The Devil is in the Details (Book 3)

Hatred

-Amelia-

"Get on."

"I'd rather die," I reply, looking at Prince's bike with hatred in my eyes.

When Xavier told him to protect me with the bar to the school as his radius, I didn't expect him to take it seriously. 

"Amelia, I don't have the time to be arguing with you, just get on and let's go," Prince tried but I wasn't going to sit there and accept that, even if his voice did sound somewhat softer than I was used to. 

"Why?" I started, unable to hold myself back although I probably should have. 

He looked at me confused and I carried on, "I thought you weren't going to have anything to do with my family anymore so why are you still here? Why're you still a streetfighter? That too under my mother? Aren't you worried about what'll happen to Francis?-" I kept questioning which just seemed to make him lose the patience he had with me. 

After a quick glance around at the others on the school ground, he grabbed at my arm and pulled me closer to him which shut me up. "Look, I told you I don't have time, especially not enough to answer your fucking questions so let's go," 

His tone of voice frightened me this time, finding myself still and my eyes almost start watering. 

I was wrong for caring about him. The care that even after the month we spent apart would still eat at me, the care that forced me to go and check up on him when I saw him drunk at my tournament, the care that kept getting me hurt. 

"Leave her alone dude," 

Both Prince and I turned to the voice that called out from behind me. It was Lara and Derek. I had thought they went home already but I was glad they hadn't. 

Prince let go of my arm which made me relax slightly until I realised he would direct that anger to Derek. "Stay out of it," Prince told him with warning but this time Lara wasn't going to let him escalate it. 

"She's coming with us so leave her alone or I'll throw more than a book at you this time," She told him and after looking at her and back at me, he sighed and drove away. 

"Thank you," I said, turning to them both to which they smiled back at me, Lara coming in for a hug which I accepted. 

Derek then ended up driving us to Lara's house for a bit. Watching the two of them converse so normally yet clearly with affection in their attitudes painfully warmed me. If there was any relationship as close to my parents, it would be theirs and I could only hope for it to last. I was counting on love to be alive somewhere out there, even if it wasn't my own. 

"I was surprised Prince talked to you like that, he seemed so much nicer when we would meet him at yours," Lara started, walking in between me and Derek towards her house after parking up. "Now his behaviour matches his gangster look," 

"Isn't that what you girls are into?" Derek asked her which caused the corner of my lip to raise. 

Lara rolled her eyes at him amusingly, "Only if they treated us like their Princess, but don't you get any ideas," she warned him which made him laugh. 

"I wouldn't count on it," He replied with a grin before roughing her hair, making her laugh along with him. 

I spent a few hours with the two, eating away anything I felt and laughing half-heartedly at their jokes as they tried to make me feel better.  At some point though, I felt like I was bothering them too much and not wanting to take up any more space, I decided to go home. 

"You sure you don't want Derek taking you home? It's honestly no problem," Lara asked me at the door but I just smile back at her and shook my head. I knew neither of them would mind but I wanted to walk and possibly grab a drink from the shop on the way, besides, it wasn't far.