Twisted Friendship

Chapter 31

"Everybody has a little bit of criminal record." Zayn says calmly, dark eyes searching my face for signs of agreement.

I shake my head and back up a bit, "No, most people don't have a criminal record actually."

"Especially at the age of 19!" Harry exclaims.

Zayn turns around slowly and frowns at him, "Are you trying to help or do I need to go back there and beat you."

Meanwhile, I stagger to my feet and feel my back hit the rough wood of the front door. Turning around, I twist the handle frantically, only to have it to remain shut. I examine the lock quickly to see if there's a way to open it.

"Oh come on Katie." Zayn huffs, suddenly appearing right behind me. His slender fingers curl over my shoulder. "It's really not that big of a deal."

I react on instinct, grabbing his hand placed on me and twisting it backwards. He yelps in pain as I jerk his arm and force him onto his knees. Pulling his arm behind him, I press it against his back to keep him in place.

"Tell me what you went to jail for." I stammer, trying to feel as brave as I seemed.

"Ow, ow, ow, okay this actually hurts!" Zayn shouts, wriggling in my grip. His foot kicks out and knocks me off balance, allowing him to tug free and have me pinned to the ground in seconds.

Hovering over me, he's balanced with both knees on either side of my waist as my wrists are pressed against the carpet, trapped in his grip. Muscles ripple in his arms from beneath his white t-shirt.

"Don't attack me." Zayn hisses, jaw clenched with suppressed anger "I'm you're friend here."

I stare up into his darkened gaze, examining the flush in his cheeks. And I should be totally frightened. But that attack made me gain a bit more confidence.

"Don't tell me what to do." I retort, crinkling my nose at me. I wriggle around to try to escape, but one of his hands grabs my wrists to hold, while the other pins down my waist.

"WHAT is going on here." a voice says from the hallway.

We both turn to see Louis, fresh from his shower, with damp hair and droplets of water clinging to his bare skin. He runs the towel in his hand over his head as his grey eyes flicker over the scene.

"Zayn, why are you tackling Katie?" Louis says slowly, but there's power radiating from his voice that makes me shiver.

Zayn blinks, the shadow of darkness suddenly fading from his eyes. "Um. She attacked me."

Louis storms over and pushes Zayn off, then reaching down and tugging me to my feet. There's a frown on his face as he runs a hand down my arm, checking for bruises.

"Still doesn't mean you tackle her." Louis mutters, "Besides, you're older then her, I'm ashamed you weren't about to control her."

I shove his hand off of me. "Why, because he's a dangerous criminal and should be able to beat people up."

"Exact- wait what?" Louis asks in surprise "God damn Harry and your big mouth."

"It wasn't me!" Harry huffs, throwing his hands up.

"Am I housing criminals?" Niall questions, blue eyes scrunched in worry.

I snatch the remote from Liam's hand and switch back to the news channel, where the story is replaying.

"Oh shit." Louis murmurs, going and standing in front of the TV with his arms crossed. The screen casts an eerie blue light across his face.

"Oh shit." he repeats, watching as a picture of him flashes across the screen.

"This is not gonna end well." Liam says with a sigh.

And if only at the moment we had known how absolutely right he was. Yet we continued staring at the television.

"Well?" I say, pushing him arm.

Louis crinkles his brow, while brushing the fringe from his eyes. "Well. That was a while ago, we changed. We're better people now. I swear."

"But what happened?" I huff, "What did you do that was so bad?"

Zayn and Louis exchange a quick glance, exchanging silent words. They open their mouth to talk, when a sharp knock from the door cuts through conversation. Everybody freezes up, and the TV is turned to mute.

"Nobody knows we're here." Liam whispers, "Right?"

Niall chews on his lip, "I think so. I'll go check who it is."

Louis holds out a hand. "No. I'll go."

The person outside pounds in the door again, making us all jump. The frame shakes and creaks from the hits.

Harry instinctly loops an arm around my waist as Louis pads over to the door and peeks through the peep hole. I see his his shoulders tense as he sees the intruder.

"Oh god." Louis whispers, whirling around quickly. "Katie, go hide."

"What? No way." I whisper-yell as the guy pounds again on the door.

"What is going on?" Niall asks, panic flitting across his face.

"Katie, that's an order." Louis says harshly "Go into Niall's room. Hide under the bed."

Hands push against my back, propelling me down the hall. I glance at Liam behind me while the harsh knocks echoe through the apartment.

"Who's out there?" I ask, struggling to turn around and glimpsing the worry lighting up Louis's eyes.

"Stay quiet." Liam says, leaving me stunned and standing alone as he begins to shut the bedroom door.