My Protector

Chapter 7

*Niall's POV*

            Gang life was hard. Yes, I was in a gang, but it wasn't my choice. I was forced into it by my brother, Greg. I had always been a bad boy and was well known for getting into fights, but I had gotten into a very big one and was expelled from school. My father was abusive towards my mother and I wanted out. My brother, Greg, had left the house when he was a teen. He couldn't stand to see our mother in pain, so he fled. When I was sixteen, I realized that I couldn't handle much more and I fled too. I tried to convince my mother to come with me, but she refused. Greg met me at a nearby restaurant and drove me to his house. And that's when I learned about gangs. Greg was in a gang and if I wanted to love with him and the other boys that lived with him, I would have to join the gang. I was introduced to Harry, Jack, Nick, and a few others and these men soon filled in gaps in my life that my family would be unable to replace.

            It wasn't easy. The gang was like my family and I was constantly fighting for my family. We were the West Gang and we hated the East Gang. We were always at war and we were always trying to kill off each other. My neighborhood was my territory and if I saw an East sider there, I would lose it. And it was the same if I went to the East side, I would probably get killed if I was seen there.

            I guess this was why I hated Brian so much. He was from the East side and yes, he was in a gang too and so were his friends.

            My brother and the other guys in my gang warned me to stay away from Brian and his troubles but that was hard when I saw how he treated Liv. I had heard that he hit her and from how I saw him treat her, it seemed to be true. And when I talked about it with her, she didn't deny it.

            I knew she hated him and I knew she wanted out, and I wanted to help her, but at the same time, I didn't want to cause another war within the gang. If I protected Liv from Brian, then Brian and the East side would try to kill me. But they already wanted me dead, so there wasn't really much to loose if I helped her.                       

           

            I wasn't scared of Brian. In fact, I think he was more scared of me to be honest. I mean, I was the one who had won the fights, well except for that one fight where he had his friends beat me up for him. But that fight wasn't too bad, I was able to knock them around a little, but it wasn't fair because it was four verse one, so that fight doesn't count.  It just annoyed me how Brian acted like he was so strong and bad ass when really he was just a pussy who hit girls.

            I hardly knew Liv, but something about her interested me. She wasn't like most girls. In a way, she was innocent and scared. But in another way, she was brave and didn't care about Brian and that just interested me. I wanted to help her, even though I knew the risks. I knew that Brian would get pissed and angry and that he would take out his anger on me, or maybe even worse. He could take out his anger on her and I didn't want that to happen. I wouldn't let that happen. Brian wasn't scary and so I didn't care if he was gunning for me, but I did care if he went for a girl, especially a girl like Liv.

            I was glad when I finally got time to talk to Liv. I felt bad that she had to witness a fight between Brian and me but I'm sure she's seen worse. I told her that I would protect her, and I was going to do everything I could to stand by that promise. I wanted her to be able to trust me, so it hurt when she thought I was going to hurt her. I could never be that kind of man. I could never hit a girl, not after seeing the pain in my mum's eyes when my dad beat her.

            At school the next day, I noticed that Liv wasn't there. She probably just didn't feel like going because of everything that was happening. I didn't blame her for not wanting to come to school. If my boyfriend beat me at school, I wouldn't come either. But I'm not gay, so I don't have boyfriends.

            I felt a little calmer when I realized that Brian was at school. That meant that he wasn't at Liv's house, beating her. I planned on just avoiding him, but that didn't happen of course.

            "I saw you talking to my girl yesterday," He said as he walked up to where I was sitting at lunch.

            I stood up and turned around to face him. If he wanted to fight, I was ready.

            "Yeah and what are you going to do about it?" I said back as I clenched my fists.

            "Nothing...yet." He smirked.

"Okay tell me when you want to fight. I'll be there." I said while turning back around and sitting back down at the table.

"Where's Liv?"

His question surprised me. How did he not know where his girlfriend was?

"Um I don't know. Home probably." I said without looking at him.

"Well why isn't she here?"

"Probably didn't want to see you," I continued talking and eating without making eye contact with him.

"You're gonna pay for that!" He yelled.

"We both know that if that means you're going to fight me, I'll win." I turned around to face him.

That must have pissed him off, because he flew towards me and threw a punch. Luckily, I dodged it and threw one back hitting his nose. It started bleeding.

"Told you," I laughed as I grabbed my lunch and began to walk away. I wasn't going to just sit there and argue or fight with him, he was a coward and I don't associate with cowards.