𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

13

dylan hayes 

I don't like eye-contact. I don't like it when people look at me too long. I don't like being seen or look at in any way.

I'm scared that, as cliché as it sounds, that when people look at me too long or too deeply they won't like what they see. It's part of the reason why I don't spend more than I night with someone, I don't give anyone the chance to find something they don't like and trust me they will. Everyone does.

Elliot is different.

Elliot is and has been the exception too all of my rules and I don't know how to feel about it. It scares me just as much as it excites me to be around him. I can feel myself slowly opening up but with that comes vulnerability, Elliot could easily hurt me and I'm not sure I could recover if he did.

But I trust him not too, as naïve as it sounds. Elliot in my life represents everything good, a fresh start, a second chance and a step in the right direction, which is something long overdue. I trust him more than I've ever trusted my own parents, more than I've ever trusted anyone other than Daisy.

And because I've learnt to trust him by extension I'm slowly learning to trust others. That's why for the first time in a long time I'm out shopping with other people. Those other people being Jayden and Gracie.

"So Dylan how did you and Elliot meet?" Jayden asks as we skim through the racks full of clothes mindlessly.

Has he not said anything to them? "He didn't tell you?"

It's then that Gracie chimes in. "He did but he gave no detail whatsoever, we want to hear it from you."

I try and think back to all the times we bumped into each other before speaking.

"Okay so I was surfing down at like a secluded area of the beach that I usually go to, I'd never seen anyone else go there so I assumed nobody else knew about it. Anyway, Elliot, Clay and Theo turned up there and they were pretty close to my stuff. As I was getting my stuff I dropped my keys and Elliot told me and then I left."

"Cute, but how did you become so close after that one meeting?" Jayden asks and I start to wonder what Elliot told them, probably something along the lines of 'at the beach'.

"Well, later that same night I was working a random shift at a bar and I served them all. Then I saw him again the next morning with his little sister at the park while I was walking my dog. His little sister and my dog were both called Poppy and bonded pretty quickly so we sat together for a while."

Gracie raises her brows, looking impressed, "That's quite a lot of coincidences."

I let out a short laugh, "There's more. The next time I ran into him was at the grocery store with his sister when I was sick. That night I kinda fainted and ended up in the hospital and you will not believe who my doctor was."

Jayden gasps. "No."

I nod my head, "Yes. His brother was my doctor and it gets even worse. He turns up with Poppy."

This time it's Gracie's turn to gasp. "No."

"Poppy then recognises me making Aidan and Elliot turn to each other like 'how do you know her' and you know what I overhear. 'She's that Dylan.' So I'm sat there really confused like how does Aidan already know about me. Then Elliot offers to drive me home and I said yes and we end up finally exchanging numbers."

I pause not wanting to rant on but Jayden bugs me for the rest of it. "Are you sure you want to hear it all, it's kinda long."

"Yes, now get on with it, I need to hear the rest." Gracie waves me on.