Tangled

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

"Now you know the rules, babe," Niall warned, swinging into his seat. "I'm the driver, so I control the radio."

Tatum rolled her eyes; she contemplated jumping out of the car right that minute if it meant Niall was going to be in charge of what music was played for the next few hours. She wanted some peaceful, relaxing music, whereas she could peg him for Justin Bieber's As Long As You Love Me on repeat. She threw her duffel bag in the backseat and turned to him with a scowl.

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh." He shot back, almost mimicking her.

She shook her head wildly. "No. Because if you get to choose all the music, I'll be stuck listening to Justin Bieber for the next four hours."

 "What's so bad about that?"

 "I don't even know any of his music!" She argued, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Can't we, like, make a schedule for who gets the radio when? We'd be more organized that way."

 He chuckled. "Tatum, it's a radio."

 "Fine," She crossed her arms over her chest. He was being difficult and he knew it. "But don't expect me to be okay with this, Horan. I'm mad at you now."

 The blonde haired boy laughed, snickering at Tatum's face. She was awful at angry facial expressions. They looked more like she was trying to hold back a giggle that Niall knew would escape with just one little joke. But he let her stay mad at him. If she was going to be silent, well then so was he. He knew, deep down, the stillness would drive her bonkers soon enough and she would be back to her normal self. The motel they were going to be staying at was pretty far, hours and hours away. He had to pull some strings to get the last minute tickets to the concert they were going to attend tomorrow afternoon. The show was completely sold out and he was lucky enough to have known one of the managers who hooked him up. He had never heard any of Joe Brooks' music before, and thus had to download a ton of tunes in order to be at least a little acquainted with the artist. The last thing he wanted to do was be made a fool of in front of his girlfriend.

 Girlfriend.

 They hadn't made it official yet. On usual terms, people talked about these things. They worked out the label. But for some odd reason, it felt as though they did not need to. There were no words that needed to be spoken in relation to their title. They were what they were and they were content that way. Besides, labels wore out and Niall did not want anything to end anytime soon for him and her. She was more special than he could have imagined, stronger, and more intriguing. She was one of a kind and the feelings that built up inside him whenever she was around were unexplainable. But that was okay.

Some things were better left alone and untouched.

After what seemed to be twenty minutes later, a song began to play on the radio that Tatum had listened to once before. Maybe it was at one of the dances she had attended in school or maybe it was something Tess had blasted through the house on more than one occasion. Either way, it made her ears perk up and her scowl to be replaced with a sweet smile. She forgot all about being angry at the boy sat next to her and instantly started to belt out incomprehensible lyrics that only made sense to her.

"Hey, boy you never had much game, so I needed to upgrade." She sang, not caring what Niall thought.

When it came time for her to grunt, as a part of the song, Niall near lost control of the car. He laughed uncontrollably as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. She really was a piece of work.

"Do you even know the lyrics?" He questioned, his hands tight on the steering wheel this time. 

"Does it matter?"

"No, but—"

"So shut up and let me sing."

And, well, that was all that needed to be said for Niall to close his mouth. Tatum was on a roll and ready to explode. She was like a time bomb, really. When it came down to music, she was always like that. It was the one thing that gave her the peace of mind when nothing else did.

They drove steady for another hour or so before both their stomachs grumbled noisily, an indication that they needed food. Niall decided to make a stop at whatever fast food joint they came across next. Much to their delight, a McDonald’s was the first thing they saw and both teenagers’ expressions lit up. He parked the car and jumped out, ready to order anything and everything to refuel himself. Tatum was the same. She was hungry enough to eat an entire army’s worth of food. There was a small line inside and their turn came up quickly.

"May I take your order, please?" the twenty something lad asked, as he eyed Tatum from his dirty spectacles. She was completely unaware of his gaze, having left Niall’s side to gawk at the wide array of children’s toys they offered at the restaurant.

The blonde boy noticed the man’s stare and suggestive smile almost immediately. It was a recognizable look he had seen on many faces before they stole his girls, and Tatum was most definitely, not one he was acceptant of losing anytime soon. He would fight to the ends of the Earth before he let some sicko, like him, get his grip on her.

"Hey, bud?" Niall snapped his fingers in the stranger’s face, bringing him to attention, "eyes over here. Get me two cheeseburgers, two cokes, one apple pie, one medium fries, and one of those toys you got over there."

The man punched in his order and looked up. "Will there be anything else?"

Niall thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No." He had just turned a bit on his heel to see what Tatum was up to, when an overwhelming urge to comment on earlier surfaced. "Actually, yeah, there is. Stay the hell away from her, ya hear? She’s mine."

The man seemed taken aback for a split second, not having contemplated that sort of retaliation for his previous actions. The boy’s bold choice of words scared him a little, although he would never admit to it. So he nodded and quickly handed Niall his food, earning one last glare before he left. Niall pulled Tatum away with him and out the door to their car, more than ready to leave the place. She was surprised by his rapid movements, but did not bother to question him about it. He seemed like a tank engine that was blowing off steam. When he settled down, he threw on a smile and passed Tatum her drink and burger, alongside one of the toys she had been ogling before.

"You got me this?!"

Niall looked at her strangely. "You’re holding it, aren’t ya?"

"I—"biting her lip, she could barely contain her glee. "Thank you." 

"You’re welcome, babe."

The remainder of the ride was spent talking, laughing and eating. The two teenagers enjoyed their meal and time alone with each other. They opened up in ways that they had never thought they would before coming on this trip. Every minute, every second, was like an entrance through a new door, an access to another part of them waiting to be discovered. Tatum learned so much more about Niall than she had ever believed was possible. He had sides of him that were both hilarious, sweet and fascinating to the extent that it felt as though she was drinking in all the new found information similar to the coke in her hand. He was more than just a simple member of a famous boyband or a popstar splattered on the walls of girls and boys around the world. He was a person, with a heart as good as any. He told her things that never seemed to drift into conversation when he was with his band mates or his other friends. Just the aura about her made him want to spill everything out: his happiness, his doubt, his insecurities, his dark times and thoughts about the future. And the best thing of all was that she was willing to listen to every last bit of it.