After a good practice last night, and a team dinner, all the boys went home exhausted, and sober. As soon as Patrick got home, he hit the showers. The last thing he wanted was to go to bed smelling like garbage. After that, he went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of beer, and sat on the living room sofa flipping through channels to watch. He decided to settle on a good old Lakers vs Spurs game.

He was just about to fall asleep when his phone rang. Right then he immediately woke up, fully aware of his surroundings again, and picked up. "Hello?" He answered, sounding half asleep still. "Hey Patrick, it's me Emma. I'm so sorry if I woke you up but.." she trailed off. And right then was when Patrick realized she was crying. "Emma? What's wrong?" He asked, really concerned now. "Can you pick me up, I'm at the bar across the street from that Italian place. Please" she begged. He knew she wasn't going to admit anything on the phone right now, so he just agreed and said he'd be there in 5 minuets.

When he arrived, he saw her sitting on the curb, face burried in her hands. Then when she noticed his headlights, she looked up, and stood up too. He gestured for her to get into the car, to the seat next to him. She smiled, and nodded, then got in. "Thanks again for picking me up, she said wiping away her tears, and the blood. Wait, blood?! He turned to face her to see if he really saw blood. And yes he did, a whole lot of it, and still flowing too. "Here" he said, handing her a box of tissues. She took some and wiped away.

"I'm sorry, I must look like a mess right now." She said, awkwardly, still cleaning the blood and tears. "It's alright, and it's funny how even though you're covered with tears and blood, you still manage to look beautiful." he said, as he put her hair behind her ears, stroked her cheeks gently and smiled. She couldn't help but smile too, Patrick knew nothing about what happened, yet he's still so understanding. Even if she had called him at 2am in the morning. "Thanks, really. For picking me up now, not being mad, or flooding me with questions." She smiled, and began to blush a little.

"It's no problem at all, really. I just wanna make sure you're okay." He smiled, and started driving back to his apartment. They drove in silence, then quietly got into the elevator and into his apartment. When she first took a look it was amazing. Big, spacious, and tidy. "Nice place you got" Emma said, taking off her shoes and coat, and settling onto the armchair. "Thanks, you want anything to drink?" Patrick asked. "Uhm, can I have some water please" she replied, now playing with her hands to avoid eye contact. "Sure thing, be back in a sec." he answered, and left to get 2 bottles of water, and soon returned.

He didn't want to push her into doing or saying anything, so he handed her a bottle of water, and took a seat on the sofa, as close to her as possible, but giving her space. "Well the blood's gone, and same with the tears." Patrick said, trying to start a conversation. "Yeahh..." she replied. "So you want to tell me what happened?" he asked carefully, not making him sound pushy, but still concerned. She closed her eyes and nodded. Trying to hold back her tears from reappearing.

"Well after my shift, my friend Jenna said the rest of the staff were gonna go to the bar to celebrate our co-manager, Becky's birthday. So I went with the rest of them. At first it was pretty calm, since we were there early, I had a couple of shots, but mainly I was watching their tv to seem like I was busy. Then someone shouted happy birthday to Becky and we all did the same." she paused, trying to stay calm and remember what happened next. Patrick just sat their quietly, listening and not taking his eyes off of her. "Then before you knew it, the music was turned up louder, more and more people arrived, started dancing, drinking and whatnot. Some how they persuaded me into taking a couple more shots, and till I wanted more and more. Soon I figured I got a little drunk." pausing again, trying to hold back her tears. From the way she looked, Patrick could tell the sad part of this story was soon to come.

"Then someone entered the bar, it was my ex boyfriend, Peter. I broke it off with him a month ago because he was horrible, when he got mad he swore so much, broke things, threw things, and blamed so much on me. I just couldn't handle it, so I ended it." she stopped for a while, closing her eyes. Tears were streaming from her face again, but Patrick just sat there quietly giving her some space. She opened them, and looked directly at Patrick, and smiled. She respected that he was giving her space, and willing to listen. She got up and sat on Patrick's lap, making him cuddle her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. He enjoyed this very much, smooth move Kaner was what he thought. He knew that giving her space would make her open up more. Not in the I want sex kinda way, but the trusting relationship way.

After a while, she continued the story. "And so, he came up to me. He smiled and before I knew it, he kissed me. I must've been drunk because I kissed him back. After he stood back, and gave me that evil look in his eyes. Then..." she trailed off. This time, even more tears flooded her eyes. She leaned her head back on Patrick's shoulder, and he wrapped his strong arms around her. "It's okay if you don't want to finish the story. It seems like it's bringing you a lot of pain just telling me about it." he told her. "No, I want to tell you. I need to tell someone, and I seem to trust you the most, even though I barely know you. But I've got good vibes about this." She said, squeezing his hand, reassuring him she was fine. Then continued, "Then he hit me, square on the nose. I was bleeding so much, and I started to feel a little light headed. So I must've fainted or something, when I opened my eyes again, I was tied up, and out in the back of the bar. I sat up, to see Peter gazing at me. He laughed then approached me. This time, he stroked my cheek, and then he slapped me hard. He started yelling at me, like calling me a bitch for leaving him, going all how dare I leave him, and that I was nothing with out him." she said.

She took a breathe, and continued. Patrick was in total shock of what he was hearing, what a jerk this guy was! But he let her finish her story before commenting. "Then after I'm guessing 5-10 minuets, he picked me up and threw me almost out on the street. His friends kicked my ass before the left. And I guess I might've fainted again. When I got up, I realized I had the strength to break out of this rope they tied around me. So I did, and that's when I called you." She said, finishing the story with a sigh. On the bright side, all her tears were gone. The more she leaned into Patrick, the safer she felt, and that calmed her down. Patrick took a breathe before he spoke.

"What a jerk that guy is! I promise you now, that he is never going to touch you again, and if he dare does so, or even comes close to again, I'm gonna rip his head off. And I'm so sorry for what you had to go through, I really am. But that's the past now, and we've gotta move on and try and make things better. I promise you now, that I'll try my best to make things better for you. If you ever need to talk I'm here, and I care. Okay?" he spoke, calmly and quietly. Emma squeezed his hand, and rested her head on his shoulder again, she was crying. But this time, it was oh joy. No one has ever said such sweet words to her, and it's kinda strange how she's only known him for a day and he's treated her way better than anyone else has.

"Thankyou so much Patrick, really this means more than you think. All my life I just wanted to find someone, someone who will listen, care and try their best. Someone like you, and I'm thanking god right now for bringing you here, because without you now, I'd probably still be sitting there, crying my eyes out, not knowing what to do in life." she said, trying to maintain herself but she couldn't help it. She just broke out in tears. "You're welcome" he said, smiling. Then kissed her on the cheek, and they cuddled on the sofa.

"I'm really glad you trust me, but since you shared such information with me, maybe I could tell you a little story of myself?" he said. Emma smiled and nodded her head. She turned around just to see the clock read 4am, who cares. She was happy and safe, and she'd sleep later before the game anyways, since she didn't have work today. "Well a couple months ago, I was with this girl, Kayla. I thought I loved her, and so I asked her to move in with me. She was amazing, sweet, and everything. Until one night, we 'did it' and well.. the next morning she was gone, with a lot of my money. I haven't seen her since, and I'm glad. I don't want someone like her in my life anymore. But that also made me scared of finding someone else, because well I don't know who to trust." he spoke, it hurt him to admit it. But it felt good to get it out of the air, and finally tell someone.

"Do you trust me?" Emma asked, now sitting up and looking him in the eyes. "Yes" Patrick confessed, even though they've just met, he too felt that vibe Emma mentioned a while ago. They both smiled, then Emma yawned. "Oh my god, look at the time! I'm sorry I kept you for so long!" he said. "No it's alright, I had fun. Well I better head back." she said, starting to get up. But Patrick grabbed her wrists. "No no no no no! You can stay here, I'm not letting you go out early in the morning, especially after what happened.

She smiled. Dang, he really loved that smile. And he couldn't help but smile himself, he lead her to the guest room, and showed her where the bathroom was. After a few minutes, she was ready to sleep. They said their goodnights, and soon fell asleep.

Emma almost instantly fell a sleep. She had a big smile plastered on her face, for once she felt really happy. Like the it was a real smile on her face, not just some fake one she normally had. Patrick really made her feel better, and in one day of knowing him, he's already treated her so wonderfully.

Patrick went straight to bed, but before he did he thanked everything for bringing Emma to him. She brought so much happiness to him for only knowing her for a day. And she helped clear his mind about Kayla, now it's time he moved on. Especially now with Emma by his side.

And finally, both of them were asleep with smiles on their faces, so peaceful.