The Bodyguard ✔

Chapter Twelve

I'm standing on the porch behind the house, while looking at my beloved forest.

Before, I frequently went walking and jogging through those woods. The place is enchanting and terrifically unknown to most people: in the almost eighteen years I've lived here, I've come across only four people while walking.

My phone buzzes. Dad has sent another message, asking if everything is alright. I assure him everything is. I even tell him I'm planning to go to a party. Almost immediately I get a reply, saying he is very happy, but that I should stay away from boys and alcohol. Thanks for the trust, dad. I put away my phone in my pocket.

What is taking Frank so long? He only has to find a jacket.

I look at the trees again and at the dark infinity behind them. I can start overcoming my phobia at my own, right?

I walk a couple of steps and stop. See? Nothing happened. I walk down from the porch and stop again. Good: I'm still alive. I stroll in direction of the forest and take far more steps than I did previously, before I stop once again. I'm surrounded by trees: it feels absolutely great. I've missed this place.

I turn around when I hear a door slam. Frank walks towards me. The house he leaves behind him serves as a strange decor. For the past weeks, I was an indissoluble part of the residence, I was so detached to it. At this moment, while standing in between the trees, observing merely a structure of materials, it becomes clear to me I was not imprisoned by the house, but simply by my own mind.

"Giselle?" I jump out of my thoughts. "Yeah, let's go."

We talked a little about nothing in particular, while heading in southeast direction. Then we went both quiet. It wasn't an awkward silence, but one we both enjoyed, I think. The air was cold but fresh and the nature was beautiful to behold. Luckily, I have put on a cap and brought gloves, as it is really cold.

This part of the forest has no path, so Frank and I have to walk through some plants and have to look out where we place our feet. It takes some amount of concentration and it keeps our minds busy. The first few meters I took away from the house, were the hardest. Every step I take now is easier than the last one. I'm glad he asked me if I wanted to go outside.

Frank, while taking big steps on my left, holds a distance between us, letting me walk slightly more to the front. My thoughts wander off to a couple of days ago, when we were both in the gym. Would he really have kissed me if the alarm didn't go of? I'm not so sure now: I shouldn't always trust my own thinking. After all, I haven't been outside for a very long time and I didn't have contact with a lot of people. Maybe I misinterpreted his actions...

Besides, I have isolated myself from the world for weeks. Then, out of a sudden, we have guests for dinner and a couple of days later, a stranger appears from nowhere to live with me. I should've known I needed time to adjust to people in general. What happened in the gym, did happen so fast.

And when I think about what he did to Lucas not even a minute later, I find it hard to imagine that anything will ever happen between us.

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