Heat.

Chapter 10.

@sarahdunbar_

--

"Scarlett," Niall said to me the second he walked through the door, "Can I please talk to you for a minute?" His eyes were filled with anger. He was cautiously watching Noah; his fists were clenched, his knuckles white. I mouthed "Sorry," to Noah and slowly walked to Niall, my head hung low. I knew he was angry and I knew I was in trouble. Once I was in reach of him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead, his eyes still glued to Noah.

"I was worried sick about you, love. You ignored my texts and my phone calls," he said, his voice low and comforting. I was surprised by his tone. I stayed silent. He gently pushed me away from him and looked me up and down, a stern look in his eyes.

"How did you find me?" I whispered, trying to avoid receiving attention from anybody in the salon. Niall chuckled, not saying a word.

"You need to come back with me, to my apartment." He said, automatically grabbing my arm and starting to pull me out the door with him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, pulling my arm from his grip, "I'm not going anywhere with you. First of all, I'm at my job, which I have a responsibility and am paid to be at, and second, even if I wasn't working, I wouldn't want to go anywhere with you. You're actually crazy and I would rather not be abducted again, thank you very much." I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows, feeling confident because I stood up for myself.

Niall laughed, biting his lip. "Being resistant will get you nowhere, darling. You will be coming with me."

I mimicked Niall's cocky laugh, knowing it would just make him more and more upset. "I will not be going anywhere with you." I simply repeated to him.

The smile was instantly wiped off of Niall's face. His breath hitched and his fists tightened once again. He stood watching me for several moments, his face getting redder and redder, his expression getting angrier and angrier. I bit down on my lip, awaiting his response, getting more cowardly by the second.

Calmly, Niall put his hand out in front of me, eyeing me to make sure I grab ahold of it, and softly said, "Scarlett, can we please talk about this outside?" I shrugged and walked behind Niall as he led me out of the salon and onto the pavement from the outside. He brought me to the side of the salon, an empty alley between the two buildings. "Will you listen to me now?" He asked, pushing my body against the concrete wall of the salon. I took a deep breath and nodded my head, preparing myself for the worst.

"Scarlett," Niall started, his tone still hushed, "why did you leave me?" He brought his hand to my cheek, gently caressing it. When Niall was gentle with me, I enjoyed his company very much. His touch, when he wasn't angry, was always gentle and comforting. But then when he was angry, he was so harsh. He was cold and distant and violent. And he was so unpredictable. I could never assume what his next move would be, because I would be wrong. I pulled myself from my thoughts and looked up at him, his eyes wide and bright.

"I left you because you trapped me. You abducted me and you wouldn't let me leave," I said, trying to keep my attitude with him, but looking him in the eyes, it was almost impossible to be mad at him. The sweet, nice side of Niall was a side of Niall that I saw very seldom, but when I did, it was magical.

Niall nodded him head and gently chewed on his bottom lip, letting out a sigh before he decided to speak.

"Maybe I approached everything the wrong way," he paused. He distanced himself from me until he was up against the other building. "Maybe I approached it wrong," he repeated, half to himself and half to me, "would you, perhaps, like to go on a date with me on Friday night." As the words 'Friday night' left his lips, I instantly thought of Noah, and how he had asked me to go out with him on Friday.

'I, uh," I began, but before anything else could leave my mouth, Niall came closer to me, reaching out his hand.

"Please Scarlett. I know I have scared you. But I promise if you just give me another chance, you'll like me better. I swear. We don't have to go to my house. We don't have to go to your house. Just dinner. That's all I want."

I let out a long sigh and nodded my head. "Okay. Fine. Friday night, dinner." Niall smiled at me and grabbed my hand, lightly kissing it.

"Friday it is. I'll pick you up at your house." And just like that, he was gone. He left the alley and I was alone. I pressed my back against the cool cement and let out a sigh. I shuffled my feet the entire way back into my work, almost wanting it to be Friday already.

--

It was Friday. Finally. All week I had been anticipating this date. I hadn't talked to Niall since when he came into the salon, and it really seemed like forever ago. I was hoping he didn't forget about me and the fact that we had plans. I wondered how he would act. What kind of mood he would be in, and how he would treat me.

I looked in the mirror at the outfit I had picked out; a dress with a jacket paired with heels. I looked into my reflection, imagining what Niall would think about me. Whether he would like how I looked or not. I fixed a few strands of hair and began touching up the makeup I had put on when the doorbell rang. My stomach dropped. I was so nervous.

I opened my front door to see Niall standing on the other side with flowers in his hand. He looked good, too. He was wearing white sneakers that had high tops on them, darkly colored jeans, a white button up shirt that was buttoned all the way to the top, and on top he had a loose fitting maroon cardigan. His blonde hair was quiffed, exposing his dark brown roots. He smiled and handed the flowers to me.

"Good evening," he said to me as I took the bouquet of flowers from him hand. My cheeks began to hurt from smiling so wide. I set the flowers on a table near my door and walked outside, shutting the door and locking my house behind me.

"You look beautiful," Niall said, his smile bright, as he looked me up and down. I tilted me head towards the ground and blushed, hoping my hair would hide my rosy face from his eyes.

"Thank you," I gushed, still smiling from his compliment.

Niall walked me to the passengers side of the car and opened the door for me, holding his hand out to help me get in. Once I was in the car, he closed the door behind me and jogged to the other side of the car. He got in, started the car, and began to drive a way that I was still not familiar with. I turned to him, examining his features. He looked over and softly smiled, his eyes burning into me.

"What?" He asked, with a hint of a chuckle in his voice. I turned away from him and smiled, looking at the scenery, but watching him out of the corner of my eye.

"Nothing," I said, "I was just looking." I added, then I looked down at my hands and played with my fingers. The rest of the car ride was silent, except for faint chuckles that escaped Niall's mouth and nervous laughter from me. I wondered what Niall was thinking about. What he thought was so funny. Every time he chuckled, my stomach dropped. I knew something was off. But I didn't know what it was.