Work in Progress from my Google Drive

Certain Difficulties PART 2 (so long it had to be made into two!)

Dustin felt a sort of blooming feeling in his chest, when she laughed. It was a sweet, childish kind of laugh. It made her look younger, and erased all the negative memories of the night before.
"We still are practically strangers." she said, stopping her laughter, and making Dustin wish she'd laugh again. "Okay, how about this... I ask you a question, and you ask me a question. If it's a question that seems too personal, we can skip it." she suggests. Dustin smiles. "I like that idea. You first." he says, and pulls her in closer.
"Well, hmm... Have you ever kissed anyone before me?" Martha asked. "No, I haven't." replied Dustin. He thought for a minute, and asked his question. "Do you have any other illnesses besides depression?" Martha looked at him, a little sadly, and nodded. "Anxiety. It's why I moved away from you when we first met. I was scared. And... and terrors. I don't know what to call them, but they're terrors. Keep me from sleeping, taunt me..." she stopped, a fearful and distant look in her eyes. Dustin cupped her cheek, and she looked at him in surprise. "I'm here." he whispered.
They kept asking each other questions for a while, and Dustin spotted someone staring at them from a distance away. "Martha, I have a serious question. Actually, two. But I need you to answer them. Are you currently in a relationship with anyone?" he asked her.
"Umm... no. Why, are you?" she asked. "No, I'm not. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with..." he broke off, and looked around, having spied a moving shadow in the corner of his eye. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "D- Dustin, are you okay? You're- you're scaring me..." Martha says anxiously. Her eyes start darting around nervously, unable to focus, searching for potential threats. Her breathing gets more shallow, and rapid.
He can see that she's becoming stressed and scared. "No, Martha. It- it's okay." he says, and pulls her into a hug. She calms down a bit, and takes a deep breath of her own. "If you say so. What's your other question?" she asks quietly, pulling away to sit up.
"I know you said you have social anxiety and stuff, but... are you part of any groups or- or anything?" he asked. "N- n- no! I'd be way too scared to go anywhere with them. Let alone join any clubs where I'd be required to attend meetings... Why, are you?" she replied, tilting her head.
"Yeah. And they're really strict and stuff... One of the rules is we're not allowed to, well, associate with people. Don't get attached to anyone." Dustin said, looking around.
"So, you're saying we can't be friends or anything?" Martha asked, her voice cracking. Dustin felt awful. "No, no, no! We can still be friends... Man, I am screwing this up..." he muttered. Martha stood, and wiped at her eyes. "It's starting to get dark... I want to go home." she whispered. Dustin sighed, and stood as well. "Martha, will you let me walk you back to your apartment?" he asked softly.

Martha nodded. She pushed her hands deep into her pockets, and walked along, not talking. The thoughts from earlier had long since floated away, and were now replaced with new ones, swirling around, making her head ache. She looked up, and found Dustin was looking at her. "Martha, I'm sorry. I- I didn't mean to say those things. I screwed up. Would you forgive me?" he asked quietly.
She shrugged, looking away, and not saying anything. She heard Dustin sigh, and she glanced over at him. He looked trapped. She understood how that felt, to be trapped in her own thoughts, unable to get away. "I forgive you." she said softly. She didn't know if he had heard her, but if she had looked at him, she would have seen that he had.
They got to her apartment, and Martha twisted the doorknob to let herself in. It was locked. "That- that's strange..." she muttered. "What?" asked Dustin. "The door was unlocked when I left... because I didn't know if you had my key." she whispered.

Her eyes widened slightly. She didn't know she had, but Dustin saw it. "Martha, do you want me to spend the night again?" he asked quietly. She nodded her head slightly, and pulled out her key to unlock the door. Her hand froze as she was about to open it. "Martha?" he whispered.
She had the look of terror on her face again, and she was getting paler. Her eyes were unfocused, and he noticed her arm had wrapped around her stomach and she was holding her side. Dustin couldn't hear her breathing, which scared him a little. Suddenly she took a large shuddery breath of air and twisted the key and let them in. She bolted to her room, and shut the door, leaving Dustin alone in the dark.
He took off his boots, and set them beside the door. He shut and locked it after he turned on the lights. He hung up his jacket, and heard quiet crying from Martha's room. Dustin ran to her door, and knocked. She didn't respond, so he tried to open it, but found he couldn't, as it was locked. "Martha?" he asked. Her crying only grew louder. "No, I'm not worth saving." she shouted. "Martha, let me in! Please! Let me in!" he shouted, pounding on the door.