dissolve. nh

Chapter 11

Niall's POV

"The club doesn't open until ten thirty, so I figured we could go out to eat. Are you hungry?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"I could eat something." She mumbled. I laughed and her cheeks tinged with pink. She didn't look at me, just rested her hands in her lap and stared straight ahead. I couldn't get over the way she looked tonight; it was almost effortless how beautiful she was, and it seemed like she didn't even know it. My eyes flicked over to her profile before slowly moving back to the road, looking out for the sign of the restaurant I was planning to take her to. 

I pulled into the parking lot, my eyes scanning a spot before I swung into one close to the door. It was windy out, and I really didn't want to walk all that far to the door. I was hungry and I didn't have reservations, not that a lot of people were eating at nine-thirty. I stepped out onto the pavement, rounding the car and pulling the door open before holding my hand out. Bleu looked at it, then me, her eyes showing flickers of wariness. Her pretty pink lips were pressed together in a thin line, and I quirked up my brow.

"I won't bite, Darling." I said, and she hesitated before grabbing my hand. She climbed out of the car. I pulled her to me after shutting the door, and a gasp escaped her as she steadied herself against me by putting a palm flat to my chest.

"Yet." I mumbled into her ear, brushing my lips over the shell. As expected, she huffed and pushed me away, clambering past me to walk toward the door. 

I laughed before taking to big strides to catch up with her, pulling the door open and holding it for her. Her face was set in a glare, her brown eyes narrowed to slits as she stalked under my arm and into the building. I followed after her, my eyes trailing up and down her body, unable to stop them from doing so. As we reached the hostess booth, I rested a hand on her lower back when I came up beside her. She tensed under my touch but didn't pull away, so I moved closer to her. I looked down at her as we waited to be seated, and saw that she was looking in a completely different direction. 

Bleu's POV

I was almost completely unaware of Niall touching me because my eyes were locked on him. The guy that I had so many problems with, so many past relations with, so much against him that I could write a book about it and run out of paper. He was with two other guys, dressed casually but still managing to look like an avenging angel. His dark brown hair had grown out so much that he had to flick it out of his face to get it away from his dark green eyes, so electrifying and deep that any girl could be roped in. 

Even me. 

My breath caught and I suddenly felt a breath on my ear.

"Who is that?" Niall asked in a husky voice, twinges of danger on every word.

"U-um, no one." I fibbed, and I felt him tighten his hold on my waist.

"Don't hide it from me, Bleu." He said, and I tore my eyes away from their captivator to look up into the deep sea of blue before me.

"He's my...ex-boyfriend." I said, looking down.

"Wait. Is that Darren?" He asked, and I nodded shyly. "Didn't I already beat that prick?" Niall asked angrily, and my eyes snapped up to his face. 

He looked absolutely pissed off. His eyes had darkened, the pupils blown wide and his gaze narrowed. His lips were set in a thin line, his jaw clenched so that the muscle in his cheek was risen. His hand was still tightened on my waist, and I looked back to Darren who had obviously seen me. He dropped a wink and smirk at me, and my breath caught before I shrunk into Niall.

"Niall, I don't want to be here." I said in a small voice, and that made him look at me. His gaze softened, though he still looked angry.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" He asked me, his voice growing huskier and sending shivers down my spine. I nodded my head, and I felt a tap on my shoulder. 

I turned to see Darren smiling at me through plump lips. "Hello, love." He said, and I gasped before stepping back onto Niall's foot and stumbling, but his large hands steadied me on my shoulders. He grabbed my hand and hauled me around behind him, and I twisted my fingers into the hem of his jacket.

"Get out of here." Niall said, and Darren let out a low whistle, holding up his hands in mock-surrender.

"Excuse me, man. Hey, aren't you the prick that fought me in the club?" He asked, pointing an accusatory finger at Niall. Niall just dipped his head down, and I couldn't see his expression, but it obviously didn't impress Darren too much as his darkened.

"Yeah, and the last time I recalled I kicked your ass. So I think you better leave Bleu alone from now on, yeah, before I do it again." Niall said, and they pulled away even though  hadn't noticed they'd gotten close. People around the restaurant were watching them, and I was still helplessly clinging to Niall. Darren let out a breath before giving a sinister smile and nodding once.

"We'll see." He said, and nodded at me- peaking out from behind Niall- and smirking. 

When he'd left, Niall whirled around and propelled me out of the restaurant. My feet moved quickly as I wanted to get out and get as far away from Darren as possible. I knew Niall wasn't one to back down from something like this, anyone could tell, and I couldn't get it out of my head that he just had for me. I couldn't even look up from the ground as I hurried along, Niall still extremely close behind me. It was when we got to the car that I even surprised myself. 

I turned before Niall could open the door and wrapped my arms around his waist. I buried my face into his chest and closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of him that surrounded me and locked me out of the outside world. Niall took a breath and stumbled a little-surprisingly-before wrapping his large arms around me and resting a hand on my hair. His heart beat in my ear, a steady and deep thump that comforted me for a reason unbeknownst to me.

"Thank you, Niall." I shakily breathed out, still buried into his chest. He didn't reply, only rested his chin on top of my head and swayed slightly back and forth.