The Bad Boy Got Me Arrested #weneeddiversebooks [HIATUS CAUSE OF SCHOOL]

Chapter Fifteen ~ A Stuffed Hippo Is An Adequate Weapon.

"So how do we do this?" I braced myself squinting my eyes.

"It's up to you." Noah said assuringly.

"I want to make sure we're on the same page, you know?" I rushed as my hand shook from nervousness. "Do we take it slow and let it ease in or just shove it in fast."

"It's up to you." He repeated. "I was ready to do this five minutes ago."

"Is it going to hurt?" I gritted my teeth.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it will." He kidded much to my dismay.

"Stop making jokes, this is a big deal for me." I said slapping his arm.

"Willow, you are literally freaking out about putting a needle filled with saline, into a fake skin injection pad. It's hard not to make jokes." He pointed out as he sat back on the sofa; I grimaced at the realisation of how pointless my fear was.

"It's not my fault." I said sulking, "What kind of hospital lets sixteen year olds work with needles." I crossed my arms in frustration then yelped as I scraped my arm with the needle.

"The same hospital that thought you were sane enough to be trusted with children." He chuckled then sighed as he got up from the couch. "Let me see." He tugged on my arm to look at the scratch then rolled his pecan brown eyes, "Hand me a band-aid." I did as he asked and grabbed a box of band-aids from one of the cupboards, he reached into the box and picked out two different patterned band-aids, "Puppies or Kittens?"

I grinned to myself as I remembered the first day, "Puppies." He peeled it off from the seal and placed it over my scratch rubbing his thumb over it.

"There." He said and collapsed on the couch again. I glanced at the clock on the other side of the room and huffed.

"We have thirty five minutes left. What are we supposed to do now?" He stared at me with no expression. I raised my eyebrows to ignite a response but he didn't say anything and went back to staring at the ceiling.

I curled my lip but didn't press him because I knew he had a lot on his mind... After two minutes the silence became unbearable, "Can I ask you something? Well. Two things." He turned his head to face me. "Ana got you out on bail right? While you wait for trial?" He nodded, "And she made sure your identity is protected in tye news reports?" He nodded again. "Are you nervous... For the hearing?"

He sat up properly with his elbows on his thighs and rested his head on his palm, "Honestly?" I nodded, "I'm scared shitless." He paused and looked around the room, "At the time it didn't feel like a crime, it's just painting on a big canvas. It still doesn't feel like a crime... When I paint, when I pick up a paintbrush, it's like a whole different side of me comes out. I paint to tell a story, to make a statement and when its finished it becomes alive I-it has its own personality and it becomes a being... It expresses what I feel in my mind you know? Things I can't say aloud. Why does expressing yourself have to be a crime?" He finished, you could see the raw passion and emotion in his eyes. It was a new side to him that he'd never opened up to me, it made me feel guilty that I was taking away something he loved. If I had never tagged along or if I had ran we wouldn't be in this mess.

I waited to make sure he was done speaking so I didn't interrupt him, "I want you to know I'm not going to testify against you. No matter what." He looked up at me and furrowed his brows, "It's my fault as much as yours."

"Willow." He said sternly and I raised up my hand to shush him.

"You can't change my mind once it's made up. I'm an Aries and we are very stubborn." I hmmped closing my eyes and crossing my arms. I popped one eye open to see his cross expression, he was about to say something but before he could a male nurse opened the door.