SEVENTEEN

| dedication: LeahKeys - for that cool cover xox |

SEVENTEEN

Thomas turned his head back to me over his shoulder, his eyes squinting under the bright light that shone behind me. He was cooking up something, possibly a response to justify his reason for bringing me here.

The strip club wasn't open for anyone - clearly shown by all the chairs that were empty but the big guy by the front let Thomas in with one look. It was a first for me to be here and even though it wasn't open, the mere vibe this whole setting brought made me think twice about everything.

"Is that a problem?" He asked nonchalantly.

I raised both eyebrows at him, wondering if he thought me wanting to skip classes meant going to the nearest strip club and chill there. I looked back at the group that stood on the stage and saw that they had dispersed and left a beautiful girl, with long blonde gracefully dancing on a pole. I was trapped by her moves, and the music that played in the background set the mood perfectly.

"She's beautiful right," Thomas voiced my own thoughts and when I spared him a glance, I saw that he too, was engrossed by the girl. "At night, when everything is packed, she still makes everyone turn heads." Thomas finished, strangely sounding proud of that.

I jutted my chin in her direction. "Do you know her?" I asked him.

Thomas let out a chuckle and then he started to walk away, not giving an answer to my burning question. I chased after him, trying to catch up to his massive strides with my short and quick ones. He halted next to a door that had 'lounge' written on it, and pushed it open. I half expected a bunch of rowdy men to be sitting there, smoking, or watching the girls dance but instead, I saw someone's long dark hair. He was sitting on the double leather sofa, his legs pulled up to the table in front of him. His head was thrown backwards, so he had a direct view of the ceiling but he did have his hands over his face - which defeated the whole reason for admiring the empty ceiling.

The room was small, at least the room I was in but I could see, just over the stairs, there were a few other smaller rooms adjacent to each other. All the lights were on but I could imagine, when it hit the party hour, the rooms would be lit up in a way to seduce and allure.

"At this time?" Thomas questioned from next to me. He walked over to the table and picked up the beer that was on there.

"Fuck off Thomas. I can hardly speak, let alone deal with you right now," the guy spoke through his sprawled fingers and he sounded really familiar to my ears. I shuffled on my feet slightly, trying to catch the guy's face but it was to no avail.

Thomas ignored the guy and carried on speaking to him. "Look, I didn't come all the way to be faced with your fucking grumpy self. I've got company with me and she-"

At the word company, the guy dropped his hands from his face and trained his eyes on me. I reared back when everything fell in place. I almost didn't recognize him, what with the dark shirt and messy hair and the cut on his lip and the proud bruise forming on his left cheek.

"What happened to you?" Thomas exclaimed, reaching out his hands but Nolan swatted him away, his own eyes trained on me. They lifted up at the sight of me and he slowly took my whole length in, lingering a few seconds.

"Shit got messy last night and I had to step in." Nolan answered his friend but his eyes were still on me. I raised one eyebrow at him, silently asking a question.

"Nice to see you again Ori," he finally muttered. I was slightly relieved that he recognised me and didn't let me stand there and pretend otherwise. Especially after the once-over.

The last time I saw Nolan was when he came to Palmer's, to collect a few cakes for his uncle's bash. I've seen him look way better than he was looking right now. He also looked like he missed a few night's sleep.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, walking over to sit on the arm rest besides him. He let out a sigh but nodded at me regardless. I half expected him to go into what happened but instead he reached for the ice pack on the table and held it in his hand before he threw it across the room.

I jumped back, surprised at the loud sound it managed to make. Thomas jumped back as well, a few profanities slinging out of him. He turned to his friend, opening his mouth to ask what the hell was up with him but he didn't get to.

Nolan suddenly pushed himself off the chair. He gave us both a curt nod, as though nothing happened, before he exited the room, leaving both Thomas and I confused at his sudden departure.

After a few seconds of silence, I turned to Thomas. I raised my eyebrow at him, asking him a silent question but he just shrugged it off. "He gets like that. He's probably embarrassed you saw him like that- which makes me think, how do you know him?"

I sat myself down on the empty seat Nolan had just evacuated from and told Thomas how I first met Nolan.

Thomas was quiet for a while and we just sat like that. I took that time to look around again and decided that this place was probably busy every night since it looked so enticing and enthralling. I could see people coming here to forget about their day and just fall prey to the beauty and the temptations this place offered.

"Hey," Thomas pried me away from my thoughts. I focused back on him and saw the tension befalling on his face. He puckered his eyebrows together, taking in a couple of breaths. "I want to tell you something and this way I know you won't run away like last time." He said, his words instantly blaring red signs in my head.

"Go on..." I pressed, as a gnawing feeling over washed me.

He let out a sigh, dropped his head and just carried on speaking. "I should have told you as soon as I found out-"

As soon as I became aware of what he was starting to talk about, I cut him off. "Thomas don't." I warned him, my words sharp and hopefully they were sharp enough to cut him off.

"No let me finish," he interjected cuttingly and I shut my mouth. "I should have known that hiding it would do none of us any good but he made me swear not to tell anyone. Your Mother made me swear as well..." he paused for a second, running his hand through his hair agitatedly. "He has something over me and I know he's not afraid of using it as leverage."

Nothing was processing in my head, since every word he uttered sounded absurd. I wanted to believe him, with everything inside me, but there was this nagging feeling of distrust.

Thomas recognised the conflict in my eyes and he suddenly moved off his seat, coming to kneel besides me. He caught my gaze, holding it for a while, letting me search him.

"Do I look like I'm lying?" he asked softly.

I shook my head at him. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't but for now I couldn't believe him. I wanted to put everything that was related to Brandon at the back of mind, and deal with it accordingly when I could.

I dragged my lips into my mouth, trying to form the right words in my head. "Did you- do you know the cousin of Link's? The one who-"

Thomas pushed himself to his feet and walked back to his seat. He exhaled deeply and even if he denied knowing Link's cousin, the look on his face had already given him away. He looked over my shoulder just before the door opened, and Nolan stepped back in.

He looked his usual self this time, his face much cleaner than before. He wore dark jeans and a dark sweater. He lifted his chin in greeting to both of us and took the seat next to Thomas. He rubbing his hands together, this newfound glint lingering in his eyes and the dull one that hovered previously long gone.

"So, you guys planning on staying here until the night?" he questioned, throwing a daring wink my way. I was in awe, at the sudden change that came over him. This was not the guy who just lost his cool a few minutes ago. This was the charming guy I met a few days ago.

I shook my head in reply, rather quickly which showed just how much the idea of spending a night at a strip club really made me feel. This would be a place that was totally out of my zone, and a place that I would never find myself going willingly.

Nolan let out a deep chuckle. "Now, now Ori, it's not that bad."

I stopping moving my head and bugged my eyes at him. "I don't mean it like that, at all!" I told him. "it's just that- this place, it's so not me and being in a place- that's so not like me would really be-"

Nolan put both his hands up, trying to cut off my rambling that was heading nowhere. Next to him, Thomas was shaking his head at me whilst trying to cover up a laugh with a feigned cough. I clamped my lips together and hoped that I didn't just make a fool out of myself.

"Do you work here?" I asked him, hoping to move the attention away from myself.

"I do but not officially. I come around here and help out whenever my uncle needs me to." Nolan filled me.

"And I just come to chill with him," Thomas piped in.

I rolled my eyes at him, even though I was surprised at this new information. He must come here often if he looked so at ease and knew the front man. And I didn't forget the longing look he shot towards the exotic dancer that owned the staged from before.

At that thought, I craned my head over the seat and saw that from this spot, you had a perfect view of the stage. There were a couple of dancers on the stage now, the beautiful blonde girl long gone. The group on the stage now looked unfamiliar with the setting and some shifted on their heels whilst listening to what seemed like an instructor. Soon enough, the instructor jumped on the pole and flipped herself backwards, one leg twisting around the long pole, whilst dangling down from it. Regardless of the fact that my eyes were glued on the instructor, I still couldn't fathom how she did all of that in one slick move.

"You look interested." Nolan commented from next to me. I snapped my head in his direction and nearly choked on the air that I spontaneously inhaled.

"I'm just fascinated by it all," I admitted to him, catching Thomas suppressing another wave of laughter that threatened to burst out of him.

Nolan's sound of appreciation dragged my focus back to him. "You want to give it a try?" he offered, and I knew there was a hue of seriousness hanging in the air. Which, as expected, sent my heart on a whirlwind.

"No- no thanks." I couldn't have sputtered it out as quickly even if I wanted to.

Both of them suddenly burst into laughter, Thomas' one extremely loud and I couldn't help the heat that washed over my cheeks. Seeing someone as good-looking as Nolan laugh at my discomfort wasn't all too pleasant.

"Are you guys laughing at the expense of the pretty damsel?" A deep voice interrupted us, which led both the laughter of the guys come to an immediate halt.

I was surprised myself, seeing as I didn't hear the door open. Hovering over all three of us stood a man that gave off vibes of power. He stood strong, in all of his six-foot glory and I nearly lost all sense surrounding ways to breathe when his dark, masterful eyes landed on my face. His long hair hung down the sharp frame of his face all the way down to his shoulders.

"Lucian, don't tell me you're here to grace us with you pleasant self." Thomas was the first to greet the man.

The man - Lucian - answered Thomas with a curt nod that resembled the one that Nolan gave us earlier. But other than that, Lucian didn't see it fit to entertain Thomas' harmless jab.

"Nolan, I need you with the guys up front. A couple of other's were kind enough to help and they are downstairs waiting for you." He addressed Nolan, his order coming out briefly but it meant business.

Nolan nodded at the guy, who looked maybe five years older than him but the respect that oozed out from him was evident. He lifted himself up off the chair and handed Thomas a slap on the shoulder. "Nice seeing you buddy, even though you practically live here and never leave."

"That's not true!" Thomas shot back.

Nolan just smirked down at his friend before he turned to me. "And it was nice seeing you again Orianna, you should make a habit out of it." Nolan threw a wink my way. With any other guy, I would have inwardly flinched at the gesture but with Nolan, I had to keep my composure intact. God only knew how much I wanted to fan my face.

"Bye." I waved at him awkwardly, trying my outmost to seem unfazed by him and the man standing behind him.

When both man left, leaving on Thomas and myself in the room, I felt like I could suddenly breathe again. Thomas, with no regard to anything, pushed himself up and motioned with his head for me. "Let's go, I want to see what the lads are doing."

I frowned at him, not quite so sure of following Thomas around to see the 'lads'. If Nolan and Lucian were anything to go by, the workers at this strip club were all probably meant for the GQ magazine front cover.

Regardless of how tempting it sounded, I didn't feel up for standing around anymore. I shook my head at Thomas. "I think I'll just go home." I told him.

He gaped at me, "what's the whole point of skipping if you only skip for five seconds?" He asked, incredulously.

I shrugged at him, already walking to the door. "Thanks for bringing me here-"

Thomas cut me off instantly, shaking his head at me as though he couldn't accept it. "We'll go someplace else."

"You really don't have to that."

"Well I am."

Rolling my eyes at his stubborn nature which really differentiated from his twin brother, I let someone who I'd never consider as a friend lead me out the door. We left the strip club without seeing Nolan or Lucian. Even the dancers on the stage were gone, who were probably on their breaks.

"Where to?" I asked him, squinting up at him.

You'd expect, with the cocky stance and the way he pushed his shoulders back that he would come up with something great. "We'll get some ice cream."

_

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After the ice cream with Thomas, I declared that I spent enough time making the skipping worth it and finally parted with Thomas. Conversation with him seemed slightly awkward, lopsided perhaps from my end because of the striking resemblance he had to his twin brother - my ex-boyfriend.

Before, I could always tell the difference, but as the time went on, everything he did reminded me of Brandon and it slashed a knife through my heart.

I walked home, my head ducked down low as everything crossed my mind. I was going home to my Mother at the end of the day, the only woman who was a constant in my life. Granted, her choices led to most of my heartache but still, she was my Mother.

As I got closer and closer, dread filled me up. I was going back to that room. To that place where I thought I was safe but I ended up becoming too vulnerable. I could see the upcoming nightmares haunting me and just that thought alone caused me to stop on my trail.

"You won't do this to me," I whispered out loud. I turned around and stalked towards the direction that I believed would lead me to him. "Not anymore."

****

NOT EDITED.

> so so sorry for the late update. other one won't come out for another week :( She's heading to confront Link

> who likes Nolan? ;) and yes Lucian is someone you might know if you're familiar with Inimical Match and Complications (which are both down for now)