Natanie's heart burned. Her eyes were swollen with tears. Every step she took made her weak and groping her way through the darkness was the only thing she thought to do. 
Then the distorted sight of Madina in front of the Dance Palace made her quicken her pace to reach her. 
Her legs managed to carry her on. When she reached Madina, She dropped into her arms. Madina wondered what the problem was and held her up against her chest.
“Natanie _ what's wrong?” Madina whispered, not sure how to respond to a distressed Natanie.
“She's not my mother…” Natanie cried into Madina's chest as she clung to her. Her heart was torn apart and heart was heavy. 
“She isn't…” She mumbled under her breath.
*****
A week later…
*****
Being out in the vast space and pulling all her broken pieces together, Natanie had moved over to Madina's quarters. She'd asked her initially and Madina confirmed that she could. 
The cold breeze flushed her face and allowed her body feel relief. 
Dave came up behind her and she didn't even notice he was there. The way she stood, made him want to go up behind her and hug her. 
The past week have been challenging and he couldn't be there for her because she had been hard to find.
She was never present at rehearsals and she decided to lock in and not see anyone. She didn't talk much, she barely even ate something during these times. 
Madina has been too supportive of her and Natanie couldn't be more grateful. 
The urge to hold her close to himself was hard to shake off. He wanted to console her, help her and protect her so bad but he was still well aware of his boundaries.
Partly, he blamed himself for the turn of events. 
Then Dave managed to move close to her and held unto the varender. 
When she saw him beside her, her heart was heavy enough for her to fall into his arms but she couldn't, she didn't. 
The emptying inside of her was too crippling. She sighed and continued her gaze into the vast fields. 
“I'm sorry.” Dave said softly. 
She stared at him almost like he'd grown too heads. Why was he sorry? It's not his fault she'd found out. She thought. If anything, she was grateful to him for tipping her with a warning. He had told her to be careful after all.
He stared dimly at her and when she looked away, his heart broke.
“It's not your fault.” She muttered coldly.
“It is.” He insisted.
She brought her eyes back on him again as tears burned in her eyes and blinking them back proved difficult. 
“I hurt you.” He said and she didn't understand why any of it was his fault. 
“No Dave, you're not to be blamed for anything. I didn't know, I didn't notice that things were pretty bad. I was completely oblivious to their plots.” She muttered. 
She sighed. “With everything that has happened, I figured that I'm meant to be alone from the start.” It felt weird stating that ridiculous fact. 
“But right here.. as your friend.” He blinked. “To protect you.” 
She placed her hand on his and stared deep into his eyes as tears protested to roll down her cheeks. 
“You don't need to protect me Dave…” Natanie mumbled. She just needed his embrace but that only existed in her thoughts. 
“You_ you just need to go.” She added and let go of his hand as his face fell.
His hand, where she'd placed her hand, literally burned. His heart broke at her words but he probably had to respect her decision and leave. 
His gaze were fixated on her for a moment. Her eyes were focused on the fields and her chest rose and fell from her slow breathing. He noticed the slight shiver that shook her body and her fists that hesitated before she clenched them. 
She looked like she needed some time alone and then he resolved to push out all the hesitation he felt and leave. 
He let out a sigh and found himself backing off slowly. If he couldn't be there for her like this, then he would gladly protect her behind the scenes. 
He nodded slightly before he spun around and calculated every step he would take to disappear from her sight. He had to admit that it was quite a daunting choice.
What is wrong with her? She couldn't understand why her tears kept falling. She shouldn't have sent him away when all he wanted to do was be there for her.
She shook her head trying so hard to stay put and not try to stop him from leaving. Why is it so hard? She couldn't understand it. 
“Dave…” She called out to him and then he slowly turned her way. 
Her gaze rested on him without her saying anything further. Her lips just danced to protest a sob. She pushed out all possible feelings of embarrassment out of the window and then dragged her feet towards him. 
At first, he furrowed his brows at her before his lips pressed into a thin line as he approached her too. Longing and yearning overtook their feet as they ran into each other's embrace.
He held her so close to him like he's finally obtained a rare treasure. She cried into his arms until she felt exposed. 
Right there in his arms, made her feel real, and loved and cared for. 
Even if she when she wanted to give up, his grip encouraged her. When she wanted to blink back the tears in order not to make a mess of his clothes, his slow breathing made her tears continue falling.
Whilst in his embrace, she couldn't fall apart even when she tried to. 
"You warned me after after all." She mumbled. "About him_ about Fred."
He rubbed her back to console her. 
Isabelle came up behind them but a little farther away and frowned at the sight of Natanie and Dave together. She was obviously disgusted. 
"So, Dave is the reason why she found out?" Isabelle mumbled under her breath and scoffed. 
Natanie slowly loosen her hold on him and looked at him in the face. 
"I haven't _ got the chance to say thank you, for being a good friend." She said and looked away from him. 
He seemed to be in a daze because he didn't respond to her. She just walked away from him without even saying a word. Then again, something about her hold on him had succeeded in making him speechless. Not that he should be blamed, her proximity sent wild signals into his brain.
And when she was out of his sight, he sighed and bit his lip.
"Goodnight." He mumbled.