How To Tame The Beasts -- Alex Gaskarth Fan Fic

Chapter Twenty

"How's it going?" a familiar female voice said behind me and I turned around quickly at the sound of it.  As nice as yesterday was with Alex's mother, I guess the giddy feeling in my stomach couldn't last long at school.  And, of course, it was while I was on my way to lunch.

"Get out of here," I hissed immediately.

Nicki looked a bit taken back by my sudden aggressive tone, but truth be told, she should just be lucky that I wasn't attacking her right now.  She definitely burned every bridge she had with me, and they were too far gone to be mended. "Aw, I just wanted to know what was up," she defended, pouting her bottom lip out at me.

"You have ten seconds to leave," I warned her.  She was lucky she caught me on my own, and that was probably why she took this opportunity now to talk to me.  She knew I was probably the most easy to talk to, but she clearly didn't know me that well.

She raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't think so. You may have gotten me once, but  we're on school grounds now.  Are you really willing to get suspended for me?" she asked, tilting her head.

I narrowed my eyes at that and I simply turned around, walking back towards the cafeteria.  She was completely right with that logic because I wasn't willing to.

"Oh, wait up a second," she huffed, speedily catching up to me.

I didn't slow my pace as I continued walking forward, my face turning to stone with no emotion. 

"Don't you want to know what I came up to you for?" she asked now as we walked through the entrance of the cafeteria.

I whirled around to face Nicki and she halted dead in her tracks so she wouldn't bump into me. "You want to know the truth? No, I don't want to know.  If it's anything like it usually is, it's probably some messed up comment or lame threat that I'm not going to fall for."

"Whoa, whoa, what's going on here?" Zack came walking up between us, gently pushing Nicki away from me.

"Nothing, we were just having a chat," Nicki explained, keeping her eyes glued to me as Zack stayed between us.  Having Zack around definitely was not helping my growing rage forming in the pit of my stomach.

Zack looked between both of us, not sure whether to believe her excuse or not.  "Is that true, Stella?" he asked, reaching forward to touch my shoulder but before he could his hand was caught and twisted backwards.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her," Alex growled and Zack quickly pulled his hand away, rubbing it at the sudden tension pulled against it. Alex stood beside me, his tall frame partially hiding me from Zack.

"You know, I thought we made it clear," Jack's voice now said and I let out a sigh.  What could've been something that was avoided, was now quickly escalating into something more.  Not too long and Kellin would probably show up and I knew Jack wouldn't be able to maintain his cool with him around. "We don't want you anywhere near us...any of us," Jack said, placing a hand on my shoulder and standing on the other side of me.  I briefly wondered where the rest of the Trouble-Makers were at, but I was sure Jaime was probably some place close if Jack was here.

"Lay off," Zack said, shaking his head. "I was just making sure nothing was going on."

Jack narrowed his eyes, clearly not buying Zack's excuse.  "What evers the case, stay away from us."

Zack opened his mouth to say something, but Alex cut him off. "Let's bail," he said, placing a hand on my back as he guided me away from the two Clique members.

Jack let out a small growl, not wanting to leave just like that, but followed Alex's order and walked beside us back towards the table.

"Damn, what was that all about?" Rian asked, as we all sat onto the table.  As always, the encounter had Alex growing overly protective once more as he kept me close to his side.

"Yeah, what was that, Stella," Jack emphasized, turning his attention to me across the table.

"It was nothing," I spoke, but knew that wouldn't hold them over. "Nicki just came over and started talking to me, and I got pissy at her.  Then Zack came over to see what was happening, and then you guys came."

"I didn't like it," Jaime stated, now appearing at the table.  I was right when I thought Jaime was close by if Jack was around - he must have been in the crowd getting ready to intervene if needed.

"What did Nicki say to you?" Alex asked now, his voice much more calm now.

I shrugged my shoulders. "She said she came to me for something, but I didn't let her finish it because I cut her off.  And then Zack came."

"If he ever lays a hand on you again, I'm going to-"

"It's okay, Alex," I murmured, letting my hand slide onto his thigh.  Our eyes locked and his gaze lightened, but I could see the strain he was having on not freaking out at the moment.

Mike, whom was sitting quietly at the table and biting at his nails, finally spoke up, "this is the second time they've tried to talk to Stella.  They've got to be up to something."

Rian nodded his head. "Yeah, we get that.  But we just don't know what."

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Only one way to find out." His gaze shifted to me and Alex stiffened.

"No," he said curtly, shaking his head.

"It's the only way to find out what they're up to," Jack said, shrugging his shoulders innocently. "It was just a suggestion."

"What?" Mike asked, clearly off his game right now.

"He wants Stella to go talk to them and find out what's happening," Alex explained roughly, refusing to remove his eyes from Jack. 

Jaime, surprisingly, shook his head at the idea. "That's not a good idea, we all know what happened last time a Trouble-Maker talked to the Clique like that."

"Yeah, but Zack had close ties with them before; Stella doesn't." Jack turned his attention back to Alex now.

"I said no," Alex growled, quickly beginning to lose his cool.

I decided to keep my mouth quiet at this point, all I wanted to focus on right now was keeping Alex calm.  The boys could figure something out with whatever they wanted just as long as we had all reached an agreement on it.

Jack leaned forward. "It's not your decision now, is it?"

Alex narrowed his eyes and his hands balled up into fists.  As much as Alex knew the answer to that question, he didn't want to admit it.  He knew I wasn't always easily controlled, which was something that always kept him on edge, but he was also very against this decision.

"Hey," I spoke soothingly, cupping my hand on his cheek so he would face me. "It's okay, nothings going to happen."

His mouth was set in a deep frown and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"I can do it," I assured him. 

"No," he repeated, in almost a whisper. It was almost like a plea for me not to do it. "Please."

I nodded my head quietly.  "Okay, if you don't want me to do it, then I won't." As much as I knew I would have to work more on Alex's controlling impulses, this was a way of almost rewarding his 'good' behavior, as odd as that sounded.  But, in the end, this was probably the best decision.

He let out a breath that he must have been holding and he closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against mine. I gently let my hand fall from his face and reset it onto his leg.

"That's nice and all," Jack suddenly cut in, his voice in clear disgust. "But what are we doing then?"

"New plan, I guess," Jaime said, and even though I wasn't looking at him at the moment I knew he was shrugging his shoulders.