I walked back to the library the next morning, pulling my jacket tighter around me. It was barely Fall, yet it seemed so cold already. I stared at my feet, willing myself not to trip over the broken up sidewalk. I bumped into something and yelped, immediately backing up a few steps. "What the hell!" the boy shouted and spun around, fist raised, making me flinch. Styles. Immediately, his scowl broke and he grinned. I was just glad it wasn't one of the others. His change in demeanor didn't relax me at all. "Charlotte." I ignored him and looked back down at the sidewalk as if I hadn't heard him. "Hi." he said, not thrown off guard for even a second. I sighed and looked back up, but didn't meet his eyes.
"Uh-... Hello." I tried to smile even though I was terrified of him. I was more than alarmed that he would be ready to hit someone so easily just for bumping into him.
"I'm sorry." he frowned, motioning to his fist. "I didn't know it was you, obviously."
"It's ok." I shrugged, turning around. I didn't feel like going to the library anymore. I just wanted to go home.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Home. I- I changed my mind. I don't want to go to the library. I... I have something to do."
"Would you like to go out for breakfast? It's so early." Styles asked before I had the chance to get out of earshot. My whole body tensed. He wouldn't leave me alone no matter what I did- no matter how many time I shot him down.
"I don't know you, so I don't really think that that's a good idea. Maybe another time. I-"
"It'll be a way for you to get to know me, huh? Listen, I'm really sorry about before... You don't have to be afraid of me. We met in a really strange way, but that shouldn't make anything different. I'm not going to hurt you." I felt like I was going to be sick, but I didn't see another way out of this. If I told him no, he might pull a gun on me. He didn't really seem like the type of guy that would understand that no means no.
"Ok." I gave in. I knew that he wasn't going to give up and I'd rather go and eat breakfast with a killer than get shot by one. I felt uncomfortable and only followed him from a little bit of a distance. I wondered if he noticed. I wondered if I could turn around and run off. How fast is he? Would he catch up? When it wasn't dark out, he seemed more like a normal person. It must be because he wasn't around his gang...
Styles pulled open the door to a small diner, holding the door open for me. I smiled at the gesture and followed closely behind him. He seemed like a normal person right now. But I knew that he wasn't. Maybe if it weren't for all these people around, he would have already killed me. Is he going to kidnap me after we eat? He sat down at another booth on the opposite side of the room and motioned for me to sit down across from him. I wasn't quite sure what to say to him so I stayed quiet until I noticed he was being weird.
Styles toyed with a straw wrapper while I ate. "Are you ok? You're hardly eating." I prodded. He looked up with a puzzled face. Maybe a bit exaggerated. I had been gripping my phone tightly in my hand the whole time that we were eating. I was ready to call the police the second he tried to hurt me. Although, with our proximity, I don't think I'd be fast enough to call them. I found it incredibly hard to eat my own food with the sick feeling in my stomach, but I didn't want him to know how scared I was.
"Yeah, I'm fine." he nodded a little too eagerly. He took a sip of his water to distract me from the fact that he wasn't eating and glanced down at his phone. I was terrified. He was acting weird. He's going to kill me. I dug my fingernails into my palm. There's too many people around. Would he really try to kill me now? Styles cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "I'm very sorry. I'll be back in just a moment. Everything's fine." he insisted, standing up abruptly, rattling everything on the table. A couple sitting in the booth behind us looked up, one with wide eyes, the other glaring sharply. "Sorry." Styles laughed it off, even blushing. My heart was racing in my chest again. I knew that something like this was going to happen. I shouldn't have trusted him enough to follow him here. I should have said no and gone home. He might not have tried to hurt me with all those people around. This was a mistake and I could pay the ultimate price for it.
"Yeah, ok. That's fine." I said. Styles pushed open the door and quickly strode down the sidewalk. I knew I shouldn't follow him, but curiosity was always a nasty habit of mine. If he hadn't seemed so anxious before he had left, I probably wouldn't have bothered. I had to admit that I was a bit relieved that he left the building instead of trying to kill me. Unless he was going to kill someone else... This was the first time I had seen him scared. It was strange. I had only seen him one other time, but I never imagined that someone like him could even be scared. However, knowing that there had to be something wrong, I went against my better judgement. "We'll be right back." I said to the waitress before opening the door and slowly walked down the path that Styles took. I shouldn't be following him. I still hardly know him and I have no idea what's going on. What if he's going to see the others and I follow him right to them? My consience is a bitch. What if they were going to kill him? Maybe that's why he's so worried. I found him, his black combat boots slapping heavily down the sidewalk. He yanked a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, quickly lighting one and breathing it in like he was savoring his last breath. I frowned and shook my head disapprovingly even though he didn't know that I was there. I couldn't even see his face, so the only hints to his mood was the way he was walking and the constant puff of smoke that came from his lips. He took a sharp turn down the side of a building, me trailing shortly behind him. He let out another little puffy breath of smoke before letting out a ferocious roar, so startling that it almost made me scream as well. He dropped his cigarette, not bothering to step on it. I don't think I've ever seen such rage as he kicked the side of a dumpster several times, leaving a large dent in it. He yanked the lid attached to the dumpster right off of it's hinges and it hit against the brick wall of the building beside it before clattering to the ground. The vein on the side of his neck protruded. Tears now streamed down his face and I wanted to know what the hell was going on, but he didn't know that I'm here and I didn't want him to hurt me in his rage. I was so shocked that I was glued to the spot and remained still as Styles jerked his head to the side, finally realizing that I was there. I felt like I was going to throw up. I was screwed. This is it.
"Charlotte." he barked. I shook my head, eyes wide and took a few steps back. "Charlotte." he said again in annoyance, clicking his tongue and walking towards me slowly.
"P- please... please don't-" His fists were clenched at his sides, his face a deep shade of red, almost purple. He had the expression of a criminally ill person. And now I didn't even want to help him, I wanted to get as far away from him as possible. I have to get out of here. I'm not going to get out of here alive. And it was all my fault. I shouldn't have followed him. I should have left the other way out the diner. That was my chance. That was my chance to escape and I blew it.
"Sorry... I'm- I'm sorry. I- I didn't kn-" I stuttered, backing away more.
"Do I scare you, Charlotte?" he whispered, his hot breath trailing over my cheeks. His eyes were darker now. Angrier.
"No." I breathed, not wanting to give him the satisfaction even though my heart was racing. I knew that if I gave in, I would only empower him. I could practically feel the heat radiating off of him. This is why I had been so scared of him in the first place. I knew from the beginning that he'd be like this. He seemed so capable of it, the second that I had laid eyes on him. I shouldn't have trusted him. Even for a second. That second brought me here.
"Wrong answer." he snarled, swinging around quickly, taking a punch at the brick wall behind us. Shards of brick fell to the ground. Blood from his knuckles hit my neck. I cringed. I had made a horrible, horrible mistake.
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Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter! This was more of a filler chapter. I have chapters ahead of this written already, but it seemed like it was moving to quickly, so I had to add a bit. The next chapter is much longer and will be up in just a few minutes.
Thank you so much for reading this! Hope you guys are enjoying it! It'll get better and a lot more will happen in the next few chapters. Thanks for bearing with me. I love you!
~Peyt xx
