ferox | f. castle | 2

IV.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Curtis directs his question to David. He takes off his gloves and throws some things away as he cleans up the area. I drag a chair over to the table and take his hand back in mine. David comes back over.

"We had to check out a source." David says as he drink from a bottle of tequila.

"No, man. I mean what the hell were you thinking getting him involved in this. What did you think was going to happen?" Curtis starts to use hand gestures to get his point across as he raises his voice a bit.

"I needed answers. We needed answers." David says.

"Do you see him right now? This is your fault." He points to him. I bite my lip and look at Frank's sleeping form. I bring his hand up to kiss and then put it back down and rub my thumb against his knuckles.

"Well maybe it will be worth something." David says as he walks out back to his computers, not caring about Curtis being angry.

Curtis sighs and continues to clean up.

"Thank you." I say to him. He stops what he's doing to look at me.

"You know, Frank told me you were tough, I get it now." He smiles at me and I can't help but smile back.

He looks down at my hand in Frank's.

"You really care for him, huh?" He asks, I let out a little laugh.

"It's hard not to, he puts up this facade just so no one will get close, so people can look at him and want to turn the other way...But it was the opposite for me. I got close despite him wanting to push me away and when he finally stopped...I got in deep." I sigh and run my thumb over his prickly jaw. He shaved his beard off the other day and I couldn't help but get excited when I saw him without it, he looked more like Frank Castle than Pete Castiglione.

"Let's just say he can try to push me away again, try to protect me by trying to leave, but I'm not going to let him. Not again." Frank made me feel things I've never felt with anyone before, he came barging into my life and I don't want him to leave. I knew the risks coming in and I still don't care, even after the situation with the Irish kitchen, I would still go back to Frank each time. He had a pull over me and I don't mind it one bit.

"Frank deserves happiness, he deserves you. He deserves a normal life but if he keeps getting into this shit-" Curtis shakes his head as he can't finish his sentence.

"I know," I sigh.

"But it's Frank, he's going to do whatever the hell he wants to. You probably know more than me that Frank is the most stubborn person on this planet and when he wants something he gets it. There's no telling Frank Castle what to do." I say and he laughs which in turn makes me laugh.

"Don't I know it. He's hard headed, always has been. But I think he's begin to grow soft."

I let out a deep laugh with that one.

"Soft may be right. He'd kill me if I told you this but Frank is quite the romantic. Can be a bit cheesy too." Curtis laughs again and I smile.

"Oh, I will be using that against him." We calm down from our laughing fit.

"You're changing him, you know. Every time he'd come visit me he would still be the closed off Frank I learned to adapt to, but ever since you came along, I see the old Frank again." I bite my lip to keep my emotions in check. From first meeting Frank he's definitely changed, he's more open and more lively. He isn't afraid to kiss me anymore and although he gets shy when he tells me how he feels or says something cute or cheesy, the fact that he even says it at all is the important part.