The Guard To My Sanctuary

Chapter 14

I felt out of place in the crowded mall my brothers were walking with me but being in public felt odd. I had avoided any company that wasn't a therapist, family, or Marco. It had been a month since reporters stormed my house asking questions about my disappearance and it shook me up quite a bit. Apparently, some new guy on the force leaked the information which turned out to be the worst thing he could ever do. My dad said he mysterious tripped down a flight of stairs and broke his hip in three places which led to a forced early retirement from police work, I didn't ask any more questions. London could see the news and now knew exactly where I am which only made me more paranoid. My psychiatrist upped my dosage a little to help cope with the stress but I still found myself looking behind my back every now and then.

"Dude we've been in this mall for like six hours when is he coming my feet are starting to hurt from all of this walking around," Alder asked with his head back.

"Calm down and just wait he'll get here. He'd never miss a chance to see Elm," Pine said softly pushing me and laughing.

"You're right he wouldn't miss a chance to spend the weekend with his boyfriend," Alder said smirking at me. 

"He's not my boyfriend we are just friends," I responded blushing I felt very awkward talking about Marco with my brothers

"But you want him to be, I've caught you giving him lingering stares both at his eyes and in other places" Pine laughed.

"I'm not ready for a boyfriend yet," I said trying to end the conversation. It was true I wasn't ready. Now if he asked me on a date there's no way in the world I would say no.

I walked into the department store and looked around for clothing that I'd like and settled for some basics for when I wasn't wearing Marco's sweater or t-shirts that he left behind. Marco had come every weekend and multiple times during the week even if he just came for a few hours and had to leave out to do other things. I wondered how tired he was getting with the constant travel but I was grateful because I was beginning to feel a connection with him. He taught me how to ride a bike and how to swim two things my father had no idea how to do which was funny because I got to watch him learn alongside me. He even helped me with figuring out the basics of Geometry which I had built upon in order to grasp the subjects broader concepts.

"Hold these," I asked at the same time as I clutched a pair of ripped skinny jeans and handed Pine the clothes I had picked out. They were already holding my other bags along with theirs so he grunted when I gave him the clothing. I knew he wouldn't complain because they never did when I asked them to do things. I had no idea when things would normalize between us all so I was taking advantage of the situation while I can. I walked up to the cash register trying not to bump into people as I passed them. I still wasn't too good with other people touching me but I hadn't had a full blown panic attack in two weeks which was something to separate. I liked having the agency to control who and when a person touched me which was a luxury that I had not had in my years of captivity. I asked the lady at the counter for a key to the dressing room which she escorted me to. When the door was closed I slipped off my jeans and slid on the snug fitting skinny jeans that stretched just a little around my thighs but remained firm around my calves. I walked out to where my brothers were standing and they were both shaking their heads with an obvious dislike for what I was wearing. 

"Nope that's way too tight, I shouldn't be able to see your figure," Pine said pushing back towards the dressing room.

"Try again," Alder said shaking his head as if their words were the law.

"Umm, I do what I want and I am not a girl," I responded pushing Pine out of my way since I planned on wearing the pants out of the store now that I knew they had an issue with it.