"I'm not going to spare him. That person is so dead." Joseph's angry voice could be heard but it was instantly followed by Adrian's shouting. "No. Don't you lay as much as a finger on him. He's Jennifer's father. He remains unharmed." It was an order. "I know Jennifer doesn't show it but she loves her father. You can see it in her eyes." Adrian said and began crying again.
"Don't you think I could have ended his life, then and there. But I didn't do it because I can't see Jennifer in pain. The death of her father will leave an unreplaceable mark on her. I will not let her go through the pain of losing a parent. I've lost my mother and it sucks. Okay? So stay back." Adrian was going to say something more also but he stopped when Joseph motioned him to stay quiet.
He opened the door slightly, revealing Jennifer lying on the floor, motionless. Adrian gasped in shock. "B- Baby?" he hurried towards her but in his drunken state he couldn't walk straight. He tripped on his foot and fell. James helped him get up and reach Jennifer, who was staring on the floor with nothing on her face. Not even a single expression. No words. She was just staring downwards, lifelessly.
"Baby?" Adrian shook her face, trying to get her out of her trance. Suddenly, Jennifer burst into tears and hugged him tightly. "I'm not letting you go. Not for some stupid deal. Not for my father. I'm not letting you go anywhere." She kept shouting and hugged Adrian so tightly that he was going to choke any moment now. James tried to separate them when he saw Adrian gasping for breath but that worsened the situation even more.
"Don't you dare try and take him away from me. I told you, once and for all, I'm not leaving him. Not now. Not in the future. Never." Jennifer shouted throwing James away. Suddenly, she was too strong to stop. This morning only, James had picked her up and brought her here but right now, she wasn't letting anyone close to her or Adrian. "Baby, baby calm down!" Adrian hugged Jennifer back and started rocking back and forth in attempts to calm her down. Jennifer just kept crying, miserably. Adrian's tears also didn't wait much. They sprung out as soon as Jennifer's did.
Both of them were crying, hugging each other, trying to calm one another, on the floor, in the corridor, in front of Adrian's room. This commotion was enough to wake up all the members of the den. People started coming out of their rooms to see what was happening. A few girls came closer to see what they could do to help the situation but when they saw tears in Adrian's eyes, they stopped at once.
Adrian had never cried in front of his den. Never. He was so cold that they thought his tear glands didn't exist. But they were there. Today was the proof of that. James and Joseph came outside and signaled everybody to leave them alone. When finally both of them stopped crying, it was then they noticed that James and Joseph were staring at them or that a few other people were standing around them whose presence was unknown to them before.
As soon as Jennifer understood their presence, she got up, wiped her tears and dragged Adrian behind her, into his room. After locking the door and making sure that every windows was locked, she turned to Adrian. Her eyes was puffy. Her head was throbbing. Her voice was almost dead. And so was Adrian. In addition to that, he was drunk. Their miserable state would evoke pity into the coldest hearts. Even the blind would cry after watching their state.
"What are you planning to do? How are you going to break the deal? Cuz I'm not leaving you and that's final. I don't care of my dad wants to hurt me-" Jennifer was about to compete her sentence when Adrian shouted, "But I do. I do. More than I care about my own life or my feelings or my sanity for that matter. And you are going home. And I'm breaking up with you." Adrian began crying again. Jennifer didn't even reply. She just turned around and sat on a chair as far as possible from Adrian in that room.
Adrian got up from the floor and went near her. He turned her face to see unshed tears in her eyes. "Baby, listen to me." "Don't call me baby. We broke up. You broke up with me." Jennifer didn't even let Adrian complete what he was going to say. She stressed on the word 'you' and then again turned around, her back facing Adrian.
This time, Adrian moved towards her face. He crouched down and looked into her eyes while caressing her cheeks and hairs, lightly. "I love you. I really love you." He said. "Then don't leave me." Jennifer's answer was straight forward. "Listen, right now you may not be able to understand but a parent's love is not something you can replace with a boyfriend. I've lost my mother and I know how that feels. It's like an empty void that threats to eat you up any moment and every moment. And I don't want that kind of pain for you." Adrian tried talking to Jennifer, making her understand what he was trying to protect her from.
"But you're leaving me and that is more painful than anything else. It's so painful that the thought of it makes it difficult to breathe. It's suffocating." Jennifer lets a trail of tears fall on her cheek. Adrian wiped those tears and then kissed the back of Jennifer's hands. "Baby, look at it this way. We were dating but it was secret. What's the use of loving each other when we can't even show our love to one another. I was scared that someone will get to know about us and try to harm you. You were frustrated from not being able to show your affection towards me. Right?"
Jennifer nodded. "So, imagine this as a time period you have given to me so that I can make my world safe for you. Meanwhile, go home and mend ties with your parents. You've been out of your house for one and a half months. Your mother will be missing you so badly. Hmm?" Adrian knew that Jennifer was not going to give up on him so he had to sway her into agreeing by some method. Plus, what he said was true. He had already decided to use this time and make things safe for Jennifer to return.
"When your father agrees to let you come, come back here. I'll wait for you." Adrian's voice dripped with calmness, trying to hide the storm inside. The storm of emotions that was ready to destroy everything in it's proximity, the moment this angel left his view. Jennifer agreed to this, half-heartedly. She stood up, went near the door and
opened it only to look back at Adrian whose silent tears were dripping down his face.