Dark Flame - (Liam Payne AU)

Ch. 15

Liam POV:

"Liam! This is silly!" Juliet giggled.

"No, it really isn't babe." I reassured her. We were in my shooting range, and I was giving her lessons on how to shoot a gun, and so far, it wasn't going that well. 

"Why do I even need to use a gun anyhow?" She asked, putting her free-hand on her hip.

"Because, my gang just killed another gang's leader, so that means all hell will break loose soon. I won't always be there to protect you. I can say that I will be, but I can't promise. You need to learn self-defense."

"Why can't I just carry around a can of pepper spray?" she asked, her eyes unknowing.

"Honey, the guys that will go after you are used to being pepper sprayed." 

"Oh." she said, looking at the ground.

"'C'mon babe. You can do it. All you have to do is have a really good grip on the gun and another lightly on the trigger. When you're ready to fire, pull the trigger." I said, doing a demonstration. I hit the target, right in the middle. "And when you've shot them, shoot them again, just to be sure. You try." I said, going behind her to help her get into the right position. When she pulled the trigger, I felt her jump, and then she started laughing.

"Liam, that was such an adrenaline rush!" she laughed, jumping up and down.

"Sweetie! Sweetie...that's a loaded pistol...please don't wave it around like that." I said, softly grabbing the gun from her. She gave me a puppy dog frowny face and crossed her arms. I tapped her on the nose and went to put up the guns. 

"Ugh! You are no fun, Liam!" She joked. 

"Oh really?" I said, closing the door to the shooting range behind me. "I'm no fun?" We began to walk past my pool on the way out of the basement. I got an idea. She was murmuring something and then I pushed her in. She let out a loud yelp before going headfirst into the pool. A few seconfds later, she came to the surface. 

"What the hell was that for?" She asked, spitting out water. 

"Am I still not fun?" I laughed. 

"No! You're just a jerk!" She said.

"Oh, come on babe. Here, let me help you out." I said, extending my hand. Before I knew it, I was engulfed in ice cold water. Once I resurfaced, I heard Juliet screaming of laughter. "Seriously?!" I yelled. She nodded and continued laughing. I started to swim to her and she began to try and get out. I grabbed her by the waist and whispered "Got you." in her ear.

"That you did." She said softly into mine. I kissed her temple and then helped her get out. I grabbed two towels and I felt her hand intertwine with mine. I felt like I was dreaming.

-

"Man, you need to snap the fuck out of it." Harry said, hitting me in the back of the head.

"Out of what?" I asked.

"Out of this little puppy love phase that you are in. It's getting really fucking annoying. All the guys have noticed it."

"I'm not acting any different than I was, Harry. You're just too much of an asshole to see that."

"Ok, fine. But when you're the one getting your head blown off by a group of Enrique's boys because you're too busy slow dancing to some 80's love song, don't count on me to save your ass." He said, slamming the door to my house. 

Was I getting soft on the gang? Was I getting soft in general? Juliet bosses me around, and she's the only one who can away with it...Should I begin to take charge and be myself again?