Her Guarded Heart

Chapter 28 - Red Roses

AUTHORS NOTE: sorry i haven't written in a while i've been super busy but i'm back now! enjoy this chapter! :)

James

I slumped back on the bench and sighed as I looked up at the cloudy sky. It was raining, but the trees blocked most of it from falling upon me.

The sound of crushed leaves made me turn around. I smiled wearily, "hey."

"Hey man, what's up?" Jackson greeted, sitting down next to me.

I called him to meet at our secret spot. We always agreed when something was on our minds, we would meet there.

"How are you feeling?" he asked after a moment of silence.

I closed my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair. "Not good. I screwed up in a way I didn't think would be considered screwing up."

"What did you do?"

We sat there for a while as I poured my heart out to him, telling him about how embarrassed Scarlett was to wear something of mine, and how Juliet got her all upset; how it was all my fault.

"To be honest, I don't think that's that big of a deal. I just think Scarlett is worried about what other people think. You know rumors spread around like wildfire."

"Why is she fucking like this, bro? Literally she let me touch all over her in the shower that one time but when we're in public, it's like she barely wants anything to do with me. It pisses me the fuck off."

Jackson whipped his head to look at me. "She let you what?"

"My stepdad and I got into a fight and I had a bunch of bruises on my body. I couldn't reach them so Scarlett offered to help me rinse them off in the shower. In the shower, she took her own shirt off and let me tease her a little bit."

Jackson blinked. "Wow. That's something friends wouldn't do."

"I don't want to be friends with her!" I exasperated. "I fucking like her so much, I just don't get why she can't see that!"

"Trust me, James, she definitely sees it. She knows for sure."

I looked him in the eyes. "Do...do you think she likes me?"

Jackson sighed. "You know, funny you should ask that. Cassidy and I were talking about her the other day. Apparently she has a hard time loving or letting people in, which is why most of the time she's cold to you. In all honestly, deep down I think she likes you but she won't ever admit that to herself unless she thinks she can trust you."

"She can trust me. I would never do anything to hurt her," I said honestly. It was true, I adored her too much to ever wrong her.

"That may be true, but she may not believe it yet. And honestly, when it comes down to it, I don't think she trust herself."

I eyed him with wonder. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it: everytime someone has left her life, she feels like she did something wrong for them to leave. Or when she loves someone, they eventually leave her, like her biological parents. I don't think she trust herself to love anyone because she's afraid of what it would do to her. She's afraid of love."

"I-'' I didn't even know what to say. I just wish Scarlett knew that not everyone in the world is cruel.

"Her biological parents left her when she was born, right?" I asked him.

Jackson shook his head. "That's what Cassidy told me."

"Poor girl," I sighed. "How do I make her trust me?"