She was beautiful.

That was all I could really think as she layed there with her head on my shoulder, her hair lightly framing her gentle face. She looked weak, as if she hadn't eaten in days. Her skin was pale and beautiful even though it had light cuts and bruises here and there. Her soft brown curls made me want to run my fingers through them. But what had really caught my attention were her gorgeous green eyes. There was a weird fire behind her emerald eyes that told me that this pale looking woman had much more to her than what met the eye.

I had seen her many times on the TV before, even been to one of her insanely famous concerts once but I had never imagined that she would be here in my living room, laying against my shoulder looking every bit as innocent. She was even more beautiful up close.

But she was broken. Broken and scared.

Seeing her break down in my kitchen like that earlier had tugged at my heart in the weirdest way possible. Seeing her so scared and helpless last night at the bar had made me want to just wrap her up in my arms and never let her go. Who could have imagined that Tiana Sandford, the seemingly perfect singer, could be so scared inside. Better yet that Tiana Sandford wasn't even the real deal?

I turned my head down slightly to look at her angelic face and last night's memories flashed through my mind.

Last night she had barged in through the doors of the bar at around 11 at night looking so scared and helpless that I hadn't been able stop myself from walking over to her, concern etched on my face. Something about her face had felt oddly familiar but I had pushed that thought at the back of my mind for the moment. Since it was close to closing time, very few people had been there to witness the incident.

" Hey, are you okay? " I bent down a little and whispered softly. She was only a few inches shorter than me but she was hunched over trying to catch her breath.

Then she suddenly looked up at me and it felt as if all the air had been knocked out of lungs. She was beautiful. Even in her distraught state she was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. I gasped looking into her panic stricken emerald eyes.

" They'll.... They'll kill..me.... Please... Please help.... me," she choked out in between her desperate sobs. Her beautiful eyes were filled with tears and her lower lip was trembling. I couldn't stop myself. I wrapped my arms around her and brought her into my chest. " Shh, it's okay. I got you. You're safe now, " I whispered in her ears lightly but it only made her cry even more.

Clutching my shirt in her fist tightly she hid her face in my chest, sobs raking through her body. I held her close to me not knowing what else to do.

I looked up to see Sam walking over to me. " Is everything okay, Ry? " He asked looking down at the girl in my arms with a strange look on his face. " She looks familiar. " I nodded slightly, I had thought the same thing. "I think she was running from someone. Can you go and check who the fucker was? I'll take her inside, she's trembling, " I said and without waiting for his response I lead the girl and sat her on one of the barstools.

She was shaking like a leaf and the sight of her broken state was boiling my anger. Who did this to her? She was looking at the door as if expecting someone to barge in any moment now. Her face was stained with tears and her bloodshot eyes held so much pain, it was unbearable. What has she been through? My mind was drawing all the worse case scenarios and my anxiety was rising.

"Hey Ry, everything good, mate? " That was Evan, my best friend. I snapped out of my horrified imagination and looked over at him. "Yeah man, she looks really scared. I think somebody was following her," I sighed looking down at her. He clapped my back lightly, " Yeah, I saw her running in. Just talk to her, she'll be fine. Call me if you need me, I have to drop Jenny home. " He smiled at me. I turned around to see Jenny standing by the door, her eyes trained at the girl. It looked as if she was trying to recall who she was. I lifted my hand and waved to her. She smiled and waved back.

Evan looked down at the girl and a weird emotion crossed over his face. He gently stroked his hand through her hair affectionately. She looked up at him and her eyes brimmed with tears once again. But the look on her face was heart breaking. She looked as if this was the first time anyone had ever shown her any form of affection.

Evan kept stroking her hair gently and whispered so softly that if I hadn't been standing so close to him, I wouldn't have heard him, " She looks just like her. " At first I thought that he found her familiar too just like the others had, but the look on his face told me differently. I was confused for a minute but then realization struck me and my eyes widened. Evan rarely ever talked about her.

His eyes held a weird emotion as he looked down at her. Sighing he turned back to me. " I should go now, please take care of her Ryan, " He said, his voice suddenly heavy with emotions and then walked away. I stared at his back for a moment wondering why he said that after all these years. He never acted this way. At least not anymore.

I turned my attention back to the girl. She was staring at Evan's retreating figure with a confused face. Sitting on the barstool in front of her, I tried to take her hands in mine but she flinched away. "Can I buy you a drink, Miss... " I trailed off. She looked up me with her hollow eyes and hesitated before answering, " Tiana....Tiana Sandford. " A cloud of grief settled over her face and she looked down at her hand fidgeting with the ring on her hand.

I gasped at what she had just said. Honestly that piece of information did kinda make sense. She looked like Tiana Sandford, the famous singer everyone seemed to love nowadays, but I thought maybe she was just not in her right mind at the moment. I smiled back at her and gestured Tori, the bartender to bring in a few drinks for us.

Once a few drinks were in, she started to relax. She told me she was from New York and that she ran away from her house two weeks ago. Apart from that however she didn't tell me anything else. I stared at her face as she gulped down her drink.

She was different. I could see she had been through a lot. Anyone could see that by looking at her state. But still, she had a weird fire in her eyes, as if even in her broken state, she was unbreakable. Even I could tell that she one hell of a headstrong woman. After all who can drive all the way from New York to Seattle for 14 days straight!

She drank only four drinks but maybe she was a lightweight, cause I could see that she was drunk out of her mind which had somehow let the tears out again. I had no other option than to take her back to my place. I couldn't have just left her alone there anyway.

Evelyn was a closed book full of her own secrets. Secrets that I could see were killing her from the inside and I wanted to find them. Call me crazy, but this woman laying on my shoulder right here in my living room, intrigued me more than anyone had ever done before and I wasn't letting her go just yet.

Smiling at her sleeping figure I rested my head over hers and closing my eyes I drifted off into a dreamless sleep myself.

********

• Author's Note •

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Who do you think Evan was comparing Evelyn to? Let me know what you think in the comment section.

QUTD :- If you could visit one place, anywhere on Earth, right now, what would it be?

I would most certainly flee away to Paris, that would be a dream come true!

Much love

M :)