He may be a teddy bear, but he can still kick your ass.

Chapter 4: Guess you'll have to stick around

The first thing Honey detected when she came to was the warm heat on her forehead. The next thing was the gentle breeze blowing on her lips, and the tight but gentle strength surrounding her. It was actually kind of comforting in a way. It had been a long time since anyone had held her and comforted her so feverently. Usually her parents would just check in and leave medicine when needed. Wondering if perhaps she had fallen prey to a fever and was currently laying in bed, she opened her eyes expecting to see the beige ceiling of her bedroom. The warm feeling inside of Honey vanished instantly the moment she opened her eyes not to a familiar ceiling, but rather the face of a huge man practically laying on top of her. He was a giant, really. The moment her brain comprehended that a strange man was invading her personal space, her three weeks of self-defense classes kicked in, along with her deadly slapping skills. Her arms flew up from her sides and began slapping and pushing the huge stranger's face while her legs struggled to kick at any vulnerable areas.

The man didn't seem highly affected by her vicious attack, merely grunted and lengthened his arms so that she was further away from him, but didn't release her. He straightened Honey and himself up so that they were no longer half reclined on the floor, Honey still slapping and kicking her legs around. "Will you stop that? It's  annoying," the stranger growled. He adjusted his hold on Honey so that his hands were just holding onto her upper arms. Honey scowled up at the man, "Hell no! I wake up to find a freaking giant hovering over me, I think I have a reason to start hitting him!" She doubled her efforts despite the fact that she obviously was not hurting the guy in the least. He looked puzzled by her assault, not in pain at all. The man just looked at her as if she had gone loony. "You do know," he said, still holding her arms down, "that I just saved your life right?"  Honey stopped struggling and looked at his face. "What?" He released one arm and pointed at the empty shelf behind him. "That shelf had fallen over for some reason, and you were pinned under it. I lifted it up off of you." 

A slow blush crept over Honey's face as minutes passed, the man warily looking down at her. Thourougly embarassed, she looked down at her lap. He let go of her arms but continued to sit in front of her, watching her face. "Um... wow, uh...," Honey stumbled, looking everywhere but at the stranger's face, "I-I didn't realize... a-all I kn-knew... y-y-you were-" A large hand covered one of her fidgety hands, shocking Honey into looking up into his face. He chuckled, smiling a little. "It's okay, I get it, I would probably be a little startled if I was in your shoes."

His warm smile helped ease some of Honey's discomfort, allowing her to reveal an apologetic smile of her own. The man stood up and offered a hand to her. She accepted his help, and was a little startled when he drew her up before she could get her feet firmly beneath her. 'Wow, he's really strong,' she thought. He smiled down at her again, drawing her attention to his strong jaw and the light stubble dusting it. "I'm Marcus."  "I'm Honey," she replied, offering her hand out. Marcus took her hand and shook it lightly. His touch made a small zing shoot from where their skin touched all the way to her head, suprising her. She shook it off, blaming her recent accident for her sudden light-headed dizziness. "Nice to finally put a name to the face. I was worried I'd have to tell the paramedics you were Jane Doe or something." She gave a little laugh. Honey quickly gave the gia- Marcus a once over, taking in his stubbled jaw, the same dark brown as his hair. He stood a little higher than the man-killer shelves, making him a little over 6 feet tall. His clothes consisted of a plaid shirt and jeans, both worn out and old, but not in a bad way. They looked comfortable and homey. Honey smiled up at him (at 5'5, he kind of towered over her a bit), which he returned. Marcus had looked handsome before, but his smile made his face- for a lack of better description- shine. She hadn't noticed before, but his eyes were so light brown they could be called amber, warm and strong. 'And here I thought he couldn't get any handsomer.'  

It took the two a minute to realize that they had been holding the others hand longer than the usual handshake required. They both quickly drew back, hastily severing eye contact. Honey couldn't help but giggle when she saw Marcus' face flush lightly as he darted his gaze towards the floor as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He glanced back to her at the sound, giving a little sheepish smile. "So, uh... may I ask how exactley a shelf ended up on top of you? It doesn't seem like something you'd see everyday." 

"Um, well, it's kind of strange...," Honey said, "my friend is a little picky about what she eats. I was trying to get the cereal on the top shelf, but I'm obviously too short to reach it on my own. The shelves seemed sturdy enough..." She chuckled and waved at the mess, "I'm sure you can fill in the rest."

A smile spread across Marcus' face, crooking his lips up as he tried not to laugh. "So, you thought that climbing the shelves, like a little monkey," he coughed to cover up the laughter trying to come out, "so you could get your friend cereal." Playing along, Honey folded her arms and pouted, "Hey, I was the queen of the jungle gym back in the day. I'm just a little out of practice is all." Marcus gave up and burst into laughter at what she did. Her face was not helping either.  

Marcus reached over a snagged one of the boxes scattered on the floor and handed it to her. His laughter slowed down finally. "How 'bout from now on, you let us tall people get stuff like this from now on?" Honey rolled her eyes and grabbed the box, "Well, I can honestly say that you're the tallest person I know." She began walking towards the cashier, tossing a teasing smile over her shoulder, "Guess that means you'll need to stick around, huh?"

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Marcus watched Honey walk away, her steady walk and pace assuring him that she had recovered, while her swaying hips and long dark blonde hair enticed him to follow her. 'Perhaps,' he thought as a sly look crossed his face, 'she might need to be watched for the next few hours, maybe even the night. Just in case of head trauma.' He quickly headed to the front of the store, more thankful for his medic training at that moment than ever before.