8. 'Trust'

*Song Meng POV

Comforting somebody crying has never been my specialty. You would think with over a half century of experience, that I would be good at making people happy, showing them that they are special. However, I'm not, really. So the only way I could think of to comfort Qin Shan was with a hug and to tell her that life was going to be okay.

She stiffened but then eventually gave in. She is hurting so much and and hurts my heart to see her in this state, It seems that she acts all tough outside with her friends and carries the burdens by herself. For that I hate myself for not getting her to trust me yet. I hate that she doesn't trust anybody. I hate that the whole situation regarding the hotel even happened. I hate that I can't do anything about it. I can't heal her pain or make her feel better. All I can do now is wait and hope that she opens up to me.

"I think I dirtied your shirt." She says quietly. Looking at the water stains on my white gym shirt. That is literally the least of my concerns right now. What's important at the moment is getting her to start to trust me.

"I know your dealing with pain right now and you don't need to keep it to yourself. Sometimes, letting all your emotions out or talking to somebody is better." I divert the conversation and am relieved to see that the rapid flow of tears from her eyes slows to a trickle and her breathing evens out. She even leans into my hug more which brings up a series of emotions.

"Thank you." she says and all the sudden, my future is made crystal clear. I know what I want to do. I will live and breath to protect this girl with everything.

"I told you that I would to my best to protect you. That means that you have to tell me when you're hurting, when you're in pain. Okay." I say, and she looks at me surprised. I see conflicting emotions go across her face. Pain, fear, shock, disbelief, happiness, relief.

Finally she just says "thank you." again and when she starts to move I grab her wrist.

At first she's shocked---I'm shocked. My body is my instrument. It doesn't do things without thinking. In the end, I just end up saying "Let me know, okay?"

To my relief she agrees and even looks up at me with a smile. My mind goes blank. She is so pretty and her radiance makes me just want to shelter her selfishlly and not let any person talk to her or make her upset again. I resort to another hug.

"Remember that I am here for you." I say which earns me another smile from her which makes my heart start to beat a little faster. And we depart.

As soon as she leaves I go as fast as I can back to the male dorm, where Wu He is waiting for me.

"How did it go?" he asks immediately, getting to the point.

"I think that she is starting to trust me. I can finally protect her again." I say mostly to myself. Wu He's eyes light up and he says

"You're flushed! Did the sun get to you or is the famous ice prince starting to melt his frozen heart?" I didn't even notice that my cheeks were tinged with a slight pink. Even thinking about this girl is making me smile. Thinking of her smile makes me fill up with uncontrollable desires to just protect her and make her happy again.

"Dude, you really need to get your emotions in check. I've never seen you act like this." Wu He says snickering. "When will you see your flower next?" he adds, sudden seriousness in his voice.

"All will come in time." I say, stripping off my gym shirt. "I'm going to go shower now, don't disturb me anymore okay?" I say, just trying to avoid his questions as I really don't know the answers to them right now. All I know is that I want to stay by this girls side for as long as possible.

Wu He rolls his eyes. "Did you at least get her number?" He asks, eager like a little puppy. Darn, I didn't even think about that. I was so enraptured by her that I didn't think of even exchanging numbers.

After I finish my shower, I realize that third class will be starting soon. Wu He has already gone out so I head over to my class which is theatrics. On the way I see the girl that Qin Shan was with, the one who had disturbed us earlier. Well, now it's time for her to make herself useful.

"Hey, you know Qin Shan right?" I ask as gently as I can fathom. She looks up in surprise to me and starts blushing like crazy, absolutely exuding colors of green and brown.

"ShanShan?" she asks. I nod. "Yeah! But why?" She sounds slightly nervous and starts biting at her nails. She's acting like I'm going to bite her or something.

"Can I have her number?" I prompt, getting a little big impatient. Her eyes widen.

"O-Of Course! It's +86X-XXX-XXXX." She keeps stammering while reading off the numbers. I quickly imput them into my phone.

"Thanks." I say.

"Oh, and lets keep this between us, I want to give her a surprise text later." I add on to which she blinks rapidly and then vigorously nods.

I then turn and walk away like no conversation happened between us. Of course, in reality, my mind and senses are jumping for joy. I'm one step closer in getting to this girl, finding out why she's purple to everyone elses rainbow, and getting close enough to protect her against all future harm. I stare down at the 10 digits on my phone and smile, 'I hope we can talk soon.'