Tough Love

She nodded. It was taking her a bit longer to register what he was saying. She felt strangely tired. "I see..." she said, her voice soft, sort of dreamy. She took one step before she tumbled and caught herself with a hand on the counter.

The room was spinning. Whatever energy the sugar from the juice had given her was fading fast. Usually she tended to just pass out on the couch but it was far away and she was cold and weak.

He could see her eye's flicker as from he could see her become more unstable as she stumbled from her chair and caught herself with her hand on the counter. Bill leaned down to scoop her up into his arms and hold her tightly to his chest as she was too weak to protest. He knew where Kiara's bedroom was, he turned with her in his arms and made his way down the hall to her bedroom. Kicking the door open with his foot, taking in note that Quinn's scent had not entered this room. He crossed the room to her bed, balancing her with one arm he pulled back the thick duvet and gently laid her down on her bed and tried to make her as comfortable as he could. Wrapping the duvet around her making sure that she was able too stay warm as possible.

She felt him lift her. She couldn't protest, her mind still felt woozy. She was soon wrapped in her comforter in bed, the world not spinning as fast as before.

"I'm sorry" she said, closing her eyes to regain her senses. She hadn't meant to trouble him like this, not when he already had enough on his plate. "I'll.. be ok after some rest"

He smiled at her as he could see that she was fighting the tiredness that was overcoming her senses, for the first time he felt like a weight had been lifted of his shoulders with meeting Kiara tonight.

"You rest...*he turned to look at the clock on the wall, he still had 11 hours before he had to retire for his rest* You rest...I shall take guard outside. I shall only be a call away if you need me. I shall return before i must leave"

She nodded, making herself more comfortable in bed. She seemed content and almost adorable, cocooned in her blankets in a dark room. "I am sorry about your guards" she said softly. She may have been annoyed by them, but she didn't want them dead even though thats how they turned out because Quinn had showed up.

He chuckled slightly at her remark about his guards, when she should have been worrying about herself, she was worried about others. He wrapped his hand around her own and whispered so that she was still able to hear.

"Do not worry...It was not your fault....Everything will be fine...Trust me" he almost flinched himself at those words 'trust me' trust being the operative word this time. Trust was earned not given.

She smiled, her hand feeling colder than it shoulder. She felt herself drift away, unable to remain conscious anymore. The fact she wasn't uninviting him and letting him remain while she was in such a weakened state showed just how out of touch she really was.

The house was quiet after that, dark, cold, with nothing but a soft beep every now and again of the security system she had armed.

Bill heard her slip into a deep and meaningful sleep, she looked so adorable as she slept comfortably in her bed, he leaned down to kiss her cheek as she did not wake during this act. Smiling broadly to himself, although feeling a weight in his heart and in his pocket, he slid his hand into the pocket that he had put the card into that held the white card that held the phone number on it if she ever changed her mind. Finding a pen on a bedside table, he scribbled the word 'Always x' onto the back on the card before placing it back on the bedside table. He backed out of the room and closed the door behind him, not a sound to be heard apart from the beeping from her security system. He made his way down the hall towards the front door and stepped outside, he had promised that he would stand guard until he had to leave for his day rest. And it was a promise that he intended too keep.