Broken Glass [h.s.]

four

Dove

"What could you possibly want?" I ask him, not moving to the side to let him walk in.

"You know, considering that this is my house, it's quite rude not to invite me in" he muses, ignoring my question.

"I'll live with the guilt."

"Fair enough." He pushes the door open himself and walks in. "You know what, I don't like you, and you don't like me. But, considering the circumstances, I suppose we could..." He starts walking towards me, and I start retreating. All of sudden my shoulders hit the cold stone wall and he smirks, putting his hands on each side of my head, cornering me. I hold my breath as he puts one of his thighs between mine. "You know... Make the best out of it."

I almost push him away, but then I have a better idea.

"Why not?" I stand on my tiptoes and connect my lips to his.

He stumbles back a little, completely taken aback by my response, but he wastes no time in gripping my waist harshly and pushing me hard against the wall, deepening the kiss. One of my hands travels down his shoulder to his lower stomach, where it stops.

"Don't tease me" he mumbles, breaking the kiss for a second.

I smile, and leave a trail of kisses down his jawline and on his neck. "I'd never."

He turns his head to kiss me again, and my hand leaves his body to go to my pocket knife, safely secured into my right pocket as always.

He starts kissing down my neck as one of his thighs finds its way between mine once again, pushing his waist against mine. I moan loudly to cover the sound of the pocket knife snapping open.

I stand on my tiptoes again and bite his earlobe. "You know what, darling?" I murmur into his ear, "You're too trusting."

He stops his actions in the second he feels the cold blade of the knife make its way up his stomach, under his shirt. I stop it over his belly button and with a fast movement I cut open the last three buttons of his shirt hearing his sudden, fast intake of breath.

I close my knife and push him backwards. "Now get the fuck out of my room."

"Woah, calm down, love. It was just a... Friendly suggestion" he replies after having regained his usual little smirk.

"I don't see anything friendly in that, love."

Defeated, he exits the room, and I drink some water to wash away the minty flavour of his lips.

• • •

"Have you slept well, love?" Styles says looking up in the second I walk into the room the next morning.

"I think you misheard when I told you my name sweetheart, it's Dove, not love" I reply sitting down at the table.

"Oh no, I heard perfectly... Love."

I roll my eyes and totally ignore him.

"Have you trained yourself well, love? You know, I wouldn't want you to accidentally stab me with that knife of yours. Which by the way, I'd like to remove" he adds.

"Feel free to do it. Just, don't mind me if when they'll attempt to slice your throat I'll be sitting back and watching it happen instead of saving your life."

"Are you always a bitch?"

"I only am with self-absorbed pricks."

"You two are gonna give me so many problems" Mr Styles says joining us.

"I agree, what about I take him to the woods and end him personally?" I reply pointing at Styles.

Max, who is sitting next to him, gives me a weird look and puts his hand on his gun.

"Chill, I was kidding." I take a piece of bread and start crumbling it absentmindedly.

After a while the food comes and we all shut up, eating in silence. When we're all done we decide to review the plan for the last time.

"We'll have to give you a gun, Miss Winters. All the backpacks are ready. You're all ready to go" Mr Styles says with his usual peaceful tone.

"With all the respect, don't you think it would be better to move at night?" I ask him standing up.

"Every part of the city but the Moons' is under curfew. You'll be shot dead before they can even realise who you are. I thought you were familiar with that, being them your own rules."

"Pardon me, Sir. I should've realised your son doesn't even know how to sneak around" I reply, glancing at Styles.

He snorts, but decides to say nothing.

"Have something to share, Styles? Oh, don't tell me, you actually trained during the night?" I provoke him, and he glares at me.

"Will you stop calling me Styles? I have a name, and it's Harry."

"Will you start calling me Dove?" I ask back, but he just stands up and goes away with a scowl on his face, pissed that he hasn't got his way for once.

"Yeah you're right, go away, I love when you act your age" I say behind him, and I hear someone suppress a laugh next to me.

I look at Mr Styles confusedly, but he just shakes his head. "It's nice to see him banter around. Doesn't happen often."

"What, are you actually telling me he knows the meaning of responsibility?"

"He's not that bad. I know that it seems hard to believe now, but I can promise you that he's not that bad" he replies, "Now, you have two free hours. We'll meet here."

I give him a fast nod before walking towards the main gates. The Styles Mansion is surrounded by a large Italian garden, that creates on the ground a complicated system of symbols it's relatively easy to get lost in - and that is somewhat mesmerising. Right on the left there's a path surrounded by roses of a pale pink, their perfume so strong I can smell it from the main entrance. I move in that direction, touching the soft petals as soon as I reach them, amazed by the flowers. It's been a while since the last time I saw roses, and they're way more beautiful than I remember. They kind of give away a innocent, delicate feeling, given their soft colour, something that I haven't seen in a long while.

All of sudden I hear faint steps behind me, and as a whiff of wind brings a rich scent to my nostrils, I realise that I don't really need to turn around to know who they are.

"You know what, when Mr Styles said he was gonna give us two hours, I thought he meant far away from each other." I stop walking and turn around, glaring at the man behind me.

"Why would we do that? In my opinion, we could have so much more fun together" he says catching up with me.

"You never give up, do you?" I ask him unconsciously moving away from the wall of the house.

"Why would I give up, when I know I've already won?" He replies smiling at me triumphantly.

"That's cute but you see, you haven't."

With a fast move, he takes my knife out of my pocket and opens it.

"Hey-" I try to say, but he silences me.

He kneels in front of a plant of roses and cuts away a flower.

"I have, though" he says, offering me the white rose, "Take it" he adds, seeing that I had no intention of accepting the flower.

Unwillingly, I take it. As soon as I touch the stem, I feel a sharp pain in my index. I hiss and let it go, and the rose falls at our feet. "It has thorns" I explain to Styles, who's giving me a weird look.

He bends down and picks it up, holding it between our chests once again. "All roses have" he says, "Now, the question is, will you take it because it's beautiful, or will you leave it in fear of getting hurt?"

Without saying another word, I take it.