The Bodyguard

16

It was too quiet. I had gotten used to the sounds of the house, but now that I wasn't there anymore, the silence was deafening.

I sat in the bed, my knees tucked up to my chest. I could see the lights of cars driving by shine through the window, but instead of relaxing me like it usually would, it made me feel on edge. I jumped when the bed shifted, my heart leaping into my chest.

I sighed quietly. I talked my parents into letting me get my own place again, but there were rules to it. The apartment was more than I usually could afford, but Dad said he would pay half the rent as long as I was in a safe unit. The other rule was that I wasn't alone.

Therefore; Bear.

The surrendered Akita service dog came into the kennel just before I moved out. He was a veteran's dog before he passed, being left in the kennel because he had no next of kin. I didn't even let the kennel process him completely, I told them that I was going to take him.

One of the other girls who worked there tried to fight me on it, saying we had to follow procedures, but once Darryl, the owner, realized the training the dog had, he had no issues letting me take him. He had said later on in the day that he thought Bear would be good for me.

I scratched Bear's ears as I looked out the window, biting my lip. I felt like I was being watched again. I crawled out of bed and crept to the window, peeking out of the curtains and into the street. I watched for a few moments, spotting someone on the street before I turned and started walking away. My breathing started to hitch and I scrambled back to the bed. It was probably just a random person on the street, but my paranoia was strong.

Bear whiled and laid his head in my lap, looking up at me as I sucked in deep breaths. I tried to slow my breathing, picked up my phone and checked that the security system at the door was engaged. Once I checked that, I gripped my phone tightly as I leaned against the headboard. After a few minutes, I opened my phone again and went to the contacts, pulling up the message thread that was still there.

I typed out a message and deleted it too many times, each time cowardly backing out. I stared at the phone for too long before locking it and laying down, cuddling into Bear as best I could. He laid down, almost like the little spoon and I wrapped my arms around him, resting my cheek against his fur. I focused on the sound of his breathing, hoping it would lull me to sleep.

________________________

Christian sat awkwardly at the island, his eyes watching Bear closely.

"It's a fluffy beast," Christian said, his tone showing he wasn't sure what to think of my dog.

"He's the sweetest thing," I cooed as I walked back, leaning down to kiss his head and scratch his ears. I pulled mugs out of the cupboard and poured coffee into them.

"So what is the meaning of the drop-in? I didn't think you and I were the 'chill on our own' kind of friends. What couldn't be said at dinner later?" I asked as I set the mug in front of him, moving the sugar jar towards him while I pulled the flavoured creamer out of the fridge.

"What makes you say that?" he asked as he sipped his coffee, his voice rising an octave. I raised a brow at him and took a drink, sliding into the chair next to him.

"Spill. What did you do? Did you piss off Andre again?"

He sputtered into his coffee and coughed, shaking his head.

"No, no. Um, it's not that actually," he said as he leaned back in his chair enough to dig his hand into his pocket. I cocked my head as I set my cup down on the counter when he pulled out a small box. I stared at the box as he extended it to me.