Loving Lisbeth Salander (XIV Series #1)

The Scarred Girl IV

“If it isn’t Macky,” She tilted her head, leaning even closer, and my heart was beating so much from how close she was getting to me. “Here to make my night more miserable than it already is.”

I couldn’t even bring myself to speak. I have never seen her in a state like this. She was drunk and her face gives it away. She reeks of alcohol too now that she standing very close to me. She had strange look in her face. I haven’t seen her smile but this wasn’t the kind of smile I wanted out of her. Sober Forest would never wear this type of expression and if she did, I might have read her all wrong.

“And what the f**k are you doing here?” she poked my shoulders making me step back, and she stepped forward. She glared at me the way she did when she was sober. “Are you here to piss me off too like how everyone’s been really good at doing recently?” She rolled her eyes, scoffing, and shaking her head in frustration. It was evident that she really wasn’t in her best mood, add the alcohol with it, and it was a whole lot worse for everyone.

“N-No. I was actually trying to look—”

“You were actually looking for me.” She bobbed her head sarcastically before rolling her eyes, face painted in clear disgust and expectation. She cut me off, even finishing my sentence before I could even complete it. “You never know when to give up, do you?” She crossed her arms, raising her chin up towards my direction.

I pressed my lips together and watched her fumble her way closer towards my direction. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, please!” she slapped my chest as she fell sloppily onto my arms. “People ask that so carelessly even if they don’t really f*****g care!” She pushed me away and fumbled away pointing at different directions like a mad woman. “Why don’t you walk away quietly and just leave, hm?”

I ran after her and thank goodness I did because she would have fell when she tripped on a rock and I wasn’t there to grab her arm. “Be careful.”

Her head twirled around with her droopy eyes as if she just gave up on her life. “How did you get here so fast? Weren’t you just there? And now you’re here? And then you’re there again…” she asked, sighing heavily as she pushed me away for the second time. She continued walking so I followed her, worried every time she walked like she had two left feet. She kept leaning to sides, and I couldn’t help but worry that she might fall over like what just happened.

She mumbled a lot of things that were inaudible and I kept trailing her tracks quietly. It was funny how much I was enjoying this despite knowing how terrible it was. I smiled as I watched her tip from one side to another countless times. I think I was enjoying this because I have never seen Forest in this kind of state.

“f*****g bar tender. f*****g fucktard. f*****g bar. f*****g everyone. f*****g life!”

She suddenly stopped walking, her eyes fixated on a trashcan. She furrowed her brows. “Paul, you f*****g bastard!” She kicked the trashcan so hard, it hurt my ears and the quiet street was no longer as peaceful as the neighborhood had hoped. “You think you’re so cool?” Paul? Who is Paul? “You think you’re so smart! You’re just as stupid as everyone in my class, you f*****g asshole!”

Who is this man? I frowned. Is she calling random names out of anguish or was he someone she actually knew?

She continued walking, and mumbling inaudible words.

I checked my watch and it was already midnight. I wasn’t used to staying up, especially outside, this late except when I need to do things for class or the council, but strange how I’m not getting sleepy from tailing around Forest – it’s quite bizarre. I guess it was one of the many things that she makes me do out of admiration.

“Here you are!” she stopped from her tracks again and this time, she pulled a vodka bottle out of her jacket. At the time, I wasn’t too bothered by the fact that she was carrying a bottle inside her clothes all this time, I was too worried of her state. I hadn’t even realized she was carrying something as big of a bottle as that. She squatted down to lay the bottle down the ground. “This will be your new home.” She gently landed the bottle over the curb, petting it as if it was her most cherished pet. “I’ll come back for you okay? Stay put. I won’t abandon you like most people do,”

I almost chuckled at the sight of her doing that with a bottle. She can be quite adorable when she’s drunk. My idea of drunk people wasn’t like this. I didn’t think I’d be standing here, thinking of how adorable they are, especially her.

When she stood, her body leaned back as her foot twist in an abnormal way. My eyes widened at what was about to happen so I ran towards her, extending my arms over her back in time before she hits the floor. I felt my knees sting as I slid over to catch her but she was all I cared about that time. I didn’t care if I scraped my knees for trying to catch her. I just needed her to be safe. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Her eyes moved in a strange way. She hiccupped between her drunk laughs. “That was close! I would have died!” She laughed. “And you could have just let me! Dead.” She laughed even harder and I was growing more and more worried for her in every aspect there was to worry about.

I don’t know if I should be glad that I’m seeing her laughing like this for the first time or if I should be worried that I was with a crazy girl who pets empty vodka bottles.

She lifted herself up from my arms, raising a brow at me as if she couldn’t recognize who was holding her right now. At that, she cupped my face with both her palms, pulling my head closer to her. “Wait,” She creased her brows, turning my face into different sides as if she was searching for something. “Didn’t I send you away already?! How are you here? You’re secretly some spy working on some underground s**t, aren’t you?” she squished my face harder.

Spy working on some underground…

“Did they send you to kill me or something?”

What?

“You won’t get anything from me even if you killed me, you know.” She shook her head, grunting under her breath.

I chuckled, unable to control myself anymore. This playful Forest wasn’t so bad. People would say I’m making this up if I told them that Forest was making bad jokes and crazy actions – and laughing like a mad girl.

She removed her hands off my face and stood back up like a child who just learned how to crawl.

I stood as well and let out a thin smile after chuckling. “You should go home, Forest. It’s not safe for a girl to be lingering around here this late at night.”

“Home?” She spaced out. “What is that?” she suddenly asked in a rather serious tone. She spaced out, blanking out and looking afar, but then she burst into laughter again. “You don’t seriously think I’m telling you, right? If I told you, you might be more bothersome than you already are.”

This Forest surprisingly doesn’t curse a lot compared to the sane one. Would it be bad to ask for her to stay this way even if it meant giving her beer to make her this drunk? I’m sure it was bad to drink an incredible amount of alcohol and that was a very selfish request I just made in my head. “If you don’t tell me, I don’t have a choice but to bring you to my place.” I shrugged. “There’s no way I’m letting you wander here alone thinking I could have done something to—”

She suddenly started walking towards me with a smirk so I stepped a little back, further away, out of caution.

“—prevent you from, uh—” My heart jumped when my back hit the wall. I looked at Forest in worry as she kept walking towards my direction with a seductive smirk. She stopped an inch away from my face and tilted her head, leaning closer than she already was. I gulped. I couldn’t move. She trapped me against this wall with both her arms to my sides.

“Now doesn’t that sound fun?”

I froze. I literally froze. I didn’t like what was happening right now, but I hated myself more that I wasn’t doing anything to prevent any of this from happening either. I looked into her eyes worried of my hormones jumping into play. I didn’t want to be advantageous of the situation – I am not that type of guy. Leaning this close… my eyes darted to her lips and my heart raced. I looked away before my temptation eats me up and I’m no longer a decent man.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”