Conflicted

"Show me"

I'm having a hard time processing my thoughts and emotions. I'm feeling and thinking so many things simultaneously and I need to pull myself together. My head is a blur as I pack my bag. It doesn't take me long. My room and bathroom are always clean and organized, so I have everything ready to go in a couple of minutes. I grab my phone charger at the last second and start making my way back to Kate in the kitchen. Before I start descending the stairs, however, I stop. I need to prepare myself before I enter the same room as her again. Six weeks ago, if you'd have asked me if I could ever love anyone other than Preston, my immediate answer would have been no. Now? A girl who I've known for less than four hours is standing guard in my kitchen to protect me from the only person I had ever loved. Not only that, but I feel utterly and completely safe with her here... I genuinely want her around me. I want to open up and tell her everything about me. It was such a strange and intense feeling, I wasn't sure what to make of it. As I'm processing all this, I hear a smooth voice humming quietly from the kitchen. It seems to natural to hear her voice, to talk to her, to have her around me. In some cheesy way, I think we were meant to cross paths. I just wonder if it was meant to be under such horrid circumstances. I pull myself together and walk down the stairs. She hears me enter the kitchen and turns. Her mouth forms an uncertain smile, and I give her a sincere one in return.

"Okay, I guess I'm ready," I state.

Kate nods and gestures that I should lead us back down the hallway. I start making my way to the front door and slip on my flats. I see her lean down to slide her bulky steel toe boots back on and can't help but feel impressed that she'd chosen to remove them, even though I had told her not to worry. Clearly, she was raised to be respectful. I admired that. She catches me looking and becomes sheepish.

"I couldn't bring myself to grease up your floors. I'm taking mechanics in school and the shop is filthy in comparison..." she explains, gesturing towards the house.

Even though it hurts to smile, I can seem to prevent it from happening. "I can respect that. It was nice of you," I respond.

With that, I open the door for us and have her walk through first.

"All clear," Kate states.

I exit and stand behind her, my back to hers, and lock the front door. Kate is still standing guard when I turn back around. She grabs my hand and gently tugs me down the steps of my landing and towards her parked truck. Approaching it, I can see that it sits much higher than most trucks... and I'm barely more than five feet tall. Before I can worry too much about getting in, Kate unlocks the doors and opens it for me. Carefully and with ease, she places her hands on my sides and in one fluid movement, she's lifted me into the truck. I feel so dainty and small, and frankly a bit impressed at how casually she lifted me into her vehicle. I buckle myself in as she climbs in next to me in the driver's seat. Not only is she much taller than me, she's used to her own truck and effortlessly places herself behind the wheel.

"We're going to my new apartment. There's hardly anything in it, but I have the code to the building and my keys already. You can shower there without worrying about anyone finding you there," Kate offers up the explanation before I even ask for it. She seems so comfortable dealing with my trauma, she knows what to say before I even know what to ask. I nod my head, grateful once more for all her help.

"Seriously, thank you." I answer. I have no idea what I would be doing if it weren't for her. I'm not sure how to put it into words so that I may express my appreciation out loud to her, but she seems to understand anyways.

"Of course, I'm more than happy to help," Kate says, her eyes glued to the road.

"You haven't asked me what happened." Not a question, but a statement.

"I didn’t have to. I figured you'd tell me if and when I had earned your trust. Also, whatever happened between you and Preston is none of my business. I pieced together some of it on my own anyways... enough to know I did not want to leave you anywhere near him right now."

I fight back the urge to start crying again. God, who is this girl? She's like my guardian angel. I can't help but feel as though I have done nothing to earn all that she has done for me. I'm speechless for the rest of the drive. Eventually, Kate pulls into a huge parking lot next to an extremely tall apartment complex. I crane my neck to look up at how tall the building is. From the exterior alone, it screamed luxury. I was impressed.

"Hang on a sec," Kate jumps out from the truck as I unbuckled my seat belt. She opens my door and reaches her arms out to me, and I know that she's going to catch me when I jump out. It feels natural, like I've jumped into her arms a million times before as she catches me and places me down gently onto my feet. She immediately backs away to give me space and I shut the door to the truck. I hear the *bloop* meaning the doors are locked and her hand finds mine once more. Her hand wraps around mine so perfectly and my heart flutters a bit at the contact. My nerves must be really whacky from all the chaos of today. We get to the main doors and Kate punches in a code on the number pad next to the door. It buzzes loudly and she yanks the door open, gesturing me inside first. I walk in ahead of her into a glamorous lobby area. Fancy chandeliers, marble floors and velvet couches line the walls. A massive glass elevator faces us. I'm amazed by the sight and the extravagance.

"I hope you're not afraid of heights or elevators, because we're going up," says Kate.

"Show me the way," I smile back at her.