Fire and Silk [A Ben Hardy/Four Fanfiction] ON STANDBY

13

"I saw you running out and I didn't feel comfortable letting you walk alone." He confessed, shrugging his shoulders with indifference.

"Right."

Once again, we both just stood there, awkwardly. I was trying to find his gaze, as he was carefully avoiding it. He put his hands in his pockets and pointed behind me with his chin.

"Mind if we walk together?"

I acquiesced with a nod while he stepped next to me. I got back into my normal pace, feeling slightly better than before.

We strolled for a good twenty minutes before I noticed his uneasiness. From the corner of my eyes, I could see him open his mouth to then close it immediately again. He frowned every two seconds, pursing his lips together, to then bite his bottom one.

"Do you want to say something?" I inquired, rather annoyed by his behavior.

He shook his head in denial and we kept going forward. At one point, I wondered if he was drunk, but clearly, he hadn't drunk that much. Whenever his arm was brushing against mine, shivers would come running down my spine, and that worried me.

What was that feeling that slowly appeared in the pit of my stomach? I couldn't quite decipher it; it was a strange mixture between nausea and excitement. What did normal people call them... butterflies, was it?

We passed another bar, bursting with drunk people, women in short dresses and douchebags with tight shirts. Four and I decided to follow an alley, I knew it would bring us to a shortcut through a park, shortening our walk back to the hotel.

"Hey cutie!" Yelled a voice not far away from us, startling me.

I didn't turn around, whoever it was, they didn't deserve my attention. On the contrary, I walked faster, Four on my heels, clearly uncomfortable too.

It's like he had sensed my anguish; he slid his arm around my shoulders, bringing me closer to him. Maybe he just wanted to put off our newfound stalker, but it felt, in my heart, like it was much more than just that.

We reached a few stairs, climbed them up hastily and suddenly, a dark figure ran past us. The guy stopped right in front of us, stopping us in our walk. He was tall, but skinny. I noticed he had a large neck tattoo of a snake eating a rat: classy.

He walked toward me menacingly, but I didn't move back.

"I said 'hey'. It's not polite to not answer." Said the man directly toward me, running a hand on his shaved head.

My jaw clenched and I noticed Four's hands turn into fists, his knuckles whitening. We were ready for whatever was coming next. I had hoped that tonight would've gone without pitfalls, but I guess I wasn't that lucky and neither was Parkour boy.

"Leave her alone." Replied Four without hesitation, his eyes stuck on the stranger and his voice deep with menace.

The man laughed, a deep, guttural laugh. He slightly tilted his head to the side and his gaze found mine. He completely ignored Four and stepped a bit closer.

He was not too big. I could probably take him down myself if needed be. But there was something in his eyes, a glint of defiance, almost like he was excited to cause us problems.

"Some friends and I are having a party, you wanna join us? We could spend some time alone, just you and me." He slithered, offering me his sweaty hand.

"No, thanks." I blurted out with a harsh tone, locking my arms on my chest.

He noticed it and his irises brushed my deep cleavage. At that moment, I wished I would've simply wore my jeans and t-shirt.