Would You ↪ Bradley Simpson

thirty-three ↪ that time they took it a little too far

The night was chilly, misty, and dark; incredibly dark. The boys had a gig planned in this new pub in town at nine-thirty sharp. The girls and I queued outside with a couple of fans who owned exclusive VIP backstage tickets or whatever, tickets I could never in a billion years afford. We lined up outside the backdoor in front of a security guard, our badges ready in hand for when it was time to hand it and show it off. My phone buzzed into my jeans' back pocket a few steps away from the door; I slid it out and picked up the call.

"Paige, thank God, are you okay?!" My dad's voice was shaking pretty badly, my heart stopped for a moment there.

I quickly recomposed myself. "Dad? I'm fine, I'm with the girls, what's wrong?"

The queue in front of us got shorter as more people were let in. Kirstie and Luce looked over at me, a worried look on their faces. "It's okay, I'll be right in". I took a few steps away from them and the pub, stopping next to Brad's car. My phone was held tight against my ear, my free hand still shaking. "Dad?"

"No! Don't split up! Go back to your friends right now! Wells is out of-" the line abruptly dropped.

My eyes widened at the mention of yet again that ugly name. The signal was down, making it impossible for me to call my dad back and question him further. Before I knew it, a pair of strong arms pinned against a wall. Wells' angry eyes searched mine, the grip around my wrists tightening more and more.

"You're hurting me, dipshit!" I growled as I tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

"That's the point, princess" Wells' eyes darkened as he blew some air on my face. "You're having your little fun with that boy of yours, aren't you? Kissing like that in front of all those people, low even for you"

So it was him that day at the bakery, and he saw us. "That's none of your business"

"Wrong answer" he suddenly raised his hand up and slapped me so hard I lost my balance. What the fuck?! "Let's try again, shall we?"

I blinked a few times, sharp pain pinching my entire face and I couldn't stop the tears from coursing down my cheeks. I panted, feeling completely helpless and lost. "Let go of me"

"That didn't sound convincing at all" Wells wickedly laughed.

I desperately looked around and scanned my surroundings. I knew that if I screamed, it would've ended pretty badly for me. Wells wasn't exactly a chill person, he had always been toxic and I'd always been too weak to escape his grip. And by the way his eyes looked that night, I knew I had to find some way to get free before he completely lost it.

"Good try, princess" The dark-haired boy shook his head with a grin. "No one's gonna come to your rescue tonight, I made sure of it"

I gulped in fear, trying not to show it too much because that's obviously what he wanted. He wanted to see me in pain, frightened, alone. He had mastered that skill pretty well over the years. It didn't take long for me to come to the conclusion that he was, in fact, awfully right. The boys' music blasted loud in the building, we could hear it from where we were standing. My dad was the only one to know I could possibly be in danger, but he had no way of knowing where I was and didn't have any of my friends' phone numbers. That was it, I was screwed.

"That's what you do" Wells spoke again. "You act all innocent, scared, lost. People fall for that, I myself fell for that. But that's just not who you are"

"Lose the grip, Wells, you're the one who broke up with me" I replied exhausted. "You didn't love me and shit, remember? And then you went on and screwed that eighteen-year-"

His hand was pressed against my cheek one more time, and again I tripped on my own feet. I flinched as soon as I regained my balance, I could still feel the pressure of his fingers on my face like they were still there.

"BRAD, WAIT UP!" I heard a familiar voice shout, not quite recognizing it by being still dazed by such a hard slap.

The next thing I saw was Bradley's fist pressed against Wells' face before the rest of the boys grabbed him and dragged him out of the way. I blankly stared at the scene, not being able to react or say anything just yet. A pair of arms picked me up in bridal style, the boy's scent sort of calmed me down a little bit. "Bradley"

"It's okay, darlin', I got you"

My gaze wandered to the street, where a crowd had gathered around us. Their glances were invasive, some genuinely concerned, yet some others angry and annoyed. "Stop, there's- there's fans looking at us" I panicked as soon as I realized.

 Bradley didn't stop or slow down. "That's okay"

"But you said that most girls follow you because they think they have a chance with you" I confusedly argued, still in shock, my heartbeat not decreasing one bit.

"You're making no sense"

The boy was clearly annoyed by what had just happened, maybe even beating himself up for some reason. But I couldn't let him risk his career for...what exactly had happened back there?

"Seriously, Brad," I said with such a hurry I could taste tears flowing down. I didn't know what it was, that feeling, it was bursting out just now and I wasn't ready at all.

"I don't care about those hormonal twelve-year-olds, I need to take you away from here"

Before I could argue one more time, I was carried inside his car. The boy jogged to the driver's side and got on, angrily shutting the door close. He leaned over and plugged in my seatbelt for me. It was when the car moved that I snapped. "Where are we going?"

"My house" Bradley blankly informed, his grip so tight around the steering wheel his knuckles were turning white. It took me a moment to take in the new information. "No, wait, my dad's gonna freak out"

He looked thoughtful for a second, defeat written on his face. "He can't see you like this"

I knew that at the exact moment I stepped into his house I would burst out into an uncontrollable ugly sob. I sort of didn't want him to see me like that, but I also needed him there. I zoned out during the entire car ride and I could see the boy next to me shifting into his seat uncomfortably, his free hand resting on my thigh. If I wasn't so caught up in deep thoughts, I probably would've blushed at such action. I didn't notice how the car had stopped until Brad spun on his seat to face me. I refused to look at him, I didn't want him to see me like that. His hand, though, rested on my chin as he softly moved my head so I was facing him. His fingers brushed on my cheek slowly, his thumb caressing the side that hurt the most.

"That asshole left the mark" Brad spoke through clenched teeth.

I raised my fingers up to my cheek and traced the same spot where his were. The boy pulled my hand away and placed it on his lips, gently and sweetly kissing the tips of my fingers. That broke me even more. I felt bad for not being able to defend myself against Wells in the first place, letting him do those ugly things to me, and speak all those hurtful words to me. Bradley was nothing like that. He was this lightful colour spark that crashed my life so suddenly and so beautifully.

"This is probably not the best time but...I need to get this out of my chest" The boy let go of my hand and looked away, his cheeks rosy. I impatiently waited for him to speak. There was no way whatever he wanted to say would've made me feel worse. Right?

"I think I'm in love with you"