trouble | i.g

sixteen - "slumber parties"

Bella's POV

"Are you buckled up?" Ian asked hurriedly, slamming the door behind him and fumbling to jam the keys into the ignition.

The number of supposed car chases I've been in adds up to a rough estimate of 0, so it's understandable that my hands were shaking as I struggled to find my seatbelt in the dark. We had raced out of the party, and there it was. The adrenaline. The inevitable trouble Ian was always seeming to land us in.

"Yeah. Go." I said, the car already shooting out of the spot before I could finish my sentence. His hands tightened around the wheel, bicep muscles prominent as he made a wide turn and veers us onto the road. In the rear view mirror I watched as London begins backing up his car too.

An orchestra of angry honks follows in our wake as Ian barrels through an interception, refusing to lift his foot from the gas. "You're going rather over the speed limit."

"Sweetheart, when somebody else is following you in a car, you do not go the speed limit."

"Or stop for red lights?" I asked, pressing my nose against the window and watching as one faded behind us. London is pulling up fast, and although I can't make out his face, I bet it has the same mean, ugly look as the first time I met him. The world is a blur of night sky and speed and tired burning up asphalt.

"Shit, shit, shit." Ian sang, weaving in between traffic. He makes a sudden right turn into a pathway turning off into a forested area, hitting the brakes hard. Automatically his arm flies out across my chest to stop me from hitting the dashboard. I flop back in my seat as he hits the lights and pulls the keys, the car immediately darkening.

"What are you-" I began, but Ian clamped his hand over my mouth, silencing me immediately. There's a long moment of quietness before London comes racing past, ignorant to our current hiding spot.

I peel his hand off my mouth. "First off, he wouldn't of been able to hear me, secondly, why did he just chase us with such disregard for road laws?"

Ian swipes his thumb along my bottom lip, before starting up the car again once he's sure we're in the clear. "Well, you did punch him in the face that one time. He also has a couple of things to settle with me." He pulled out into the now empty road, "Okay, so where the fuck are we?"

"Do you have a map?" I asked, slipping out of my seatbelt to search the floor, ignoring Ian's protests for me to buckle back up.

"A map won't tell us where we are," Ian argued, "That'll just show us a bunch of lines."

I pulled open the glove compartment and raised an eyebrow at the clutter that threatened to spill out. It contained a couple of CDs, some battered cartons of cigarettes, a scattered array of papers, and a box of condoms.

"Ah, I forgot those were in there." Ian said hastily, casting me a sideways glance.

Extracting it from the mess, I turned the box over in my hands and examined the top. The seal was still intact. I didn't even realize what I was doing until Ian spoke up.

"You just checked to see if I had opened them." Ian observed.

"No." I stammered, thrusting them back into the glove compartment. "I was just- checking the packaging. I think it's cardboard."

Ian smiled, not buying it for a moment. I could feel my cheeks burn as he looked at me in amusement. "You know, sweetheart, I'm sort of totally obsessed with you. So you don't need to worry about me and other girls."

"Well why do you have them?" I asked, unable to stop my curiosity.

"You want the truth? I bought them when I first met you- first off, remember I was a major dick during this time, let that be noted- and I was pretty much just waiting to get you."