Twisted Friendship

Chapter 12

I sat the entire car ride in silence, barely listening to the quiet murmur of conversation over my head. With a sigh, I watched my breathe fog the car window, momentarily hiding my pale faced expression.

I looked over at Louis driving. His grip on the steering wheel was tight, muscles prominent in his arms. You could just tell he was thinking hard. Just by looking in his eyes. He was drowning in his own problems and struggling to keep his head above the surface.

As the car slowed down in front of Louis house, a thought popped into my head. "This is about Mark isn't it?"

All the boys turned to me in surprise, shocked I had even said something.

"What did you just say?" Zayn asked slowly, leaning forward in his seat.

My fingers played with the seatbelt, remembering Marks sour breathe and crooked smile and evil in his eyes. Pronto. Something clicked in my head.

"Well Mark came by my house yesterday." I mumbled.

Louis's knuckles whitened. "What." he growled, "Happened."

I snuck a peek over at him, surprised by the veil of anger that had fallen over him. Suddenly, I didn't want to tell them.

Louis caught my chin in his rough fingers, tipping my head up to face him. I tried squirming away as far as I could, feeling the car handle dig into my back.

"Tell me now."

I bit my lip, "Well Mark came to my house and told me he needed you guys 'pronto'. It was kind of creepy."

Louis thumb came up to pull my lip from my teeth. "Did he touch you?"

"Only my arm. And my wrist, and my belt loop but that doesn't count." I explained, skin tingling just thinking about it.

Louis pulled away and smashed his fist against the steering wheel. "Damn it!"

I jumped at the loud echoing honk that cut across the quiet neighborhood. Zayn suddenly appeared at my car door, swinging it open and lacing his fingers with mine. I unbuckled and accepted his hand graciously, following him outside onto the dewy grass.

"Just ignore him." Zayn whispered, pulling me alongside him up to the house.

I waited as Harry and Liam caught up with us, "Will someone tell me what's going on?"

The front door swung open, revealing a dark hallway. My chest tightened anxiously.

"Later. We will I promise." Zayn replied, leading me inside and flipping on the light. I peered around the place.

It looked clean and kind of old, but had a very homey feel to it. The walls were a cluttered mess of random family photos of Louis and his sisters. Smiling Louis. A happy carefree Louis I'd like to see more often.

I stepped away from Zayn and examined a photo of him in a group hug with his sisters. His smile was genuine and large and his eyes were twinkling and you could just see the love in it all. The love for his family and the protective way he held them. My fingers traced the frame absently, wondering when Louis changed so suddenly to someone so much...darker.

"If you like it that much, you can keep it." a voice said behind me. I jumped and turned around, bumping into Louis's chest.

He smiled down at me through the fringe that fell in front of his eyes. "It's a nice picture." I stammered, trying to step back from him and only hitting the wall.

Louis stared at it for a moment before shrugging. "It's okay I guess. But you need to get to bed."

"Bed?" I exclaimed, as Louis grabbed my wrist and tugged me upstairs. "But I don't even understand what's going on yet!"

I followed him up the dark steps, slants of moonlight filtering through the windows. He led me down a hall and into what I suppose would be his room. He flicked on the lamp, letting me get a good look around. It was small and kind of messy, but smelled like his cologne and had football posters tacked onto the walls. A mussed bed with plaid sheets was stuck in the corner.

"This is where you'll be staying the night." he announced, dropping my bag on the floor and turning to leave.

I caught his wrist and tugged him back, "Tell me what's going on."

"But Katie its late and-"

"Louis Tomlinson just tell me!"

Louis frowned and sank into his bed, "Well you we're right about Mark. You see, we sort of had a business deal with Mark you could say."

My mouth dropped open, "Oh my god, this is about drugs isn't it?"

"No!" Louis exclaimed, "Not exactly! But we didn't go out with our side of the deal and now well, he's targeting you."

Breathing suddenly became a very difficult task as fear reached up and wrapped its clawed hand around my windpipe. Mark was after me. Mark and his gang were after me. I was being chased I was in danger and oh my god, oh my dear god-

"This is your fault!" I hissed suddenly very angry and very scared and unable to differentiate the two. "Why would he come after me?"

"Because you mean the most to me." he sighed, pulling me into a hug and burying his nose into my hair. I was suddenly aware that I was trembling. My knees buckled and I fell apart in his arms.

"But I won't let him get you, trust me on that." he whispered. And I clung onto that trust like it was a lifeline so I wouldn't let myself get pulled into that pit of fear beneath me. "But for now, stay with me. I'll watch you. I'll protect you."

Ten minutes later I was alone in Louis's room, laying in his bed. Thoughts were spinning around my head a mile a minute, it made me dizzy. I squeezed my eyes shut. But all I saw was Marks face close to mine, with that wicked smile. So I was being targeted by a street gang.

I flipped over and buried my face into his pillow, trying to accept the fact that my life would never be normal and i'd perpetually be in danger by being with these guys.

A sound suddenly came from the alley next to his house. I shot out of bed and padded across the cold wooden floors.

"Louis?" I called quietly from the doorway. I listened to his heavy footsteps on the staircase and he was suddenly there, strong and protecting and very much there for me.

"Im scared." I murmured, hugging him around the waist. His hands came and rubbed circles on my back.

"Don't be scared." he whispered, "I'm always going to be here. You can't get rid of me."

Moments later I was laying down, my back pressed against his chest, our legs tangled, his arms wrapped around me. I relished in the safety of him, feeling his breathe hit my neck. Right here and right now I was okay, but he was there and he promised to protect me. And Louis Tomlinson keeps a promise.

But what I wasn't aware of was the alley sound was something I should worry about.

Someone out there was watching. Waiting. Ready to strike.