Nancy was someone who would always be too lazy to go on walks. However, a lot about her had changed after the accident. So did her laziness. She called Samuel to go for a walk, and within the next 10 minutes, he was at her door.
Funny enough, after witnessing a man capable of disguising himself as a nice guy pulling a gun at her, she should've developed more laziness to keep that as an excuse so she didn't have to go out.
But she wanted to learn more about herself and Samuel.
She quickly ran outside wearing a cardigan. It was just the start of October but she seemed to feel a lot colder than others. It was night-time anyway, so she felt extra cold.
She saw him standing and looking at his feet from the window before going out. He was always thinking about something, sometimes with a stern expression or sometimes with a troubled expression.
Much of it was negative. Nancy saw him smile a few times for small moments. He looked beautiful when he smiled.
However, most of his smiles seemed forced, so she never complimented him on that. She never complimented him in general, anyway.
She didn't greet him either. Though she wanted to be closer to feed her curiosity, she never made him feel different. She showed him as if she was the same day 1 Nancy.
Besides, if it wasn't for her interest in him, she would never try to be close to him. He didn't say a word either. He was pretty much used to her stern attitude. So, he adapted to it quickly.
"Samuel…" Nancy finally broke the silence. "What is with those scars on your hands?" She was always straightforward and never thought about what the other person might feel.
However, Samuel seemed to be a tough one, too.
He quietly looked at his gloved hands and then looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What?!" Nancy backfired, being flustered at the wrong time to ask such a question.
"That is not why I wear gloves," Samuel muttered as he looked away.
"Then why?" Nancy asked.
Samuel let out a big sigh.
"Must you always ask me questions I wish not to answer?"
"Why can't you answer?"
"I am afraid I cannot tell you." He added as he tried to restore his expression.
She didn't see it coming. She was sure that he would tell her.
"I thought you could tell me because I don't know the context…" She complained indirectly.
"I apologize for not reaching your expectations. However, I do not find it easy to talk about these things whether you are given the context or not." He swiftly explained.
Nancy narrowed her eyes on him. She tried not to leer or let her anger out, but it naturally appeared on her face.
"Samuel." She called him bluntly.
"Nancy." He called her back.
"I told you I won't let a stranger guard me, right? I wanna know what kind of activities you did to make your hands like that. Is it wrong to ask?"
"Brave of you to assume that I must have performed specific activities resulting in scarred hands," Samuel said. "Have you not gotten injuries during childhood? Is it something extremely uncommon?"
"No, like... You had bandages too. And.." Nancy sulked.
"Your question is very obvious. You are indirectly asking me if I am induced in self-harm activities. However, I do not see why you should know if I am into such activities or not. I do not understand why you need to know about my issues." Samuel backfired on her. "Furthermore, I wear gloves for my comfort. However, I am certain I do not need to explain that to you either."
Oops.
Nancy offended him. Though his tone was still neutral and polite, she could tell she offended him. Either that, or he had planned not to let her in on anything beforehand.
If that was the case, it would be troublesome.
"You look weird today." Nancy bluntly tried to change the topic.
"I fail to under-"
"You look sick." Nancy cut his long, formal words.
"I am not ill." Samuel clarified.
Nancy narrowed her eyes as she stared down his soul.
He was beautiful.
Nancy shook her head. Why? Why did her brain want to comment on his face every time?
"No... Like. I'm serious." Nancy said after watching him up close.
He looked paler than usual, almost as if he was going to fall any second now.
"I do not feel sick," Samuel said. "However, I would appreciate it if I could go home for the night."
"You're saying you're sick." Nancy nodded.
"N-No."
"Yes."
She turned around to walk back to the house before stopping.
"Wait." She muttered. "Your house is close, no?" She asked.
"Yes."
Samuel looked like he was going to faint.
"Should I… Walk you home?" Nancy suggested as she looked away.
Samuel didn't reply. His face looked as if he had seen a ghost. Come on! Nancy could be nice sometimes!
"Tch. Never mind then." She sulked before turning around.
Though she stopped again, her house was just a few steps away. She just had to walk. But she couldn't.
She walked back to him and grabbed his hand. Though he had the glove on, his hand felt overly cold.
He unexpectedly pulled his hand out of her grip frantically. For the first time in a while, he had a full-fledged expression on his face.
Nancy looked at him in confusion as she recalled holding his hand before too. He didn't act like this at that time.
"Uh.. I was going to help you home, but never mind." Nancy muttered slowly.
She narrowed her eyes when his face started to turn paler than before. She could hear him breathe uneasily.
"Are you... Okay?" She walked a little closer to see his hands trembling.
Okay. It was looking bad!
"Hey, I'll take you home. You look bad." Nancy suggested.
"No, I shall drop you home first. It is getting late." He rejected as his voice shook.
"Just do as I say." She said as she grabbed his hand. However, this time, she grabbed it lightly.
She still emitted the expression of 'Follow me or Die', but it was acceptable. She guided him to his apartment which wasn't far from there. As they reached the apartment, he looked even paler. That explained why Nancy had to tag along. They entered, and she let him sit on the couch first.
"I'm guessing it's my fault you're this way," Nancy said as she watched him sit down.
"My apologies," Samuel replied swiftly despite not being able to talk.
"So what's this?" She sternly asked. "Pfft.. wait… PTSD?" She laughed as she added, making a joke out of anything.
Samuel looked away as if he agreed with her statement. Nancy narrowed her eyes in surprise.
"Wait, for real? You have PTSD??" She was shocked. "But like... I just held your hand to escort you to your home and…"
"It is not your fault. I was triggered beforehand." Samuel explained as he sighed.
Nancy felt bad for making fun of him after eventually finding out about it. She did find out about one more thing, but she didn't know if she wanted to continue knowing more about him. She was still shocked.
"So… What triggered you?" Nancy didn't know when to stop.
Samuel dumbfoundedly looked at her.
"Sorry…" She whispered. Her ego was too big to say it out loud.
"I did not ask for your apology. I am just a mere bodyguard. I just humbly request to be left alone." He said, even though the day was almost over.
He looked pale. He needed a break from her. She acknowledged that in her mind but her lips spoke something else.
"Since I was the one to make you feel like this, I thought I should be the one treating you too," Nancy said. "I should cook you something before you faint."
"Can you leave? I apologize, but being left alone right now would be a better treatment." Samuel said as he stood up. "I shall leave you to your house."
Nancy ignored him and made her way to his kitchen.
"Why must you never listen to me?" Samuel asked as he followed her to the kitchen.
She ignored him as if he wasn't even there and put a pot on the stove. She filled it with water. She went over to the fridge and opened it only to have it closed by him as he leaned towards it.
"Get away, Samuel," Nancy said as she pushed him away to the side.
She opened the fridge yet again, only to find a bunch of water bottles inside stacked on top of each other.
"I'd be less surprised if it was alcohol…" Nancy said slowly.
"I do not drink," Samuel replied.
"Expected. Why not, though?"
"Drinking is harmful."
"Not eating food is more harmful…" She pointed at his fridge as she closed it.
"I eat proper home-cooked meals daily."
"You cook water?"
Nancy moved to the water in the pot to heat it.
"Since you like water, I'll just cook water for you," Nancy said as she looked narrow-eyed at him.
Samuel sighed as he turned off the stove in her stead and grabbed her hand to leave her outside. She resisted, of course.
"It is against my acts of courtesy to treat you like this, and I apologize, but I need to be left alone," Samuel explained swiftly.
"You can't treat your employer like that!" Nancy pulled out of his weak grip.
"You cannot interfere in my issues either. Do not stay here. Let me leave you home."
"Just say you hate me!"
"I do not…"
"Then what's your Goddamn problem? I said I won't leave and that's final!"
"If you are thinking that you must tend to me, for you triggered my illnesses, then I shall let you know that I can look after myself. Also, you did not trigger any of my illnesses in any way. It is merely my incompetence in letting you down during work hours. You are not my bodyguard. I am your bodyguard. You must not worry about anything.
I do not care whether you trigger my illnesses or not. I must serve you no matter how you treat me. You are no one to serve me but to earn benefits from me. I am certainly not telling you to leave because I dislike you in any way. It is for your safety. My house is not the safest place for you. It is more dangerous than you think, even if I am right beside you. I am…" He stopped for a while as he gave his big lecture.
"I am?" Nancy asked in curiosity, though she was equally annoyed by the lecture.
"I am more dangerous than you think. It is better to leave at this hour." Samuel finished.
She looked right into his eyes for a while. He didn't seem to be lying as he said he was more dangerous than she had thought.
She wasn't scared of him, but she felt like leaving him alone would be better.
"Fine. I'll leave. But, not with you. You should… rest. I'll call my dad." Nancy said.
He still insisted that he could drop her but she gave her word. She pushed him towards his bedroom and closed the door telling him she would leave when her father arrived. She even called her father in front of Samuel so he would rest assured.
He was still uneasy, but she didn't care one bit. She sat in the lounge waiting for her dad and suddenly heard passcode buttons ring. She quickly made her way to the front door.
She could hear someone press the passcode buttons. 'Dad knows his passcode?' She thought to herself but also thought it to be reasonable as he seemed to be getting sick often.
She let the door open to see an unwanted face. Her eyes were wide open as she awed in fear.
Sebastian stood in front of her instead of her dad at Samuel's front door. He even knew the passcode. What was happening?
Nancy opened her mouth to call out to Samuel, but Sebastian gave her no chance. He grabbed her wrist to pull her outside his house and swiftly closed the door. He quickly took out an injection from his pocket and stabbed it in her neck before she could react. She collapsed into his arms without being able to utter a word.
"Didn't expect you to be here," Sebastian whispered as he picked her up and took her away. It was the last thing she heard which led to the thought that he came to see Samuel, not her.
Is that what Samuel meant by being dangerous? She couldn't think anymore. She felt numb. She did feel herself being taken somewhere, but her mind slowly gave in to the tranquilizer.
Samuel found it suspicious as he heard the door and nothing else. He quickly got off the bed and went outside to find no one. He picked up his phone to call Daniel, but he arrived at his door, ringing the bell. He opened the door and already knew something wrong was happening.
"You did not take Nancy with you?" He asked as he panicked.
Daniel shook his head as he was shocked to see him alone.
Samuel quickly grabbed his phone to track Nancy through her chip's administration app.
"It's blocked… She is unconscious." Samuel slowly said as he tried different codes.