Trouble. (niall horan au)

chapter 4 - cigarette threats

Niall blew out a thin stream of smoke towards me, "Good observation skills, babe."

"Stop ignoring my question," I said, struggling not to cough.

"I just get very possessive of things," Niall explained calmly, "And I get very jealous when I hear the way other boys talk about you. Such rude things about such a sweet girl."

"So you threatened them?" I practically shouted, grabbing a handful of my hair in frustration.

"And I'll threaten more if I have to, so don't worry."

I groaned, feeling myself getting so angry at this boy who decided to crash into my life and just start to change things. And he just sits there, not seeing the problem, looking so smug as he smokes and stares with those blue eyes that remind me of the lake early in the morning, crystal and clear, and they shouldn't be so beautiful on such a mean person.

"You can't just control things like that," I snapped, "Ugh, I just- ugh."

Niall gives me a genuine smile, eyes crinkling at the corners, "Doesn't mean I won't try."

I stared at him for a moment and he stared right back, only a thin cloud of cigarette smoke separating us. After a moments pause I leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway, sliding down onto the tiled floor a safe distance away. The bells have long rung by now and hallways empty besides a scattered few people sprinting to class.

"Listen, Niall," I said suddenly, "I'm not the type of girl you're looking for to- well, satisfy your needs. You probably want someone more willing." Approaching from down the hall I spotted Rebecca Worthing, a cookie-cutter blonde whose passions included making-out with strangers and sparkly nail polish.

"Becca," I said, stopping her as she strutted past, apparently not too worried about being late. "My pal. My comrade. My equal."

Her eye twitched. "Who are you."

"Unimportant," I continued, directing her to stand in front Niall, "I'm here to introduce you to this hormonal male who is looking for a good hook-up." I gave Niall a thumbs-up from behind her back. "You in?"

"Sure," she shrugged, tossing her hair and smiling at him, choking everyone in the proximity with the smell of perfume, "Wanna go, like, to an empty classroom and do it?"

"What a gem," I exclaimed sincerely, shaking my head. "She's ready to go right now. Wastes no time. Well, you two kids have fun getting it on in the seductive setting of a school building."

I began to back away, until Niall held a hand up at me.

"Abbey, you don't leave." He looked at Becca. "You. Go." She shrugged and walked away as though she had just stopped by to talk about the weather. Niall tilted his head at me, as though I was like a book he didn't quite understand.

"I've been with enough people like her," he said, flicking an ember onto the floor and rubbing it out with his sneaker, "I'm currently looking for someone different."

"Ah," I exclaimed, "So to make you even better, you're probably oozing with sexually transmitted diseases. How cute."

He shrugged, smiling, and his teeth glowed in the faint light of his cigarette. "Nothing turns someone on like a boy festering with chlamydia."

I laughed at this, and my laughter echoed down the quiet hallway as Niall cocked his head listened like it was music. This immediatly silenced me as I felt the tension return.

"I like hearing you laugh," he declared, bending his pointer finger to beckon me over, "Come here."

I regarded him suspiciously, "Why."