Burn

Rae’s blood was boiling as she stormed down the steps, trying careful not to bump into people or throw them aside. As much as she wanted to bark at them to get the hell out of the way, she knew that they were not the people who made her angry, so she was patient when moving around them. Rae was the kind of person who tried her best not to take her anger out on other people.

Weaving in and out of the crowd, her acute eyes began scanning for her tall blonde of a friend. Decided she best start at the bar, Rae made her way towards the kitchen, where she counted her blessings, seeing and arm stick up out of the throng of people, wrist tattoo marking her best mates skin.

Once by her side, Rae tapped Trystan who turned around, a drunken smile smeared across her face. She tossed her arm around Rae sloppily, making Rae stumble a bit before righting herself. “I’m leaving.”

“What? Why?” Trystan pouted at her, and though Rae new that her best friend was generally upset, it had no affect on her. Rae’s encounter with the idiotic boy a few minutes previous had ruined her appetite for partying. “Are you still mad at me?”

“What?” Rae asked, confused. In the heat of being angry with another person, she had forgotten entirely that she had been irritated with Trystan. “No, I’m just tired and I’m really not have a fun time, Trys. Stay here, do whatever you want, I’m going to head home.”

Her friend shook her blonde mane. “You can’t drive, you’ve had to much to drink.”

Rae sighed heavily. “Fine, I’ll take a cab and we can get my car in the morning. Alright?” Trystan nodded sadly, placing a slopping kiss on Rae cheek. Despite her mood, Rae smiled a bit. “Text me if you need me, and please stay safe.”

“As always. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

The air outside was cool against Rae’s skin as her heels clicked against the surface of the ground. The sounds of the party were faded as she walked onto the sidewalk and towards the intersection, holding tight to her phone as she walked, even though the dead battery wouldn’t help her in an emergency. Rae never enjoyed walking alone at night, memories of her mother surfacing.

When Rae was eleven, she had been sitting at home reading a book, waiting for her mother to come home. Lydia Bastian walked from her job as a schoolteacher to the house every day, seeing as it wasn’t a very far walk. Of course she could have taken her flashy car any day, but Rae’s mother was one to enjoy her walks.

The girl remembered that she had been sitting on the couch, glancing up at the clock every so often. She knew her mother was working late, but mom had promised she would be home before eight. But when right rolled around, she still had not come home, and Rae’s father was in a late surgery that night.

At first, it was nothing to worry about. But slowly as the clock near nine at night, the baby sitter began getting antsy. She had places to go, Rae was sure, and like the young girl, she knew it was unlike Rae’s mother to be late. Her mother was a very punctual woman, something that her daughter hadn’t picked up from her.

Another hour had passed, and the baby sitter had called Lydia’s mobile several times with no answer. She even called Rae’s father out of surgery, expressing her worry for the mother. Needless to say, someone stepped in for Dr. Bastian so he could head home immediately and find out just what was going on.

Except that someone had beat him home, someone being the police force. It seemed that on the walk home in the night, someone had recognized Rae’s mother as Lydia Bastian, wife to millionaire surgeon. Desperate people would do desperate things, and it seems the men who mugged and killed her that night was very desperate.

The memory faded from now dark aqua eyes as Rae whistled loudly for a cab, one of them coming to a halt. She slid into the air-conditioned car easily, rattling off her address without batting an eyelash. She instantly felt safer inside of the car, not having to worry about anyone who could harm her.

Music played in the back round of the car, but she ignored it, mind going over what had taken place. She had to fight from growling out loud when thinking about that idiotic prick. She had been doing him a favor, comforting him when she didn’t even enjoy his presence.

Rae hated that her immediate need to be polite and to feel guilt for others had persuaded her into showing him kindness, when he was clearly incapable of reciprocating it. She knew that one-day extending her hand of gratitude was going to bite her in the ass like it did tonight, but worse.

Paying the cab driver, she slipped out of the vehicle, hearing him take off down the street as she walked up to the home, her heels clicking up the steps as she reached for her purse hanging on her arm- only to realize her purse wasn’t on her arm at all.

“Fuck!” she swore angrily, slapping her forehead with her hand. She knew exactly where her purse was with her keys; sitting on the bloody sink in the bathroom with Harry, who no doubt would steal everything in it. Looking down at her phone, she also remembered that it was dead. “God hates me.”

Sliding her heels off, Rae hoped over the railing of the porch, a small smile forming on her lips at how easy it was for her to hop over it. Back when they were younger, Trystan and Rae used to sneak out of Trystan’s house and go down to watch commits in empty fields. The art of jumping fences was still hidden in her muscle memory, it seemed.

Several windows were a part of the house, and it seemed not a single one of them had been left open or unlocked, much to Rae’s frustration. Though Rae feared walking in the streets alone, her and her flat mate often forgot to lock doors and windows, both trusting in their alarm system to protect them.

Letting out a shot of frustration, Rae stomped back to the front porch, her feet now soiled with dirt and other substances from the ground. Glancing at her watch, she marched up the steps and sprawled out on the chair that was adorned on the front porch, praying that Trystan would come home soon.

The night was dark, the moon shinning light through thin clouds. The sounds of the city passed through Rae’s ears as she lay flopped all over the seat. After a while, the sound of London slowly began to lull her to sleep and her head nodded, the girl falling asleep in the chair.

*

Something was poking Rae in the ribs, making her grunt in her sleep. Her entire body hurt, as if she had been beat to hell with a damn crow bar. Shifting, Rae vaguely realized that she was definitely not in her bed, and as the sounds of the world around her fell on her ears, she groaned, remembering that she had fallen asleep outside of her home. She was also aware that something was poking her ribs.

Eyes fluttering open and a sound of exhaustion gurgling from her mouth, Rae struggled to see a figure leaning over her. As she sat up, the figure moved back, her small hands coming up to rub her eyes, the morning light hurting it them.

A chuckled sounded in her ears, deep and throaty, causing her to look back up at whoever had been poking her. Rae flinched wildly, pushing herself into the chair as far as she could, almost as if she were trying to mold herself with the chair. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair, knuckles turning chalk white with strain.

Harry’s eyes were swimming pools of liquid green, focused on Rae’s face as he stood there. All signs of his previous intoxication were washed away from his body, which astounded her; she knew she must have looked a proper mess. He stood in a fresh clean shirt with long sleeves, his curls hidden by a beanie on top of his head. If Rae hadn’t been so terrified to see him, she would have stared at how gorgeous he was standing on her porch.

“Rough night?” he asked, his voice teasing. How he could be so amused when she was practically breaking her chair to get away from her, she had no idea. When she said nothing, he raised his brows. “Drink so much you’ve forgotten how to speak, yeah?”

“Why are you on my porch?” she demanded, glaring full force at him. In the back of my mind, she was trying to remember the self-defense tactics her father had taught her. It was clear that Harry was stalking her or something of the sort, seeing as he had no idea where she lived.

“You left your purse or whatever this is in the bathroom,” he explained, dangling the purse by its chain in front of her face like some sort of token. “I figured you would like it back, and by the looks of it, you would.”

Scowling she snatched the bag from him, clutching it tight to her chest as if she feared he would take it back from her. Her nails dug into the leather, everything about her on edge, not comfortable with the boy in front of her. “I’m not going to find anything missing from it, am I?”

It was the boy’s turn to scowl, his angelic face twisting into anger. “A simple thank you would suffice. Next time I won’t bring it back at all.”

She laughed without humor, ripping her keys from the purse and stomping to the door, shoving them in the lock and turning it, hearing the resounding click as the door unlocked. “There won’t be a next time. How do you even know where I live?”

She didn’t expect him to answer; she thought him the type to storm off. But he surprised her saying, “I’ve dropped Trystan off here with Louis before. She was much nicer than you.”

Rae practically snarled at him as she stepped into the threshold of her home, instantly feeling safe. She could escape him now, though he had moved to stand in front of her door, his emerald eyes scanning her with some sort of interest. “Well,” she stated unkindly. “Feel free to forget the directions here.”

Rae moved to slam the door shut but he moved lightening fast, his palm hitting it so hard that it vibrated with its force, startling her. His green eyes were very bright as he looked at her, Rae’s hands clutching the door to stop them from trembling. “Have I done something to offend you?”

Though he had, she muttered a quick, “No.”

“Then why are you being so rude?”

Finding her bravery she straightened, jutting out her chin in defiance. “Because I’m allergic to boys with curly hair. Now leave.”

A smile slowly spread across his handsome features, making her heart skip. “I like you.”

“Shows what you know about judging character,” Rae quipped, looking pointedly at his hand. He laughed for a moment, shaking his head before removing his strong hold on the door. The minute it was removed, Rae threw the door shut, rattling the doorframe. His chuckle and retreating steps came from the other side. “I’m going to kill Trystan.”