Chapter 3
Silas
My hands were in my pockets, following her just a block or so behind. With my eyes fixated on her, my heart was racing with anticipation, but my body felt heavy, weighed down by the conflicting emotions that had been plaguing me the past few days or so.
I have to do it; I have to take her. She’s mine. It’s the only way to keep her safe.
At this point, convincing her to fall in love with me would take too much time. There were too many factors outside of my control with it. Besides, I had been working on renovating the basement just for her.
Still, the idea of kidnapping the girl I was madly in love with sounded crazy.
Am I crazy?
Despite it being the only way, I was still conflicted.
It’s not like I hadn’t tried other means first. Kidnapping her was a last resort, and with the way things were at this point—desperate times called for desperate measures.
I had been watching her, studying her, loving her from afar for so long, and now it was my time to make my move.
I was in too deep, and there was no backing out of it now.
I would be a fool not to follow through with my plans. I was doing this for her own good.
I love her.
It was dark, and the lighting was dim. The rain worsened the dreary atmosphere and reduced visibility beyond a normal Tuesday night.
I lifted my hand to adjust the mask I had on my face, sealing the truth of my identity from her.
My mind was elsewhere even as I toyed with the disguise.
I was thinking about her, her laugh, the way her eyes sparkled when she smiled, and how soft her hair looked.
I want to touch her hair so bad. Does it smell as good as it looks? I bet it does.
I would have my answers soon enough. I only needed to be patient.
My heart skipped a beat, watching her walk down the street, I noticed the way her hips swung with each step. I narrowed my eyes.
Shit.
I picked up my pace. She really wasn’t paying attention at all.
A bus was speeding down the street. My body tensed; my instincts screamed at me to do something. If I didn’t, she was going to step into that street and get hit by the speeding bus.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I didn’t want to hurt her; I just wanted to keep her safe. I wanted to make her mine.
The bus was getting closer, and my anxiety spiked.
She stepped into the street, and the blaring of the horn—there wasn’t any time.
The look of shock and terror in her eyes as she realized what was happening made my stomach churn.
I didn’t think, I merely acted. Tearing the mask off my face, I shoved it into my back pocket, simultaneously reaching out and grabbing her arm.
I yanked her towards me with just enough time.
Rosalie fell onto me with a thud. My back hit the cold wet concrete, her body was sprawled across mine while catching her mid-air.
A rush of adrenaline overcame me. I wrapped my arms protectively around her as I made impact with the ground.
The world faded away, leaving the two of us in a bubble of muffled noise and chaos.
I looked up at her, our noses an inch or so apart and saw something in her eyes I had never seen before.
Fear, yes. Most definitely , there was no doubt about that.
But also surprise and… adoration, perhaps?
Please choose me; no one ever chooses me.
For a moment, it was like the world paused around us. Then, in a flash, she pulled away. She scanned my face. It took her a moment, but when she recognized me she… hugged me?
My eyes widened. Sitting there for a moment, baffled by her reaction. I slowly hugged her back. Soaking up every millisecond she allowed me to touch her, to comfort her in the way I have wanted to so desperately for so long.
“Silas… Y-You saved me,” she whispered.
I nodded. “Yeah, I did.”
Of course I did; I had to. I would be crazy not to.
I tried to make sense of it, but I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen next.
Would she be scared of me, really scared that I was following her?
Shit. Would she notice the mask I shoved back into my pocket?
Would she try to reach out to me and help me through my madness?
Or would she push me away? Or was I overthinking it all, and she only saw it as a coincidence that I was at the right place at the right time?
Or maybe, just maybe, she would see me as her savior.
I was her savior.
I inhaled deeply; her hair smelled like strawberries. My new favorite scent. My favorite fruit now too, simply because it reminded me of her. Surely, she had to taste just as sweet, wouldn’t she?
“Thank you,” Rosalie pulled away.
“Oh, ummm…” I rubbed the back of my neck. “There’s no reason to thank me. I-I couldn’t just let you become roadkill.”
Oof. Bad choice of words. God, I’m so stupid. Why did I say that?
I cleared my throat. “What I meant to say is I’m glad you’re okay.”
She let out a small laugh. I actually made her laugh!
I made my Rosalie laugh. I smiled at her as I stood, shoving the mask deeper into my pocket to ensure she wouldn’t see it.
As much as I wanted to make her mine tonight, the timing wasn’t right.
Not anymore. I shifted my footing, standing there like a fool in front of her trying to figure out what to say.
“I should probably get home,”
I nodded. “Right… right. I, umm, take care. I will see you at work tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow, Silas.”
I turned, about to go in the other direction. Not because home was this way but because I didn’t want her to be suspicious that I was following her. To my surprise, I felt her touch. It was electrifying. Her fingers wrapped around my wrist with both her hands. “Silas —”
I turned back to face her. “Yeah Rosie?”
Her face flushed pink. She was so beautiful—pink was a suitable color for her. I think pink is my favorite color, only because of how good it looked on her.
“Will you… walk me home?”
Did she seriously just ask me that? Is this real life? Rosalie wants me to walk her home? Play it cool… play it cool…
The corners of my lips lifted into a smile. “Of course, lead the way.”
I stopped her before we crossed the street, looking both ways before allowing her to walk at my side. I felt dumb, unable to stop smiling, but at the same time, being asked to walk her home was worth smiling about.
If this is a dream, I never want to wake up…