Burn

The car that was parked neatly on the curb in front of her home was unfamiliar to Rae. It was a sleek grey Range Rover with dark tinted windows that she couldn’t see in to as she passed it. The car breathed money, and though she didn’t remember seeing it the night before, she was assuming that it was Louis’s.

Moving quickly the girl bound up the steps and let herself into the house, not wanting to leave Trystan alone with whoever was in the house any longer. If it was the two boys she thought it was, they could have been robbing her and killing her that very moment.

Despite Rae’s worries and fears bubbling up in her chest, she heard Trystan laugh from the living room, following the sound to find Trystan sitting on the couch with a smile on her face. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for Rae to know it was a genuine smile and a genuine laugh, which puzzled her.

Louis was in fact present on the couch, though his curly-headed-fuck of a friend was absent, much to Rae’s relief. But she was still suspicious as she entered the room, eyeing the new boy she had never seen before warily.

“Hey, Rae,” Trystan greeted, gesturing for her friend to sit next to her on the couch. Rae carefully moved her way around the coffee table, eyeing their two guests. “Louis and his friend Niall stopped by to talk to us.”

“Huh,” Rae commented, sitting down and examining said Niall. He was a very cute blonde, with dark roots in his hair that led me to believe his hair was dyed. Blue eyes sparkled brightly and he had a beautiful smile, one that seemed warm and comforting enough. But he was one of the troublemakers, I had no doubt. “And what do Louis and his friend Niall want to talk about?”

“It was brought to my attention that you had a less than pleasant meeting with Harry last night,” Louis said, his tone making me looking at him funny. He talked in such a way that made him sound like he was trying to be goofy or like it was some joke. “And I wanted to apologize for his rude behavior on your birthday by inviting you girls out tonight.”

I stared at him, and only one question came to my mind. “Why?”

He laughed. “Because you both seem really nice, and I wanted to prove that we’re not all assholes like Harry.”

“But you admit he is an asshole.”

“Without a doubt,” Niall said, waving his hand as if it were nothing. He had a very strong Irish accent, a lilt that made him all that more attractive. “Harry is bad news, we know that. We just wanted t’ 'pologize for making ya feel uncomfortable. Was na’ our intention.”

“ I wasn’t aware you had intentions.”

Trystan elbowed Rae in the ribs, warning her friend. Rae sighed, running a hand over her face. Her parents had taught her to never be rude to guests, and she was doing just that. She had a feeling her mother would be glaring at her, if she were there. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude,” she apologized quietly, looking at each boy in turn. “I’ve just not had a good sleep.”

Niall smiled, giving Rae the feeling that nothing could dampen the boy’s spirit. It struck her as odd, that someone who seemed harmless and very cheerful was friends with Harry Styles, of all people on the planet. “It’s understood. We know Harry has a bit of a-a couple of problems,” he corrected himself last minute, deciding his mate had more than one problem. “And it reflects a bit badly on us, and we don’t want it to.”

Rae narrowed her eyes, looking at the two of them. She was clearly missing something. Rae didn’t know the two boys’ in front of her, so it struck her as odd that they so desperately wanted to apologize for something and make it up to her. “What am I missing?” she asked, her attention going to the blond Irishman. He seemed the more likely of the two to waver under her sharp gaze. “Why are you so interested in showing you’re not twats?”

Niall smiled and Trystan laughed slightly, leaning back and crossing her arms, shooting the two boys an ‘I told you so’ sort of look. Rae was looking between all three of them now, not understanding what was going on and getting more irritated at the moment, but she kept quiet, trying not to be rude. “You see,” Niall admitted, leaning forward on his knees and looking at her, as if to ask something of her. “Harry has bet us both that we can’t gain your forgiveness.”

“Harry thinks you’re a proper bitch,” Louis commented, nodding. Rae was stunned by his bluntness, but she decided the attitude seemed right on him. “And I insisted that it was just because he made you angry. He bet that we wouldn’t be able to get you two to go out with Niall and I for drinks.”

Louis’s explanation made sense now, and Rae raised a brow. It made sense why the blonde was there as well; they knew how attractive he was and he was obviously the nicest of their group of friends, able to charm girls by that. Rae was not so easily bought. “Why does it matter to you?”

Niall answered, “Because it’s a lot o money we’re talking about here.”

“I don’t understand why I’m so important that a bet has been placed on me.”

“Don’t feel special,” Louis snorted, rolling his eyes. Rae hid that she was offended, though she didn’t like feeling waved off. “It’s not uncommon for us to bet on girls.”

“Oh I’m sure the girls fawn of you for that.”

“They do, actually.”

Rae let out a disgusted noise, knowing it was probably true. Sometimes her gender really astounded her. Because Rae didn’t look like she was answering what they were implying anytime soon, Trystan turned to her. “Harry won’t be there,” she said slowly, only to move along quickly when Rae cast her a dirty look. “They offered to take us to the club, just a night out. We’re aloud to bring the rest of the girls, and drinks are on them.”

Rae’s light colored eyes rolled. “I suppose I’m supposed to be blown away by this offer?”

“Well you get free drinks and Harry gets pissed off while we get paid. I figure it was a win all wrong, save for Harry’s part.”

“Explain this to me: why do you want so desperately to anger your friend?” Rae questioned, leaning forward and setting her elbows on her knees. She looked at both boys in their eyes, suspicion all over her beautiful features. “Friends don’t normally want to piss other friends off.”

“Let’s just say he’s got a lesson to learn,” Louis suggested, sending her a smooth smile. “Shall we?”

Rae leaned back again, examining the two boys. She was not overly fond of the idea of spending time with them; she had heard that they were a wild crowd, the kind to party all night. Though she was trying not to judge a book by it’s cover- or in their case by it’s affiliates- she wasn’t sure that she wanted to risk hanging out with the crowd that everyone was wary of, the crowd that she had heard rumors of drug use.

Though Rae had never heard anything bad about the Niall boy, she had heard that Louis had been in trouble with Harry before. Of course, he was not notorious for drunker violence like his friend seemed to be, but she had heard things about him all the same.

As if he was reading her mind, Louis smiled, a sad sort of look to it. “I’m not as bad as you think I am, love. I just really want to show someone a point, here.”

“And you can guarantee that Harry won’t be there?”

“Well I can’t guarantee anything with Harry- he’s Harry Styles, the most unpredictable bloke out there. But he has a date with a proper slag tonight, so I can assure you the chances are slim to none.”

Rae was silent, her face a blank slate. It was impossible for anyone to tell what she was thinking, though they were hopeful. Rae’s eyes went down to her wrist, looking at the tattoo of her mother’s name, her mother’s signature forever on her skin. She knew that even if her mother had warned her about the likes of Styles, she wouldn’t want Rae to judge the boys in front of her.

“One hour,” Rae said pointedly, standing up to dismiss herself, not wanting to deal with them anymore. “You have an hour of my time to prove you’re not complete idiots, and if he so much as shows up there, you’ll have hell to pay.”

*

When the boys left, Trystan closed the door, totally stunned. She didn’t think Rae would actually agree to let them take the girls out. In fact, she was absolute shocked and she walked upstairs, wanting to know what exactly cause the other girl to change her mind, to agree.

Trystan walked up the stairs, curious to find out what it was that had made her best mate agree. It wasn’t that Rae wasn’t one to go out clubbing that startled her, because Rae enjoyed that as much as the normal girl. It was the fact that Rae didn’t like to associate herself with people who had rumors floating about them; Rae was somewhat classier than that.

The tall blonde found her shorter friend in her room, going through her closet and tossing a dress onto the bed for later. Minding her own business, Trystan sat down on her bed, looking around the walls, not wanting to interrupt the process of picking out clothes; Rae liked to concentrate on that sort of thing.

“Oh just ask already,” Rae blurted, though her tone wasn’t angry. When Trystan turned to look at her, Rae actually looked amused, her brows pulling together with a small smirk on her lips. “I know you’re dying to ask what changed my mind.”

Trys smiled. “What changed your mind? I thought you’d kick them out.”

“My mother changed my mind, actually.”

Trys frowned as Rae disappeared into the labyrinth that was her closet. “Are you seeing things again?”

“No, you idiot. I just know my mother wouldn’t want me to judge someone so harshly. And it’s sort of an opportunity to piss off that tosser with the curly hair, though I’m not sure why the two so desperately want that.”

“I know. You’d think his temper would be scary enough not to make him angry.”

“I’ll never understand boys,” Rae sighed, coming out of the black hole and closing the door behind her. She stared at Trystan. “Well are you going to sit there all day or are you going to shower? You literally look like you’ve been dragged through a strip club.”

Trystan frowned, getting up from the bed and heading towards her own room. “Thanks, Rae. Glad to know you think so little of my hangover look.”

*

Music blared through the darkened club, so loud that it made everything vibrate. The only lights available was that surrounding the DJ booth and the bar, and even those were dimmed to a mysterious sea green, making it near impossible to see as Louis and Niall led Rae, Trystan and two other girls that were their companions.

At the bar, Louis shouted an order of drinks and the bartender nodded. It was a high-end place that Rae had been to before. She could trust that no one was going to rob her or rape her here, which made her feel better about coming out. When Louis handed her the shot, she accepted it graciously, feeling familiar with the place around her.

Leaning against the bar, Rae’s eyes scanned the mass of dancing bodies. For those not dancing, eyes focused on the group that had just strolled in. Rae turned away from the group of men watching, knowing very well that she was with an attractive group of people, though she wouldn’t say so aloud.

The group did several shots all together, all of which were paid for by Louis. Rae made no effort to pay for any of the drinks she ordered, making full use out of this deal. Normally she would have felt some what bad, but not on this night. On this night, she was letting go a bit.

Standing next to Niall, she found that the boy was actually very kind hearted, and quite a laugh. Rae would have never though so, from knowing whom he associated with. But in their conversation, she also learned that Niall was no longer as close to Harry as he had been. Rae didn’t ask why.

After an hour of standing and chatting, Rae was feeling the effects of drinking, her smiles coming more often and her eyes blinking slowly. Though she had promised only an hour of her time, she decided that she didn’t mine Louis and Niall so much, and that she might actually be friends with them.

“Would you like to dance?” Rae asked Niall, not really giving him an option to answer as she caught his wrist and moved to the dance floor. He didn’t resist in the slightest though, stuffing his drink in his mates hand.

Niall let Rae turn her back to him, and she let him put his hands on her waist, moving to the beat. He was extremely surprised to find that such a classy, proper girl could dance and move the way she did; she was absolutely transfixing, something about her totally hypnotizing. From the looks she was receiving from others, it wasn’t just Niall she was attracting.

Rae both ignored and didn’t see the looks she was receiving. She wasn’t even dancing sexily, her moves were subtle and simple, yet she didn’t have to try. Other girls had to try, had to put effort into drawing attention. For Rae, it was easy.

Moving her hips, Rae raised her hands slightly, smiling as she felt light and on a cloud. Drinking always brought out the kindness in her, the need to dance and laugh. It made her giddy, and dancing with Niall was exactly what she needed.

Time didn’t seem to matter as they danced, and Rae only looked up to make sure Trystan was safe, dancing with Louis. She wasn’t worried about signaling her to leave, when she finally came back to reality, it was just a simple scan of surroundings. But when she scanned those surroundings, her joy turn to irritation, and she couldn’t help but slow her dancing to a halt, looking through the moving bodies as Harry Styles walked through the door.