Alex had returned from Chinatown earlier that night because an unexpected storm had struck the city and he was lucky that he had left before it caught peak and was safely back at his place. Dora had gone to sleep by then and he had come down to the kitchen, warming up some milk for himself as he couldn't go to sleep.

His fingers gently massaged his throbbing temples as he took the cup of milk out from the microwave, placing it at the counter. The storm was still raging outside, the sound of thunder breaking the silence every now and then.

His honey colored eyes were tired but sleep seemed far from his reach as he sat down at the chair, looking at the cup as if thinking whether or not to drink it.

Alex was shaken out of his tiring thoughts by the distinct sound of knocking that somehow broke through the clamor of the storm. At first, he thought he had imagined it but when the knocks sounded again, he sighed wearily and got up.

The shop area was dark as he approached the door and lifted back the blind on the glass pane to see who was outside. Much to his surprise, Helena was standing outside, soaked from head to toe due to the rain.

She was not in her Huntress suit otherwise he would have spotted the bow and mask. Still her eyes had dark rings around due to all the smeared mascara and her hand rested on the glass pane.

He opened the door and stepped aside in a silent approval for her to come in. Grey locked with honey colored irises as she stepped in, but neither of them said a word.

Alex locked the door behind her, going back to the kitchen and she followed, making sure to not cause a lot of mess. But she was dripping due to standing out in the rain so there was not much she could do about the muddy footprints.

He pushed the cup of milk towards her and she took it, the feeling of warmth rather soothing as she gripped the cup between her cold palms.

She could see that he had been troubled, concern dripped from his features just like the water that dripped from hers and she felt awful that she had put him through so much.

"Alex... I know you're probably mad at me and... And you have every right... I just..."

He stepped forward, eyes softening, "drink the milk first, please? You're shivering."

Her lips parted to speak but he had already left the kitchen. She felt as if she had messed up everything and even though Alex was being kind to her even then, it was out of habit and not because she deserved any of it.

She had been unnecessarily harsh to him the last time they had met so she didn't expect anything better from him either. Yet he hadn't told her off, he said nothing whatsoever, only silently showing her that he still cared.

And it made her feel twice more awful. Alex was the best that had happened to her but just like always, she had messed everything up herself. She hated herself for that but there was nothing else that she could do either, she had a record of blowing up every good thing that happened to her by her own hands.

She never wanted Alex to face the same curse she had inflicted on so many souls in the past, including Jason. But it all came back to square one and as she sat there looking at her empty scratched hands, tears burned in her eyes but she couldn't break down just then.

Helena Bartinelli never cried, she could not subject herself to such weaknesses. And yet she found the intense guilt eating her up, making her feel weaker than she had ever felt before.

Trying to take her mind off the guilt growing in her heart, she drank the glass of milk, placing it back on the counter when she had finished it.

He returned with a blanket in his hands that he held out towards her. If they hadn't had a fight recently, he would have wrapped the blanket around her himself, a light kiss touching her cheek and she longed for that. But right then he simply stood there, hand outstretched giving her the blanket.

"Thanks," she mumbled, taking it from him and wrapped it around her shivering body.

He warmed up another cup of milk for himself and took the seat beside her, silently drinking it. Her grey eyes observed him closely but the silence was unnerving her.

Besides, apologizing had never been her strong suit and he somehow knew that so he didn't expect her to say anything just then.

"I'm sorry," her voice shook but she knew it would be better if she got it off her chest, "Alex I... I'm really sorry..."

"I don't want you to apologize," he spoke up at last, honey colored irises looking softly in conflicted grey, "I just don't want you to mistrust me. That's all I have ever asked from you, Len."

She knew that very well and she knew she had been stupid to mistrust him even though he was just being caring towards her because it was in his nature.

"You know I would never ever hurt you," he resumed in a soft tone, choosing his words carefully, "I can't... It's not that I think you need someone like me in your life, I know you can have anything and anyone you want... I just don't want you to ever think that I would have any ulterior motive when it comes to you."

"I don't want anyone else, you're all I have ever wanted," her palm roughly brushed the tears away from her eyes.

Finally, he reached out towards her, gently taking her in his arms. She gratefully accepted the embrace, her head burying in his chest, trying to hide the fact that the tears would not stop rolling down her cheeks.

"Helena, I love you so much that it scares me to even think of us ever fading into nothing," he whispered, lips touching her forehead in a delicate kiss, "but even though I love you, I would never hold you back from anything. I know you're a strong independent woman, you face your own battles head on, you're everything admirable and beautiful at the same time... I just don't want you to let go of me because you fear I would become something you would regret letting close to you. Because I won't. I would rather die..."

Her finger brushed against his lips silencing him, eyes fluttering shut out of fatigue, "don't talk of dying... It hurts and I hate getting hurt."

He held her close, fingers running gently through her damp brown hair, "alright. Do you want to come up?"

She nodded and before she could get down on her feet, he had gently lifted her up in his arms, watching her head nestle against her shoulder, "Alex... Put me down."

"But you're tired."

"So are you."

Her eyes opened and she caught him smiling at her. The same soft smile that she adored so much and had been deprived of seeing that past week. A smile she had almost believed she would never see again. 

That instant, it struck her with twice the intensity how much she had missed him.

"I love you too, Alex."

He carried her to his room and gently placed her down, going to the bathroom to fill the tub with water, placing the heating rod in it to warm it up, "take a bath, you'll feel better."

But she didn't let go of him and pulled him into the bathroom along with her, discarding the blanket, "I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

"Wait, what?" His face reddened slightly, realizing what she meant, "you mean..."

"Yeah, not letting you out of my sight. Not even for a second."

***