𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦

Chapter Twenty Three: I Trust You

"Chantelle, how much of an idiot do you have to be to go outside when there is a warrant for your arrest out there!" Ben exclaimed.

I closed the door behind me, "Okay, look I'm sorry-"

"Chantelle, you have to be more careful!" he interrupted me.

"I know-"

"No, you don't know, you've been reckless! Are you asking to get caught?"

"No but-"

"Then what the hell is going on in your mind?"

"I was just-"

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't-"

"Did a cop follow you?"

"Let me talk, damn it!" I shouted.

Ben became silent, and calmed down after I yelled.

"I-I don't know, I don't know what to do," A tear streamed from my face

Ben started looking at me with a sympathetic look, "Hey, come here, I'm sorry I yelled. I-I just want you to be safe,"

I chuckled and wiped the tear from my eye, "Why do you want me to be safe?"

He grabbed my arms and gently hugged me, "I care about you,"

"You care about me? You just met me yesterday,"

"Well, clearly I trust you enough to go on this fucked up journey with you,"

"Very true,"

He paused and let go of me, "That is okay right? That I care about you?"

I was hesitant to reply. I didn't want to scare him off with my answer. I mean, I still liked him and if I said the wrong thing, even hinting at the wrong thing, he could take it the wrong way and I would never have a chance of getting together with him.

"N-no, I care about you too," I stuttered out.

He sighed of relief, "Good, I almost regretted saying that," He stumbled on his words again, 

"Well - I mean I don't regret what I said, I mean that - like - I didn't want you to take it the wrong way,"

I stopped him before he made more of a fool of himself, "N-no it's okay" I chuckled, "I get what you mean,"

He chuckled sheepishly, and turned his head away, I could see on the sides of his cheeks that he was blushing.

"Um- I hate to ruin the moment, but something happened out there," I said.

"What happened?" He turned to face me.

"Well- you might need to sit down for this,"

Ben looked worried now, and he sat down on the bed, motioning for me to sit next to him. I walked to the bed and sat next to him.

I took another deep breath, "So, while I was out there, I-I thought I saw this dude."

"Okay? Is that all?" Ben questioned.

"Let me finish," I gulped, "And this man looked a lot like the dude who murdered Julia,"

"Chantelle, a lot of people could have looked like who killed Julia. We are over an hour away from home, there is no way that dude could have been him," Be interrupted.

"I wish you would have said that sooner, then maybe I wouldn't have killed him in the alleyway,"

Ben looked astonished at the words that came out of my mouth. I immediately became terrified he was going to think that I killed Julia too, now that he clearly knew I had the capability of killing someone.

"I-"started crying, I couldn't take it, "I-I know it's bad!"

Ben looked at the wall, and put his head in his head, clearly trying to wrap his head around what he just heard.

"If you want to leave me here and not be associated with me, that's fine by me! I get it! I'm a monster!" I shouted.

"I- I don't know what to say," He stuttered.

"Yes you do, you want to say I'm a fucking psyco and you should have never left with me in the first place!"

"That's not true-"

"Yes it is, Ben, and you know it! You should have listened to those people at the party, telling you to stay away from me. I am dangerous, I'm a monster! How can you not see it!" My voice was coming out so shaky and I almost couldn't control the tears coming down my face.

If Ben had any romantic feelings for me, they were definitely long gone by now.

Ben suddenly grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him, "Chantelle, look at me. I knew what I was walking into when I said yes at the park. I know that you were just protecting yourself and you were in your head. But, you have to fight that. That man is nowhere near here, he has no idea where you are." He paused, "And, I don't care what those people said at the party, I couldn't care less, because they are wrong,".

I wiped some tears on my sweatshirt, "How could you not hate me right now?" 

 He sighed, "You know I have my flaws too, similar to yours. I know what it's like and what you're feeling. It would be stupid of me to leave you when I know I can help you," 

 I leaned in for a hug, and he hugged me back. I could feel his hands tracing circles and patterns up and down my back. I felt comforted, and safe in his arms. He broke the hug after a few moments, 

"Chantelle, do you trust me?" 

 "Yes, do you trust me?" 

 "Yes," He responded.

 He leaned down and kissed my cheek, "Let's get you cleaned up,"

a/n: thank you for reading, yes - I am aware I was late to this chapter. I had writers block - shush. anywho, have a nice day <3