Twisted Friendship

Chapter 13

I woke up to the warm feeling of someone's body next to mine, tangled up limbs and all. Blinking back sleep, I realized I was still in Louis's room. His arm was draped protectively over me, pulling me against him in a tight grip. Our legs we're intertwined, the feeling off his soft bare skin on mine.

Rolling over, I turned to look at his sleeping face. It was strange. The muscles in his face were relaxed, it made him look years younger. His fringe dusted the tops of his long lashes. I watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, pink lips parted slightly as he sighed in his sleep.

My thumb absently traced down the bridge of his nose, over the high cheekbones and down to the top of his lip.

Looking at him, you would see a carefree highschool boy. But this boy carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. It seemed as though he had built a wall around his heart, letting nobody in and no feelings out.

Brushing some hair back from his head, I tried to stand up to use the bathroom. Instantly I felt his long fingers clench around the back of my tshirt. He mumbled something idly in his sleep, refusing to let me go.

Settling back down, I prodded his cheek lightly. "Louis?"

He stirred slightly, voice hoarse with the early morning "Mhmmmmmm?" he didn't bother opening his eyes.

I rested my chin on his chest, watching a slant of light from the window fall across his forehead.

"Why are you so protective of me?" I asked quietly. The question had been burning the tip of my tounge, bubbling in my chest to just be found out.

Louis's fingers tightened on my shirt, "Well somebody has to." he mumbled. "Your family isn't around that often. And your so, delicate. It's dangerous out there in the world. I don't want you getting hurt."

My heart tightened at his words, and despite how much I said I hated him, Louis loved me and suddenly I felt so warm that it tingled my fingertips and made me feel lighter then air. If he wasn't holding onto me, I swear, I would've floated right out of the room and up with the clouds.

His hands grasped the front of my shirt, tugging me forward. "I will always be here for you."

"Promise?" I whispered, pressing my forehead against his. I had never been so close to him before, and it was strange. But strange in the best possible way.

"Promise." he murmured, lacing his fingers with mine.

He seemed to have drifted back off to sleep. I smiled at him, wondering if he would even remeber saying any of that later. It took a while, but I managed to untangle myself from his grip and land not so gracefully on the floor.

Louis's forehead immediatly crinkled, his arms searching for me to be beside him. He whimpered slightly, eventually settling on a pillow to wrap around.

Tiptoeing out of the room, I quietly closed the door behind me. What a night it had been. I'm not even sure what our relationship could be called. Friends. Very, very close friends. It wouldn't be that way with anyone else without being weird, but Louis had an exception.

He was special. He meant something. I'm not sure what, but something. Something special.

Shuffling down the steps, I found Zayn, Harry, and Liam sprawled out on the couch watching cartoons.

"Good morning babe." Harry exclaimed, dimples popping as he smiled at me. They all looked tired, still in pajama pants and hair mussed from sleep, eyes slightly glazed over.

"Sleep well?" Zayn asked with a wink.

I rolled my eyes and headed into the connecting kitchen, "I slept very fine. Thank you."

"Cuddling all night, did ya?" Liam laughed, while the other boys cackled loudly.

I ignored him and poured myself a glass of orange juice, listening to spongebob faintly from the TV.

Taking a small sip, I came and sat on the floor in front of them, crossing my legs. "So no school I'm guessing?"

Harry yawned, ruffling his curls "No school. It started like two hours ago. It's a Friday so it's not like it's a big deal anyway."

I stared at him over my glass of juice, "This is about drugs isnt it?"

"What?" Zayn stammered, eyebrows arching "Where did you get that idea?"

I shrugged absently. "I dunno. Why else would we be hiding out. Oh and I blame all of you for dragging me into this. Your lucky I actually like you."

Liam stretched his arms over his head, "Like us enough to go grab the newspaper? I wanna read the funnies."

"Oooh that would be so nice Katie." Harry exclaimed, taking my juice to have a sip.

I sighed, finding it would be a good excuse to get outside "Fine. I'll be right back."

Slipping on my flip flops by the door, I went out the front door and blinked in the bright sunlight. How nice could it be to just sit outside and breathe in the sun with these 4 trouble boys of mine?

Niall. I wondered idly how he was doing. Patting my pockets, I pulled my phone out and dialed him as I went down and got the newspaper from the end of the walk.

That's when it happened.

A hand suddenly came crashing down, striking me on the back of the head. White spots appeared in my eyes as I staggered to the ground, reeling in pain. My phone skidded to the grass, dial sound still going off slightly.

"Hello?" an Irish voice called faintly from the other side, while I lay curled up on the walk in confusion.

A shadow fell across my face, blocking the sky. And it was him, he was here. Why was he here. This was my safe place this was a haven and he was evil and he was trouble and there was too much love in this house for him to even being standing near it.

And Louis promised me, he promised me that here I would be safe from him.

"I will always be here for you." Louis had said.

Marks hand came down and crushed against my windpipe, sucking all the breathe from my lungs. The sun didn't feel nice anymore, it burned my skin like a fiery whip.

"Good to see you Katie." Mark growled, fingernails digging into my skin like claws.

Footsteps came from the house, and I heard very muffled talking.

"Where's Katie?" Louis asked from inside.

"Getting the newspaper." Zayn replied nochanantly.

Mark lifted me up, I was hanging there lifeless. I wanted to fight and scream but my energy was disappearing along with my last drops of air.

"Katie, you there?" Niall said from the phone.

Just my luck. It had to be me, oh anyone else in this big bad scary world, and it has to be me.

"This is gonna be fun." Mark hissed, smiling at me crookedly.

Fun? How about horrible, terrible, the worst thing in the world but fun. Fun was inside watching cartoons with the boys while I wondered where my lifeline was now.