King of Hearts (House of Cards Series 2) [Student/teacher]

Five of Hearts

Maddison and Westley stared at each other, almost oblivious to the six eyes watching them. Candace spoke up and startled them all. "Oh for the love of Mike! West, Maddison, go use the White Room. It'll help make sure there's no hitting. Because if either of you get that room dirty, you'll face a fate far worse than a little scolding. You'll face the wrath of the Housekeeper."

West looked at his elder half-sister and grunted, then grabbed Maddison's hand and led her quietly down a hall to the aforementioned White Room. Even though she was mad at him, Maddison followed along, not pulling her hand out of his grip. When West led her into the White Room, he was prepared to get screamed at, but the splendor of the white room made Maddison gasp and West found himself looking over the room with a critical eye.

Unsurprisingly, the White room was done in shades of white. The walls were a soothing eggshell white, the furniture a combination of plush, ultra-comfortable ivory pieces and birch white wood, a faux white tiger fur rug covered the floor and all the accents were in crystaline or off white. It was overwhelmingly vanilla West was always amused that his not so innocent or pure father had requested a room that was so.... virginal.

West threw himself down onto on of the lounges, not caring that the dirt and grime on his clothes would probably stain the precious white fabric. He looked up at Maddison, who refused to sit down. "What would you like to know about first?"

Maddison stood in the center of the alarmingly clean looking room and felt the almost overwhelming urge to trash the pretty room up just so it felt more real. Seeing West, the wild, untamed Cubano sitting in the middle of the pristine room was almost... perverse. And then his words sunk in and she was reminded of why they had come in here. He was a highschool kid....

"How long ago did you figure out that I was older than you?" Maddison demanded, knowing that West had already somehow known.

"I figured it out when you mentioned that Siobhan was having her twentieth birthday. Earlier you'd remarked that she was your younger sister. Sort of clicked then." West kept his tone irreverant and carefree as always. Because he knew what was coming. Maddison was gonig to leave, angry and hating him, and he would go back to the predictable hum drum of his usual life. Finish the last months of school, suffer through summer school and then finally leave highschool forever. As much as he wanted to fight for Maddison to be his girl, he knew that it was probably the best thing for her if she got far, far away from him before he ruined her life too.

"How come you didn't tell me?" Maddison sounded hurt. It made West want to kill something, but unless he was into suicide, he couldn't take out the one hurting her.

"I was planning on it. But then Honey called and..." West shrugged, looking away from Maddison's bright green eyes. He could make her forgive him. He knew it. The look in Maddison's eyes right now was screaming her desperate need for an explanation. If he told her about his past, she might understand.... But that would be selfish, keeping her in his life when West knew that she deserved to be able to go to a club and not worry about running into a cad like Joao.

West locked eyes with Maddison for a moment, torn. Should he tell her and risk her world? It's what he wanted, a chance to get to know this outrageous and stunning woman more. It's what she wanted, by the desperate, hopeful look in her eyes. And it was exactly the thing West knew he couldn't do to her. Because right now, it would hurt less to walk away than later. West looked away from Maddison, decision made.

"I'm a gangster. Not in the whole 'brap brap, respect' kind of way you North Americans seem obsessed with." West tapped his belt buckle, making Maddison's eyes drop to his abdomen. "Los Santos, is a Cuban gang I ran with. Before that, I ran with a Spanish gang. I have killed someone in self defence. I have killed someone to save an innocent's life. And I have killed in anger. I have burned down homes, blown up cars, shot up buisnesses and done more than my fair share of hard drugs." West looks back at Maddison's stunned eyes. "I have been in threesomes and foursomes, I have slept with a married woman, I have stolen, vandalized, brawled and tortured. I am not a nice man to know and although I can swear to you that I would never hurt you, I can't swear that having me in your life won't result in you getting hurt anyways. You should walk out of this house, get in your car, delete my number from your phone and never see me again."

West rose from his casual sprawl on the lounge, standing up in front of Maddison, close and intimate. His fingers wrapped gently around her biceps, lips hovering an inch over hers as he stared down into her green, surprised eyes. "I don't want to be just friends. I want to make you my girl and see what kind of trouble we can get into. I want to go on discovering the things that make you scream, laugh, curse at and cry over." West could feel the heat of Maddison's shakey breath tickle his lips and he couldn't resist the temptation anymore. He pressed his lips to hers, drinking in her startled breath. Even though she was pissed off at him, Maddison kissed back, seeming unable to help herself as West dominated the kiss. He broke their lips apart, seeing a dazed expression in Maddison's eyes. "What I want and what's the right thing aren't usually on the same page. But if I am honest in saying that I care about you at all, then I know what I have to do." West looked at Maddison, seeing the confusion in her eyes as she tried to follow his convoluted logic. "I'm sorry I ever let you get pulled into my crap and chaos Maddison. You deserve a lot better than this." West brushed his lips across hers once more, then walked out of the room.

A couple of years of sneaking out of this house every night of the summer allowed West to slip out silent as a ghost. He didn't want to risk waking up his father or step mother. Senior would get after him for sneaking around so much and Kerry, his step mother would just fuss. She loved West even if he was a constant reminder that her husband was about as faithful as the average tick, and West always felt a deep sense of guilt that he made her worry over him. Right now would be a terrible time to run into either parental figure. Seeing Senior right now would just start a fight, and West was personally convinced that if he were to get sympathy from Kerry right now, he might start to go soft. So instead he slipped out silently, stuffed his hands into his pants pocket, started walking in the direction of his grandmother's home and stomped the way over.

He stopped as he reached his actual home, staring at the small building and trying to settle his foul mood. 'la had been so much happier lately, and West knew it was partially because he had managed to keep out of trouble. As a familiar voice spoke from the darkness just behind him, West knew that the trouble was about to start right back up again.

"Happy New Years Westley." Joao's mocking voice hissed out of the darkness.

West turned to face the rich boy and felt the numbness take over. This was the part of him not even God could love. "Jo. I am so happy to see you right now."

Jo raised his eyebrows at West's confidant words. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting then irmão."

West glared a little, smile hiding the fact that he was currently plotting violence. "I am no brother of yours Joao. The moment you set me up for the dogs and stabbed me in the back, you became a disease just like all the rest of them."

There was a sickly satisfied smile on Joao's face. "Oh West. Arrogant, abrasive, impulsive and stupid as always." the rich boy shook his head in mock sadness and regret. "You really never did learn, did you West? It should have occured to you right away." Joao stepped a little closer to West, and the Cubano tensed, ready for the rich brat to make a move. "How did I find out where you lived?" Joao whispered the question, making West still inside. Joao stepped back, seeming to realize that his desire to be pendantic had left him vulnerable to attack.

West just watched the other man back off and let the smile light up his face. "Oh Jo, it does't matter. If I were afraid of you, I would care. But it's you, so I'm not scared."

Both men started as honking and a loud cheer burst into the night. New Year's. West cocked his head to the side and realized that in one night he had lost his girlfriend, pissed off his sisters, run into the arch nemisis and verified that even though he could leave the gang life behind, gang life wouldn't leave him alone. "You know what Joao, in the spirit of the season, good night." West turned his back on a man that had literally stabbed him in the back once before. But he just couldn't care. What was the point of behaving like a good man when he wasn't? What was the point in doing hte right thing when it meant nothing? No one would ever look at his past and not immediately assume he was the most likely suspect.

"Are you not afraid of what I'm gonig to do to you?" Joao called after him, trying to be intimidating but West didn't slow.

"Don't mind my back, it's just me walking away from you." West called out, heading inside. The door slammed shut behind him and he locked it, doing a sweep inside to ensure that his 'la was on her rocking chair, watching the New Year's celebration. Everything was alright in his home. West settled down next to his grandmother, knowing that his world was as it should be. All f***ed up.