Taken

Chapter 17: Let Me Love You

Author's note: Half of you will probably hate me after this chapter. So, I'm sorry.

I looked at Louis, apologies written all over his face. My gaze moved back to Niall, who was staring at Tess, a wide grin on his face. Tess herself was smiling at me, but it was so fake it wasn't funny. I wanted to give her a genuine smile just to show her that I was a way better actress than she was.

"I'm Tess." She said, holding out her hand to me. I looked at Niall again who smiled at me expectantly. I stood up and walked over to them.

"I'm Amberlynn." I said, giving her a smile, and taking her hand. She glared at me, still smiling, as she squeezed my fingers together. If Niall wasn't in the room, I would have laughed at her pathetic attempt at hurting me. I kept the smile on my face as I squeezed her fingers, causing her knuckles to pop and crack. Her face twitched the tiniest bit, before letting go of my hand.

"It's so nice to meet you! Niall, why didn't you tell me she was so pretty?" She asked, slapping his arm lightly. Niall shrugged and blushed, walking away. "He didn't say much about you at all in fact. I guess he was just waiting for us to meet. Let us get to know each other personally.

"Well, he didn't shut up about you." I said. Niall was immersed in a conversation with Liam and Zayn who had followed Niall and Tess in. Harry, who had come in behind Li and Zayn, was standing with Louis. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the two of them watching me.

"Maybe he forgot to talk about you." She said, smirking. To be honest, her comment stung, and it left me wondering why he hadn't talked about me. Had he truly forgotten me? I continued smiling, refusing to let her know how much what she said affected me.

"How's it going girls?" Niall asked, walking up next to Tess, and wrapping his arm around her waist. My stomach lurched when I looked at them, and I had to force myself not to grit my teeth. I kept my mouth shut, a smile locked into place.

"It's going great! Right, Amberlynn?"

"Absolutely." I said, forcing myself to sound happy. "I'm kind of thirsty, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get myself something to drink." I turned around, and headed for the kitchen.

"I'm kind of thirsty myself. Get me a water?" Tess asked. I rolled my eyes, and turned to face her. She was still smiling fakely at me, but her eyes were watching me, daring me to say no. I pasted a big grin on my face.

"Sure thing! Anyone else?" I asked, looking around.

"Do you mind getting me a coke?" Zayn asked.

"Pepsi for me, please." Liam said.

"Coke." Niall said.

"Is that all?" I asked. No one said anything, so I turned back around and started for the kitchen. I pushed lightly against the swinging door, and walked through. I clenched and unclenched my fist, gritting my teeth as I walked to the fridge, and opened the door, pulling out two cokes and a pepsi. I sat them on the counter, and grabbed some glasses from the cabinet.

I heard the kitchen door swing open, and footsteps on the tile as I put a few ice cubes in the cups. The footsteps stopped behind me. I didn't turn around though.

"Amberlynn?" Louis asked. "Are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine."

"No, you aren't. Turn around. Look at me." He said, gently spinning me around to face him. Harry stood next to the island, watching us. "Talk to me." I looked back up to Louis' pale blue eyes.

"She's just... ugh! She's nasty! Am I the only one that can see how fake she is? I can see right through her. I don't see how Niall can't. You know, I've never said a curse word in my life, but I had words running through my mind right then that would get my mouth washed out with soap. And to be honest, I had a strong urge to say them! You have no idea how hard it was to keep myself from just decking her in the face." I said. Louis and Harry were silent, listening to my rant.