I couldn't shake off the thoughts currently playing in my mind. His words continued to echo in my mind.

"Don't get too close, Belle. Don't fall for me..."

My heart thumped and a sudden bile grew in my throat.

And then I asked him what he meant.

"J-Just...just don't."

Was his reply. My heart dropped as I thought back to yesterday afternoon. I was confused, curious, a little in shock and dare I say it...hurt. I frowned to myself.

Why would he say something like that? And what caused him to say that? - I knew Sam had problems when it came to trusting people, but to hear him say 'Don't fall for him', it caused my stomach to oddly churn.

My mind was a total mess thinking about it.

Did Sam think I liked him? Which caused him to say that?

And then there was the real question which I found the need to ask myself.

Did I like him?

I blushed, just at the thought of him. A sudden picture painted in my mind. His perfect hazel orbs, his defined jawline, his heart-shaped lips, his muscly tattooed arms and his beautiful blonde hair.

And I realized right then, there was a little flutter in my heart. Scrap that - large flutter, occurring in my heart. But before I could conclude my feelings, his words echoed in my mind.

"Don't get too close...Don't fall for me, Belle."

And the frown deepened on my lips. There had to be a reason as to why he said that.

I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts when feeling Daniel nudge me in the arm. I shook my head absentmindedly, blinking repeatedly, as I pulled myself back into reality. His green eyes glinted in amusement and a grin played on his lips.

"What?" I mumbled, feeling the blush burn against my cheeks. He arched a brow, as if to say if I was really asking him that.

"You okay there, Belle?" He asked, taking a bite of his cheese sandwich. I let out a huff, pushing up my glasses.

"I'm fine...just daydreaming." I lied. I couldn't tell him I was thinking about a certain inmate and my maybe pending feelings for him. He gave me a look, knowing I was lying. But thankfully, he dropped the subject.

I let out a small sigh, fiddling with the left over crust from my cheese and chicken sandwich. There was some questions wondering around in my mind, my curious side wanting to know all about the intriguing male called Sam Blake.

I wanted to know more about him, period.

Swallowing, I hesitantly glanced up at Daniel. He was chewing on his bite of bread and I could tell he was enjoying it by the little hums sounding from him. I bit down on my bottom lip, sighing before I spoke.

"Daniel..." I trailed off. His eyes snapped over to me, a brow arching in questioning.

"What...what do you know about Sam?" I breathed out. His eyes narrowed for a second and he slowly swallowed his bite of bread. My heart pulsed, awaiting for him to speak.

"What do you mean?" He asked, opening up his water bottle, before taking a large sip. I sighed quietly, running a hand across the top of my head.

"What do you know about him? Do you know why he's here? Why he acts this way? Anything?" I rambled on. A glint waved across Daniel's narrowed eyes. I clamped my mouth shut, looking up at him with desperate eyes.

"Anything?" I whispered. There was a short silence, a look of contemplation grew on Daniel's face and he leaned back in his chair. Although, there were sounds of laughter and talking coming from inmates sat in the room, my eyes were trained on him. Awaiting an answer.

"Well, I don't know much about the guy." He shrugged, licking his lips. My heart deflated a little.

"But," He paused, my heart suddenly lifting back up.

"There are a few things I can tell you." He mumbled, rinsing his tongue around his teeth. I bobbed my head, motioning for him to carry on.

"I know his friends, two decent guys; Robert and Josh, both in their fifties. The three keep to themselves and I rarely see them apart during breaks." He trailed off. I nodded, letting the new information sink in.

"What else?" I found myself asking. Daniel pursed his lips, putting on a thoughtful look.

"That's about it, really. Other than him being here since he was seventeen, and that's about it. All I can say is he's an easy guy. Never given any attitude, respects others and I said before, a little misunderstood." He told me, frowning slightly.

I swallowed a breath.

"Daniel...do you know why he's here?" I helplessly asked, so badly wanting to know the reason to his presence around here. Like Daniel had said, he never had attitude, respected others and always kept to himself.

So, what was someone like him, doing here?

It just didn't add up.

Shaking off my thoughts, I focused my attention back on Daniel. He had peeled off his yogurt's lid and was twirling a spoon around it, mixing it up. Apparently to him, yogurt always had lumps in it, that you just had to get out. But I didn't really pay any attention to it.

"That's a little personal, B. Don't you think?" He arched a brow, welcoming a spoonful of strawberry yogurt into his mouth. I found myself frowning with a little blush.

"Yes...but he's my patient. It's my job to know this and for him to tell me." I blurted out. Daniel nodded his head, slowly licking his lips.

"Exactly, something for him to tell you." He teased. I glanced away, blushing.

I hated it when people caught me on spot.

"I'm just teasing you, Belle. But for real, it's a little personal." He mumbled. I sighed.

"I know that, Daniel. But...but you don't understand. I'm just trying to get to know him better and not to fix him, but to understand him. I want to know the real Sam." I whispered.

There was silence between us. I stared at him helpless and a little desperate.

A low sigh left his lips and he put down his spoon.

"The thing is, I'm not sure myself. When he first arrived on the prison grounds, rumours were going around about him murdering someone, but I'm not sure. There were other rumours saying he tried committing suicide and the last, him getting caught shop lifting." He paused, glancing at me.

"But I don't know if they're truthful and I honestly doubt they are."

"Why?" I quietly asked, my voice no louder than a mouse.

"Because...I just remembering seeing that little seventeen year old kid, his jelled up hair, tattoos all over his body, and a vibe radiating off of him, saying - don't mess with me. But the kid was harmless. He was silent, obeyed orders and didn't fight back. Same till now." He told me.

I furrowed my brows, trying to process what I was being told.

"So...when he first arrived was he more open and a little less closed off? Or was he always like this?" I continued to ask.

"I can't answer that, B. I just remember him always being silent. God knows how he was like before he entered here. Prison can really change a person's life."

I silently agreed with him. That was true.

"Look, B, there's only one person you can get the real answer from and that's him, himself. We can only assume." He shrugged. I stared down at the table, letting out a small breath.

"I don't think he's a little misunderstood..." I trailed off.

"He's just...fallen."

The words left my lips, effortlessly. I watched Daniel, awaiting his reaction. He stilled for a second, as if he was letting the words sink in, before he bobbed his head in approval.

"Fallen...that's about right." He mumbled, clearing his throat. I glanced back down at the table, chewing down on my bottom lip. A silence waved between us and I tried to calm my racing mind. For the past day, it just kept flashing back to Sam.

And from the sudden new information I found out from Daniel, it only added onto the lingering curiosity I've grown for him. I wanted to know him, I decided to myself. I would find out the real reason to as why he was really here and why he was the way he was today.

"But B, why do you care?" I snapped out my thoughts, glancing up at Daniel. A slight smirk played on his lips and a amusement danced in his eyes. I found myself blushing, fiddling around with my hands to occupy my focus.

"I...I already told you, he's my patient. I just want to know him better." I found myself saying. His eyes lingered, before a low chuckle sounded from him.

"Oh good, for a minute I thought you liked him." He breathed out through his laughter. I felt my heart drop and I nervously shook my head, laughing along.

"N-No, I don't! W-Why would you think that?" I asked, stuttering slightly. I inwardly cursed myself for doing so.

"Relax, I was just teasing you, Belle. You know me, I'm always doing that." He laughed.

"But seriously - do you?" He asked after his laughter had died down. I opened my mouth in response to answer him, but found myself frozen. I was on spot.

That's the thing, Daniel. I don't know myself.

I inwardly thought.

"N-No," I breathed out, and the laughter begun again.

"I'm just teasing." He replied again and I forced myself to smile along.

Yet, that didn't wash away the confused thoughts sitting in my mind.

The bell had rung just minutes ago and Daniel had to immediately return to where he was patrolling. Apparently, today was visits and phone calls home for the inmates. I was walking by myself, heading to my room since I had less patients today.

The map was in my hands, my eyes narrowed as I read over the printed piece of paper. I had only been here about a week or less, but I still hadn't gotten used to the prison grounds.

It was just too damn big!

Sighing to myself, I pulled all my focus on the map, zoning out my surroundings and completely staring down at the map. But it was a bad idea. A really bad idea when I felt myself bump into a wall.

But the wall had arms, which suddenly grew and steadied me. I let out a gasp, glancing up at the wall. My heart fluttered. It wasn't a wall - it was Sam. His hazel orbs glanced at me with amusement and faint emotion of concern. I found myself staring into them, shaking off my thoughts when I realized I was staring.

"S-Sorry!" I squeaked out like a fool. He slowly let go of me, only then did I feel the warmth on my back caused by his touch. He pulled back, shrugging on his hoodie. Flustered, I pushed up my glasses and cleared my throat.

"You should watch were you're going. You could get hurt," He lowly muttered, half-frowning. I blushed even brighter, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I know that...I was just reading the map and zoned out of my surroundings. Sorry about bumping into you again." I squeaked out. A glint waved across his eyes, before dying out. He shook his head, chuckling softly.

He muttered something under his breath, but I didn't catch it. All I heard was the word cute.

"So, any visits from home, any calls?" I hesitantly asked, already starting on my mission to try and understand Sam. However, I never failed to miss the way his body tensed and his jaw clenched.

"No." He flatly murmured. I held in a gasp from his sudden change of tone and nodded.

"O-Oh," I whispered. Clearing his throat, he sighed and turned to look at me. I found myself looking back at him, with a small smile. There were no words said for a moment and I tried my hardest to read him.

My job as a therapist was to get to know my patients. Try and understand, and possibly resolve their problems. As well as reassure them. Usually, I was able to read my patients, but when it came to Justin - I was helpless.

He was closed off.

There were rare times I'd catch a real emotion which I could place.

"Belle," He sighed, licking his lips. My eyes followed his every movement, arching a brow.

"Look, yesterday...what I said to you -" He paused. My heart began to pulse faster, my ears perking up to hear what he has to say. But then he shut off.

"Nothing...forget it." He sighed, shaking his head to himself. I tried not to show any signs of disappointment as I nodded at him.

"It's fine, Sam." I smiled. He glanced up from the floor and to me, a glint waving across his eyes.

"Thank you, Belle. I...I'll see you next session." He cleared his throat. I nodded, my heart a little heavy with disappointment.

"Yeah, see you." I whispered to myself, as for he was already walking away. His hood pulled over his head. I let out a sigh, as I finally tore my eyes away from is distancing figure.

Shaking off all the thoughts which threatened to run in my mind, I focused back on the map. This time being extra cautious about my whereabouts, not wanting to bump into someone. However, I wouldn't mind if it was a certain wall.

Eventually, I made my way over to the cherry colored door. A sigh of relief left my lips. One day, my break or free session, I will take the time to memorize the prison by heart.

Just not today.

Taking out my keys, I turned the door open and stepped inside. My hands reached out to flick on the lights, which made me blink a little from the sudden brightness. Licking my lips, I closed the door behind me and walked a little further into the room. I dropped down onto the twin sized bed and sighed.

My back lay against the bed as I stared up at the white ceiling. A heavy sigh left my frowning lips as I closed my eyes, taking a moment to relax.

Today had been a long day.

However, just as I was on the verge of falling asleep, my cell phone rang, snapping me out my nearly peaceful nap. Sighing, I forced myself to sit up and pick up my cell phone. I yawned a little, before glancing down at my phone's screen.

My heart stuttered, when I read the caller ID.

My only family member which I knew of and had contact with. I froze for a second, before letting out a sigh. My phone was still ringing and with great hesitance, I swiped answer.

This should be interesting.

•••••

Hey guys! What did you guys think of this chapter? Did you like it? I'm sorry if you found it a little boring, but it's just the beginning of this whole book! I have plans to come. Anyways, what do you think her Auntie Rosie will say? And how will Belle react? Also, I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas (if you celebrate it)