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1028 Words
As the words escaped my lips, I instantly realized I had said too much.
"What are you talking about?" Ryan asked, his face getting clouded with doubt, "what am I missing here? Is there something you know that I should know?"
I gulped down in nervousness.
"I... I don't know. I don't know if you will even believe me if I told you."
"Ally," he put his hands on my shoulders gently, his eyes stared at me with sincere intent as he softly said, "I will believe anything at this point, to be honest. I have been trying to find a clue to get this case to a rest for literally months and coming to an all zero. You and I are in a world where the other people around us are not the weirdos, you and I are."
His words suddenly made me snicker aloud. Gosh... it was getting hard not to open up to this guy.
Seeing my smile, his lips fell into a grin as he continued, "I am trying to find an opening here, trying to come to terms with you so I can understand if Elijah is the person we are looking for or are we chasing the wrong lead and letting the real criminal escape. Your contribution to this is very much appreciated."
I took heavy breaths to calm my heart as the urge to tell him everything in hopes of getting any kind of help engulfed me. I was depressed and frustrated to the point where I had tried to kill myself. I had no one to hold my hand and say, it was going to be okay and they were there for me. Not even Elijah.
"Okay," I whispered and looked into his eyes, "I... I will tell you everything."
******
By the time I stopped speaking, I was out of breath, panicked, and crying. It was like there was a huge burden on my chest that had been lifted up to let me consume some air. And I realized that instead of calling me a mad freak, Ryan had actually listened to every word that I had said seriously, and stayed by me.
I fell on his chest while crying, my eyes getting wet under my hands as I tried to stop but could not. Ryan, instead of pushing me away, wrapped his hands around me and his palms gave small, reassuring pats on me to calm me down.
By the time I stopped crying, I was able to calm down and stop any more tears from spilling down on my cheeks.
"I am so sorry." I sniffed pathetically while patting the shirt on his chest when seeing a wet stain made from my tears, "I did not mean to make you dirty."
Instantly horrified at my own words I fumbled, "I am sorry! I did not mean that in that kind of way, oh god." I slapped my head in embarrassment and cried out.
A grin formed on Ryan's lips, his eyes crinkling at the corners, showing me a genuine smile, "It is okay. I know what you meant. Don't look so frightened."
I gave a sigh of relief and dropped my head looking at the ground. My cheeks were completely aflame.
"I have to go now." his voice made me face him again when I felt his hand slipping in mine unexpectedly as he pulled me towards the way to the mansion, "I will be back tomorrow to talk to you again." his face turned to me, the smile still remaining on his face as he grinned, "I think we are going to have a lot of things to talk about."
To be honest, I was seriously doubting that he was flirting with me...? I could not pin point it but maybe I was overthinking things that I should not be.
"Okay." I nodded my head in acceptance and let him lead me towards the mansion.
We had barely made it out of the woods when suddenly I felt a whoosh of air and instantly Ryan's hand was out of mine and Elijah was standing in front of us.
"Keep your distance from my Keep." he said ever so calmly.
"I am not your Keep anymore." I instantly responded, glaring at him.
"I am not talking to you," Elijah snapped without looking at me. His eyes glaring at Ryan who was standing in front of him in all his coolness with his hands in the pocket of his jeans.
"My response is the same as of Ally's." Ryan grinned like he had the habit of putting his hand in the mouth of a lion for fun, "she is not your responsibility anymore."
"Don't challenge me, human." a vein jumped in Elijah's jaw when he gritted out, "I will not hesitate from hurting you."
Ryan did not respond to him, and for some reason that made Elijah even more angry. His eyes fell back on me, and then immediately got filled with distaste.
His hands shot out to grab the edge of the jacket I was wearing, flipped it off me and threw it aside.
"HEY!" I cried out, but almost immediately he pulled his coat off and draped it over me, covering me completely. It was bigger and felt like a cloak rather than a coat on my tiny body.
I glared at him before turning around and walking forward to grab the jacket off the grassy ground. I patted on it a bit to get rid of the dust before extending it towards Ryan, "I am sorry about that."
His eyes came to me and the look had changed from frustrated to a soft one, "It is alright. Not your fault." then his gaze slipped back to glare at Elijah and say sarcastically, "a little bit of dust is not going to hurt me."
He did not wait to get a response from Elijah. Instead, he turned to me, bent down, and lightly touched my nose with the tip of his finger for a brief second, "I will be back tomorrow."
And I stopped breathing. I was not dreaming or hallucinating.
He WAS flirting with me!
- Writer
