12
The four of us reached the destination within the hour, due to Jordan's speed behind the wheel.
I found out that Jordan was the oldest of the three, being seventeen already, due to his September birthday. Then came the passenger - Zidan - who was also seventeen, but his birthday was in February, unlike Jordan's September. Finn was the baby of the group, turning seventeen in August.
During the tense car ride of me not speaking and the other three practically laughing at anything that moved. Who needed an immature thirteen-year-old brother when there were three oddly attractive yet immature seventeen-year-olds to have as company?
"C'mon, Lauren," Finn teased once we'd pulled up outside some form of bar.
"No, I refuse to go inside a bar." I snapped.
Zidan laughed, "Why? You scared?"
"Yes," I pouted. "I'm a fifteen-year-old female in the company of three seventeen-year-old boys who are going to ditch me at the first chance," I held onto the seatbelt for dear life, "So yes, my kidnappers, I'm scared."
Jordan howled with laughter, "It's okay, Precious, Regan's in there... Somewhere."
"Leave her alone," Finn scolded, trying to cover up his own laughter. "Re works behind the bar, Lauren, it's all fine."
I rolled my eyes. "Why should I trust you, Finley?"
Finn's eyes widened as he clutched his chest. Jordan let out a low whistle.
"Did she really just call you that?" Zidan laughed.
"Yes, boys, I did," I confirmed, winking at an uncomfortable Finn. "Aw, you ashamed of the name your mummy gave you?"
"No!" Finn exclaimed. "No one's called me that for years,"
"He's getting emotional," Jordan translated.
I smiled and patted Finn's arm, "Okay, I'll get out."
I had just reached for the door handle when Finn grabbed my wrist. "Are you sure?"
"Of course, your brother must have good reasons for letting you and your friends take me."
Finn looked down into his lap.
"Finn... Did he want to see me?"
"Yes! He did!" Finn defended himself. "He just didn't exactly say it..."
"What are you trying to tell me?" My eyes bore into his. Finn had to avert his gaze multiple times.
There was a woosh of cold air, then arms pulling me out of the car and away from Finn.
To my horror, both Jordan and Zidan were in a similar situation. Both boys had another, older, stronger, male keeping them on the floor. Each of them shook their heads, making me wonder how many times this had actually happened. I was carelessly chucked over to where Jordan and Zidan were kept, however, I had no one actually keeping me there. The captives obviously knew that I couldn't exactly escape.
"HOW MANY TIMES, FINN?!" A voice shouted, from the other side of the car. I recognised that voice.
I glanced at the boys sat next to me and they nodded.
"Keep your voice down!" Finn hushed.
"WHY?! SCARED YOU'RE GONNA SCARE HER OFF?! YOU NEED TO STOP ACTING SO EGOTISTICAL, FINN!"
"Wait," I whispered to Zidan, who happened to be sat next to me. "Who's this about?"
"You," Zidan replied before yelping in surprise when a boot kicked him in his lower back. I almost laughed until the same thing happened to me.
"YOU JUST WANT HER FOR YOURSELF!" Finn screamed.
There was an exasperated sigh then both boys appeared from behind the car.
"Go." Regan hissed towards the men keeping us captive.
They left, not before taking a turn kicking all three of us on the floor. We winced in pain.
"Zidan, Jordan, drive Finn home." He snapped. The two of them gave me weary glances, I nodded and I've never seen three guys run so fast.
Zidan waved from the passengers side and Jordan looked genuinely scared of leaving me. I shooed them away, rising from the pavement and grabbing Regan's wrist to get him out of the road.
"For God's sake, get out of the road." I said, pulling him in.
Regan's attention was stuck on the car, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" I asked. It hadn't been an awful experience, like when Vince and Jamie had cornered me.
"My brother," Regan glanced at me, "Are you okay?"
"Well, I've been kicked a few times today." I replied, voice dripping in sarcasm.
Regan rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'm just covering for someone. Want to go for a drink?"
"Nothing alcoholic." I answered and his eyes lit up.
What? There's nothing wrong with going out for a drink with a friend, right?
-
"You look like shit." Regan commented over his mug of coffee. We were sat in Ricky's diner. Without any hesitation, he drove here in complete silence. Unlike the American Diner we first met in, which was in an awful place in the town centre, Ricky's was situated only ten minutes walking distance from my close, which made it the perfect place to visit with Ella during the holidays.
"Thanks for that observation." I muttered.
Obviously, Finn and his mates had captured me uexpectedly, so I did look horrific. My hair, like always at home, was in a messy bun that was spiralling out of control. I was wearing black leggings and another of Cayden's sweaters that I had been wearing after being at his house earlier today. On my feet were the first thing I found, my purple vans that clashed horribly with the murky green sweater.
Regan looked so much better than me even in his work gear. The black bottoms and top with bar logo suited him well. On top of the uniform he had thrown on a grey Converse jumper, no hood, that I wanted for myself. I'd make a note to steal that when he wasn't looking. His brown hair was styled expertly, though it had become messy from the amount of times his hands had been running through it.
"Sorry," Regan laughed, his hands attached to the red coffee mug, attempting to withdraw heat from it.
I smiled over my own drink in a similar style mug, though it was blue. "I know, Finn didn't even let me slap on some make-up."
Regan frowned.
"What?" I asked, suddenly petrified that I had said something wrong.
"You look so much better without make-up," He said, looking right into my eyes before looking down at his coffee.
I shrugged. "Try looking at my forehead, then make your final decision."
We sat in silence for a while.
"I'm sorry." Regan said.
"Why?" I asked, taking a long sip of the hot chocolate in my hands. I had a really unhealthy obsession with Ricky's hot chocolate.
"Sorry for asking, but have you been crying?" He explained.
My eyes widened in horror. "How did you know?"
"You're not your normal snarky self," Regan shrugged. "Let me guess, Cayden?"
I sighed and put down the mug, "I just heard something and probably took it the wrong way. I'd just realised my feelings for him and I guess I was expecting the worst."
Regan let out a low whistle, "Why would you expect the worst, Elle?"
"He's hurt many girls before me and I'm nothing special..." I trailed off. I decided to let the 'Elle' thing go, he didn't know the stem or what it associates with. It wasn't his fault.
"I'm always here,"
"I'm always here." I could practically hear his voice ringing out.
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Regan," I sighed, taking another sip of the hot chocolate.
"What?" He asked, seemingly confused.
I sighed. "You heard what I said. Don't tell me something like that when, ultimately, it's not going to be true. It might be now, but later on, when you have a girlfriend, is that really going to be easy to keep?" I shrugged. "I'm just saying." I brought the mug back up to my lips and took a sip, feeling a weird warmth come over me.
"You really are crazy, Lauren," Regan commented. He rolled his eyes and covered his coffee mug, to get the heat out of the beverage. "How's Cayden?"
I shrugged, not really sure where to begin. "We had a make out session earlier. Then he went to take me home, when we met up with his friends Jamie and Vince along with Ella-- Eloise. Elle got told to leave and once I left after her Cayden said he didn't want to prove my best friend right, that he'd hurt me. So I don't know where that leaves us. I'm just going to pretend I didn't actually hear, that'd be best," I sighed heavily. "I just took what he said the wrong way, I guess."
"He obviously cares about you, Lauren. I don't even know the brat and I can tell that,"
"I'd appreciate you not calling my friend a brat." I snapped, a wave of defensiveness coming over me.
"Are you sure you're just friends, at this moment in time?" Regan pressed on.
"I don't know. How am I meant to know? I'm the last to find out everything, important or not. So I don't see why this situation would be any different. Holly and the Hell Dolls will certainly find out before me, that's just what they do. Maybe I won't be able to tell you what we become, due to me being seven feet under the ground, on my way to Hell." I snarled, tempted to leave.
Regan shrugged and took a drag on the coffee, "I'm just saying, you should talk to him."
"He doesn't want to talk to me or he would've called!" I exclaimed, holding out my phone in evidence.
He raised a brow, "Lauren, is your phone even on?"
"Of course it's on," I snapped, pressing the unlock button. "Oh my god..."
"It's not on, is it?" Regan laughed. I had the urge to slap him, but contained it and laughed along with him.
"No..." I murmured before turning it on again. The Apple icon appeared and I set it on the table.
Once it had turned back on, it didn't take long for the texts and calls to register.
"Popular," Regan grinned on spotting the fifty missed calls and seventeen unread texts.
I rolled my eyes and grimaced. "Oh god, oh dear god. I'm so dead." I muttered as I decided to check the messages first.
Caaaaaydeeen: Lauren, text me please?x
Caaaaaydeeen: I was in a bad mood, I didn't mean to be snappy x
Caaaaaydeeen: Lozza? Baby, are you okay?x
Caaaaaydeeen: Why aren't you answering any messages?x
Caaaaaydeeen: I'm phoning your brother, I don't care x
*
ElliotGreeney: Why is your boyfriend calling me?
ElliotGreeney: Just answer the damned boy.
ElliotGreeney: How am I meant to know where you are?
ElliotGreeney: I'm not sykick.
ElliotGreeney: *Physic
ElliotGreeney: Wait... Let me just ask Mum.
*
Ellaa: Can you come over?x
Ellaa: Kian's freaking me out... I think he's just using me...x
Ellaa: Oh, you're with Cayden, right? Never mind, I'll just call Regan x#
"Did Ella call you?" I asked to Regan, looking up from my phone.
"Yeah," He answered simply, pulling his own phone out.
MotherGreene: Lauren, where are you Sweetie?xx
MotherGreene: It doesn't matter, as long as you're safe xx
MotherGreene: Drop us a text please, thank you xx
"Did you answer?" I asked.
"Who, Ella? Nah, I was at work. But she also sent me a few texts."
LaurenGreene: Sorry Mum, I'm out with Regan at the moment, I should be back in half an hour xx
"Sorry Regan, I've got to go," I said, standing up and shuffling out of the red booth. "Here's the money for the drink, sorry, again," I slipped four pound coins onto the wooden table. "Don't bother about the change, buy yourself something pretty." I finished with a smile.
"Sure you don't want a lift?" He asked, also standing up.
The thought was tempting, so tempting. "No thanks, I've got business to attend to and I don't think a boy dropping me off would be the best idea."
"Okay, call me though, I need to know you're okay," Regan said with a smile.
I moved over to him and enveloped him in a hug. I felt his muscles contract before relaxing into the hug. After about thirty seconds, I drew away.
"Catch you later," I waved him off and left the Diner. "Bye Ricky, say Kyrs I said hi and bye,"
"See you later, Lauren," Ricky and Regan said in sync. They both stared at each other, looking pretty gormless.
I laughed and walked the way home.
-
"Mum? Dad?" I asked, entering the house with the spare key under the doormat. Mum, like any blonde, was quite ditzy and had forgotten her set of keys on many occasions.
"Lauren!" Dad exclaimed, a massive smile on his unshaven face, popping out from the door to my left. "Alison and Peter are here with Isabella and Jamie, come and say hi?"
"Again?" I muttered to myself before saying to Dad: "Actually, I was planning on going to Cayden's, we need to talk,"
Dad winked at me, "I think you'll find that he's one step ahead of you,"
"What?" I asked in disbelief.
"Go up to your bedroom, Lauren," Mum huffed, almost making me scream, appearing next to Dad.
"What?" I asked again. "Oh! Okay, I'm going!"
I turned on my heel and practically ran to my room, hearing my Parents' laughter behind me, growing more distant.
Reaching my room, I opened the door, walked in, closed it behind me and gasped.
"Cay?" I asked quietly. Sitting on the edge of my double bed was none other than Cayden, looking extremely dashing in dark blue jeans and grey short sleeved shirt. Even his hair was looking tamer that it has ever looked before in the four years I'd known him. Shockingly, the air forces had been replaced by his black school shoes.
"Lauren, um, hey," He whispered, standing up off the bed and looking utterly awkward, as if he forgot I would come home at some point.
I covered my mouth with the sleeve of the sweatshirt, tears springing into my eyes. "You look... Cayden..."
"Please don't cry," His eyes widened to twice their original size.
"Why, Mr Smooth made uncomfortable by a crying female?" I joked, getting a laugh from Cayden. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted my sweatshirts back, then I was heading out on a date," He said with an evil grin, all awkwardness lost.
"No, they're mine now," I laughed. "Who you going on a date with, eh?"
"She doesn't actually know yet, I only asked her out earlier," He said huskily, walking towards me and closing the gap. I still hadn't moved away from the door.
I nodded in approval, "I'm sure she's a very lucky girl to have captured your attention so fast,"
Cayden stalled, "What? You really think I'd ask another girl on a date, Lozza?"
I giggled, watching him panic was always fun.
"You're cute when you giggle," He muttered and I felt a blush rise in my cheeks. "And when you blush," He added and my cheeks felt like they were burning.
"Cayden, stop it," I muttered, attempting to cool down my cheeks.
He winked and moved so there was only two inches separating us. "How about that date, Gorgeous?"
I smiled. Cayden leaned in close and pressed our foreheads together.
"Better get ready then," He whispered, "As much as I love you in my--"
He was cut off by my lips colliding with his. His lips spread into a smile against mine and he wound his arms round my waist.
He let out a contented sigh, "God," He looked into my eyes, "You going out like that?"
"Hell no!" I exclaimed, pushing his shoulder. "Give me five minutes?"
"You can get ready in five minutes?" His brows knitted together.
"No, I'll be dressed, then you can sit and look pretty, waiting." I said with a smile before heading to the wardrobe and opening the door so I was behind it.
Cayden folded his arms across his chest, "What if I don't want to leave?"
"Whatever," I shrugged, "You're not seeing anything though so quit the puppy eyes." I laughed at his childishness.
"Please Lozza?" He whined, stamping his foot.
"Ew, no. Sit down and stay quiet unless I ask for an opinion."
He rolled his eyes and sat on the bed, looking at the wooden door separating us.
Slowly, I got undressed, throwing the leggings, jumper and cami over the door. Cayden's eyes followed each piece of clothing as it flew through the air.
I turned to the wardrobe and looked inside; there were three dresses, two skirts, five pairs of jeans, four pairs of leggings and another three pairs of joggers along with an abundance of sweaters and tops.
"Skirt or jeans?" I asked, glancing over the door.
"Skirt," Cayden replied with a sly grin.
I rolled my eyes, "Seriously? That's what you're thinking about right now?"
His face flushed, "No!"
Laughing I turned towards the clothes again and pulled out the black skater skirt and a white vest top. Luckily, I had the right underwear on and just threw them on, tucking the vest into the skirt.
I walked outside of the door and saw Cayden's eyes immediately go to my chest, "Thoughts?"
"Gorgeous," He whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear.
I smiled, "Okay, now what jacket?"
From behind my back I showed him a blue blazer, black blazer, denim jacket, leather jacket and a hoodie of his.
"Definitely the hoodie," He joked, looking me up and down. I laughed. "I think this would look good,"
Cayden stood up and picked something off the floor. I put all the options on the bed and focused on him walking towards me holding a long-sleeved sheer black kimono. I didn't own a kimono, excitement overtook and I almost jumped on the poor boy.
"Oh my god!" I screamed, throwing my arms around his neck and burying into his cologne.
"You like?" He asked, amusement in his voice.
"Love it!" I shouted, taking the fabric out of his hands and slipping it on. "You shouldn't have bothered," I muttered, running the material through my hands. "There was no need."
He laughed. "Shut up,"
"Wait a minute," I giggled, pulling a pair of black frilly socks on and slipping my black Vans on. I then re-tied the messy bun I already had, not bothered about my hair anymore. After a quick spritz of perfume, I was ready.
"Ready?" He asked, still looking me up and down, eyes lingering on my chest.
I blushed, "Ready."