He could not believe that Penelope was here right now. He hadn't seen her for how long had it been now? A century. Yes! He hadn't seen her since . . . .
"Umm . . . Sharp?" Stella's voice interrupted his thoughts and he opened his eyes. He looked at her hazel eyes and his heart almost melted upon seeing the worry in them.
This little girl always had to bear the brunt of his attacks for some reason, and she always did without any complaint. And somehow, after being hurt so much by him, she still somehow found it in her heart to not only forgive him, but also be worried about him.
Den had a sudden urge to reach out and wrap his arms around this girl. He wanted to take away all the pain, all the worry, all the fear she had ever experienced and tell her that everything would be all right. That he was going to protect her and keep her happy. He would have acted on this urge, had not McCartney's eyes suddenly shifted from worry to fear.
"What's wrong?" Den asked, immediately getting worried about what else he had done while he was in a fit of rage. McCartney pursed her lips and spoke in a small voice, "I'm sorry." surprising him. "Whatever for?" he asked, furrowing his brows.
It felt weird. Stella was always saying sorry to him for one thing or the other, and he had never asked what for. And the weirdest part was he had never really heard her say sorry to anyone else, not even Simon, who was her doctor. This girl, who was always ready to fight tooth and nail for every little thing, somehow seemed to become so timid whenever she was with him.
Den remembered the exact time she had stopped fighting him. It had been that night she had wanted to run from Simon's home to the new apartment he had bought, just after that attack from Mazata Zukao. She had been too wounded, so Den had carried her against her will. Something had changed in Stella during that run. It was almost like she was constantly tip-toeing around him now.
"I shouldn't have left the room." McCartney's voice brought Den back to the room. He looked at the girl in front of him, her head cast down and looking like a child about to be punished. She had only left a room for gods'sake, why did she have to go and look like she had murdered someone? Den guessed it was probably due to his own behavior, he always seemed to make a big issue of anything she did.
"It's fine." he said, and Stella looked up, surprised, "You didn't go outside. So you didn't break your promise." He wanted to continue further, but just then the door of the room opened and Penelope walked in, followed closely by June, with Allen and Simon trailing behind.
"Hello Penelope." Den said as the woman in question walked over. She crossed her arms over her chest and just stood there, staring down at him. Den hated this. He absolutely loathed anyone looking down at him, figuratively or literally. And Penelope knew this, of course she knew this. She was just doing it right now to piss him off.
"Hello cousin." Penelope said after a long time.