Outside

'Huh?' Kyley thought she heard him wrong.

" Oh! I have an idea. Give me a second" Darren said and turned around to leave the room. However, he grabbed the wooden bucket and mop stick before leaving the room entirely.

' Huh?' Kyley was even more confused. She watched his back with a stupendous expression as he walked out the room.

Did he really just asked if she wanted to go outside? Kyley was left baffled. Just what was Darren thinking?

Soon, Darren returned to the room while Kyley was still deep in her thought. The latter raised her gaze and was shocked to see Darren row in a wheelchair.

" I've had to use it in the past, plenty of times" He said with a small grin.

Kyley gasped in shock hearing this and she instantly expressed hesitation. Just what did he mean by having used the wheelchair plenty of times? It sounded a bit creepy

" O-of course, I've used it myself is what I meant" Darren clarified seeing the look of contempt on Kyley's face. He smiled wryly realizing his mistake.

' Sigh, I have to be careful with my words next time' Darren made a mental note to mind the way he put his words when he spoke to Kyley.

Kyley moved her gaze to the wheelchair and couldn't help but look back at Darren. She was perplexed; not as to what he intended to do but as to the fact that Darren really meant what he said about taking her outside.

" I'll help you get into this." Darren pushed the wheelchair towards the side of the bed and moved to help Kyley out of the bed.

Kyley frowned when Darren bent over her and scooped his arms underneath her ankle and behind her back to pick her up like a princess.

" Trust me" Darren urged softly, making Kyley shudder. Her heart raced wildly but she didn't try to put up a struggle out of fear for her wounds reopening. Besides, it didn't seem like Darren was going to harm her.

Why go through the rigorous effort to treat her wounds and then hurt her after? Kyley thought it only made sense to think that at the least, Darren wasn't going to hurt her by carrying her.

Not that she trusted him though, she still had her doubts about him!

Kyley crossed her arms and tucked herself to let Darren carry her. However, Kyley immediately held her breath when she sucked in Darren's fresh scent as he leaned in closer to carry her. ' He smells like ... the fresh morning of spirng.' Kyley thought and instantly became embarrassed that she had such thought. She couldn't help but hide her face away to conceal her embarrassment.

Darren gently scooped her up like a feather and placed her in the wheelchair without much struggle.

Kyley was left dumbfounded at how easy and smooth that was. " There we go" He said and Kyley couldn't help but hide her face away. She was so embarrassed and didn't want to face him after what had just happened. Her heart thrummed chaotically but she felt warm all over. She didn't like this feeling she was getting. Not that it was bad, but it made her unable to face Darren for no apparent reason.

Darren smiled seeing Kyley like this and walked behind her. Kyley suddenly frowned and looked behind her cautiously. However, she quickly looked away after seeing the stupid smile on Darren's face.

Kyley didn't know what to do anymore...

She couldn't trust her back to Darren, but the stupid feeling in her wouldn't let her face him! She wanted so badly to leave the wheelchair but her wounds wouldn't let her.

" Let's head out now, okay?" She heard him say from behind. Kyley calmly craned forward and nodded her head in approval for now. She decided to jump out of the wheelchair the moment she felt anything creepy going on behind her.

Darren didn't waste time standing around. He gently pushed Kyley in the wheelchair out of the room and through the hallway. Kyley's previous tautness slowly began to relax.

' See? It isn't that bad you see' Darren thought with slight smugness seeing how Kyley reclined in the wheelchair. She didn't seem as tense as she did before, and even she didn't realize this.

Darren smiled as he pushed her all the way to the stairs, where he would pause and express a stomped face momentarily.

' Oh no' Darren almost facepalmed at his thoughtless action. He'd totally forgotten that he couldn't push Kyley down the stairs in the wheelchair, unless he wanted her wounds to worsen. Moreso, history could repeat itself. Darren smiled wryly as he thought about what to do now.

As to Darren having used the wheelchair himself, he lied. The wheelchair was left in the house by the previous owner.

Kyley was unaware of this, however, as she stared thoughtlessly down the stairs. She remembered just how she'd fallen and crawled up the stairs last night, and couldn't help but smile bitterly. It was painful but Kyley couldn't forget how she'd felt when she realized that it was a staircase and not a dark ' hallway'. It wasn't until she saw Darren walk in front of her that she realized they had stopped moving.

" Wha-" She was going to question but was left speechless when Darren bent to scoop her up the wheelchair.

" I'm sorry. I had totally forgotten about the stairs" Darren said. It was then that Kyley realized what was going on. She felt embarrassed once again and quickly hid her gaze away.

' How come I totally forgot myself when I had told myself to not leave my back to him. So much for putting up my guard!' Kyley was furious at the fact that she hadn't even been aware of her surrounding just now.

Darren gently carried her down the stairs and took her to the living room. He placed her in one of the sofas and returned upstairs to bring the wheelchair.

He scooped her up once again from the chair and placed her into the wheelchair.

Kyley was boiling at this point. She hated the way she felt everytime he picked her up. Worst was how she couldn't get her mind off of it as his scent reminded her off the fact that she was in his hands!

Kyley had never felt such complexed feelings of vulnerability in her life. And although it wasn't a bad feeling, it wasn't a good one either.

' Phew!' Darren sighed softly and began to push Kyley once again. This time, it was only the front door that kept them from being outside. Once they got near, Darren stopped to open the door.

The light that was ushered into the living room left Kyley bedazzled, and the fresh scent of nature that impeded her nostrils made her feel liberated once again.

As Darren slowly pushed her outside and stopped by the edge of the porch, Kyley felt an indescribable sense of freedom wash through her. She looked from the grassy floor to the tall trees whose leaves danced in rhythm to the soft blow of the winds that carried around the chirpings of the birds. Kyley stared for a long while at this phenomenon, appreciating how lively and lovely nature was. She closed her eyes and took in the sensation that hit her at the moment.

Darren watched all of this and couldn't help but flash a proud smile as well. He was glad that he had made the right decision to bring Kyley outside like this.

He stood behind her silently without saying a word, allowing her to enjoy the view as much as she wanted.

After a long while of appreciating the view outside in utmost silence, Kyley finally recollected her thought and realized she wasn't alone. She looked behind her to find Darren also looking in the far distance, his gaze resplendent of thought.

Darren noticed Kyley's gaze and smiled at her. He stepped forward from behind her and bent by the porch railing, using it as a support. He continued to stare at the distant trees without saying a thing.

Kyley looked at this for a second, before reverting her gaze. She didn't know what Darren was thinking after all.

" Beautiful isn't it?" She heard him say a while after and couldn't help but look at him to figure out what he meant.

Darren smiled and shot a glance at Kyley. " The first time I moved here, I had thought I was in for a nightmare experience..." He slowly turned around to face Kyley as he said with a distant gaze, supporting himself by sitting on the railing. " Little did I know how this place would get to mean everything to me."

Darren looked around with a pursed smile, as though the place were an old friend of his that he'd been pitifully stuck with since forever.