Chapter 19 - "You're not like them, you're different than them."

The next night, the same thing happened, except Charles was ready for it.

Charles had decided to ambush him. He had no idea how strong Kane was, or if Kane might turn around and kill him right away, but he at least had to try.

Before Kane's arrival to the door, Charles hid behind it, standing by the side to which the door would hide his view if it was opened. The psych unit was very meticulous in ensuring nothing in the room could be used as a weapon, hence Charles had nothing to use but his own fists. Regardless, he couldn't allow this monster to enter and leave this room and not attempt to avenge Natalia.

The moment he heard the doorknob jitter, his entire body went stiff, and he didn't even realize his breath fell caught in his throat. His hands bawled into fists, quivering at his sides and he waited.

Then, the door was pushed opened.

"Charles, I brought us food this time. There are two opti—oh, he's not here." He heard Kane's voice, and the door soon closed on its own. "Bathroom, maybe?"

Charles' swallowed hard; he felt his stomach start to warm with an emotion that he should definitely not have been feeling in that moment. The thought of ending Kane's life completely escaped from his mind, and the only thing he could think of—as his mouth watered—was how toned Kane's back appeared. Sculpted and shaped that the shadows formed even over his dress-shirt, only enhanced with his movement.

Charles' exhaled a shaky breath.

Kane was wearing a white pale grey dress-shirt, that was a bit tight on his physique hence it was squeezing all his bulging back muscles, a sight Charles had not expected. His shoulders were broadened, his traps were outlined under the shirt, and Charles couldn't peel his eyes away. His black curls bounced with such vibrancy as he glanced from side to side, mumbling to himself about where Charles could be.

"Maybe he was released early...no, they don't usually do that. There's not anywhere to hide here either. Is he sleeping with someone here and went to their room?"

Charles' couldn't move any of his limbs; he wasn't sure whether it was paralyzed in fear or so mesmerized to the point that he was way too nervous to move. It didn't matter though since Kane had already turned around.

"There you are!" he beamed. The outstretched smile and squinting eyes made him look innocent, almost as though he hadn't killed anyone in his life. He raised both brown bags and offered, "I brought us food; do you want to eat with me?"

The way his eyes squinted with such gleam made Charles heart skip a beat, and that feeling alone was enough to cause his blood to be fuelled with fire. He wondered why it wasn't instinctive for him to lunge forward and place his fingers around Kane's neck. There was no way he would be able to kill him with his mere fists as he wasn't trained well, but to at least attempt it was what was playing tricks on his mind.

Did he want to kill Kane or not?

Shouldn't he want to kill Kane?

This was only causing his mind to spiral out of control, and he was seconds from answering when he realized that Kane appeared to be in awe, his eyes widened, his lips slightly parted as he rapidly glanced back and forth between Charles' blue irises.

"No attack today?"

Charles' blinked.

The confusion instantly disappeared from his face as he suddenly planted his palm against his chest.

His heartbeat rate was surprisingly calm, his throat did not feel clenched, and his lungs were expanding to his will. He even looked down at his fingers and realized he wasn't shaking anymore.

"I told you it would work," Kane continued with a smile, his eyes squinting the more his lips stretched. "And in all honesty, you look much better than the first day. You've been getting enough sleep so your eyes aren't as droopy and drained; you look more alive."

Charles felt his stomach jerk.

Was that...butterflies?

He felt his face start to tingle, and for a moment, he didn't want to glance towards Kane's gaze, too flustered to do so. Those compliments had been unexpected, and even though they weren't from the person he wanted to hear them from—or did he?—it was still heartwarming to hear.

Having at least someone that believed in him, was what he needed in this moment.

Kane twisted around as he headed towards the bed. "I brought food again; I'm sure the food that you've been eating here isn't as—"

"Thank you."

At first, Kane froze, in disbelief of what he had heard.

"For the compliments," Charles specified through a mumble as Kane slowly twisted around to face him. That only caused him to feel even more embarrassed as he now whispered, "Thank you..."

There was a few seconds that Kane only stared at Charles, and suddenly, he broke into a lengthier grin and beamed, "You're so welcome." It was evident that he had been completely surprised that Charles had thanked him, that he practically skipped towards the seat with the bags of food in his hand.

"Do you want to eat together?"

Charles didn't even know what to do. He was glad that he wasn't alone, but his mind was spiralling out of control. Part of his head was screaming at him to lunge forward and launch his fist onto Kane's face—handsome face...and squeeze his neck...and lips—what was he thinking? No, it was screaming at him to punch Kane in the face to make him pay for what he did to Natalia.

But another part of him just really wanted to...

"No." He noticed Kane's shoulders fall, as though saddened by his refusal. Charles' stepped past him, reached his bed and shuffled underneath his covers as he murmured, "I'm not hungry."

It was almost uncanny how innocent and vulnerable Kane could make himself appear. Even Charles' started feeling guilty when he saw Kane's eyebrows curl with such vulnerability, as though he was an adorable puppy at the brinks of tears. The bags of food lowered as he asked sadly, "Did I do something?"

Yes, you did.

You killed my best friend, ruined my family, make me have severe panic attacks that I—

"No." Charles pulled the covers over his head. "I just need to sleep."

"Umm..." Charles' felt a sudden weight at the edge of his bed, near his feet. After a few seconds, he heard in a quiet voice, "Are you mad at me?"

Charles stayed quiet; there wasn't even any anger left.

He was just confused with himself. He knew for a fact if it had been anyone else, they would have ended Kane's ' life without hesitation. However, as Charles pulled the covers over his head and buried himself underneath, he just thought of how he didn't want to kill him.

But even worse, he didn't want him to leave the room.

He would be alone again if he did, and from everyone that he had interacted with, Kane was the only one that didn't look at him as though he was a lunatic. That was when Charles froze, realizing that he had been touching his own lips again. He couldn't stop thinking about them, those damn kisses.

"Would you rather that I leave?"

Charles didn't even think of an answer. It felt as though it was an automatic response, his lips moving and his vocal cords themselves stating, "No."

"Is it alright for me to eat then? I didn't eat all day."

There was another pause, before Charles' mumbled, "Yeah."

"I lied to you, by the way," Kane started as he heard Charles' begin ripping open the bags of food. "I didn't buy these meals. I made them at home because I wanted you to taste my cooking," he admitted, his voice growing a bit shaky as though he was embarrassed. "I love to cook; I have endless cookbooks at home and I enjoy learning new recipes and making a mess."

Charles' eyebrows raised; it was strange to try to merge the fact that the person that had killed his best friend still had behaviours like any other regular human being.

"I haven't said this to anyone, but I volunteer as a chef one or twice a month, in cities far away from here to make sure no one recognizes me." His mouth was full, but he continued to speak. "I love it when they come compliment my cooking in the back, it really makes me feel good."

Another pause.

Then, Charles's heard a saddened sigh as Kane breathed, "I really wanted you to taste it."

Charles' wanted to as well, but he figured he shouldn't want to, and that made him burry himself even further inside his covers. It was odd since, although he knew he shouldn't enjoy it, he really did feel much better that Kane was talking to him as though nothing was wrong with him and he wasn't being hospitalized in a psych ward.

It was nice to have—or listen—to a conversation without any referral to his mental issue.

"I knew you were behind when I walked in, by the way." That made Charles flinch. "It wasn't an effective hiding spot, but the effort was cute. But I did it for you, not for me."

Then, there was nothing, except his munching on his food.

Charles, although had felt fatigue moments ago, was suddenly wide awake with thoughts rushing terribly fast that he could barely even breathe. He didn't want to ask, but nothing Kane said made sense and he needed answers to his questions or else he would make himself have a panic attack.

"What do you mean you did it for me?"

He felt Kane's body weight shuffle at his feet again. Then, through a mouthful of food, he revealed, "You're not like them, you're different than them."

Silence returned; those answers weren't enough, it was boggling his mind.

"Different from who?"

Kane swallowed before he added, "From the rest of your family, even from Natalia Hercules."