[IC] Trying to protect (faithfulmuse and Xion)

[FaithfulMuse]

"A body guard? Are you serious? There's someone going to be around me every single moment of the day, watching every little thing I do?" Helena asked, looking at her father once he'd finished talking. He couldn't be serious now, could he? She already had hardly any privacy with the paparazzi watching them every single time they had a chance to, but with a bodyguard, even the little bit of privacy she had would be gone.

She heard her father letting out a sigh. "Honey, you have to understand that it's for your own safety." He answered, looking at her. "Oh yeah, this is because that damn gang would kill me otherwise, right? Like they could even aim a gun at me without someone taking a picture or getting the moment caught on tape." She answered. "You're thinking too little of them." Was the only reply she got. "No, what I'm thinking that because of you, even my last bit of privacy will be gone. After all, I'm your daughter, and you're not willing to do what they want, making them want to kill me. Like you'd even care much if that would happen other than that you would be portrayed as a terrible father!"

Another audible sigh came from her father. "Helena, I have to go, I don't have time for this. You're getting a bodyguard, today, and that's it." After he had said those words, he walked out of the house and shut the door behind him. Of course he did. That's how all their discussions ended. Helena took a seat on one of the,chairs at the dining table and let out.a frustrated sigh.

[Xion Demente]

Leo was walking down the side walk to the place he was ordered to go to be a bodyguard for someone he barely knew, he learned real quick to not question his orders from his boss. Still why did he have to be a bodyguard, he ran his hand through his hair. He saw the house wasn't far from where he was now, he went up the steps and knocked on the door a person answered the door. "I'm the body guard for uh Helena."

They let him in, and told him to wait. He put his hands in his pockets, as he waited. He looked around the place he was standing in, he had his orders keep the girl safe and don't get to know her. Leo sat down in a seat, waiting on her father or her to show up for that matter anyway.

[FaithfulMuse]

Not too long after the argument with her father, a maid entered the room where Helena was, looking at her. "Mrs. Rivers?" The maid asked, causing Helena to look up and sigh softly. "Like big said before, you don't have to call me like that, just my first name would be good. But anyway, what is it?" Helena asked. "Your bodyguard has arrived." The maid announced, causing Helena to get up and follow her to where they let the bodyguard wait. The house was rather big, but the maids and Helena herself knew the way.

Helena still didn't like the idea of a bodyguard, but had accepted the fact that she would be having one, and that there was nothing she could do about it. She supposed she might as well not make it any more difficult for the bodyguard to be around her all day, or at least not on purpose.

When they had arrived in the room where her bodyguard was, Helena looked at him for a while. Somehow he looked familiar, but it took her a moment to figure out what was exactly so familiar about this man. When she finally thought she realised it, she got a surprised look on her face, and a moment she was quiet in disbelief. "Leo?" She asked carefully, to make sure it was him. After all it had been years since the last time they saw each other, and who knew how much he had changed by then. Even if this man looked like her childhood friend, it was still possible that he wasn't who she thought he was.

[Xion Demente]

Leo got up, he looked up his eyebrows shot up as he recognized Helena. "Long time no see Helena never thought I would see you again," an old trouble maker smirk made it to his face. "Never thought I'd see you again," he rubbed his jaw then out his hands in his pockets. "My boss said I would be a bodyguard for someone, looks like being your bodyguard will be worth it."

She had grown since he last seen her, his soft blue eyes looking at her taking in her figure. "Looks like you've grown a lot since, I last saw you how many years has it been 7 or 8 years since I've seen you." He looked at her after his eyes took in what was around him, "my boss wanted me to have a room right next to yours just in case something bad happened I could get to you fast."

[FaithfulMuse]

"Yeah, I thought the same, it was just... You were suddenly gone and you didn't come back, so I thought I'd never see you again." Helena said, a wide smile on her face. After eight years of thinking that he had moved to a different country, or even thinking he died, Leo was standing right in front of her. It was unbelievable, and she had never been happier to see someone more than him.

Maybe if Leo was going to be her bodyguard, it wasn't going to be as bad she first thought it would be. After all, her body guard was her childhood friend she used to get along with very well, how bad could it be to have him around all the time? When he mentioned he needed to sleep in a room next to hers, Helena nodded. "Sure, that should be no problem. I'll show you around." She answered, looking at Leo.

[Xion Demente]

Leo nodded, "I'm fine just uhhh moved away from town, my parents didn't feel like driving 3 hours here so I could see you." As she showed him around he took notes, in his head so then he would be able to get through the house like it was his own when it actually wasn't. His job was to make sure Helena was safe, from the gang even if it meant losing his life.

"It's just been a hard life when I moved away from here, struggling to make money." He shrugged, it wasn't a really big deal now, he made a good amount of money for working for the FBI. He looked around taking in the house while making the notes in his head, "once I left town how have you been holding up Helena?"

[FaithfulMuse]

Helena got a sad look when Leo asked the question. "Lonely. It might sound fun, having a famous actor as your father, but it really isn't. He leaves at insanely early hours and comes back home very late. I hardly get to spend any time with him at all and he just doesn't seem to care about it. And seeing friends isn't an option neither, because I don't have any. No real friends, actually. All they care for is that my father is rich and famous, not about who I am and if they even like me in the first place. Not that they'd admit it if they don't." Helena said, and when she got to her room, she stopped walking and opened the door.

"But you've been a real friend to me, and now you're back, so I guess I won't be as lonely as before." She added as put a smile on her face, before walking into the room, which was quite large and looked warm and inviting, with one of the walls being covered by pictures. "This is my room, though I'm not here often when I'm at home and not asleep, I'd much more prefer to be in the garden, or the gallery. But you can always walk in if you want to." She said, smiling friendly. She was really happy her friend was back, even if he was going to be her bodyguard.

[Xion Demente]

Leo looked around, "nice room bigger than mine, but it's quit cozy in here." He saw the pictures, then saw the one when him and Helena went to the beach, that light browned tan boy smiling with his arms wrapped around a girl in front of him. "Looks like you still have that old photo of when we went to the beach , man was that a long time ago." He rubbed the back of his neck, it looked like her room would be the first place the gang searched if they broke in.

He knew the sniper wouldn't get a good shot at her in her room, which was good still he had to worry about the gang breaking in. He took in the outside surroundings, they couldn't get in unless they kicked in the door which Leo would hear them do. Now lock picking, that would be the problem. He saw other pictures of him and Helena, she kept most of the pictures they had taken together over the years before he moved.

[FaithfulMuse]

Helena smiled and nodded in response to Leo's remark about the picture of the two of them together at the beach. "I kept pretty much all pictures with you and I on them. They're my favourite ones, because they hold the best memories to me." She said, which was true. The other pictures were nice and all, but the pictures of Leo and her remembered her about their time as friends while they were younger, the best moments of her life so far. Those pictures actually meant something, and that didn't count for all pictures.

Once she was done talking, Helena looked up to Leo once again. "Say, when your room is ready and you unpacked everything, we could go to the forest or anything. There's not really something I have to do, anyway." She suggested, looking at Leo. Just going somewhere together wasn't such a bad idea, or at least not to her. As her bodyguard he was meant to be close to her anyway, so they might as well make it fun.

[Xion Demente]

Leo nodded, they could go to the woods. If someone tried to shoot at her, he had his pistol under his jacket. Still he looked around the room, waiting on Helena. He was ready at all times having a gun on him, ready to protect her at a seconds notice. The regular Leo would disappear, and his training would kick in. He would protect her it was his job and she was his friend.

They had gotten to the woods, he liked the woods it was nice and quiet usually. He breathed in the air, he was glad he was outside again and just for some fun. He wasn't a job and he was at the same time he should of decided this earlier, take this job he would have to protect Helena and he was having fun in the mean time.

[FaithfulMuse]

Helena smiled, looking around in the woods. She loved the place, it was just so calm and quiet and peaceful, a place where she could really calm down and feel at ease. It was wonderful just to be there and enjoy nature. And this time, she wasn't even all alone out in the forest.

She had taken her camera with her in case she would see something she wanted to take a picture of, even though she doubted it. She had been in the forest a lot of times already and had taken much pictures before, so she doubted if she could still find something. But she could always take pictures of Leo, and maybe she and Leo together. "This forest is my favourite place to be."

[Xion Demente]

Leo smiled, "it's always peaceful in the forest, that's what me and my father say always let you think out here." He had his hands in his pockets as he looked around, his eyes kept going back to Helena. He remembered all those times Helena dragged him in here against his will, then he finally got to love this place.

Leo found the old x he carved into a tree where him and Helena would meet, he put his hand on the tree. Closing his eyes remembering all those days him and Helena had met. His phone rang, he sighed picking it up. "Hello?" His boss on the other side of the phone, "are you with the girl?" Leo nodded, "I am" he could feel his bosses smile which sent a shiver down his back. "Good," then he hung up "that was my boss he wanted to make sure I made it to you."

[FaithfulMuse]

Helena looked at him and grinned. "I thought you didn't like the forest?" She asked, remembering very well how back when they were younger, he hadn't liked the place at all. When she noticed the X carved in the tree where Leo put his hand against, she smiled. This was the place where they would always meet, and the X marked that. She took a picture of Leo's hand resting on the bark and so close to the X before he removed his hand again. It would probably seem like a silly picture, but not to her. To her, the X was a reminder of their old meeting place when they were just kids, and with the hand of the young adult man next to it, it showed that he still remembered that, and even visited the spot.

She slowly started to walk, knowing Leo would follow after her. They always walked together in the forest and didn't leave the other behind, that was just the way it was. The forest was coloured in the brown, yellow and orange colours of autumn and the leaves crunched under their shoes as they walked. Helena loved autumn a lot, but still, her favourite season had to be spring.

[Xion Demente]

Leo followed Helena, they never left each other's side when they were in the forest he remembered that real well. He had his hands in his pockets, she has grown up a lot I just can't believe I'm seeing her again. He smiled at the thought, they were about to get to the river. He remembered the old boat he was working on back then he just hoped it didn't get destroyed while he was gone.

They got to the river, he saw the old boat he was making when he was younger, it still looked the same. That meant he could have it finished in a few weeks or so. He never told Helena about the boat, he wanted it to be a surprise when they were younger well it wasn't now. He really didn't care if she found out a few weeks ago, he just wanted to get it done.

[FaithfulMuse]

Helena looked at he boat, and noticed Leo looking at it too. "It had been here like that for quite long already, nobody ever works on it to get it done. I wonder why..." Helena asked, having no clue whose boat it was, and neither did anyone else she knew know who it belonged to. The boat had became one of the forest's mysteries to her, one she couldn't solve. But that only made the unfinished boat that much more fascinating to her.

"Some people even made a scary story about the boat, saying that it's cursed. They say that the person who started in the boat first died, and that because of the curse, everyone else who worked on it later died too, and that the curse is the reason it never got finished. But I don't believe that curses and things like that exist." She told to Leo, looking at him.

[Xion Demente]

Leo looked at her, then went up to the boat and touched its side. "I was the one who started building this, but before I could finish we moved." The hull was smooth wood, with an engine that was a good engine for just going up and down the river.

He knew he could get the boat finished in a few weeks at most, he smiled at the old thought of his brother then quickly disappeared. His brother had died in a car accident 2 years ago a drunk driver had been driving and killed his brother on impact. He pulled out the old photo of him working on the boat, his brother had taken this picture of him.

[FaithfulMuse]

"Oh I see, that makes much more sense." She said, smiling. Of course it had been something simple like that. People were just always overacting over the unfinished boat and made up ridiculous stories that made no sense at all. Why didn't anyone ever think of the most simple solution rather than making a horror story all based on an unfinished boat? It was just crazy.

Smiling, Helena still couldn't believe that Leo was right there with her. It had been eight years since they last met, and after he left she had thought she'd never see him again. But there they were again, and how happy was she to be with him again, the one and only real friend she ever had. And how did they change during these years... They weren't young teens visiting high school anymore, they were young adults now. And in all honesty, Helena just had to admit that Leo turned out very handsome.

[Xion Demente]

Leo looked over the boat, it was just how he left it. He smiled at the old thought, the little skinny kid turned into a medium build man with light brown hair with a light black beard that he kept shaved. He got up, stuffing the old picture of him and his brother in his pocket starting to walk back over to Helena till he heard gun shots.

He quickly got Helena into cover, getting his 9MM out ready to fire. He peeked out of cover, seeing one of the gang members that were described to him. He shot his pistol, hitting him in the shoulder, watching the guy run off he let out a breath he didn't know he was even holding. He put the pistol back in its holster, under his coat out of sight.

[FaithfulMuse]

Helena let out a scared scream when she heard the gunshots, clenching her eyes shut and covering her ears as she felt someone protecting her body, his body less than an inch away of hers. She knew it was Leo, it couldn't be anyone else, but she was too scared and shocked to feel safe, even with the strong man so close to her. Only a while after the gunshots had died out and she heard Leo sighing, she dared to open her eyes to see if everything was alright again.

There wasn't any shooter to be seen wherever she looked, but her sight was blurred by the tears caused by the shock gathering in her eyes. She was shaking, and so was her breathing, shaky and fast. When she looked at Leo she said nothing, too much in shock to do so. All she knew was that from that moment on, she just wanted to be even closer to her friend, who had just saved her life by risking his own. But she also wanted to yell at him for doing so. Even if it was his job to protect her at any cost, she didn't want him to risk his life to save her.

[Xion Demente]

Leo looked at her, his eyes scanned there surroundings , once he was sure the shooter was gone he got Helena up onto her feet. He said nothing as he lead them back to her house, he didn't know what to say it was his job to protect her, but also he knew she wanted to yell at him for risking his own life for hers.

He sat her down in a chair, he kept his gun on him at all times. It was the safest way to keep Helena safe. He her arm the kneeled down in front of her. "Helena your safe no one will touch you or harm you while I'm around alright?" He looked into her eyes, all his hardships showing in his eyes as he met hers.