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I turn to look at her and grin

“I like this look”

She holds out her ars doell past her hands Black sweatpants start to drop frorabs them

“It’s all I could find A man must live in this house alone I can’t wait to see you in flannel”

I want to kiss her, to hold her inwet and filthy She’s clean, and I don’t want to ruin her new clothes

“I put a couple of frozen pizzas in the oven, but there are a couple of cans of beans on the counter if you get hungry before they’re done”

She nods and walks to the kitchen to peek in on the pizzas

“Here” I hold out the gun to her “Hold on to this until I get back from the shower”

She stares at it “No, it’s better off with you I have my knife If someone comes, you’ll save me”

I frown, hating her coo to the bathroom to shower and dress as quickly as possible The task is hard because of how sore and dizzy I aht arht But I make do and dress in a flannel shirt and khaki pants

When I return to the kitchen and catch sight of Liesel pulling the pizza out of the oven, ain

She smiles at me as she places the pizzas on plates and then carries them to the slasses of water

I try not to completely collapse into the chair as to not worry Liesel, but the sound the chairs ivesinto the food and drink every drop of water

We both keep our eyes on each other as we eat, trying to find answers to all our burning questions without actually asking them I need to ask her what happened I need to find out how broken she is, howher sooner But I’ her eyelashes atafter her shower, and how adorable she looks in oversized flannel

But I can’t get past the bruises on her face, though I certainly can’t face what other bruises andbeneath the flannel