[b]Ella felt her stomach do several flips as Marken uttered the words "attempted killer," wondering if he was really as dry and straight-forward as he made her believe. She still couldn't believe that he didn't hate her, so her mind was picking everything apart, waiting for his rebuttal, for cruel words. She felt like she was always waiting for him to turn on her. No one had ever given her their loyalty before.

"If it makes you feel any better, I barely even attempted anything," Ella grumbled lightly, "I didn't have the stomach to stand over you for more than a few seconds, even when I knew what was on the line."

Being silent again, Ella cut into her omelet, taking slow bites as she tried not to think of the future conversation she and Marken would have to have with his father. She just had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that things wouldn't go very well.[/b]