Beth was finishing up at the store, wiping the last flour off the tables, when there was a knock on the door.

Who on Earth would come by so late, Beth thought. All of her customers knew she closed at sunset. It could of course be a new customer. Beth went to the door, opened it a bit, to kindly tell the person to leave.

"I'm sorry we are closed, come back tomo--"

Her sentence was cut short when the door was forced open and a man, as tall as a tower walked in, slinked his hands around her mouth and body, and pushed the door shut.

Beth squealed and tried to get free from the strangers arms, but he was too strong. He kept her forced up against his body, her back crushing in on his lean torso.

"Be calm, do not scream," The man murmured into her ear. He sounded strongly out of breath. "I will not harm you."

Beth did not care what the hell he wanted, she just knew she was scared and could not escape.

"Be quiet," He demanded, when she kept squealing and squirming in his grip.

She tried to stay calm and do as he said. Maybe if she did, he would not do anything to her.

Oh God, what if he was rapist? She should never have opened that damn door.

There was a moment of silence, where all he seemed to do was listen, but then the man exhaled and noticeably relaxed. "I apologize for barging in on you like this. I had to." He calmly started, then held a short pause and sighed. "I need a place to sleep. I promise you, no harm will come to you in any way. I want non of your possessions, nor your belongings. I just need a place to sleep. Do you understand me? Nod if you do."

Beth was still frightened, but nodded non the less.

"I am going to remove my hand now, will you promise me you wont scream? It has been a long day, and I really do not want to gag you."

She timidly nodded again.

The stranger slowly removed his hand from her mouth.

"W-who are you?" Beth croaked. Her body was still trembling with shock and she feared his answer.

The man slowly released her body and sagged back against the wall. "I need you to close all of your curtains, please. If you have an upstairs, close them up there as well. And lock the door." He added, while placing himself lazily on the floor.

Beth finally turned around and got a look at him. From what she could tell, he was at least six foot four and extremely lean. His entire body was covered in a fine layer of sweat and soil. His hair seemed to be blonde, though she could not tell for the filth. But the strangest part about him was what he was wearing on his face. A black device, a sort of which she had never seen before. Maybe to conceal his eyes. If that was the reason, it clearly worked. She could not see them, even one bit. They were shaped out, framing his eyes perfectly. His high cheekbones, straight nose and full lips were all she could see. He was just sitting there on her floor, leaning against the wall, breathing calmly.

Even if she did not want to, she had to admit he was beautiful.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to scare you, I know I must look frightening." He said and she suddenly realized she had been staring blatantly at him.

She quickly turned her gaze and shook her head. "I uh ..." She did not know what to say. "I will close the drapes."

She hurried around the shop and closed all the curtains, then quickly ran upstairs and closed them up there too. When she came down, he was still sitting there, patiently waiting.

"There. All closed." She said, trying her best not to sound scared.

"The door," He reminded her.

Beth quickly turned the key, locking the door, before stuffing the key under her sleeve.

"Thank you." He said, with a tired voice. "I promise you, I will not be a bother. Just let me stay here one day. I will sleep right here. In this spot. When it is time to open your shop, I will move to somewhere else. Hell, I will even hide in your closet. Just promise me, you will not tell anyone about me." He slowly rested his head against the wall, his breathing getting slower. He was so exhausted.

"I promise." Beth nervously said. "But you are not sleeping here."

"Yes I am. I am too tired to find somewhere else."

"No, I mean you are not sleeping down here," She specified. She could feel herself calm down by each promise he made. This man was no threat. He was merely tired and exhausted. And judging from his clothes, he was probably just a vagabond, running from the guards for stealing something.

"This is my shop, and my livelihood. You will be sleeping upstairs, where I can keep an eye on you and make sure you are not stealing any of my inventory."

The man slowly lifted his head, turning it towards her. "You can trust me. I will not steal any of your supplies." In that moment his stomach made a loud hungry growl, causing him to awkwardly grimace.

Beth sternly crossed her arms. "Forgive me, but I am not taking any chances. You are sleeping upstairs."

The man sighed. "Fine. As you wish." He got up from the floor, revealing a spot of dirt he had made on her freshly washed floor. She growled irritated.

The man looked at her and then looked down upon himself. "Am I dirty?"

"Yes you are. You made a spot on my floor - maybe if you took off that thing covering your eyes, you would be able to see for yourself," Beth said irritated, though slightly hoping she would get a glimpse of his eyes. If they were as impressive as the rest of him, she could only imagine what they were like.

He frowned and ignored her request. "I am sorry about the spot, I will clean it tomorrow."

Was the 'dangerous intruder' seriously saying he would scrub her floor?

Beth frowned confused. "It is fine, I will take care of it tomorrow. Follow me, upstairs."

"Where is the staircase?"

She was standing at the foot of the stairs, quite certain that he could see them. "Right here?" She said confused, gesturing towards them.

"Oh. Sorry." He shook his head, maybe to clear his vision. "I am so tired, I cannot focus right..." He quietly mumbled, mostly to himself. Then he started walking towards her. He made some weird clicking sound with his tongue on the way, which made her frown. Beth did not quite understand why, but then again; some people sang, other hummed or whistled. Maybe he just clicked with his tongue when passing time, though it seemed inappropriate at this moment.

She led him up the narrow winding stairs and into her chambers. It only contained a bed, a small couch, a stool, her dresser with a mirror hanging on top, a nightstand and other necessities like a bowl with a sponge, a urinal, and a basket. Non the less, it was her home.

"You can sleep here." Beth said and walked up to her couch.

The man stopped in the doorway, still clicking his tongue.

"This is your bedchamber." He finally said. It was not a question, it was a statement.

"Yes?" Beth said hesitantly.

"Will we be sleeping in the same room?"

"Yes." She said again, but understood his concern. It was unorthodox to have a man and a woman sleeping in the same chamber when not wed.

"Are you sure about this?" He said doubtfully, "I will have no problem sleeping on the floor, downstairs."

"No, but I will," Beth said firmly. "So you will sleep on the couch, in the same room as I."

"Alright. That will be interesting..."

"You still have not answered my question," She begun anew, while he walked to the couch. Her room suddenly seemed very small with him inside it. "Who are you? What is your name?"

He sat down and ran his hands across the fabric of the couch. "You can call me... Cage."

"Cage?" She repeated suspiciously. "Is that your real name?"

"No."

She did not even bother asking him what his real name was. She knew he would not tell her. "Alright. Well, you should be comfortable there for one night."

"I will, this is more than enough," He sighed thankfully, "Any other person would have screamed a long time ago, I am sure, but you did not. I promise, I will only stay until nightfall tomorrow."

"That is fine," Beth said and nodded sternly.

What the hell was she doing?

She was harboring, what was probably a criminal, and she gave him the couch? Had she lost her mind?

But then she took one look at him, lying on couch, and her heart just melted. He was totally worn out. Jaded.

One night on the couch would not hurt.

Besides, he did not seem so scary anymore. It was obvious he just wanted to sleep and nothing else.

So she slowly went to the foot of the bed, but then stopped after a moment of hesitation. "Please remove your device."

He frowned at her. "What?"

Beth felt a nervous pull in her stomach. "I-I need to change, and I cannot tell if you will look or not."

"I will not look, I promise." He said and for some reason smiled bitterly to himself.

"I do not trust you. Now please remove them."

Cage seemed to think for a moment, but then sighed and slowly removed the device from his eyes. His lids were closed beneath them. He had beautiful black lashes resting against his cheekbones, which was such a strong contrast to his inexplicable blonde hair.

She could not help but notice that he could be a handsome spouse....

Was she admiring her intruder?

She snapped out of it. "Thank you, now turn around."

An irritated frown slid onto his face. "Are you being serious?"

"If you do not want me to scream, then yes." Beth nervously said.

He sighed frustrated and placed his device on the table next to the couch, before turning over. He then suddenly stopped halfway and winced, before he hesitantly reached to the back of his breeches and pulled out a--

"You got a knife!"

"Yes. I am sorry, I had forgotten about it," Cage quickly said and held it up.

"I will not have you armed in my house!" Beth screeched and backed a few feet away, unsure of what he would do with it.

"I understand," Cage said, "Here. You take it."

He slowly turned the blade around, holding the shaft her way. Beth hesitated for a second, very well aware that he could kill her with hardly any effort at all. But something inside herself told her she trust him, and she therefor quickly took the dagger and placed it in the drawer of her nightstand.

He was unarmed, hungry and on the brink of exhaustion. Beth felt the knot in her stomach ease up, when she realized he was not much of a threat anymore. "Thank you. Now turn around."

"You still do not trust me?" Cage asked, still with his eyes closed. "I just gave you my weapon and you still wont take my word for a promise?"

"No." She half-lied.

He sighed resignedly, then slowly nodded and turned over on the couch.

Beth was now satisfied that he could not see her and started undressing. She quickly got her hairpins out of her hair and tied up her dress. After a minute or two, she was placed safe underneath her covers. Cage had not tried to look once, but stayed still the whole time.

"I am done now, you may turn." Beth said, placing the candlelight on her nightstand.

Cage slowly turned over onto his back, but still not opening his eyes.

Beth looked at him a little. He looked so massive on her small couch, his legs bended up, his arms on top of his stomach. His chest was enormous, noticeable through a thin slice in his beige tunic. Sweet God, if he had not been a criminal, he had been the perfect man...

She shook her head and snapped out of it once more. "Goodnight, Cage."

Cage suddenly shifted a little on the couch. His face became unreadable by her last words. "Goodnight... Uh..."

She realized - as he probably did too - that she had not told him her name. Not that he had asked either.

"Beth," She quickly interjected.

"Beth." He repeated. The way his tongue formed her name, made it sound like he was saying a prayer. "Is that your real name?"

"No," She smiled, when she noticed his lips thin out.

"Goodnight then, Beth." He replied and suddenly the corner of his mouth twitched upwards, into something that almost looked like a smile. The expression looked new on his face, as if he was not used to smiling. For reasons she could not explain, she found him intriguing.

With that as her last thought, she blew out the candle.