Tame

Part 1

Hey! So my inspiration for Burn has died a little so i'm gonna write a side project until it flares back up. Here's Tame.

"Bella, Bella, he's here." Gabby stumbled over to her best friend, spilling her drink everywhere. Isabel looked at her short, stumpy friend with her uneven ponytails and fraying jeans. They weren't exactly a match made in heaven but Gabby was sweet in her own right and she and Isabel had clicked since primary school.

"Who's here, Gabby?" Isabel asked, inhaling from her cigarette and blowing smoke out into the night sky. Yet another night spent at a mediocre house party. Usually, Isabel wouldn't waste her time attending but something had sparked her attention about this one, the host, Luke Peterson was holding it to welcome his friend back from prison. Aiden Ryder. He'd been the talk of the school for the two years he'd been in prison and some of the gossip had made its way to college. Not many people actually knew why he'd been arrested, rumors were blown out of proportion in educational environments, it was the only interesting thing people had to gossip about.

"Aiden, Aiden and Luke have just turned up." Bella turned to face her friend, flicking her cigarette to the floor,

"Right. I guess we should go welcome him back then." Gabby chewed her lip and nodded obediently, following her friend's strut towards the front door where a crowd had gathered, cheering for Aiden and patting his back as he walked into the house. Isabel folded her arms, she'd never actually met Aiden. Her older brother had been friends with him but that was before he had joined the army. She leaned against the wall and folded her arms, waiting patiently for the crowd to disperse. Eventually everyone headed back to the kitchen and garden, relocating their alcoholic beverages and picking up with their chatter once again. Aiden, Luke and a handful of others were still stood talking, briefly catching up. Aiden was tall, around 6'2 with a head of thick brown hair and a sculpted jawline. His eyes were dark and his lashes were thick. Isabel watched him as he laughed with his old friends, a sleeve of tattoos climbed all the way up his muscly left arm. Everything about him screamed danger. As he raised his plastic red cup to his lips, Bella caught his eye. His smile disappeared though he didn't break contact until one of his friends addressed him directly. After a few more minutes, it was just Luke and Aiden left standing by the door. Bella took her chance and waltzed over, tapping Aiden on the shoulder,

"Allow me to introduce myself-"

"Isabel. I know who you are." He interrupted, downing the rest of his drink, "nice to finally put a face to the name, well, a face in 3D. Your dad, he was in one of the cells down from mine. He ought to be a little more careful about how much he speaks about you in prison, there are some right creeps in there and if I came across the information that you went to college here, god knows who else is aware." He smirked a little, amused by the glare Bella shot him,

"Careful Ryder, don't get too big for your boots just yet, it's been a while since you've been on the outside. By your demeanor, I can tell you're barely going to last a day in the real world." She folded her arms and lifted her chin. His smile didn't falter,

"And you wouldn't survive a night in mine, sweetheart. Watch your back now cutie, that bitchy attitude won't earn you many friends but it will get you a lot of silent enemies." He walked past her and into the kitchen. Gabby slowly stepped to Isabel's side as she scowled after the ex-inmate.

"Isabel, let it go. It was two years ago." Luke started, Bella span round to face him,

"Tell me to let it go again and I'm going to rip your damned throat out Luke." Luke sighed,

"He's a good guy, Bella. Also, Shane wasn't exactly innocent-"

"Shut up, Luke." Gabby followed without so much as a hesitation when Bella opened the front door and stepped out, already lighting a cigarette.