Strength and Weakness (Completed)

Chapter 16 - tell the truth...

I rushed into the main area. The yell came from Jace.

"What happened?" He looked fine, and so did everyone else. Although, the boys, other than Jace, looked kind of confused.

"I may or may not have said something I shouldn't have," he sounded scared as he whispered so only I could hear.

"In regards to?"

"Umm, you."

I didn't say anything; I just took him by the collar of his shirt and brought him into the next room over.

"What'd you say?" I tried to stay calm, but there was a hint of anger in my voice. He heard that and became a little more nervous.

"I promise it was an accident, and I didn't mean to say it, but I did, and I know I shou-"

"Jace," I cut him off and let go of his shirt. "Calm down and just tell me."

"Promise you won't get mad?"

"Promise I won't take it out on you or any of the others."

"That's not what I said."

"Your reluctance to tell me gives me a hint that I'll get mad so take what you can get when it comes to me."

"Okay, okay. Well, umm, I kind of, sort of, might have said something about you being a spy."

Trying to control myself, I asked, "More specifically?"

"We were talking about cool jobs, besides being a singer or actor. Spencer said that it'd be cool to be a spy. And that's when it slipped; my, stupid, self said 'Oh, like Sammy.' And that's when I knew . . . I messed up," he explained. I'll admit, I was miffed, but the way he explained it added a bit of humor.

"How did they respond?"

"They all looked at me like I had two heads, and that's when I called your name."

"Great. Anything else you wanna tell me?"

"Umm, can I ask you something instead?"

"You just did."

"Haha, seriously though."

"OK, fine, but only because you said seriously, and you're almost never serious."

"Did you actually have a family emergency? Or was it something for your agency?"

"Umm, it was a meeting for the agency."

"I thought so."

"Cool, is that all?"

"Yeah, I'm really sorry though."

"I'm sure it'll be okay in the end. I'll figure something out."

We went back to the main area and I was surprised to see that the boys weren't leaning against the door, trying to hear our conversation.

"What did you mean, Jace?" Alex asked. "Are you actually a spy, Samantha?"

Jace and I just looked at each other, not knowing if we should try to lie or not.

"No, she's not. She just reminds me of a spy because of her strength and ability to protect people," Jace tried to save us. They looked pretty convinced, but Brayden wasn't having it. Oh boy.

"So you're not a spy?" Spencer wondered aloud.

"Just your guys' bodyguard," I said nonchalantly.

"As much as I love him, I'll never understand Jace," Zach mumbled as they walked into the other room. Jace followed behind him, jumped on his back, and started telling him who knows what. Zach almost fell, but he caught himself and managed to keep Jace on his back.

"Want to tell me the truth now?" I heard Brayden from behind me. He didn't leave with them? I turned around, and he seemed a little surprised that I didn't jump at all. I'm used to being snuck up on, so this was nothing.

"Truth about . . . ?" I played stupid.

"You know what I'm talking about. The truth about you being a spy," he lowered his voice by the second sentence.

"I'm a bodyguard."

"Exactly. You told us that you were our bodyguard. You never denied being a spy. Why is that so?" Brayden had a smirk on his face. "Is it because you don't want to lie to us? So you decided to just beat around the bush? Because you didn't seem to have a problem lying about your nonexistent family."

"I do have a family - family doesn't have to be blood related, you know."

"Who do you consider family then?"

"Well, I have Tulisa, my best friend, Connor, Ryan, and you lot," I whispered the last one, really hoping he wouldn't hear.

"You consider us family?" I was expecting to see a smirk on his face, but when I looked up from the floor, he had a genuine smile.

"Well, yeah. We see each other everyday, we hang out all the time, and although we have disagreements, we always make up. That sounds like a family, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it does. But what do you see me as?" He became a little more serious.

"A friend?" What was I supposed to say? I'm not going to come straight out and say that I like him. I may be confident, but I'm not that confident, even though he likes me.

"Do you want to see me as just a friend?" What do I say? Do I tell the truth? Obviously, I tell the truth. I can't lie. That would be bad on both our parts. I can't do that. But can I really tell him the truth? I mean, I can. But can I? That didn't make sense, did it?

"Can I take your silence as a no?" Brayden took me out of my thoughts.

"Umm, maybe," I mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"What do you want to be then?"

"Why is it you asking me the questions?"

"Answering a question with a question now."

"You didn't answer."

"Neither did you."

We both went silent for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say next. I looked up and we just stared at each other.

"What do you want us to be then?" I flipped the table, finally finding my voice.

"Together," he whispered, taking a small step forward. For some reason, I stayed still in my place. "I want us to be together."

"Yeah . . . Can I do that?"

"What do you mean? Of course you can. You didn't have a boyfriend last I knew."

"It's not that. I just don't know if this would be too much of a distraction."

"Me? Why would I be distracting? We're already around each other all the time."

"I don't know. I just feel like I shouldn't get involved with anyone. I can't let my guard down. I have to protect you guys."

"You know, typically it's the guy that protects the girl."

"Well, I'm not a typical girl."

"No, you are not," he smiled, turning a light pink. Without even realizing it, I had a small smile on my face. "So what are we?"

"I don't know."

"How 'bout you come to me when you figure out the answer to that question?" He ended and walked off.

What just happened?