BOND

48.

Caught my heart about one, two times

Don't need to question the reason I'm yours, I'm yours

I'd move the earth or lose a fight just to see you smile

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Elena extended her chocolate bar towards Nathan, not even fazed as he shook his head, declining her offer without even getting a good look at it. "Do you never eat?"

That was definitely untrue if his bulging biceps and broad shoulders were anything to judge his diet by.

"I don't eat when I'm on duty," he answered nonchalantly. She might have been offended by the disinterest but by now she had become well versed with his mannerisms and this was him at his liveliest. 

If she got bored around him, she couldn't imagine Chase being able to last a whole minute with him, but since they were supposedly the best of friends, she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was at least a tiny bit fun.

She bit out a chunk off from her half-finished post-lunch snack. Being in a wheelchair sucked but it had its perks. Being allowed to eat whenever she wanted and chalking it up to being doctor's recommendations a major one of them.

"You're always on duty," she said. Again true. 

It made sense for him to be around when she was in school, not just for protecting her but also pushing her around through the whole place. What she didn't understand was why Chase refused to let him go even in the evenings. It wasn't like she was alone then. The house was usually crawling with no less than five people.

Two of whom always kept a gun at arm's length. Besides, there were people posted all around her house and the school. Inconspicuous for the most part but there were only so many people she could see with their hands inside their jacket pockets and not be suspicious about it. 

All the security creeped her out, she was used to having bodyguards albeit not of quite this degree, but she knew it was necessary and kept her reservations to herself.

It wasn't like Chase or Joey would loosen up even an inch so it would just be her tiring herself out in a hopeless contest. For the most part she was thankful that they had relented with having just Nathan around her constantly.

"That's not really my fault," Nathan maneuvered her expertly around the corner of the corridor. He hadn't done so well the first couple of days around, bumping both of them into walls and people alike. Now he'd gotten much better, and she'd learnt to tuck in her legs whenever they were around hard surfaces.

Abruptly, he stopped and Elena looked back to see him leaning down to tie up his shoe laces. She took the time to take in his attire. Fitted T-shirt and loose chinos, he looked the farthest thing from a threatening Seal as possible.

The bell rang, shrill and loud through the calm silence and Elena flinched hard. Nathan quickly pushed the chair into a corner, a bit awkwardly because of his inclined position, as students filtered out through the classrooms. There weren't many but the bell was bad enough for her let alone fifty screaming teenagers being let out of school. When he detangled her hands she realized that she had had a death grip on her wrist, leaving light imprints on it.

It took her a couple of minutes to calm down even after the last people had gone by. All the restlessness and not-being-able-to-walk thing meant that she was always one of the last ones to leave, not that she minded. It saved her from lingering glances and questions she had to tell lies for.