As soon as they were outside, she took his hand in hers. It might be stupid, considering that with the gloves they were both wearing, there was no real contact, but she liked to feel the connection with him.
"I never said that it was his fault. We talked, and he helped me clarify some things. The conclusion was my own, not his. I'm sorry he took it personally, but it had nothing to do with him or you. I'm really sorry that he felt bad, but I don't see how y'all tried to turn my attempt at killing myself into something that was about you," she said. "It was frustrating for me, too, because I couldn't see a way out and it was all about you and Martin, and I'm sorry, but it wasn't, and since we're talking, I'm never going to like Hetty. She's been mean and nasty to me from the start, and I don't care if she's your family, I'll be happy if I never have to see her again."
She snorted. "In my family, you don't talk to each other. I didn't talk to Charlotte for three years, until she was in an accident and almost got paralized, and even then, they resented that I had spoken to her. I was corrupting her. Never mind that she's the one having sex, as long as she wears the right clothes and goes to a Christian school, it's all good."
Savannah sighed and took a few steps forward before turning around so she could see him and walk backwards. "There you go again, making everything about you. What about those people? Maybe they'd be willing to take the chance for the right person. You don't have to give them the details, you can just explain that there is a danger and let them make the decision. I think that your job makes you paranoid and a control freak, and it's easier to cut yourself off than trusting other people, both into your life and that they will make their choices and not blame you for what happens. You call it protecting, but from this side, it feels like you're controlling them. We all have to make our choices and sometimes they aren't going to be the right ones, but it's not up to you to make them for us. And I think someone would be very lucky to take that risk to be with you."
She smiled. "I do trust you, at least not to let me get hurt. I don't trust you that you can let me make my choices, and I've fought my parents for that right, and I will fight you just as hard. Whatever mistakes I make, they are mine to make."