Hollow Point

Weeks went on, Noire and Daelen practicing Japanese until Daelen could almost speak a fluent conversation. After much persistence from her parents, her and Daelen were packing up to move into the house her parents had bought them. Everything seemed to be going well..for now.
--
"Daelen, are you almost done packing?" Noire called out, butterflies soaring throughout her stomach.

"Nearly," he called back, unsuccessfully trying to shove a sweatshirt into his overflowing bag. Deciding it was a lost cause, Daelen instead pulled the sweatshirt over his head and slung the bag over his shoulder.

She smiled and hugged him tightly. "I'm really excited we're moving out. Maybe we'll be able to get to know each other better." Grinning again, she ran into her room to finish grabbing her things.

He felt the heat rise to his face as he watched her leave. Get to know each other better? Was it just him, or could that be taken either way? Daelen shook his head. It was probably just him.

"Hey, Daelen? Could you come here for a minute please?" Noire called out, pulling a small bag out from under her bed.

He shook his head to rid himself of his suddenly dirty thoughts, striding to the doorway. "What is it?" he asked.

She handed him the bag, anxiously waiting for him to reveal what was inside. "If you don't like it, then you don't have to keep it."

Daelen nodded, doubting that he would ever dislike a gift from Noire. He reached his hand into the bag, pulling out a silver, expensive looking watch. He examined it with interest. He looked up. "Thank you," he replied, holding out his wrist slightly to wrap the watch around.

"It was my grandfather's watch. He wore it all the time, only ever taking it off when he took a shower or went swimming. He was one of the finest men I think I'll ever meet. Always knew how to make you smile or laugh." She glanced down at the ground, hiding her grief. "All in all, it means a lot to me."

Daelen looked unsure. "Are you absolutely certain you want me to have this? It seems like he meant a lot to you." He made a move to unclasp the watch from his wrist.

Noire swiftly grabbed onto his hands. "It's yours. He would want you to have it. Especially since you're taking great care of me." She smiled sweetly, before grabbing her things. "Are you ready to move most of our stuff to our house?" she said, excitement evident in her voice.

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Yes, very much so." He wondered vaguely if he sounded too eager, but Noire's father had been giving him dirty looks ever since he found out about their fake engagement. It seemed he was not as forgiving as Haruka, and was determined to blame the whole thing on Daelen. Truthfully, Daelen wanted to be out of the house before the phrase 'if looks could kill' became true for Tomi.

She gave him a quick squeeze, before beginning to haul her many bags to the front door. "I can't believe all the clothes that still fit me from college." she puffed.

Daelen followed, then froze suddenly, tensing up.

Looking distressed, Noire shook his arm. "Daelen, what's wrong?" She waited a few moments for a response, but didn't receive one. "Daelen, seriously. What's going on? Why aren't you answering me?"

"Huh?" It seemed he had forgotten she was there. His eyes refocused on her, and he gave her a small smile. "Oh, I just remembered I had forgotten something in the room---" But before he could turn, the doorbell rang.

Her head tilted slightly. "I wonder who that could be." she said quietly, walking over to the door. With a bit of hesitation, she opened it, only to see Scott. "Oh my gosh! Scott!" She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

Scott hugged back quickly, pulling away to look at her. He ignored Daelen in the back, who was staring at him in a mixture of shock and fear. He seemed to examine Noire for a moment. "Are you alright?" he asked in a strained voice.

"Of course I am" she stated, happiness blooming from her voice. "I don't think I've ever felt better than I have now." She laughed, but paused soon after. "What brings you all the way to Japan?"

"Noire." Scott's voice was deadly serious. He glanced around them nervously. "Can I come in?" he asked.

She nodded apprehensively. "You remember Daelen." she said, acknowledging him with her palm.

Daelen nodded shortly in response, extremely tense. Scott glanced at him and closed the door behind him, leaning against it tiredly. "Noire," he said again. "They're here, and they're looking for him. But not just him. They're looking for you, too." His eyes betrayed the intense fear he felt for her.

Noire's eyes widened. "No, they can't be. How could they know it was me? I was so careful to not leave any tracks.." Tears brewed behind her eyes as she sat down next to Daelen, clutching his hand. "What are we going to do?"

Daelen grimaced. "Your parents can't be in this. For now, we just leave them and go to our new apartment. It might throw them off for a little while."

She nodded. "I guess you're right, Daelen." Looking at the floor, she tugged at her shirt. "Good thing we were planning on moving most of our stuff today."

Scott relaxed slightly. Forgetting the current situation, he grinned. "So you two are moving in together, are you?" He winked.

Noire hid a smile. "Yes we are." She held Daelen's hand tighter. "We've very happy about it, too."

It seemed, however, that Daelen could not forget their current problems as he protectively squeezed Noire's fingers. "We should get going," he said quickly.

"I believe we should." She sighed quietly and stood up. "Thank you for coming all this way to let us know, Scott. Both of us really appreciate it." She gave him a long, warm embrace.

Scott looked sheepish as he pulled back after the grateful hug. "Um. Noire." He looked uncomfortable and slightly...scared?

She looked at him and tried to smile. "I promise I'll call once a week to let you kno how things are doing and to let you know we're okay."

Scott rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. About that. I, uh. I don't have anywhere to go." He had the grace to blush.

Noire tilted her head in confusion. "Why not? Did you sell the house?"

"No. I...They're looking for me, too."

Daelen sucked in a breath sharply. "And you came here?" he demanded. "You could be tailed!"

Noire buried her face in her hands. "I..I think I need to go lay down.." she said quietly, heading slowly to her room to try and collect her thoughts.

"Noire!" Daelen called, reaching for her. "We have no time! They could find us standing here, waiting for them, any moment!" He turned to Scott, glaring. "Guess you'll have to come with us."

She brushed Daelen off quickly and slammed the door to her room, beginning to pace. "Scott's going to have to come with us..that means we'll have to get a futon for him to sleep on since there's only one bedroom for Daelen and me." She took a deep breath. "I have to think. You're supposed to be smart, Noire. You should have the ability to think on your feet.."

Daelen was suddenly outside her door, his voice muffled. There was barely concealed panic in it, but she could tell he was trying to be calm---for her. "Noire, please. We can sit down and talk this over, but we need to get to the apartment first. It'll be okay, I promise. I won't let them hurt you."

A wave of comfort flew through Noire and she stepped out. Nodding, she brushed past Daelen and tugged on Scott's arm, leading him to the car. "Come on. We have to leave."

Daelen took the passenger seat while Scott crammed into the back, his lanky limbs pressing against the back of the driver's seat. Daelen took Noire's hand and squeezed it, trying to convey comfort.

Noire tensed and pulled it away, starting up the car and backing out onto the road. "The apartment is only 10 minutes away, but it will probably take about 20 with all of the traffic." she said, with no emotion audible in her voice.

He retracted his hand and turned to look out the window. No one dared speak until ten minutes later, when Daelen could not take the tenseness of the situation, he turned to Scott. "Thank you for warning us." he said. He no longer felt angry at the man for showing up so abruptly and ruining what Daelen liked to think was the best week of his life ever. Well, maybe he was still a little angry. He shook the thoughts off and continued. "If you hadn't come, they would have found us sooner or later. At least now, we're not caught off guard."

Scott looked shocked. "Oh, uh. No problem. I just...well I figured if I was going to go somewhere to hide from them, I might as well warn the ones they'd be torturing me about."

Noire nodded in agreement. "Who is after us anyways? The doctors from Hollow Point?" she asked with a slight smirk.

"I wouldn't be smiling if I were you," Scott answered. "The doctors are creepy. They're..." He shuddered, not finishing the sentence.

Daelen had suddenly gone as stiff as a board. "Them?" he asked.

Noticing the panic in his voice, Noire patted Daelen's leg gently. "Don't worry. I won't let them find us."

"Neither will I," he murmured so softly, it was like he hadn't even spoken at all.

Noire nodded, before pulling into their new home's parking lot. "Well, here it is I guess. Apartment sweet apartment." she said, trying to lighten the mood.

Scott threw open the car door with his usual upbeat attitude and smiled lightly. "I hope you don't mind," he said to Noire, the smile slipping uncertainly.

She managed a half smile. "As long as you don't sneak into our room and keep your hands off of Daelen, then it's okay. We both want you safe."

"Hah." Daelen laughed uncomfortably. "He's not going to do that, is he?" he asked in an undertone to Noire.

Noire shook her head. "You don't need to worry, Daelen. You'll be safe in bed with me." She hugged his waist tightly and searched for her keys in her pocket. "Want to be the first to open the place?"

Daelen nodded. "Alright." He took them and placed the key in the lock, turning it. The door creaked open slowly, leaving a sense of foreboding, although Daelen didn't know why. An apartment with Noire. All alone. Oh wait. The feeling stopped and Daelen glanced at Scott. Right. He stepped into the hallway.

"Aww, Daelen. It's so cute and..surprisingly large for an apartment." She inspected the kitchen and sighed. "Nothing like the kitchen in my house in Lithuania, but it'll do, I suppose." Noire ran her fingers along the counter.

"It's definitely a few grades up from a dungeon," He replied, surprisingly cheerful. He plopped down on the sofa, Scott sitting in an armchair across from him.

"So, when do you think everyone looking for us will get here?" she asked quietly, resting her head on Daelen's shoulder.

He sighed in response, taking her hand. "I have no idea. It's putting me on edge, though. What are we going to do?"

"You..you don't think they're going to go after my parents, do you?" Noire said with a quivering voice.

"Not as long as they stay out of the house for awhile," Scott cut in. "All the doctors want is Daelen. They don't want to make a huge scene out of this. Mass hysteria, you know."

She nodded. "That's true. So..what do we do if they find him?"

Daelen shuddered. He took a deep breath. "If they find me, I don't want you two to get in the way. It'll just make things worse."

Noire frowned slightly. "I hope you know I'm not going to just leave you so they can take you away. I'm going to defend you." she said in a most-definitely tone.

An uncharacteristic glare slid over Daelen face, softened slightly by the sadness in his eyes. "And how would you go about doing that? You've never met these people. They're....almost inhuman. You could die."

"I guess that's just a risk I'm going to have to take." She blushed slightly and sat up, kissing Daelen's cheek as softly as she could. "When you lo-..like someone as I like you, you would do anything to try and protect them." Noire could feel her face burning.

Daelen's cheeks blazed, his eyes meeting Noire's. Scott cleared his throat uncomfortably and rose from his chair. "I'm going to...go check out the rest of the house," he finished lamely, and disappeared down the hallway.

Noire looked at the ground. "So.." she said faintly.

Daelen smiled sadly. "Come here," he said, holding his arms open for her.

She smiled back at him, sliding over and tucking her head under his chin. "You really do mean a lot to me, Daelen. I would never let anything happen to you."

"Same for you. I care about you, and I'm sorry I've brought it all on you." He wrapped his arms snugly around her, heaving another sigh.

Noire trembled and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "It's okay, Daelen. I don't think I would have it any other way."