Heated Hearts

You'll Stay Away!

||Aster's POV||

The time seemed to halt as those blue eyes bore into mine. They gave me a feeling of peeking at the unfathomed depth of ocean, followed by a billow of inundating waves.

Both of us stared unblinking, me holding my breath;lost in the intensity of the gaze we shared.

His pupils dilated, and my trance broke slightly as my eyes traveled down his face. His pale skin was glistening in the slight sunlight above his head, his ruffled mixed blonde-brown hair was scattered around his wide forehead.

With a perfect nose in the middle and a set of beautifully curved lips he looked like someone, walking out from a fantasy world.

I couldn’t help but notice his

chiseled jawline twitching while his eyes followed my gaze, and he abruptly moved away.

Only then I realized how close he had been a few moments ago...

I slowly sat up and removed the air-pods from my ears, my eyes never leaving him, who was now standing his back faced at me.

I stood up slowly, and took a step towards him, trying to work through my entangled thoughts. But the moment, I took one step towards him, he moved one step away.

Frowning, I cleared my throat to say something, but before I could, he turned his head towards me.

His face was stern as he held his icy stare at me, it felt so sinister that I felt a surge of shiver flow through me inwardly.

“You will not come here again.” He spoke, his voice rude but pressed, almost like he was trying not to roar at me.

Anger boiled inside me, as my dreamy bubble broke.Rude!

What the hell, who was he to order me around? I didn’t even know him! I thought glaring at him, as ferociously as I could manage.

But he stood there, holding his ground, probably with no visible change in his facial expression or posture. He couldn’t see my face, so the glaring was pointless.

I balled my fist in anger as I spit out, “Who the hell do you think you are to forbid me?”

I was so angry at his disrespectful, arrogant tone that it didn’t matter to me how charming he was or felt a while ago.

He didn’t look back as he replied in a cold voice,” You dare stand at my property and ask me who am I to forbid you?”

Arrogance was filled in his voice as he spoke. I stared at his back, momentarily at a loss of words but still angry. His arrogant tone didn’t help to calm my anger, it actually fanned the flame.

“Why don't you make it protected if you don’t want people to invade here?” I snapped back, folding my hands over my chest as I tapped my right foot on the grass. I was nervous all on a sudden, but my anger won the best of me.

He stood there still, and silent for a few seconds. Meanwhile, my anxiety leveled up as I waited for him to snap back at me.

But instead, he turned towards me, facing me. His eyes scanned my face as if trying to figure me out, and wherever his gaze travelled my skin tingled under it. It was ridiculous how much this unbelievably disrespectful and rude stranger's presence was affecting me!

He took a few steps towards me, while I stood there still. Not because I was angry and held my ground fearlessly, but because I forgot to move just like I had forgotten to breathe before.

With a few long steps, he was so close to me that I could feel his body heat. My heartbeat went crazy as my hands fell loose on both side, and I took a step back, unintentionally.

His face twitched and a different kind of emotion flashed on it... Sadness? Pain?

But the next moment, it changed. His jaws tightened, and I saw him balling both of his fists tightly.

“You would stay away from this property and from me, if you want to live. You understand?” He growled, this time not holding back at all, and I shivered, panicked by his closeness and his growl.

“How dare you place your filthy foot on my garden? What kind of distasteful and unethical human being tress passes on other people's property?” He sneered as his face turned more sinister.

Everything about him felt haunting to me as I took a few steps back. All on a sudden, it was like the flicker of emotion that peeked on his face, the charming presence of him, I felt awhile ago was nothing but a mirage.

I felt my heart stinging with pain and burning with anger, humiliation.

I saw his lips turning up into a thin line as he murmured under his breath,” Better.”

Without realizing, I took another step back and stumbled when my feet bumped into my backpack lying on the grass.

I almost fell down but a hand consisting long slender fingers grabbed my wrist and helped me maintain my balance. I stared at his hold on my wrist for a moment and then looked back at his face.

“Thank you,” I said lightly and moved my hand away.

He looked frustrated for some reason but a moment later, a smirk replaced the previous expression.

Stepping closer to me, he closed his eyes. Our bodies were close again, and involuntarily I held my breath as I stood there. He breathed in a good amount of air, as if smelling me and opened his eyes.

His ocean blue eyes were peeking at mine again, but there was no warmth in them, it felt cold like I was walking in the pit of glacier.

“You know...” he spoke, his voice low. His eyes travelling towards my lips and his breath fanning on my skin.

Slowly, he lowered his faced towards mine, not breaking the eye contact and my thoughts went haywire as I closed my eyes abruptly.

“You could always come here and please me. Your body seems like it needs a good attention from me, and you seem that type of girl too. Both of us will have benefits, what do you say?”

he whispered fanning my ear.

What?!

My eyes shot open and I pushed him away. How dare he?

The stupid smirk from earlier didn’t leave his face as he rolled his eyes over my body.

It felt so insulting to stand there under his gaze that my vision blurred, and I felt wetness on my cheek.

I saw his expression changing again, but this time, I didn’t care.

I couldn’t just stand there and tolerate this humiliation anymore, quickly I grabbed my backpack from the ground and ran away. Not only that, but I didn’t look back, as I ran, untill I crossed the boundary.

Furthermore, I was panting heavily as I tried to catch my breath. My hands on my knee.

Tear drops were still rolling down my cheek, as my heart twitched with pain. What kind of person behaved like that with strangers?

It wasn’t like I knew he was living there, I thought it was an abandoned place.

I didn’t know if I was angry, humiliated or sad, but I thought, I was feeling all of them. And for some reason the pain that followed them was utterly hectic and quite unbearable.

Wiping my tears, I started walking back to St. Radford as I promised myself, never to be back here.

What an asshole!

My mind cursed as I stomped on my foot. Could today be any more bad? I thought as I walked forward.

When St. Radford's back gate was visible to my eyes again, I sighed and grabbed my phone out of my pocket.

I still had a few more minutes before lunchtime started, so I decided to walk slowly and think through what just happened back there...

Soon, I was lost in my thoughts...

My brain flashed a vision of two pairs of eyes, they were both opposite of each other in every single way. One was like the midnight sky, filled with warm. While the other one was like uneven ocean tides, holding an icy gaze.

Why couldn’t his ones hold the same warmth in them? Why did one have to be so rude and sinister while the other was so polite and soothing?

My heart dropped at the remembrance of the mocking expression of his.

Was I wishing him to be as warm as Louis? Why?!

Why did I want him to be warm?! It bloody didn’t make any sense.

I kicked my leg on the grass, frustrated.

Don't tell me, I'm attracted to that asshole!

I mentally groaned and scolded my mind as I pinched the space between my eyes.

“In a bad mood?” someone spoke, and I jerked away, startled.