Rays of sunlights pushed trough her eyelids as the blinds did nothing to stop them from entering the room. Kathrine turned around, finding that her legs were tangled with the sheets. She was against waking up, instead laying on her other side as she tried to get back to sleep. She smiled happily at the comfort of her own bed, the warm temperature of her room, the silence of her house.

"Fuck!"

Kat's eyes shoot open.

"Fuck fuck, fuckity fuck" the voice came from the other room.

She grumpily got up on her feet, her good mood turned sour from the rough way she had been forced out of bed. Three cats walked with her, following her around the house. For a moment, as she recalled the night before, she held her forehead in her hand. Going back home from the pub. Cleaning herself. Shower. Pajamas. Brushing teeth. A strange sound. An intruder. Wade. She stopped her walk, hand still on her face, she blinked, she resumed. Wade being hurt. Wade asking for her help. Wade looking at her with his big, sad, brown eyes. Wade confessing his internal conflicts. Showing him her soft side. Forcing Wade to sleep there. Shit. She passed her hand trough her hair.

Shit shit shit.

The noise had took her to the kitchen where she had came to an alt. Her arms fell at her side as she looked in front of her. Wade Winston Wilson was currently running from one spot to the other as he grabbed some napkins to try and clean the counter. There was a pan waiting over the flames of the stove, two cups full of coffee and a carton of milk at the side. He was wearing a red sweatshirt and a pair of grey sweatpants that Kat recognized almost immediately, she knew that it wasn't what he had been wearing when she had patched him up. Conclusion, he had stole her clothes.

Two cats mewed at his feet as others circled him. "Here, here." He frenetically opened a couple of cabinets until he found what he had been searching for, their food. He crouched down to fill their bowls, a smirks playing at his lips as he heard them purr "You crazy felines, you sound like you haven't been fed for months. And I know that mommy takes good care of all of you." He pet a couple of them.

Kathrine's gaze softened at his gestures, even if she didn't realize it. She finally stepped forward. "They are expert manipulators" she hummed, voice still groggy with sleep. Her usual client quickly straightened back up, he looked at her in silence as she moved forward to lean against the table. She did a show of moving her gaze up and down his body, one eyebrow slightly higher than the other.

Wade followed her eyes, looking down at what he was wearing. When he realized, a smirk overcame his features. His overconfident self finding a way of resurfacing even if she always did her best to make it drown. "My clothes were covered in blood, so i thought—" he had that look, the one when he was about to say something that only he could find funny.

It was too early for that. Kat let her head fall to the side "That you could steal from me?"

"Precisely" he smiled without missing a beat "Pancakes? You can pair it up with some milk" His eyebrows moved up and down, hinting at something other than a pun about cats and their love for the white liquid.

She understood his little innuendo. She ignored him. She stepped forward into the kitchen and she started to set the table, two forks, two knives... Wade pushed his hand in front of him, he held a couple of napkins at her, she put them at the center of the round wood. Two plates. Wade grabbed the pancakes and he laid them near the napkins, she sat down as he took care of the two cups of coffee.

"So, no milk then?" he questioned teasingly, holding the carton of milk as he took his spot on the chair at her side.

She stared grumpily at him. He thought that she resembled a little kid when denied of their favorite candy. Her lips fought against pouting but he could see that she had it in her to do so. Morning was her weakness then. Being up early was her krytponite.

She furrowed her eyebrows and she fought some strange internal battle before she decided to grab the milk from his hand. He let her took it, and decided to keep all the comments at bait. She knew it. She didn't dare thank him for it (She didn't even think about doing so). He was Wade Wilson, mercenary with a heart of gold. She was Kathrine Kurse, bartender with the darkest soul.

There was a lot he didn't know.

There was a lot she wanted him to understand.

But he would never ask, and she would never tell him.

(Or at least that's what she told herself)

They ate in silence. Or at least for the firsts fifty five seconds. Wade didnt even resist a full minute before he broke, his mouth moving even before his thoughts could fully form. The cats moved around them peacefully, silently. The room held a yellowish tone thanks to the light of the sun hitting the walls. He told her all about how he had gotten injured — Of course he presented it as a funny story, he had fought against some gang's boss and as soon as he had given the last hit the stranger had the amazing idea of pushing the both of them down the building. He was about to be impaled. But, not-so-thankfully (Had commented Kat) it had only cut him deeply.

There, Kat felt something thug at her heart. A smile trying to form on her lips as she watched him recall the fight. Hands moving in the air as he mimicked the actions. There, she did her best to kill it. She blinked and she went back to being numb. The softness in her gaze morphed back into a blank wall to keep everyone on the other side. To keep him away from staring into her soul.

Maybe people were used to underestimate him, his mind. Maybe people only saw him as the deadly killer that he was. Merc with a mouth. Not much else to say about him. People weren't used to understand and accept that he was smarter than he showed. But Kat wasn't people, he knew that. And she knew that Wade could see right trough her if she let him.

Sure enough he noticed the change in her demeanor, he always did with her. But he ignored it, because he didn't know what else to do.

Like she said, he wouldn't ask.

And she wouldn't tell him.

Instead she ate the pancakes, ignoring him when he asked if they didnt taste like the best thing in the whole world — They did. She couldn't give him that satisfaction. He asked her about her job, about the pub. She replayed telling him about small stories that the other clients would confess after one too many drinks.

He laughed at those. He added his own dirty jokes. He watched and waited for a reaction. A glint in her eyes, a twitch at the side of her mouth, a raising eyebrow. Anything. He tried to analyze every single part of her, every spot that she forgot to hide. Everything that she felt safe enough to show.

Wade knew how she worked — More of less. He hadn't told her but he had started to compare her to an onion. Not only because she could make you cry only with a cut. But because she had many layers that she kept hidden, and every time he succeeded on getting to the next he felt a sparkle of pride appear inside of him. Everyone was used to cold stares, mostly silence except for some insults, an aura that screamed 'fear me'. They were used to make sure they weren't in her path, that what they were doing wasn't angering her. (They didn't need to know about the monster inside of her to fear her).

Him, Vanessa, and maybe even Weasel — But he couldn't be too sure about that. — had the pleasure to see something more from her. A new piece of the puzzle. An other layer of the onion.

With them she let her eyes speak some more for herself, without forcing them to look like and endless void. Her mouth, which usually was taped shut by her rest bitch face, was let free to throw back some jokes. Which actually only made Wade laugh, he didn't know if what he felt for her was the cause of his terrible humor or if he had to thanks his sick head for that.

Now Wade liked to think that he was the only one to get a glimpse under the third layer, still far from the center but a win for him anyway. He didn't care to find out if he was actually the only one accepted there or if she had others that she kept hidden some where else. What he cared about was that she had had to force herself to not show anything, which meant that he was slowly passing trough the wall, one step at a time.

Maybe if he could have been more focused it would have been easier to do it. But his brain forced him to get lost into the honey sparkles in her eyes and the hair framing her face. Her skin hit by the sunlight and glistening under it. Her white teeth showing every time she spoke, fangs coming out from under her upper lip.

Maybe he was sick. Maybe the loss of blood had been far more than he had thought and he was dreaming of everything. His death wish.

"Win?" Kat snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, trying to see if he was still conscious "You there?"

He blinked a couple of times. Only then he realized that they weren't in the kitchen anymore. He remembered now that they had cleaned together before moving to the bathroom. Where he currently stood leaning against the sink, fingers gripping the edge.

She looked at him expectantly. Hand still in the air as she thought about letting the inside of her palm hit his cheek. Maybe that would work. Wade stared at her, he realized that she had discarded the grey sweater of her pajamas somewhere in the living room and she was now displaying a white tank top over her blue pants. She tilted her head, moving her arm as she started to grown convinced that hitting him would have been the only solution.

Instead he cleared his throat, and her arms fell at her sides. "Sorry, I—" he was about to stammer over his words, his round eyes looking at her with the same softness of the night before. But he caught himself. Once again he saved his ego from drowning in all that was her. "I confess. Seeing you in something other then your work clothes is doing strange things to me" he kept his face and voice serious, trying to make his point.

Instead he was met with the same old blank stare as she moved to put her hands on the end of his—No, it was actually her— red sweatshirt. She rose it over his injury. "Hold this" he did as she said, hand just over his chest. He tried to made it easier for her to aid him.

She started to peel of the gauzes, but she quickly realized that she was uncomfortable in that position. The bathroom wasn't the biggest and she was slightly crouched forward to take a good look at the cut. Even pushing her neck to the side to try and not cover the light from above. She huffed. She kneeled down in front him. Dragging the elastic of his pant two centimeters down, enough to completely free the gauze from being covered.

"Round two?" he wiggled his eyebrows as she looked up at him. He tried to hide the effect this position had on him. His smirk grew "I didn't know you had that dog in you" he showed her his teeth.

She remained silent as she went back to the blood on his stomach. Red, red, red. Gosh. How it called for her, it was mesmerizing. She bit her lip, hoping that it would look like she was simply focused. Hoping that it wouldn't show the need to lick it clean. Her need to bite his flesh, taste the metal on her tongue. What was his flavor? She wanted to know so bad, she wanted to bite of his skin and eat him as he looked down at her, watching the expression on his face as she revealed her true form.

No. That wasn't what she wanted. That was what the creature inside of her wanted. Maybe she had been to careless, she had thought that she would have had more time. No, she was sure of it. The last time she had let it eat wasn't that far away. But here she was with the bloodlust taking over once again.

It had to be because of him. She couldn't find any other explanation. Being so near the fresh blood, so near him. The creature roared inside of her. It wasn't just a taste that it wanted, no. It wanted him whole. Wade Winston Wilson, the embodiment of eye candy — Or at least for the monster.

Kathrine tried to push the thoughts back as she copied her own work from the night before. Clean and cover. That's what she did.

He remained silent, something that she wasn't used to. It felt strange coming from him. And it felt even more strange the fact that she was missing his voice. It distracts the beast. She tried to justify her self inside her own mind. But fighting against your own self means that you already know that you can't win. And for Kat, it wasn't the first time that she lost against her needs.

She patted the side of the gauze, cleaning her throat as she rose back up. "All good" she muttered as she grabbed the hem of the sweatshirt from his hand. Fingertips brushing. Electricity shooting through their bodies and reaching their hearts. She let it fall down his torso, covering the injury.

He hummed in response, his head tilted to the side as he stared at her in silence. She glared back, arms crossed over her chest. As stated previously, the bathroom wasn't too big. This left them with little to no space between them. From his spot, Wade could stare at the way the light above casted over her. How it accentuated her cupid bow. The shadow of her eyelashes on her cheeks.

Kathrine felt a zap in the air, not the good kind. Something switched around her, something so little that couldn't be perceived by the others. It resembled another feeling, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Anyway, her train of thoughts were interrupted by a twitch of Wade's mouth, a small pained breath left him.

"What?" she asked, pushing her head closer. Investigating irises searching for his.

He closed his eyes, he took a deep breath. "I don't know, maybe the ten stitches on my tummy" the grin grew back on his face.

She stared blankly at him before she turned around. The walls of the bathroom had started to push against her owns. There was a pressure far too strong to ignore. The creature called. She did her best to not respond. It roared. Kathrine scolded it inside her mind. Again. Him, I want him. It added this time. We both want him.

No. Denied Kat.

YES. His blood. His pain. Him.

"No!" she spoke out loud.

"Kitty!" Wade's face didn't change as he teased her. It seemed like all he could do was that shit eating smile. The one that made Kathrine want to punch him in the face. And then eat his heart—No!

She stilled, she looked him up and down and she noticed that he had her phone grasped in his hand. Black, scratched cover and all. "Who got your tail in a twist?" Wade questioned. She ignored him. A name could be read on the display as the device silently ringed. Vanessa.

She grabbed it from his hand and she slid her finger on the screen, accepting the call (Only after she had glared at him). She pushed it against her ear. "Yes?" she turned around, stepping into the living room as she waited for an answer.

"Kat!" Vanessa's voice was a tone higher, with an hint of worry "Did you here from Wade?"

Kathrine felt her heart drop at that question. Not only because she would have had to come up with a lie good enough to explain how she had see him without speaking about his injuries. But also because there was a part of her that had found comfort in those hours with him. Sleeping knowing that he was on the other side of the wall, making pancakes and petting her cats. She had created her personal bubble where time and space didn't really mattered.

And now Vanessa had burst it. She had dragged Kathrine back to the real world. Where Vi and Wade where something more then friends but less then lovers, just two people who cared about each other enough to fuck and not let it ruin their relationship. Where Kat kept herself isolated, away from everyone, away from Wade.

She wasn't angry with her friend. No. She was actually thankful. Because she was reminded of everything she had done to keep the people at an arm length. All the sacrifices, all the pain. All that just so she could be alone and have no responsibilities. All that just so she wouldn't have had to worry about the monster that she was.

"Kat?" called the voice from the other side. She blinked, clearing her throat and turning around to stare at the man in her house. "Yes—Yeah. I saw him..." she started to say as he nodded along her words, prompting her to go on "This morning"

"Really? Oh thank God!" Kat could hear the smile in Vanessa's voice, the relief echoing trough the speaker. Kat could hear the echo of her walls rebuilding. "Is he okay? Is he fine?" she also asked.

Wade nodded. Kathrine spoke. "He broke here for breakfast, he seemed fine". Not many answers, but they were enough to make Vanessa's worry disappear. But also enough to make new questions pop up in her mind. Kat wasn't famous for reassuring, it wasn't a surprise. They both knew that, all three of them did.

Vi laughed in her ear "If you can, kick him in the dick." Her tone changed into something more serious, "I was worried sick" she explained.

Kat nodded as she looked into the distance, her brain worked fast as she came to different realizations. "Mhmm" she hummed back without too much care.

The call ended. Kat let her hand slowly fall at her side, she laid her phone on the small table at the center of the room.

Three slow, calculated footsteps echoed behind her. "Kitty" called the man. Her name sounded like pure sugar falling from his lips, and he was everything but a saint. She couldn't even begin to imagine how it would have sounded if someone else called her that. Thankfully, nobody did.

Nobody did.

There, the last piece of the puzzle finally fell into place. Wade was the only one that could call her that, he was the only one that she would let. She didn't know why she had let him that far into her soul, but it had suddenly all become to much. As the monster called for more of him Kat made the final choice. Push him back in his place. Push him away.

"Get out." she spoke, tone low. Not convincing enough, she knew that. She turned around again, looking him in the eyes. Head high as she hardened her glare. "Get out Wi—Wade." a small slip up that she would never let happen again, nobody could come this close without burning. It didn't mattered how stained their soul was, Kathrine knew her darkness would have always been ready to strike. "Go. You heard her."

He wasn't standing still. With his dumb, big eyes that she would surely get lost into. "No, I heard you." he specified, chin tilting down as he searched for something in her irises.

She shook her head "Hear me now. Get. Out.". Words spilled from her mouth like arrows shooting trough his heart, her tone was back to its origin. He was back to the first layer. The creature inside of her roared in hunger at the look inside his eyes, not that he would know.

He nodded, accepting that. Not because he agreed, because he knew that she needed her time alone. "I'll be back" he told her, a promise. "I'm worse then the mold behind your fridge." his damn smirk appeared, it was there to haunt her.

She did one, fast nod back."I know." Wade considered that a win, especially with what she added next. A small joke that would have kept him away, that followed by all of the ten hours they had spent together. "You smell the same."

Author's Note:
MY SHAYLAAAAAAAA