The Dark of You (GxG)

38. Did I do something wrong?

With a shiver, I wrapped my arms around myself to keep the warmth. During breakfast, Shantelle asked if I wanted to go on a walk with her. She has been so friendly to me that I couldn't decline. The cold weather wasn't the only reason why I was nervous about this little trip with Shantelle. She and her family have been watching me so strangely sometimes, which is making me uneasy.

"Did I do something wrong?" I let the bird out of the cage as the silence between us has been as thick as mud ever since we left the house. Shantelle stopped abruptly with widened eyes.

"What makes you think that?" She asked, laying her hand over her chest if I had crushed her heart.

"It's just," I breathed out deeply to find the strength to say the words that are needed.

"Sometimes I just feel like I do," I said and she tilted her head as she laid her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm not used to be around a lot of people and my social skills might not be up to date and," Shantelle raised her hand in front of my face to stop my rambling, but there was a comforting smile on her face.

"You haven't done anything wrong, Hadley," I could tell by the warmth in her voice that she really meant it. She wrapped her arm around my own and pulled me along down the gravel road.

"Quite the opposite, to be honest," Her words made me look at her again as I waited on an explanation.

"You are probably not aware as you only met Rylan a few months ago. But ever since that girl came to us at the age of twelve she's always been shut down," I furrowed my eyebrows as I listened closely to Shantelle's story.

"She always kept people at arm's length. Rylan didn't like that anyone sat close to her, she didn't accept handshakes and god save us if anyone tried to hug her," She chuckled and I smiled softly at her small laugh.

"That girl never came for comfort, not even after her accident a year ago in the military. Lola and I had to force it onto her, basically. She is the nut that I could never crack. The others came around, but she still hasn't," Shantelle sighed sadly.

"She struggled socially at school and was never able to make any friends, but I think a part of her never wanted them either as if she didn't need it. I think she thrived in her own company as she couldn't connect to others properly," A snowplow passed on the main road to push the snow onto the edge with a few cars following its trail.

"But Tucker and Rylan found something in common. They grew closer and in my mind, I was satisfied with that. But then he died when she was eighteen and she left for the military quickly without a word," The grip around my arm tightened.

"We barely saw her for the next eleven years until she came back from the accident. Then finally, after a year, she was kind of ready to search for something else and ended up applying for your, umm,"

"My dad?" I said and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I guess we can call it that," She shrugged and I kicked the snow on the ground as that is the last thing I wish to talk about.

"I'm sorry I really got off track," Shantelle laughed as she stopped us and turned to face me.

"What I was actually going to say is that," She laid her hands on my shoulders and stared me deeply into my brown eyes with her own.

"Rylan seems to be comfortable around you in a way she hasn't been with anyone," Her intense gaze made me swallow hard as I looked away for a second.

"When you sat down next to her on the couch the other day and touched her shoulder. I expected her to stand up and rush out of the room in discomfort. Yet, she didn't and neither did she move away from you," Oh, there is the explanation for why everyone was staring at me as if I was crazy.

"She likes you," She grinned this time and panic raised in my chest. With my mouth open, I tried to find the right words.

"Rylan wouldn't have let you in if otherwise," I took a step back and let her hands fall off me as I wished I could be miles away from here.

"She is just my security guard," Who the hell did I try to convince with that trembling voice, her or myself. Shantelle raised her eyebrow as she could look through that lie as if it was made of glass.

"Rylan might appear confident and strong on the surface, but when it comes to people, she is vulnerable. And that vulnerability she tries so hard to hide to protect herself," Shantelle spoke so passionate about Rylan.

"She needs to learn that it's okay to let people in and it seems like now she might have as she has allowed you to do so," She smiled so happily, while I, on the other hand, felt as if the entire world was on my shoulders. It's as if Rylan has become my responsibility in some sort of way.

"I-I might not be the right person,"

"Nonsense," She shut me up.

"You are a sweet girl, Hadley," Shantelle's compliment felt like an acceptance, but I'm not sure for what.

"It might be wrong, considering that she works for your father and is set to protect you, but," She paused and watched me in such a profound way that my heart speeded up.

"Once she gives you her heart, you'll take it. Because people like Rylan, they don't give it away that easily,"