Status: In progress.
Take These Storms Away
Let me go!
Make no mistake, those smiles are fake.
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“You must be October’s friend,” Alyssa said coolly, resorting to using her acting skills. Nope, she wasn’t going to act star struck, she wasn’t going to make a fool of herself further, but hey, at least he didn’t remember her from their brief encounter four years ago, right? “Hello? My eyes are up here,” she snapped, waving her hand in front of his face to divert his attention from the fact she was merely in a towel.
Her comment about her eyes had been totally necessary. Ian now found himself tearing his eyes away from her torso and legs to look at her face. Her face was contorted into a frown but none the less it was a possible to see the beauty beneath the anger. Long brown hair that flowed perfectly down her shoulders, green eyes that held untold stories and troubles of a broken girl but at the same time there was a glint in her eye, a mischievous glint.
“Yeah, ‘ello, I’m Ian,” Ian said, a smirk flitting onto his lips as he stepped in the house, his eyes travelling over her body again – noticing ends of tattoos that were half hidden by her towel.
“Your room’s upstairs, second on the left,” Alyssa said in case he wanted to deposit his bags there.
“Aww, so no spooning?”
“Not unless you value your manhood,” she snapped as she locked the door behind him before turning to head back upstairs in order to put some clothes on.
“I didn’t get your name,” he called up the stairs to her. He was at the bottom, obviously watching her walk, his eyes following the way her hips swayed side to side with each step she took. Turning to face him, she huffed slightly. “Alyssa,” she responded before disappearing into the room she was calling hers whilst her friend was on holiday. Once she’d disappeared from view, Ian let out a chuckle and headed up the stairs to catch a few hours of sleep. When he reached the top of the stairs, his eyes locked upon her door for a brief moment and a mischievous grin formed on his face before disappearing into his own room.
*****
Three hours later, Ian emerged from his room and headed down the stairs, where he was greeted to the glorious smell of fresh coffee. Following his nose, he ended up in kitchen where Alyssa was standing, staring out of the window into the garden with a coffee mug in her hands. Her phone was placed on the kitchen counter and ‘Broken hearts, torn up letters and the story of a lonely girl’ was blaring from it. Ian smirked, almost triumphantly. So she was a Lostprophets fan, he made a mental note to use that as leverage at some point.
Sneaking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, rested his hands on her stomach and his head on her shoulder. Alyssa – who was currently in a daydream state – momentarily forgot where she was and who she was with so leant back into his touch, a small smile gracing her features. It was rare for Alyssa to smile but the embrace was warn and somewhat loving. Basically, it was things she’d forgotten the feel of.
“Afternoon,” he whispered, his voice still slightly husky from his recent slumber. Letting out a content sounding sigh, it took Alyssa a few minutes of standing in utter silence to realise what was happening. Snapping out of her daydream, she slammed the coffee mug she’d been holding down onto the kitchen counter and begun squirming uncomfortably in Ian’s arms.
“Let me go, let me go, let me go,” she shrieked, her sudden and shocking protest caused Ian to clutch to tightly to her in hope to calm her down and coax her into explaining the sudden resistance. However, his efforts were lost and as his grip tightened, her struggles became more frantic.
Clenching her fists, she began hitting his chest, attempting to repel him. “Let me go!” She screamed again, her eyes coated with a layer of panic, her face with utter worry as if human contact would be her downfall.
“Stop it; you’re going to end up hurting yourself!”
“You’re the one hurting me!”
She was right; he did appear to be hurting her. Unintentionally, of course but none the less, he could see her skin turning white and through to purple beneath the grip he had on her arms from where he’d been trying to stop her from hitting herself during her flailing. Somehow, she’d also managed to end up facing him during her struggle. Upon realising the pain he was causing her, he let go but before he could stutter out an apology, she was gone. She’d fled from the room quicker than a bolt of lightning. Before Ian could even begin to process what had just happened, he heard the slamming of her bedroom door followed by a sob that she’d tried to hide but he’d heard it anyway.
Wincing at the sound, Ian ran his hands over his face and let out an exasperated sigh. He hadn’t even been in the house for twenty-four hours and he’d already hurt and upset the girl who was being kind enough to house him. October was going to kill him and October Andrew’s wrath was certainly not one to be messed with. Then again, October had warned him that Alyssa’s wrath wasn’t to be messed with. How he ended up around girls who could make his life hellish was beyond him.
Actually, it wasn’t that far beyond him. You see, Ian had always enjoyed a challenge. He’d always enjoyed conquering – so to speak – free spirits. The more independent they were, the harder they were to win over the better the challenge. The chase was more satisfying when he knew it wasn’t a conquest he’d get over and done with easily and quickly. Yet, an inch of him felt guilty from having seen Alyssa’s reaction. Clearly, something wasn’t entirely right in the girl’s life and he wasn’t making it easy for her. Not that Ian liked easy things or making things easy for others.
With a hint of reluctance, Ian climbed the stairs and knocked on Alyssa’s door. Despite not receiving an answer, he opened the door anyway and saw the brunette lying with her back to him.
“Fuck off,” she hissed, not even bothering to look at him. She knew who had come into the room, there was no-one else it could be unless Ian had let someone into the house but she hadn’t heard the front door open.
“Not until you explain what just happened,” he replied, moving over to lie down on the bed beside her. His eyes locked onto the back of her head, just waiting for her to tell him a story. He’d seen it in her eyes when he’d first looked at her. She had stories to tell, stories as to why she distanced herself from everyone, things that had caused her to react in such strange ways to the simplest things. Although, he didn’t know her at all, he wanted to hear those stories.
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“You must be October’s friend,” Alyssa said coolly, resorting to using her acting skills. Nope, she wasn’t going to act star struck, she wasn’t going to make a fool of herself further, but hey, at least he didn’t remember her from their brief encounter four years ago, right? “Hello? My eyes are up here,” she snapped, waving her hand in front of his face to divert his attention from the fact she was merely in a towel.
Her comment about her eyes had been totally necessary. Ian now found himself tearing his eyes away from her torso and legs to look at her face. Her face was contorted into a frown but none the less it was a possible to see the beauty beneath the anger. Long brown hair that flowed perfectly down her shoulders, green eyes that held untold stories and troubles of a broken girl but at the same time there was a glint in her eye, a mischievous glint.
“Yeah, ‘ello, I’m Ian,” Ian said, a smirk flitting onto his lips as he stepped in the house, his eyes travelling over her body again – noticing ends of tattoos that were half hidden by her towel.
“Your room’s upstairs, second on the left,” Alyssa said in case he wanted to deposit his bags there.
“Aww, so no spooning?”
“Not unless you value your manhood,” she snapped as she locked the door behind him before turning to head back upstairs in order to put some clothes on.
“I didn’t get your name,” he called up the stairs to her. He was at the bottom, obviously watching her walk, his eyes following the way her hips swayed side to side with each step she took. Turning to face him, she huffed slightly. “Alyssa,” she responded before disappearing into the room she was calling hers whilst her friend was on holiday. Once she’d disappeared from view, Ian let out a chuckle and headed up the stairs to catch a few hours of sleep. When he reached the top of the stairs, his eyes locked upon her door for a brief moment and a mischievous grin formed on his face before disappearing into his own room.
*****
Three hours later, Ian emerged from his room and headed down the stairs, where he was greeted to the glorious smell of fresh coffee. Following his nose, he ended up in kitchen where Alyssa was standing, staring out of the window into the garden with a coffee mug in her hands. Her phone was placed on the kitchen counter and ‘Broken hearts, torn up letters and the story of a lonely girl’ was blaring from it. Ian smirked, almost triumphantly. So she was a Lostprophets fan, he made a mental note to use that as leverage at some point.
Sneaking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, rested his hands on her stomach and his head on her shoulder. Alyssa – who was currently in a daydream state – momentarily forgot where she was and who she was with so leant back into his touch, a small smile gracing her features. It was rare for Alyssa to smile but the embrace was warn and somewhat loving. Basically, it was things she’d forgotten the feel of.
“Afternoon,” he whispered, his voice still slightly husky from his recent slumber. Letting out a content sounding sigh, it took Alyssa a few minutes of standing in utter silence to realise what was happening. Snapping out of her daydream, she slammed the coffee mug she’d been holding down onto the kitchen counter and begun squirming uncomfortably in Ian’s arms.
“Let me go, let me go, let me go,” she shrieked, her sudden and shocking protest caused Ian to clutch to tightly to her in hope to calm her down and coax her into explaining the sudden resistance. However, his efforts were lost and as his grip tightened, her struggles became more frantic.
Clenching her fists, she began hitting his chest, attempting to repel him. “Let me go!” She screamed again, her eyes coated with a layer of panic, her face with utter worry as if human contact would be her downfall.
“Stop it; you’re going to end up hurting yourself!”
“You’re the one hurting me!”
She was right; he did appear to be hurting her. Unintentionally, of course but none the less, he could see her skin turning white and through to purple beneath the grip he had on her arms from where he’d been trying to stop her from hitting herself during her flailing. Somehow, she’d also managed to end up facing him during her struggle. Upon realising the pain he was causing her, he let go but before he could stutter out an apology, she was gone. She’d fled from the room quicker than a bolt of lightning. Before Ian could even begin to process what had just happened, he heard the slamming of her bedroom door followed by a sob that she’d tried to hide but he’d heard it anyway.
Wincing at the sound, Ian ran his hands over his face and let out an exasperated sigh. He hadn’t even been in the house for twenty-four hours and he’d already hurt and upset the girl who was being kind enough to house him. October was going to kill him and October Andrew’s wrath was certainly not one to be messed with. Then again, October had warned him that Alyssa’s wrath wasn’t to be messed with. How he ended up around girls who could make his life hellish was beyond him.
Actually, it wasn’t that far beyond him. You see, Ian had always enjoyed a challenge. He’d always enjoyed conquering – so to speak – free spirits. The more independent they were, the harder they were to win over the better the challenge. The chase was more satisfying when he knew it wasn’t a conquest he’d get over and done with easily and quickly. Yet, an inch of him felt guilty from having seen Alyssa’s reaction. Clearly, something wasn’t entirely right in the girl’s life and he wasn’t making it easy for her. Not that Ian liked easy things or making things easy for others.
With a hint of reluctance, Ian climbed the stairs and knocked on Alyssa’s door. Despite not receiving an answer, he opened the door anyway and saw the brunette lying with her back to him.
“Fuck off,” she hissed, not even bothering to look at him. She knew who had come into the room, there was no-one else it could be unless Ian had let someone into the house but she hadn’t heard the front door open.
“Not until you explain what just happened,” he replied, moving over to lie down on the bed beside her. His eyes locked onto the back of her head, just waiting for her to tell him a story. He’d seen it in her eyes when he’d first looked at her. She had stories to tell, stories as to why she distanced herself from everyone, things that had caused her to react in such strange ways to the simplest things. Although, he didn’t know her at all, he wanted to hear those stories.