Work in Progress from my Google Drive

Certain Difficulties PART 1 (an original from my very own noggin)

Martha walked along a side street of Manhattan. She folded her arms as if to protect against the cold. She was nervous, though she had wanted to go out, so she had. She couldn't find the cafe where they'd agreed to meet, and she was growing more nervous with every step. She kicked a stray can that had fallen out of a dumpster, and a cat hissed and ran away from her. The grey, gloomy day had her thoughts drag around her head as if they held cinder blocks, and other thoughts swirling around in circles, lightning-fast, staying but never fading.
She brushed her short ginger hair out of her face. It was a cute little haircut so that the tips of her hair tickled the back of her neck. Putting her earbuds in her ears, she drowned out the world with music.
Walking along, she wasn't really focused on where she was going. She walked into someone and fell to the ground. She scraped her hand on the brick wall beside her, drawing blood. She didn't want the stranger to see her tears, so she picked up her fallen earbuds, tucking them into her pocket. When she looked up, the person was still there, looking at her. Suddenly more nervous, Martha tucked a strand of hair out of her face. "Uh- uh- umm...." she stuttered, trying desperately to apologise, but her mind didn't know what to say.

Some girl walked into Dustin, and he stopped walking. In New York, it's a common thing. But this girl was one he recognized. He never saw her often, just on occasion, he assumed she was a homebody. She was an average-sized redhead, though her long red hair was gone. It had been replaced with a long pixie, and the sun made her red hair seem light ginger. It was dangerous, but whenever Dustin saw her, he felt a feeling he'd never felt before rising in him.
He kneels down to help her up and she shies away from him. Dustin frowns slightly, as he stands up. "What's your problem?" he asks her. She stutters, and Dustin's expression softens. He feels bad, he didn't mean to snap at her. She slowly stands. "I'm Dustin Henderson," he says, and smiles. She puts something in her pocket, which he assumes are earbuds. Then he sees a red droplet fall from her hand.
"Are you alright? You're bleeding." Dustin asks and reaches out to her. "Sweetheart, I won't hurt you. I just want to help," he says softly, and cringes slightly because of all the times for it to happen, his accent slipped.

Time seems to stop at the word sweetheart. Martha can feel her cheeks burn and can only assume they're bright red. She looks at the ground and smiles a little bit at his accent. "N- nice to meet you, Dustin," she says quietly and looks up at him. Martha smiles, and a wisp of hair flies in her face. "My name is Martha O'Malley," she says.

Dustin's heart skips a beat when she speaks. It has a slight lilt to it, and he smiles. He brushes her hair behind her ear, and Dustin sees Martha's brown eyes. They're a beautiful coffee colour, and have warmth in them. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Martha," he says and takes a small step back. He's not supposed to get attached to people, and this girl was dangerously close already. "I- have to get going," he said and started to walk away.

Martha wobbles a bit as he turns to go. Dustin's act of kindness was the first thing she'd felt since she was younger. Even if all he had done was brush her hair out of her eyes, it had been very nice of a stranger. "Yes," she said softly, answering his question.

Dustin turned back to Martha. "What?" he asked and took a step toward her. "My hand... is bleeding a little," Martha said. He held out his hand for hers and smiled. "Come on, let's go fix you up," he says.

She tentatively takes Dustin's hand. She's surprised how soft he is, considering he looked so tough. "Maybe he's not as mean as he looks..." Martha whispers to herself. "Hm?" Dustin looks back at her as he keeps walking. "Nothing," she says, and shrugs. Dustin raises his eyebrow inquisitively and just shrugs back at her. He tightens his grip on her hand, and Martha winces. It's her bleeding hand, and she felt another drop of blood fall to the ground. "D- Dustin, my hand..." she says and slows.
Dustin turned quickly and loosened his grasp. "I'm sorry," he said and looked at her. "It-it's okay," she whispered and looked at the ground. "No, it's not okay. Speak up if I'm hurting you," he says. Martha could see the hurt in his eyes, although she didn't know if it was because she hurt him somehow, or if it was because he had hurt her. "I honestly don't mind getting hurt. I couldn't care less," she said with a small smile, shrugging off the pain. Her hand still hurt a little bit, but not as much as before.
He sighed. 'A person should care if they get hurt.' Dustin thought. 'But she doesn't. What's wrong?' he wondered. They kept walking, and Dustin turned down a side alley. "W- where are we going?" Martha asked, afraid. He turned to her and saw her nervous expression.
She was a bit pale, and her soft brown eyes were darting around, as a nervous rabbit would. He could almost see her nose twitch as if she was one. Dustin smiled softly, and gently squeezed her other hand to reassure her.