Trouble. (niall horan au)

chapter 31 - the dirt

"Are here to assassinate me?" I asked, clutching my phone in my hands. It buzzed again. Niall was wondering where I was.

Bill pulled a piece of lettuce out of his sandwhich to wipe his chin. "No," he said, "Do I look like I'm in the physical shape to kill you?" He grabbed a handful of skin hanging over his waistband and jiggled it at me. "Come on. Have a fondle at this bloated fat bag. Work your fingers in. Oh yeah."

I looked down at the fanny pack on my waist and wondered if it would hold all my vomit. Now would be the ideal time to run away from this disguised terror occupying my own house, threatening Niall and I, but instinct told me to tell no one. My phone kept going off. Niall was getting worried. I glanced over my shoulder and looked at him parked down the street, sitting in the shade beneath a tree. He ran his hands through his hair, before shifting impatiently and switching to turning my shoes over in his hands.

"He's nearby, isn't he?" Bill asked, startling me. I spun around, and his dark eyes gleamed with subdued malice. "Isn't it odd, the girl afraid of touching falling in love with a boy with such a hands on past?"

"We're not in love," I snapped, then groaned, "I just, ugh. Don't talk about him like that."

I buried my face in my hands, grinding my sweaty palms into my eyes until my vision burst with spots of fireworks. I remembered the night Niall took me onto his neighbors roof, and we sat on scratchy tiles and stared at the black expenses of space and watched rockets of light from the nearby fair streak like stars. Niall told me he saw constellations in my eyes. I said it was probably my corneas. Then his half blind neighbor left his house and began shooting at us with a Bebe gun, thinking we were animals. Niall took two hits to the leg whilst I cried hysterically. It had been a very weird night.

"Don't you even think about getting near him," I threatened, stepping forward. It was a move I learned from Niall that he used when he wanted to appear intimidating. I squared my shoulders, and tried to perfect ice in my eyes. "You can't touch him. Now tell me who you are. Why are you after Niall, and why are you dating my mom?"

Bill feigned a look of terror. "Oh gee, I'm really scared of the girl who draws faces on her knees."

I looked down and face palmed. "Damn it. I thought those had washed off." I licked my thumb and began rubbing at the marker of one. "They comfort me."

"And sucking on hardboiled eggs comforts me." I grimanced and tried to figure out a way to leave this conversation. "But" he continued, "It's going to take a while to get rid of me now, sweetheart. Your mom is in love with me." He turned in his chair (which seemed to require much effort) and grinned in the direction of the kitchen. "In fact, who knows. I may move in here." He handed me his dirty plate, shooing me out of the room. "Might as well call me Daddy."

I stood there looking dumbfounded at the plate, which had literally been licked clean (he was a very repulsive man) and stared at him for a long time before I turned around and walked right out of the house and started down the street. Niall stood up from his car as he watched me storm over, face already furrowing in worry.

"Oh, uh, hey," he said, catching my shoulders lightly, "I see you got a uh, dirty plate there."

"Oh," I said absently, "I do. Right. I was just- washing it." I heaved it down onto the pavement. Niall calmly steered me away from the shattered remains.

"Was it not," he chuckled and gave me a dopey smile, "Was it not, uh, not dishwasher safe." He was quivering with suppressed laughter. As enjoyable as it was to see Niall try to not pee himself, I was a little preoccupied with thinking of all the places we could be where it would just be the two of us and we wouldn't need to worry about parents and stupid Bill being a stupid 'Daddy' and all these secrets secrets secrets. I could feel myself imploding.