The Dangers of Love (The Dangers Book 1)

Chapter 28

EDITED!

Addie's P.O.V:

Addie was sitting in the front seat of Ryan's truck staring down at her hands as she picked at the skin around her nails. She didn't want to look up and see how close they were to the school, because that would make going back all too real for Addie to deal with right now. She just knew today was going to go horribly... and she knew there wasn't anything she could do about it. She never had a good day when she had to come to this place… and until recently, not counting everything that has been going on, she never had a good day when she didn’t go until Ryan came along.

"Hey," Ryan broke the silence pulling Addie's attention away from the window and towards him. She didn’t know how long he had been trying to talk to her, but by the look on his face she would have to say a couple minutes. She was so into her own little world that she just wanted to forget everything else right now. "You okay?"

Addie didn't know how to respond to him right away seeing as she wasn't okay. Her dad had kidnapped and tried to, almost succeeded in killing her. Got thrown in jail, found a way to still get to her by killing her family and now she has to endure going to school where all of her bullies reside. Yeah, she's great. However, instead of saying all of that to him, she sent him a small smile and nodded her head slightly. She knew he saw straight through it by the look on his face, but he decided to not say anything this time. He was picking his battles.

She had promised him that she would go back and she wasn't going to go back on that promise now. Who knows, maybe Ryan can somehow find a way to make everyone back off and leave her alone. It's not likely but hey, it's possible, right? She could at least hope that something good would come out of all of this. Addie watched him as he glanced over at her. She knew he wasn’t going to just let this one go like she had hoped he would have.

"Look, I know you're lying and saying that you're fine for my benefit, but I know you're not. So if you need to talk or you just need anything at all you come find me okay? I want this to be as easy going for you as possible. Plus, I’m still going to try to get your schedule changed," he explained as the school came into sight. Addie sighed heavily and closed her eyes. She thought maybe if she just closed her eyes, she would be able to forget that she was arriving to the place she didn’t want to be.

She felt the truck turn and come to a stop signaling that Ryan had found a parking spot and parked the truck. Without opening her eyes, she just sat there without moving an inch. She didn't want to get out and she couldn't seem to make herself to do it, even for Ryan. A hand was placed on her thigh and she finally opened her eyes. Looking down at her leg, she found Ryan's hand there and squeezing slightly in hope of calming her down and giving her the courage to get out of the truck.

"Let's go, Addie," he said before climbing out of the truck door. Addie still couldn't bring herself to open the door. So she sat there for a little bit longer, preparing herself the best she could. But suddenly the door was opened and Ryan stood there with a goofy smile playing on his face as he stood there and looked at Addie. He reached his hand out to help her out of the truck and nodded in a reassuring way.

Addie reached out and placed her hand in his and let him help her climb down from the cab of the truck. Her eyes scanned the car lot as soon as her feet hit the ground. She couldn't help but hope that there wasn't anyone around that would be watching her but, just her luck it seemed as if every single person had stopped what they were doing just to watch them. They couldn’t believe that Ryan was still hanging out with her… that he was stooping down to her level to be with her.