𝓜𝓲𝓷𝓮

03| rude boy

D I A N E

I turned on my side slowly as my eyes fluttered open.

There was a pain in my head that made me want to close my eyes and go back to sleep but the sound of manly voices stopped me. 

My eyes landed on the sheets that covered my body-- unfamiliar sheets.

My eyes widen. This wasn't my bed.

I peeled the silks off me, getting up only to bump into something. I turn around realizing my back had made contact with someone else. "Watch it," I heard a grunt.

His timbre was deep, and unfamiliar it almost scared me and that's when I let out a scream. As he expected it, he turned around with a glare as he shut me up by placing his palm over my lips.

His actions were so fast that they had my heart racing. Crap.

My eyes wander around the room.

Where was I?

My eyes lock with his. He looked familiar but I don't know where I had seen him from. And that's when it all came crashing down.

"Do you want me to let go?" His timbre is deep and annoyed. I nod my blue eyes meeting his dark grey ones. "And when I do so, you won't scream?"

It sounded more like a demand than a question but I shook my head either way signaling no.

He scrutinized me and hesitated before letting go.

It was him. He was the guy I saw in the street.

"What am doing here? Who are you?" I looked at him up and down. If it weren't for the circumstances,  I would have been gushing over how perfect he looked. Now that the light was shining on him, I could see him properly and it nearly took my breath away.

His melanin skin was like velvet; smooth and flawless. The sun hit it at just the right angle, making it glow with a warm, golden light. I couldn't help but admire the way the light played across his features, highlighting his sharp jaw. There was a fierceness about him, but also a sadness that made my heart ache.

His cloudy eyes were cold, distant, and absent. Almost like he was forced to be here and what confirmed that was his next words.

"I don't know why you told me to bring this chick over here Luciano," He got up looking like he didn't have time for this. "Well, the girl nearly got raped.  You weren't just going to leave her there for the dogs to feed on her now weren't you,"

I had hoped that was a pun.

The one in the room doesn't answer but glares into space as if he regrets bringing me here. "I couldn't care less Luciano,"

"It doesn't change the fact that you saved her," And that's when my eyes landed on this Luciano guy.  They looked exactly like one another. They both had grey eyes but the rude boy's eyes were darker.

"Oh if I'm a problem then I can leave right away."

The rude boy uttered, "Please do."

"Don't listen to him. Isaak over here is just mad his girlfriend stood him up. " And judging by Rudeboy whose name I had found out now was Isaak, what Luciano had said was true.

"I'll drive you home."

"No, it's ok. I'll take an Uber. "

"Well," He shrugs throwing something at me and I catch it looking down at it and it is a blade.  "Come over sometime," Luciano joked but Isaak seemed to take it seriously and glared at Luciano.

"I wouldn't want to bother," I say shyly. "Exactly, you've done enough."

"Isaak." My breath caught in my throat as Luciano's blade sailed through the air, straight at Isaak's chest. I braced myself for the impact, but Isaak didn't even flinch. He caught the blade in his hand, without flinching as if he were simply catching a random ball.

It was like he had done this a thousand times before.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

□□□

[flashback]

Tears filled my eyes at the sight of the homeless man being beaten to a pulp. ''Daniel!" I yelled at the man I called my father "Daniel!"

The man looked like he was about to collapse any second. "Father!" And that seemed to have brought him back to his senses.

His eyes which were once filled with rage had softened not when they met mine. "Let go of him," I say.

"D-Diane I-" He reached for my hand but I backed away quickly. "You called me-"

"It doesn't mean anything," I spat. He looked at me with the look I hated the most; with remorse.  "What the hell is wrong with you, huh? Do you think you can just come here and beat whoever you want to just because you're a man!"

"I said I'd protect you. I wouldn't let anything happen-"

My eye twitches. "Cut the crap."

"Where were you my whole life, huh? What makes you think I need you to protect me? Hell, what a homeless douchebag did hurt way more than everything you've done to me,"

"What about Roseline, Daniel huh? Do you think leaving me, Mom, and her was okay? Do you think coming to our rescue when I'm about to lose my life makes up for everything? What about when mom could no longer pay the rent bills with just one job and we barely had food on the table- where were you, Daniel? When my stepfather physically abused Roseline and me? WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?"

My heart was beating so loud, so loud that I could even hear it myself. I balled my fist in an attempt to calm myself down.

"That's what I thought. You know, I just hope that after all these years you've finally grown up and bettered yourself, father."

And with that, I walked off. 

The sound of my phone ringing snaps me out of my thoughts and I pick it up without checking the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Diane? Are you alright? Where are you?"

I clear my throat. "I'm ok. "

"I'm outside,  I'll be right there."

I hung up and walked toward the club despite a chaotic evening.

But this was who I was.

I drank until my thoughts were no longer vivid and until I numbed all the pain that I wouldn't feel the next morning.