still here.

My thoughts were confirmed when he spoke again.

"You aren't leaving here ever, I think we both know that much" He said.

A tear leaked down my cheek. Now all I could hope for was that Jim would rescue me from here, take me away, back home, we would live forever

together.

Clayton noticed, his hand moving slightly.

Oh no, please don't.

"I'm s-sorry" I muttered, wiping it away.

"What are you sorry about?"

I looked down, not sure if I should answer or not. After a few moments I opened my lips, stuttering out a response "F-for c-cry-ying"

He bit his lip "So... Ellie"

I was surprised he remembered my name.

"I've been doing some research" He continued. What kind of research? My mind raced through the possibilities. Research on how to kill someone

without getting caught? Research on how to torture someone until they kill themselves? Research on what?!

He coughed once "And I'm trying to make it more comforting for you to live here. At least when John's not around."

My face must've shown the confusion I was expressing.

He fidgeted in his seat, not used to this. What 'this' was, I didn't know. But it was clear that this was awkward for him. I didn't dare say anything in

case I got in trouble.

"Basically, I'm trying to tell you I'm going to make your life better." He said, looking at me.

I kept my expression blank, refusing to let out any emotion. A small part of people was waiting for John to come in and yell at me for reacting badly.

"So the first thing I came across was..." Clayton trailed off, thinking "Do you want a shower?"

I started to nod eagerly when I remembered. "I can't walk"

He blinked, his eyes quickly shooting down to my ankle and back up. "Doesn't mean you can't shower. You have to keep your injury clean so you

don't get infected"

Wow. He was worried I was going to get infected. What the hell was up with that?

I nodded slightly, letting him know I agreed. Clayton stood up. Finally, I saw just how tall he truly was compared to me. It had always been too dark

before to get a good estimate, or I hadn't been standing.

We stood a foot apart. I didn't look up at his eyes; only forward into his chest. Clayton was at least six inches taller than me, and I was moderately tall

to begin with. He had to be at least six feet tall to tower over me like that.

"I'll help you there" He said, causing my eyes to look up at him. I felt small, microscopic, next to him. A feeling I wasn't used to.

Clayton bent down a little bit, enough for him to pull my arm around his shoulders. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around my waist, supporting most

of the pressure off my ankle immediately. I felt myself sigh in relief. Standing on it for so long had hurt so badly.

Clayton helped me maneuver my way around the living room and down a hallway. From the lack of stairs, I assumed this was a one-floor house. We

passed a few doors, all closed. I didn't dare try to peer into them for fear of John lurking somewhere.

He opened a door, helping me into a room. From the start, I could tell it was small. My heart started to beat faster. Anything could happen now. It

wasn't like before, where there was a basement and space and at least a door that could be easily accessed. With Clayton's size, he would be able to block

me if I tried to escape.

Clayton gently set me on the counter and I finally looked around. The bathroom looked similar to one of a normal household bathroom. The counter

stretched out across one side, the shower opposite. A toilet was placed in a cramped little corner, the roll of toilet paper almost out. Clayton closed the door,

sealing us from the rest of the world.

"So, this is what a shower looks like on our Side" He said, motioning to the shower behind him. "I don't know if its any different from yours. We only have shampoo and conditioner. I don't know anything about this other stuff and I doubt I could get my hands on it anyways."

Product? Was that what he was talking about?

"Uh..." He frowned slightly "hmm... this isn't going to work out."

I looked up silently, finding no words.

"I don't know how you're going to be able to take a shower if you can't walk" He frowned. "Uh... do you... do you want help?"

I didn't answer. Well now I felt the awkwardness radiating off of him. I was releasing my own, just as embarrassed about that as he was.

I gave a slight nod, unsure of how else to go with this. This was my first time in two weeks to get a shower. I wasn't about to just pass it up. But he

was right-I couldn't very well take this on my own.

He stood in front of me and reached out hesitantly.

"I'm not going to do anything, I'm just going to help you. Ok?" he asked it as if I were four years old.

I nodded as he gripped the bottom of my shirt, lifting up slowly. I reached my arms up, helping him get it off. I blushed a little as I sat there almost

topless in front of him. Clayton messed with my belt buckle, which I had forgotten I was even wearing.

I slipped my fingers around his, pulling it off for him. The blush still on my face, I pulled my pants off until I was in my underwear. Clayton understood

that I could do this much by myself. He turned his back on me, pulling off his shirt and pants.

Why does he get the privilege of undressing privately? The jealousy spoke in my mind, something unusual of me to have said. I frowned slightly,

unsure of why I thought of such a greedy thought. My thoughts might be rude, but I wasn't usually greedy.

Clayton reached into the shower, turning on a button. I didn't want to take my bra and panties off, hoping maybe he would let me just shower in them.

I noticed how he didn't drop his boxers either.

Clayton turned back to me, reaching out a hand to help me down. I hissed slightly as my ankle came down too hard. He muttered an apology, quickly

taking off most of my weight.

We stumbled into the shower, the water burning my skin. It was a good burning though, something I had deeply missed. Clayton moved so that I

took most of the water, my hair drenched quickly.

For once, I was thankful for my best friend. Hannah had gotten me the black bra on my birthday last year. The only reason was Victoria's Secret held

its annual sale on that day. I got matching panties to go with it. The memories stung slightly as I thought of Hannah and that I might never see her again.

"Alright" Clayton said "Uh... I'm going to use shampoo now. Do you...uh... here, you lean on me and I'll get it in your hair"

I cautiously set my hands on his shoulder, leaning into him. Clayton reached behind me. I soon felt his fingers rubbing through my hair.

I closed my eyes. It felt nice.

Clayton moved me back into the water. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling more weight off my ankle. Clayton repeated the steps with conditioner, keeping me out a little longer than the shampoo.

"Thank you" I whispered as he rubbed the conditioner into my hair.

"No problem, Ellie" He muttered back.

It was over sooner than I had thought. Clayton had wrapped his arm around my waist to help with easing the pain. He was pretty much carrying me. He didn't seem to mind, or at least he didn't complain about it at all. I was grateful for that.

Delicately, he set me down on the tub ground. Clayton stood above me, just looking over me. I blushed slightly at the way he did.

"What?" He smirked, crouching down in front of me.

"Nothing" I whispered.

"Why's you're face all red?"

"I don't know" I lied.

He cocked an eyebrow at me, hinting that he wasn't buying it.

I shrugged, trying to push myself further away from him. He gave half a smile before shutting the water off. I immediately felt the coolness of the air outside.

"I'm going to get you some new clothes to wear. Just wait here" Clayton stepped out, leaving me in the bathroom by myself.

I clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers.

"Thank you" I whispered "Thank you so much. Please don't let him rape me"

I muttered a quick 'Amen', hearing the door open once again. Clayton pushed away the shower curtain. He wore a pair of loose jeans that bagged exposing his wet boxers. Bending down, Clayton lifted me up, physically carrying me over to the counter.

"Here, I got you some of my clothes" He said, handing me a pair of jeans and a shirt "They're small on me so I'm hoping they'll fit you"

I slipped the shirt on, the black fabric large on me. I made an attempt to put the jeans on, failing miserably.

Clayton laughed at me, taking them from my hands. "Here, I'll help"

He slid each of my legs through the pant holes, bringing it up to my thighs. Carefully, I slipped off the counter and he pulled up. Clayton stood up the whole way, his fingers, holding my pants up. He buttoned my pants which still managed to bag.

"Do you want your belt?" He asked, smirking slightly

"Yes please" I whispered, not taking my eyes off of him.

Clayton reached over and retrieved it for me. I snaked it around my waist through the belt loops. Clayton wrapped an arm around my waist and together we maneuvered once more out the bathroom and to the living room.

To where John was sitting.