Protection

Amara

"You're so dumb!" I yelled at him.

"Chill"

"Chill!? We're in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, out of gas and your phone is almost out of battery"

"Aww little baby is scared" He cooed trying to pinch my cheeks and I moved my face away, "Don't worry I'll protect you" He smiled at me.

Hear me out, normally I would be upset but his smile made it all better. His smile could make any girl weak in the knees with his perfect pearly white teeth and big lips.

He held my face in his hands and just stared at me with his dark brown eyes. He was really close to me, I was getting worried.

"I missed you"

"We've been over that-"

"Didn't you miss me?" He mumbled.

How dare he even ask that?

"Disappointment won in the end" I said seeing his face turn hurt, "Disappointment, rejection, anger" I added.

"Amara-"

"-but let's not talk about this now. Focus on getting us home" I said with a subtle smile and pulled his hands away from me.

"Right" He said and took his phone in his hands.

I could have sworn he looked really disappointed and hurt.

"I texted a friend that lives nearby. He'll come get us and I'll have someone take care of the car" He said.

"That simple?" I asked confused.

"Of course. I told you to be calm for a reason"

"Why would I trust you?" was what came out of my mouth before I could stop it.

He sighed, "And I was wondering why you were being so nice" He mumbled and leaned back on the seat.

"What do you mean? I'm always nice"

He glanced at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, considering you're my kidnapper-"

"Stop saying that" He breathed out sliding further down the leather seat.

"-I've been so nice to you and not to mention you're someone who left me-"

"I left for your own good" He said firmly, almost growling.

"Explain then" I crossed my arms and threw him a challenging look.

I wasn't only angry at him, no. I was mostly angry at myself because even though I should hate him, I couldn't. As much as I wanted to hate him, or even better have no feelings towards him, I couldn't.

He stared at me for a while and then sighed, "I can't" He shook his head.

"Then don't expect me to believe you did it for me"

Nobody said a word after that, not even when we arrived home. I kind of regretted saying all that stuff. It was none of my business what he did in his life. I was nothing but a childhood friend to him, he was nothing but a childhood friend to me.

Now I needed to get that through my head.

I was so mentally tired after all of that, that I just fell on my bed and let sleep take me.

________

I fluttered my eyes open feeling panting.

Another nightmare.

I stared at whatever was in front of my for a while. I didn't move, but I couldn't be in this room for now.

I quickly jumped out of the bed and turned the lights on letting out a breath of relief.

Ever since I was little I couldn't stay in a pitch black room for long. I became paranoid and thought that demons were coming for me and I would be consumed by darkness.

I opened the door desperately wanting to leave the room.

The moment I opened the door I saw a dark figure and screamed my lungs out until a big hand covered my mouth.

"Hey, it's me. It's Ryder" I heard the familiar soothing voice, but my heart was still beating abnormally fast.

He turned on the lights and I realeased a deep breath, "Ryder" I mumbled, "You scared the hell out of me"

"I'm sorry" He chuckled and I swear if he wasn't so devilishly handsome I would have punched him, "Why are you up, angel?" He asked.

I looked down with a frown and mumbled, "I had a bad dream"

"Aww baby had a bad dream?" He cooed and wrapped his arms around me, "Don't worry baby, I'll protect you. You're sleeping next to me tonight" He said, still having me in his embrace.

"What? No!" I yelled trying to pull away, but he wouldn't let me.

"You can't go back to that evil room! What if there are monsters and demons waiting to take you with them and torture you?" He said dramatically.

A normal person would roll their eyes at his attempts to be scary, but it was nighttime and I just had a nightmare and I was still in a sleepy trance so maybe all of that made me believe him and snuggle closer to him.

"That's my girl" He mumbled tightening his hold on me. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Only for tonight" I said, my voice muffled by his chest.

"Only for tonight" He said back and kissed the top of my head.

He led me up to his room and we both got in bed. At first I kept my distance and turned my back at him, but it felt cold. It felt like I was still alone. He must've known I felt like that because he chuckled and wrapped his arms around me pressing my back to his chest.

"Better?" He whispered in my ear sending shivers down my spine. I only hummed in reply.

Then a thought hit me, "Wait, why were you up?" I asked, "And why were you outside my room?" I added.

"Let's say, I had a bad dream as well. Now sleep angel" He said.

_______

I woke up feeling a weight on my waist. I opened my eyes and everything came back to me.

I'd slept with him. No, I had slept next to him to be exact.

"Good morning princess" He whispered.

I couldn't believe I let him trick me into sleeping here.

"Morning, now I have to go-"

I tried to stand up but he held my wrist, "Why in such a hurry?" He asked, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I slept just fine" I answered and tried to leave again, but he wouldn't let me.

"Maybe you should sleep here every night after all" He suggested.

"No thanks, I'd hate to leave my room. We have developed some kind of connection"

Yes, it's empty. Just like me.

"That's unfortunate" He said and let go of my wrist, "I'll see you in a few minutes. Don't be late for breakfast" He smirked.

I was too embarrassed to be around him now, but I had to. I mean, I lived in his house.

I'll just forget it ever happened.

Breakfast was awkward, at least for me. I couldn't even look at him and I knew he was holding back a smirk, so I decided to talk about something to break the ice.

"When am I going back?" I asked.

His face fell and he sighed, "I can't tell you"

"I have a life Ryder. I'm a university student, I have a family looking for me, I have friends, I have a-"

"A what?" He asked. I could see his eyes darken and his features hardening, "A fiancé?" He mocked.

"Yes"

"He's a dangerous person, haven't we already gone over that? That's the reason I'm keeping you here" He said.

"I don't need your protection" I said throwing a glare at him.

"But I need to know your safe and I can't trust anyone else with you"

"Explain to me how he is so dangerous then" I said crossing my arms and giving him a challenging look.

"You want to know? Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you"