the strangers series. (mgk ; machine gun kelly)

18 • 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖑

"Doesn't matter now,"
I wasn't happy with that blunt-ass answer and I wanted more. I hesitated for a second, fightin' with myself about whether I should persist her on the subject of Nick but I thought better of it. I knew enough about her to know that she was as stubborn as my ass and I'm pretty fuckin' stubborn.
I pulled my forehead up and away from the top of her hair, looking down at the top of her head still pressed up against my chest. She was like a little girl who got a puppy for christmas, clinging onto the thing for dear life with her arms wrapped tightly around it.
The idea of her wanting me that much brought a smile to my face, and I didn't wanna ruin the moment with my mouth so I stopped all the talk about Nick without hesitation,
"Listen, how 'bout we go get some lunch and just chill? Sound good?"
As if nothing upsetting just happened, Lillian looked up at me with the certain look in her green-blue eyes that I only see when she's drunk off her ass.
She was horny.
My suspicions were confirmed as I watched the smirk on her lips form as she stared up at me, every ounce of her anger from before replaced with something entirely different,
"Is "chill " code for "fuck" because i'd rather do that."
I couldn't help but laugh at her openness about it, causing her to smile along with me. I was always the one making the first moves so this was definitely a surprise- definitely a welcoming surprise, at best. 
I rolled my eyes but bit my lip in hopes of it lookin' sexy, which I could tell worked from the way she tensed up against me,
"It just might be. But I dunno- you'll have to wait and see, now, won't you?"
I earned a shove in the chest from her as she pulled herself apart from me, her middle finger in my face as I laughed. It was moments like these that made my heart swell with love and other intense shit for her- she was just so fuckin' adorable.
I watched her wipe away the remaining presence of  the tears I knew she had shed before I found her, probably readying herself for the stares she'd get from the men that witnessed what happened. She ran her fingers through her long locks before glancing over her shoulder, simultaneously wrapping her leopard-print coat around her slender frame,
"Can I have the keys? I wanna go straight to the car."
Understandably.
I sighed but dug into my jeans' pockets for the set of keys that belonged to the black Escalade, tossing it at her without saying another word. She didn't say anything else either but just flashed a small smile as she caught the keys, her mind now obviously on something else other than what we'd be doin' in my bed later tonight.
Lillian didn't wait for me as she walked down the empty hallway, leavin' me to trail behind her. I couldn't help but admire how brave she was- she still had the balls to show her face around Diddy, after how shitty he's made her feel. Yet, she just wouldn't give up.
Here's an idea- maybe she loves you, weirdo.
I immediately shook that thought out of my head, knowing very well that whoever ended up loving me ended up being hurt in the end. Lillian was already hurt enough, I wasn't gonna let her ruin herself over me. Maybe what I was feeling was somethin' close to love but there was no way to know for sure whether Lillian felt the same way.
I swallowed down the guilt and confusion as I found myself back in the main hall, the rows of plants and lights in sight as we rounded the corner. Lillian kept her head down as she managed to walk down one of the rows, every pair of eyes in the room on her and only her.
It was only until after she had left the big room that everyone else focused on me. I felt my Boss-alter-ego suddenly take control as I glared at the men that worked for me,
"What the fuck are you lookin' at?! Get to work!"
The snarl in my voice definitely made them mind their own business, their eyes darting at high speed back down to whatever they were doin'- the way it should be. I patted myself on the back as I let the show continue, my eyes scanning the quiet men as they conversed with each other and did whatever they were doing before.
I felt relief wash over me as I spotted the man I had been dying to talk to since Diddy's escapade. I watched him as he bent over the same notebook he had been scribbling on earlier, his eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. Nothing else had changed except he was at a new plant- and the fact that it was clear something on his mind was bugging the shit out of him.
I cleared my throat as I walked down his row, my eyes trained on him as his ears registered the sound of my boots on the cement,
"Yo, Dre,"
His eyes darted to the side before he turned, making eye contact with me immediately. I could tell he was nervous, probably thought I was gonna accuse him for tryna get with Lillian, but I knew that wasn't the case. I bet I looked so alarmed because so did Lillian- he must've thought otherwise.
Dre cleared his throat before answering, wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand,
"Kells."
I nodded my head towards the general direction of the door that Lillian had disappeared behind, not bothering to beat around the bush,
"What was Lillian sayin' to you earlier? Was she upset or somethin'?"
I saw the relief flood Dre's face as he realized he wasn't gonna get his ass handed to him by me- at least, not today. There was no reason for me to, anyways- unless he gave me a reason. I raised an eyebrow as I waited for him to speak but all he did was shake his head and shrug his shoulders, diverting his eyes back down to his handwriting scribbled all over the notepad,
"Nothin', man, just talking about her dad, that's it."
Something told me that wasn't just it and the way he chose to not make eye contact drove me to keep bugging him about it. I stepped closer as I lowered my voice and clenched my jaw, fulfilling my intentions of sounding menacing and intimidating as I stared down at the man,
"You sure 'bout that?"
From the way his shoulders tensed up, I knew that he knew he was digging himself his own grave by keeping whatever he knew from me. There wasn't much of a height difference between us but he was still intimidated by me, his dark brown eyes widening as he stared right back into my blue ones.
He didn't make a move to say anything but after a few more seconds of intense staring, he cracked. Dre sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, shutting his eyes as he spoke,
"Kells, i'm saying this to you as one man to another, you needa ask her yourself because there's definitely something going on- but she won't tell me so I can't tell you either way... Boss."
He added the last part as a jab at me but I let it pass, my mind stuck on his words as they crashed around in my head. How could there have be something else I've been missing this whole time?
I gritted my teeth as I spoke the words I willed him to say no to, my chest startin' to tighten to at the thought of the boy,
"About Nick?"
Dre said nothing after that but he didn't have to- his silence was enough for me to figure out the answer.
I groaned to myself as I rubbed the tiredness out of my eyes in hopes of rubbing out the anger too.
But even after shoving off the sleepiness, I still had the same burning, sickening anger ragin' inside me. I leaned back against one of the patio chairs I was sittin' on, the early morning breeze hittin' my bare chest in a way as if it was trying to cool me down.
Just keepin' all of that inside me instead of asking her upfront what the fuck was goin' on was starting to fuck with my head and it was exhausting. I just had to find a way to be subtle about it so that I didn't scare her into not saying shit at all.
I was so deep in my thoughts and visualizations of choking Nick to death that I didn't hear the sliding glass door behind me open.
I jumped a little as I felt her arms snake around my shoulders and neck, makin' me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I felt a little guilty since I was just thinkin' of strangling one of her best friends but I didnt show it as I chuckled, the feeling of her little butterfly kisses on my neck drawin' a smile.
She sighed into my ear as she unwrapped her arms, sliding into the other seat a little bit close to mine,
"Why are you out here? It's like 4 am."
I felt my smile grow as I admired her through the corner of my eye, the vauge moonlight giving her a dark glow. I shrugged as I felt my eyes losing focus the longer I stared at her,
"I can't sleep."
Lillian rolled her eyes at me as she stared right back, her smirk growing with each passing second,
"Tell me about it, i'm pretty sure you broke my back."
She winced a little as she stretched in her seat, makin' me laugh my ass off. I do go pretty hard.
I winked at her as she smiled back, letting the wind carry away her words. I didn't know what to say now and I felt as awkward as ever, knowin' that she had other things on her mind- like Nick.
I immediately felt my mood change in a heart beat at the thought of Nick and I wanted nothin' more than to just shove him off the edge of the Earth- that bastard was causin' me more trouble than I needed.
Lillian wormed her way into my thoughts as she shifted in her seat, all jokes aside,
"Hey, what's wrong?"
The slightly worried look in her eyes was what drove me to shove her out of my head, not lettin' her control over me take advantage,
"What's wrong with you?"
That immediately got a reaction out of her, a reaction I had dreaded to see. She backed away as if she was stunned, the muscles in her throat visibly moving as she gulped.
I knew I hit something from the way she tried backtracking, her nervousness flowing out of her through every shake of her head,
"There's nothing wrong with me- what makes you say that?"
All the secrets.
I bit my tongue even though that's what I wanted to say, knowin' better than to not say that unless I wanted somethin' bad to ignite between us. I tore my eyes away from her wide ones, letting them rest on the pool below us.
The waves that formed from the breeze overlapped each other and made a soothing noise that, in turn, calmed me down. I sighed before responding to her question, my brain coming up with the words that I knew would spark yet another problem between us,
"I know there's somethin' going on between you and Nick so are you gonna tell me what that is or am I gonna have to beat it outta him?"
The last part was a joke, not really, but she didn't see it that way. She pursed her lips but crossed her arms against her chest, her eyes now finding anything to look at but me.
Despite the small smile on my face, I felt anything but happy right now but I couldn't show her I was upset- me threatening to beat Nick again was enough.
I looked over at Lillian, her knees tucked into her chest as she stared out to my backyard, her eyes flickering around as she searched for something, in the dim, blue light,
"Doing that won't help shit, Colson."
The disappointment on her face was enough to make me stop talkin', although that was the last fuckin' thing I wanted to. I wanted to poke and prod her until she broke and spilled everything but somethin' told me that wouldn't be as easy as I thought it would be. I kept my eyes trained on the side of her face as she bit her lip, probably building up the courage to say the words that would put my mind at ease.
Lillian ran her nimble fingers through her black-brown locks while keeping her eyes still trained on anythin' but me,
"There's nothing going on between Nick and I- that's his problem, but not mine."
Her words peaked my interest with each breath she took, confusion settling over me like a dark cloud the more she spoke. Finally, she made eye contact with me once she heard me shuffling in my seat, her pair of worried eyes meeting mine. She was quick to try and assure me, her body movin' like a flash of lightning as I found her suddenly kneeling in front of me, hands on my knees as she begged me to look at her,
"Kells, just... i'll tell you, okay? But you can't flip out and do some shit you'll regret, some shit that'll make me regret even telling you."
At this point, i'd do about absolutely anythin' to find out what was going on in that pretty little head of hers so I nodded, pretending to oblige with her wishes.
She gulped a little before staring back up at me as I leaned forward, our noses merely a few inches away as we stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.
Lillian's hands on my knees grew tenser and firmer as she began to speak, the cracks in her voice easily showing how she felt,
"Nick fucked with my mind and now I can't get what he said out of my head. That's why I haven't talked about him in awhile."
I felt my impatience start to get the best of me as I raised an eyebrow, my voice starting to sound strained as I tried my best to contain myself,
"What do you mean- what did he do?"
I knew it had to be somethin' bad by the look that overcame her face- guilt.
I willed her to speak by pressing my hands over hers, every muscle in my body yearning and beggin' her to just stop the suspense she was creating,
"Lillian,"
Her eyes filled with tears before she blinked them away hurriedly, tryna act braver than she was. She sighed before meeting my hard stare, her now-monotone voice losing every kind of emotion,
"He basically told me he loved me, that I should leave you for him, that he could love me better,"
Her blunt statement hit me like a wrecking ball and I immediately wished she hadn't said a word. My throat closed up as my chest constricted in on itself, makin' it harder for me to breathe.
I didn't know whether it was from anger or shock, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was both.
I scoffed as I eyed her, her slowly crumbling face being a sign that what she said was all true.
This wasn't a practical joke- this actually fuckin' happened. I felt my vision start to blur as I managed to choke out some words, my mind going blank after each word,
"When... how... what in the actual fuck?!"
It was as if I was stuck in molasses before and I had just pulled myself out, everything settling back in place at normal speed.
I felt a fire ignite inside my chest as I fully registered what I heard- Nick actually tried to steal her away, from me.
I snapped out of my angry rage as Lilly grabbed ahold of my face, forcin' me to focus on her and only her.
She had tears in her eyes but I knew they weren't from sorrow- they were from the same kinda anger I was feelin'. We were doomed from the start and Nick just made it even worse for the both of us.
She kissed me hard, makin' me run out of air quick. I was already breathless from before and now, she took the oxygen right out of my lungs, leaving me empty.
But I didn't mind, knowing that she was with me and not with Nick. I sighed as she pulled away, every part of me yearning for the feel of her soft lips on mine again.
She knelt back down in front of me, her arms wrapping around my waist as my hands found it's home in her hair,
"Listen to me, you have nothing to worry about. Nick can try all he wants but I told you- it doesn't matter because I already made my choice. And my choice is you,"
I wanted to tell her that I was glad she chose me over that dipshit but for the first time in my life, a woman stole the words right off my tongue.
All I could do was stare down into her teary eyes with a sad smile on my lips as she whispered the three little words that locked me in,
"I love you."
And I realized I really did love her too- somethin' I've never felt for anyone, let alone a woman.
I felt my smile grow wider as she gasped for breath, her shoulders sagging as she smiled in relief.
I wonder how long she's been holdin' that in.
Probably for as long as I have. As I looked down at her, this woman that I barely knew a few months ago, I felt every ounce of my anger diminish into thin fuckin' air.
Suddenly, as if I was cured, the same words slipped out of my lips, drawing a smile on to hers,
"I love you too."
It was as if we both forgot about the confession she just revealed, nothin' but smiles on our faces and laughs comin' out of our mouths.
It was one of those moments where nothing mattered anymore, even if a bitch-ass motherfucker tried stealing your girl. I'd deal with him later.
I felt Lilly wrap her arms around my neck as she crawled onto my lap, her whispered words replaying in my ear,
"God, I love you."
It felt great hearin' that from her but it felt greater saying it right back to her. My mind lost focus as we stayed like that, in each other's arms, for god knows how long.
It could've been for an eternity and i wouldn't have cared- I could just waste my whole life away with her and I'd be okay with that.
There won't be a Nick in an eternity from now, or even a Diddy, maybe if we stayed each other for that long, things could be amazin' for us- but that's not how real fucking life works.
I felt every emotion I've bottled up inside me since my adolescent years start leaking out the longer I hugged her, makin' my angry thoughts grow angrier.
But it also made my love for her grow stronger since I've never had this before- love was somethin' new to me so now that I finally had it, I never wanted to lose it.
I sighed into her ear as she kissed my neck, my anger mixing with the sudden sense of comfort that she brought over me,
"You're mine, Angel. no one elses'- just mine."
Lillian nodded eagerly against my hot skin, making my smile grow even larger as I realized we were in this for the long run.
She was my angel, my only Angel, and I was gonna make sure I never lose her.

A/N: I published the chapter earlier but i just revised it and realized there were so many grammatical errors so I'm republishing lol- will do the same for the previous chapters