Piercing Hatred | ✔️

15

~Flora's POV~

The rest of the week passed by rather uneventfully and, on Saturday night, I found myself flopping into bed after changing into a pair of pajamas. I rolled myself into a ball within my blanket and pressed my cheek into my pillow, letting out a groan of content before letting my eyes flutter shut.

Right as I was beginning to slightly drift off to sleep, the thumping bass of music became louder from a nearby apartment, causing my eyes to snap open in alarm. I scowled and groaned, this time in annoyance, at the sound of the music. I knew exactly whose apartment it was coming from, but I thought that whatever fucking party Knox was having at his place was finally settling down. It was nearing twelve AM, after all, and that thumping of the music had been going on since I got home at around eight thirty PM.

I had wanted to go to bed earlier than twelve AM, but the music had been to loud then, and I'd decided to begin getting ready to go to sleep about twenty minutes ago when the music had been turned down. Why the hell was it blaringly loud again?

For a while I tried to ignore it, hoping that Knox would turn the volume down again, but after fifteen more minutes passed, I began to realize that he didn't plan to turn it down anytime soon. I unrolled myself from the ball I was in within my blankets and tumbled out of bed onto my feet, huffing in annoyance as I shoved on a pair of fluffy black slippers.

Annoyed, I made my way down the hall and out of my apartment, stomping across to Knox's apartment. I pounded my fist against his front door, hoping that it could be heard inside over the thumping bass of the music that was playing. I placed my hands on my hips and frowned angrily as the front door was swung open wide, the sight of Knox, a random guy and a girl greeting me when it opened.

My gaze found Knox and I glared up at him angrily, leaning my weight onto one foot so my hip pushed out. I could tell by the look in his eyes that Knox had been drinking, as had the two beside him, but he didn't seem nearly as drunk as the other two did by a long shot. "Is there any reason you're playing music this loud at this late, Knox, or is it just to be annoying?" I snapped, watching as his lips twitched in amusement at my immediate hostile attitude.

While he found it amusing, the guy to his left did not and instead just scoffed, swaying on his feet as he glared at me. "W-What kind of stick is shoved up your ass, chick?" He slurred, causing my jaw to drop. My temper just rose and I sneered at the drunken idiot. "The same one I'll shove up yours if you're not careful, dickface." I snarled, unable to believe he had butted in and been rude to me like that. I wasn't even speaking to him!

The douchebag opened his mouth and raised his middle finger at me to flip me off. "Why don't you go back to whatever hole you crawled out of?" He retorted, and Knox immediately smacked him upside the head before pushing him away with a roll of his eyes. "Fuck off, Lucas. You're being a dick." He grunted to his friend, causing the girl to his right to snicker and point a finger mockingly at Lucas.

Knox shooed them away and turned back to me once they'd wandered off, giving me a sheepish smile. "Sorry about them. Lucas can be an ass sometimes, in particular." He said, but I just huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. "I noticed." I responded flatly.

I stepped back when he stepped out from his apartment and closed the door, his gaze trailing down my figure. I was still wearing my pajamas, consisting of a pair of grey shorts and a loose black t-shirt that fell down over one shoulder because of how big it was on me. "Getting ready for bed?" He smirked slightly, cocking up a brow, and I narrowed my eyes up at him in irritation. "More like struggling to get to bed with your music so loud." I said snarkily, turning my nose up at him.

That smirk grew on his lips. "Are you trying to ask me to turn it down?" He asked, to which I pursed my lips and raised a brow at him. "No. I'm telling you to turn it down because I'm trying to sleep." I told him. Amusement sparkled in his gaze and he leaned down so his face was level with mine, the closeness making my eyes widen in surprise. I leaned away slightly, flustered. "You should learn to be a little nicer, doll face. Ask me if you want it." He responded in a murmur, an undertone to his voice that made my skin rise with goosebumps.

For a moment I just stared at him with parted lips before I cleared my throat and stepped away from him, my fingers gripping at my shirt as I crossed my arms beneath my chest. "Fine." I grumbled in embarrassment at the reaction my body had to him. "Please turn down the music." I sighed, shoulders slumping.

He smiled at me, smug and yet playful. "See." He teased. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" He chuckled, but I just grumbled nonsense beneath my breath.

My eyes flicked up to him when he straightened to his full height, heart pounding within my chest. "I didn't know that you liked to party." I said after a few seconds of silence, the two of us watching one another. I was waiting for him to go inside, and I imagined he was waiting for me to head back to my apartment, but neither of us did that yet.

A hum left him and he shrugged his shoulders. "Not very often. Only every once in a while, really." He explained, and I slowly nodded my head. "You we're gone all day today." Knox said, causing me to raise my brows in surprise. I hadn't told him that I had been out today, so I was surprised that he'd noticed at all. "I just heard your door slam this morning, and so I kind of assumed you'd left. That's all." He explained, not wanting me to get the wrong idea.

"Right." I smiled slightly and fiddled absentmindedly with my shirt, rubbing the fabric between two fingers. "I went shopping with Odette and then we went to a club, actually." I told him, unsure quite exactly why I was even telling him this. It wasn't like he even cared about what I had done today.

I shook my head to myself and pursed my lips, looking down at the floor as I furrowed my brows. Why was I still here? We weren't even friends and yet I was just standing here, telling him useless information about my day. Why did it feel natural?

"Hey." Knox reached out and gently shook my shoulder, his hand warm against my bare skin. I flinched, surprised by his touch, but I didn't push it away because it felt, well, nice. I just looked up at him, my toes curling within my slippers. "You realize it's not a bad thing for us to be friends, right? I can tell you're getting in your own head, Flora." He muttered, causing me to frown and gently brush his hand off.

"Just please turn the music down." I said softly, turning around to pad back into my apartment. I shut the door and returned to my room, crawling beneath my blankets again after I kicked off my slippers.

As I flopped within my bed, trying to get comfortable, I wondered if Knox really understood why I didn't want to be friends with him. It wasn't even that I didn't want to; I was scared to, even more so now that I had this strange attraction to him. Hating him was familiar. It was what I knew, a constant that would not falter or have potential to hurt me in the end. Hating him was supposed to be easy, but it seemed like I was finding it harder and harder for that to remain true.

I buried my face into the pillow, sighing as I heard the music go completely quiet from across the hall.