Troubles (Kissing The Devil)

After an entire hour of arguing, I finally managed to convince Trouble I had to go to school, at least the last one. It was just some lectures, but I needed to show up at least once. I didn’t want Kendra to worry about me, and if my dad knew I missed a whole day of school, he’d kill me.
It seemed like Eleanor was the girl that stayed behind, and she let me borrow some clothes that I said I would wash and return to Trouble the same day so he could give them to her. After that Trouble insisted he had to drive me to school. And now, here I am, in the car, with him… alone, wearing a pair of skinny jeans, a green t-shirt and a leather jacket, plus a pair of sneakers.
I confess, he’s too busy driving, but still, I feel this tingling sensation through my body, and my legs are never quiet or still. I’ll start to think I have a restless-leg syndrome. Taking a deep breath, I tried to concentrate in my surroundings, but it all changed when a buzz came from not too far away.
“Horan!” He answered, and I leaned my body to see him better “Ah, Jordan!” He said coldly “Yeah, you kind of hurt her bad!” He explained “No, I don’t care whatever you have to talk about right now, we’ll see each other latter!” He said, and one corner of his lips shot up once he heard the response “That’s exactly what I mean, I’ll see you later!” And then he hanged up, putting his phone back in his pocket.
“What did he want?” I asked, a bit grumpy, wich made another cocky smile appear in his face
“It’s none of your business!” He rudely answered, even if he was smiling.
“Hell it’s none of my damn business! I heard you talking about me!” I answered back, as rudely as he did
“Whatever!” He said
“Seriously Niall, why don’t you go die over there?” I asked, pointing at someone’s lawn
“No, I would scare the kids!” He answered and I snorted, growing low pitched
I just tried to calm down, and luckily I managed to do so, and focused in the landscape again so time would run past me. And it luckily did. Now I was standing in front of the school, still inside the car, but I could see the school now. And hey, how did he know wich school I was going to anyway?
I shook my head negatively, that’s not relevant, I need to go out there and start classes. But as soon as I grabbed the handle, my hand trembled.
What if nobody likes me? I know I’ll always have Kendra, but I also know I’ll be damned if people hate me here, plus, I need to talk to someone about my latest ‘Trouble’! Just when I was about to leave the car, I was pulled back inside.
I turned around to see Trouble, looking incisively at me.
Oh-Oh!
“Don’t tell a living soul about what happened Thea, the threat still stands!” He sternly said “Don’t think that just because you saved me I will be gentler with you!” He tighten his grip in my arm, the good one “I’m serious!” He growled, letting o of my arm as a way of pushing me out of the car.
When I was out, I slammed the door and turned around, ready to leave, but that’s when I heard him talking.
“Think about something to tell your parents about me coming over okay?”
I turned around to see him through the window, wearing a pair of sunglasses and smiling cockily again. Urg, I hate him, but he’s gorgeous. His hairs were all messy and quaffed, his smile is actually kind of cute, and his tattoos are seeable thanks to the tank-top he was wearing.
But he’s a jerk so… WHAT AM I DOING? I can’t check him out like that, that’s something I would never, ever do. Exactly, so I shook my head negatively.
“You think of something to tell my parents since you’re the one who barged in!” I practically yelled
“Me?” He asked, his face suddenly flushed “Have you forgot he’s messing with your entire family?” He growled, getting out of the car
“W-What are you doing?” I asked, watching as he got closer and closer to me
“He’s the one who practically threatened your entire family, not me!” He growled
“Are you kidding me?” I yelled, okay, now I was causing a scene… not cool Trouble, not cool at all “You threatened to kill my baby brother!” I whispered angrily
“But not your entire family right?” He asked, smiling cockily
“So that’s supposed to make it better?” I yelled/asked, aggravated
“Not better, but at least I’m not making an orphan out of you!” He shrugged
“Well, you…” I yelled, raising my hand to slap him when he grabbed it, pushing me against the car.
I was aware that everyone in the school lawn was looking at us, and talking about us. Looking around, I could confirm that, and suddenly all the blood drained from my face as I felt myself getting paler and paler. They probably all knew Trouble and thanks to me being here with him, now I’m a troublemaker… Oh God!
“What?” Niall asked, gaining back my attention “Scared they will judge you?” He mocked, smiling cockily
“Of course I am worried, what people do best is judge after all!” I whispered, looking down and trying to ignore the grip in my hand
“Well, too bad for you!” He said and I frowned, slowly looking up to look at him
“What do you mea…!?”
I was cut off by him… By his lips on mine. What was he doing?! He was doing this on purpose the son of a bitch! Now I’m the girl who hangs with Trouble. This is a way to make sure no one will get close to me so I won’t tell anyone his secret.
THE ARROGANT SON OF A BITCH!!!!
Gathering as much strength as I could, I tried to push him back, but his arms surrounded my waist and gripped tightly, not letting go of me. So, now to the plan B. I bit his lower lip hard and saw as he pulled back, his lower lip now bleeding.
“Feisty, I like that!” He smiled cockily, cleaning the blood with the back of his hand while his darker eyes were now on me
“Leave me alone!” I said dismissingly
“I’ll come to pick you up babe!” He loudly said, grabbing my arm and pulling me closer to him again “See you later!” He pecked my lips against my will and let go of me, getting inside the car and driving off.
I was practically burning up with desire to kill him… commit a murder you know? Who did he think he was to do this to me?! I just wanted a fresh start, something new, make new friends, and now all of it is ruined because of him.
That son of a bitch!!!!
I felt like running after his car, but that would only get my situation worst because they would all think I’m nuts after that. So I just closed my eyes, counted to ten and took a deep breath. I also reminded myself I wouldn’t look good in prison stripes, so I was calmer now, and ready to face judgy eyes.
“THEA!” I heard Kendra yell.
And that’s when hell was unleashed
**
I sat in the sidewalk, tired of all the stares and whispering around me. Kendra didn’t spoke a lot to me ever since I actually got to school. She did ask me what I was doing with him, and I wanted to tell her… But wasn’t Trouble going to hurt Jesse if I did? I knew she was going to be against it, probably go talk to him about it just to protect me… But it was Jesse. I would never let anyone risk his life.
So she never spoke to me again in that day. Plus, I don’t think it would be a very productive conversation since my thoughts were directed to the dinner I’ll have in about an hour.We always eat early because my dad needs to go back to work, plus, 7PM is fine to eat. But Trouble is going to be there, Jesse’s going to be there, my parents are going to be there… Worst of all, Jordan Taylor is going to be there. What can I do to prevent this night of turning into a disaster? This is clearly an important dinner to my dad since he never invites people over without a good case. What will they think of Niall? What if they think I’m starting to get rebel myself against them? What if I get grounded? What if they know about Trouble and his fame around here? I hid my face between my bent knees and my arms surrounded my legs.
I’m screwed!
Just when I was about to give up, I heard someone beeping and, startled, I jumped from the sidewalk, getting on my feet in no time. I looked up to see the black Range Rover waiting for me, one of the windows down and the only person inside the vehicle was wearing sunglasses and a smile.
Idiot. It was starting to get dark outside, there’s no need for him to wear sunglasses. Snorting to my loose bangs, I pulled the jacket Eleanor let me borrow and walked to the car. There were still people in the park and lawn of the school, so this is only going to spread more rumors, luckily for me, tomorrow I’ll bring my headphones so I don’t need to hear the whispers around myself.
I opened the car door and got in, closing it behind me before I got to actually see Trouble. But when I did, I actually got speechless. He was wearing a pair of large black jeans and a white t-shirt. Over that a black jacket with white stripes in the shoulder and white sneakers. His hair was perfectly quaffed and in place, the smallest trace of a beard he had a few hours ago was gone.
When he took the sunglasses off his eyes, I could see he was frowning. And then I realized I had been starring at him for way too long. Blushing a bit, I turned my head to the window and looked outside while he started to drive.
“Perfect performance today!” I sarcastically said, referring to the kiss
“Did it work for your popularity?” He asked bluntly and I frowning, turning to look at him
“For your information, I’m not the type of girl who needs to be popular, I don’t want everyone’s attention on me, I just want to be a normal girl… But you ruined everything!” I coldly said, narrowing my eyes at him
“Yeah, whatever you say!” I frowned “I don’t feel like fighting okay? It would only ruin the ideal that we are a couple!” I almost jumped off my seat
“A COUPLE?!” I yelled
“Urg, Thea, lower your tone!” He ordered “Yes, a couple, we need to tell your parents something don’t we?”
“I just got here!” I explained slowly “I know for someone as dumb as you, that’s quite weird, but I don’t usually make friends in such a short notice, and they know it. Do you really expect them to believe that?” I asked
“We can always tell them that we were together back in wherever dark whole you came from…” He said and I narrowed my eyes at him again!
“First, I’m from Oxford!” I bluntly said “Don’t say oxford is a ‘Dark Whole’, have some respect for a great place okay? Second, no we can’t!”
“Thea, just shut up and go with it!” He growled, looking at me. He then turned his gaze to the road and took a deep breath “I really don’t need you to stress me more than I am going to be when we’re at the table okay?”
I nodded and let it go, only because I noticed how stressed Niall was when he saw Jordan and that other man. Even if he’s a bad person and mean, I don’t want to push his buttons till he goes mental. No one deserves that, not even him. Niall drove me to Jesse’s school, wich wasn’t too surprised to find out he knew where it was. Was I scared? Shitless! Why? Because he knows now where my baby brother spends most of his time during the day! But… if I do as he says, maybe Jesse will be fine!
Jesse jumped on the back seat and slid down the seat till the window. He always loved to look outside when we’re in the car.
“Siss, who’s that?” Jesse asked once I was inside the car already, putting my seatbelt on.
“First of all, put your seatbelt on!” I almost begged, quickly shooting a look at Niall “And he is…”
“I’m Niall!” He nicely said and I widened my eyes. Niall leaned and extended one hand for Jesse to shake “I’m friends with your sister!” He smiled and I had to blink twice to get over the cuteness of his smile. What is happening to him’ “What?” Niall growled low pitched to me so Jesse wouldn’t hear. I shook my head negatively “I’m going to have dinner with you tonight, is that oaky?” Niall asked Jesse, turning his attention from me to him
So this is your move Trouble? Get his trust so he would go with you everywhere I you ask him to? Low one, even for a gangster like you! You only bring people troubles, maybe that’s why they gave you that nickname!
Stupid Asshole!
“Yeah!” Jesse said, nodding.
Niall turned around and started the car, driving towards my house. The trip wasn’t silent because Jesse insisted on telling me everything that happened during his day. I would be grateful to hear it any other time, just not with him here!
“… and there’s this girl at swool, she’s my gilfwend!” He said and I widened my eyes, my nails practically digging in the seat. Noticing that, Niall laughed out loud
“I think your sister doesn’t like the idea champ!” Niall said and Jesse frowned
“Why? I’m going to mawwy Thea, not her!” I smiled sweetly
“You’re a dumbass!” I whispered to Niall. It was obvious he was wanting to pick on me. Guess what jerk, when the time comes, Jesse will always choose me. Ahah! Deal with it.
I was about to start laughing when Niall pulled over by my house. That stuck my laugh inside my throat and a chill go down my spine. Jesse just jumped off the car and ran inside while I stood paralyzed in Niall’s car.
Suddenly, my door opened and there he was, starring at me.
“C’mon now, get out!” He said and I looked at my hands that were on top of my legs “What wrong?” He impatiently asked
“P-P-Promise me you won’t do anything bad!” I said, tightening my hands into fists
“What?”
“Promise me you won’t ruin anything, promise me you won’t hurt anyone!” I asked
“I’m here to make sure Jordan doesn’t do anything stupid! He has a tendency of trying to hurt woman!” He said and a chill went down my spine
“W-What?” I asked
Niall grabbed a cigarette from a pack of them and grabbed the lighter, lighting it on. He pulled the smoke inside and then breathed it out.
“His mom left him when he was a child, so he kind of needs to hurt woman. You know, psycho!” Niall shrugged and I widened my eyes
“My dad invited a psycho to our house… OUR NEW HOUSE!” I practically screamed
“Hey, keep it low okay?” He asked “You’re neighbors are going to think you’re the psycho!” He explained, pulling the smoke inside again
“Who’s the psycho?” We both heard someone ask and Niall turned around to see who it was.
Jordan Taylor had arrived to my place. I could feel the panic crawling up my throat, pushing it to close. I swallowed and tried to keep cool, but it was too difficult and I felt like I was going to give up on holding back the panic attack if he stayed close to us for too long.
“I hope I didn’t cause that pretty arm of yours much trouble Thea!” Only his words disgusted me
“Don’t talk to her” Niall demanded “She’s with me now, plus, you’re in my territory, so shut the fuck up and get inside before I break your fucking teeth!” Niall growled, throwing the half smoked cigarette into the ground and stepping on it
“It’s business outside the gang, we both agreed that could be fixed, since you have something important in my territory right?” Jordan mocked
“Don’t test me!” Trouble warned, visibly stiffer “And wash your mouth before you talk about them!”
“Calm down now, I was just teasing you!” Jordan said, patting Niall’s shoulder
“Leave us alone!” Trouble asked, still stressed and stiff
“Okay-Okay, see you inside then!” He said, walking past him and getting closer to me. I stiffened even more than I already was when he grabbed my arm and pulled the jacket up so he could see my bruise “Again, I’m sorry love!” He said, but his fingers started pressing in the wound. I whimpered, but he didn’t stop “But your parents don’t need to hear about this right?” I nodded, pulling my arm back so he could stop hurting me.
The fear I felt for Jordan was way, way bigger than my fear for Trouble. Trouble, even though he was cold as ice and stupid as a donkey, he was grateful that I saved him from being blind. Even if he kissed me against my will, ruined my reputation of a normal kid at school and got me and Kendra not speaking.
Jason has that sparkle in his eyes you know? The sparkle of a mean, rude ad cold person. I can tell he isn’t afraid of hurting people. I just wonder how he managed to hide that from my observant eyes so well. He has got to be a great actor to hide that so well.
I pulled my arm closer to myself, and cringed back in the seat, to stay as away from him as I could.
“Stop it!” Trouble said “I don’t feel in the mood to start a fight with you!” He sighed
“Why? Scared Trouble?” Jordan mocked
“Hu!” Niall shrugged “I just don’t feel like having an easy win today!”
Jordan started to get red with anger, and was about to answer back when we all heard my mom calling for us in the door. I shivered and looked at Trouble, my eyes widening. He shook his head negatively, clearly relaxed and pushed Jordan aside to help me get out of the car. Still dizzy, I accepted his help and got out of the car.
“So, I’ll see you at dinner!” Jordan said dismissingly and walked to the door.
Me and Niall followed and got inside the house. I took the jacket from my shoulders and hanged it on the hanger, telling Niall to do the same.
“Thank for… hum… having my back back there!” I said, smiling a bit and holding my hurt arm
“Well, I couldn’t actually let him kill you! That would ruin my disguise and probably get me arrested!” Niall shrugged and I looked at the floor
“Oh!” I said
“What?!” Niall mockingly said “You thought I cared for you?” He laughed mockingly
“What?! NO! I…”
That’s when my mom came in. She frowned seeing Niall, scanning him from his hairs to his shoes. At first I thought she didn’t like what she saw, but then the biggest smile appeared in her face.
“Hi Thea! Who’s your friend?” She asked me and Niall instantly grabbed my hand
“I’m Niall, her boy…” I cut him off
“My gay friend!” I said, pulling my hand from him and I saw how my dad spit out the water he had in his mouth when he came to see who was at the door
“G-Gay?” He asked
“No, she’s just teasing!” Niall said, grabbing my hand and squeezing it
“We’re friends!” I said normally, ignoring the grip in my hand
“Well Thea, you chose the worst day possible to bring another person in to eat!” Dad said, looking, no, starring at our connected hands. I immediately pulled back from Niall’s hand and nodded
“Sor-“ I was cut off by mom
“Nonsense!” She said, slapping dad’s arm while shaking her head negatively “The boy can stay!”
“Thanks mom!” I said, slightly smiling
“Pull your hair back in a bun and come help me in the kitchen okay honey?” She asked and I nodded before she turned her back at me and walked back to the kitchen
I pulled my hair back in a loose bun and took a look at Niall. Dad too, and saw how he starred at Niall. I swallowed and leaned to whisper at Niall’s ear.
“Please, please don’t do something stupid!” I asked, pulling back to look at him, biting my lip and making puppy eyes
“I promise!” He said, nodding
“Thanks!” I said, turning around to go to the kitchen
And so, I walked to the kitchen, finding my mom cooking along Jordan. They were both with their back turned to me as they stirred something on the stove. My mom giggled at something he said and I couldn’t stop the shiver that went down my spine. I wanted him as far away as possible from my family. But he was now close to my mom and Jesse came running inside, going towards the both of them before I grabbed him.
“No honey, go to …” I stoped.
I can’t send him to dad because Niall is there, and I can’t tell him to stay here because of the Jordan. But what’s the worst of them? Jordan, plus, Niall’s with my dad, wich means Jesse will run to dad and stay away from Niall.
“Go to dad okay?” I said and Jesse nodded, laughing and running towards the living room
I took a deep sigh and got up, running my hands in my jeans as I walked up to the counter.
“What do you need me to do mom?” I asked her, trying to ignore Jordan as much as possible
“Help Jordan preparing the salad okay?” I swallowed and nodded, walking towards Jordan and stopping next to him while grabbing the lettuce and wash it, preparing it to put in a bowl.
“How are you today Thea?” Jordan asked while giving me the stern eye
“Perfect!” I said, nervously “I mean, amazing!” I said, again, nervously “I mean, awesome!” I chocked and looked at the opposite side he was at.
What is wrong with me? I need to relax if I want to go through the night and not go crazy. But the pressure kept during the preparation of diner. When everything was ready, we got to the dining room and sat. My place was next to Mom, in front of Niall who was next to Jordan.
The pressure was bigger and bigger by every second that went by. Niall was completely stiff while Jordan was relaxed. Nothing in his body language showed he was sat at table with the ‘boss’ of his rival gang. I was actually scared of how relaxed and natural he looked.
Jesse stayed by my side all the time during dinner. My dad and Jordan kept talking business and Jordan purposely rubbed his arms against Niall’s, making him get more and more nervous and stiff.
So, when desert time came, the topic of conversation moved from Jordan to Niall.
“So, Niall, how do you met my daughter?” My dad asked
“I bet they met at a weird concert right?” Jordan cut in and I wanted to punch him
“No sir, we actually met at…” Jordan cut in again
“An anonymous therapy session?” I bit my inner cheek, wanting to punch him
“No!” Niall said “We met at a party sir!” Niall said, talking louder than necessary.
I just scooped a spoon from my ice cream, immediately shoving it inside my mouth. I looked at the table, embarrassed
“And how old are you again?” He asked
“Twenty three!” Niall answered, scooping another spoon of his ice cream and taking it to his mouth
“Aren’t you too old to be dating my daughter?” Both me and Niall almost chocked in our spoons, making Jesse laugh out loud.
“No sir, we’re not-“
“No dad, me and him-“
We both starred at each other and then widened our eyes. Then we looked at my dad.
“You know she’s mine right Trouble?” Jordan said, elbowing Niall.
I felt my whole body shivering with tension and frighten. But he and my dad laughed, making me, mom and Niall feel extremely uncomfortable.
“So, you’re a businessman right?” Niall asked, turning around to face Jordan
“Right!” Jordan said, nodding, completely relaxed
“What type of business exactly?” Niall asked, defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest, his hands under his arms
I noticed how my dad got more interested, leaning back in the chair, crossing his arms too. Seriously?! Did he not know what his latest investor did for a living?
“Hum … I’m in the … business industry?” He asked, raising his shoulders
“You mean, drug business!” Niall whispered
“What?” Dad asked
“Pub business!” Jordan said
“Oh!” Dad said “Wich bars do you own?”
“Heroine!” Niall whispered, taking a sip of his drink before I smashed my foot on top of his. He gave me an icy look
“One in California!” Jordan said
“Good cover up!” Niall whispered, rolling his eyes
“Look, can I talk to Niall for just a second?” I asked, getting up and grabbing Niall’s hand, pulling him with me till the kitchen “What are you doing?”
“He’s pissing me off!” Niall said, crossing his arms over his chest, pouting like a little spoiled brat
“You’re pissing me off!” I growled
“Too bad!” He growled “You’ve got a very, very nice brother!”
A shiver went down my spine and all the blood drained from my face as I took a step back. He was seriously threatening me in my own house?! I narrowed my eyes at him, and my hand raised, ready to slap him when he grabbed my hand
“Wanna try that again sweetie?” He said as he pulled me closer to him
“Let go of me!” I said, struggling to get loose when he wrapped a hand around my waist
“Never!” He growled
And then he kissed me! I was about to answer him when he did, so his tongue slipped inside my mouth instantly. I felt a shiver go down my spine and his tongue met mine. He freed my hand and ran it down my curves as I corresponded to his kiss.
He’s gonna be the death of me!

Notes