Chapter 2

Louis's eyes scanned the room before he shot me an unimpressed look. 

"What have I done to deserve this?" he chuckled irritatedly, plopping onto my couch with a squeak and a pop of the broken springs. If it were anybody, or anything, other than a demon in my s****y apartment, I would've freaked out, but Louis was dead to me and I couldn't care less what he thought of my apartment. 

"So, you just going to sit here, use up my electricity, and eat my food? Why do I need a guardian again?" I rhetorically asked aloud, earning me no response from the dead-beat lounging on what had to be the most uncomfortable couch in the world. I felt my face heating up with rage as I looked at the back of his head and finished my water. I slammed the glass onto the counter and walked over in front of him. I set my hands on my hips and stared down at him. He looked at me lazily and I just glared. 

"Aren't you supposed to help me? You are a Guardian, after all, whether you like it or not!" I screamed and he rolled his eyes. 

"If you're looking for me to help you clean up this s**t, you're outta luck," he grumbled and I sighed. I shook my head and let my arms fall to my side as I stormed down to my bedroom. I slammed the door and tried the lock, but it broke off as soon as I touched it. I broke down. I sat down, my back pressed up against the door and put my head in my hands. I began sobbing. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't. Two hours ago I was going about my life as I always had and I was doing just fine, but ever since Louis showed up my life was becoming a living Hell...literally. I lifted my head and rested it against the door, sniffling every few seconds. I felt buzzing in my pocket and I reached in to grab my phone. MOM appeared on the screen. I took a deep breath, wiping my eyes and trying to regain as much of my composure as I could. 

"Hello?"

"Hi, baby," her voice rang out sweetly. I smiled lightly, tucking some of my hair behind my ear. 

"Hi mom."

"What's wrong?" her voice changed to a lower, more concerned tone. That's the thing about mom's; they can tell when something's wrong just by the way your voice sounds, even over the crappiest of phone services. 

"Uh, nothing? Why?" I tried to cover myself, but I knew Mom wasn't gonna buy it.

"Noelle, I know what's going on. They called me," she whispered. Silence filled the speakers for a moment. 

"I'm so sorry," she choked out and I sighed, shaking my head as tears filled my eyes once more. 

"Why would you and dad not tell me about this sooner?" I mumbled, wiping away hot tears that escaped my eyes. 

"Do you think we wanted to tell you that you didn't have a guardian angel watching over you? We couldn't bear to do it! Especially knowing that it was true and that you were eventually going to have a demon in your life," my mom tried to explain, but I shook my head. 

"Well you didn't have to tell me when I was younger, but you couldn't have at least sat down and talked with me once I'd gotten older? Or before I'd moved out?" I spat, anger swelling up inside of me. I knew my parents loved me and they were just trying to protect me for my own best interest, but they could've prepared me at least a little bit.

"It slipped my mind," my mom's voice was soft, but I could tell she was upset due to the constant sniffling from her end. 

"It sucks," I burst, tears washing over my face uncontrollably. 

"It'll get better, baby! Do you wanna come home for a few days?" my mom asked frantically, but my shook my head. I pulled my sleeve down and began scrubbing the make-up and tears off my burning face. 

"I can't, I have midterms next week," I croaked.

"Honey, I love you and I can never apologize enough for what's happening to you, but I can tell you that there is good in everybody- even demons. Keep your head up, kiddo. I have to go, call me tomorrow. Love you, babygirl."

"Love you too," I managed to whisper before pulling the phone away from my ear and hanging up. I lifted my head and saw Louis sitting on my bed, arms crossed. I jumped, holding my chest from being so startled. 

"What the f**k?" I hissed, standing up and grabbing a tissue. Louis was just watching me and I looked at him, wiping my red, puffy eyes. His eyes softened, and he looked almost concerned. For a split second I believe he actually did care about me, but when he opened his mouth, I wanted nothing more than to strangle him and send him back to the fire pits of Hell.

"It's only been 2 hours, it's gonna get way worse." 

* * * * 

Louis had surprisingly kept to himself for the remainder of the night, but when I woke up the next day, he was back to his shenanigans. He was lying on the couch and he had porn streaming onto my TV. 

"Hey!" I screamed, covering my eyes as he pulled his hand from his sweatpants and looked back at me.

"F***s sake," he grumbled, standing up and punching the power button aggressively with his finger. I stared at him in disbelief as he walked past me to my fridge and drained my gallon of milk; he stared me down the entire time he drank it too.

"Get the f**k out of my house," I growled, pinning him up against the fridge. He dropped the empty gallon on the floor and smirked down at me. He raised his wrist to remind me that we needed to be together or I'd be hella sick. 

"I'd rather be sicker than a dog, dead even, than have you be with me 24/7 for the rest of my life," I spat in his face, releasing him from the fridge. 

"I didn't do anything to you, I was just watching some stuff," he chirped and I narrowed my eyes. 

"Watching some stuff? No, that was porn and it was on my TV," I argued, and he rolled his eyes. 

"I could watch it on your computer and get it all infected for you."

"Wow, how f*****g thoughtful of you."

"You're a pain in the a*s to work with, you know?"

"Says the demon," I snapped back and he took a breath. 

"You know, I didn't ask to do this, okay? I'd rather not have to sit here in your crappy, stupid apartment and listen to you b***h and moan at me, but there's nothing you or me can do about it. We just need to get to an agreement and leave it at that," he spoke, pulling his hood over his head, shoving his hands in his pockets and storming out the front door. I stood in the room, feeling the tension surrounding me. He was right, though I hated to agree with him. The FCG wasn't taking him back, and as of yet, I had no idea how to get rid of him myself, so we'd just have to set some rules and get on with life. I brushed my hair out of my eyes and turned on my coffee machine. I walked outside and found Louis sitting on the rickety wooden steps leading up to my apartment smoking a cigarette. I sat down next to him as he puffed a cloud of smoke into my face. I coughed, swatting it away before rolling my eyes. 

"You want one?" he mumbled, offering me a cigarette. I sighed, plucking one from the carton as he held up a lighter. I took a puff and blew it out into the cold morning air. 

"I'm not that bad, you know," Louis continued and I looked at him, taking another hit. 

"I doubt it," I scoffed and he gave me a death glare. 

"Smart," he chuckled and I couldn't help but crack a small smile. He took a long drag from his cig, before letting the smoke out with an audible sigh. 

"So, can other people see you?" I asked, curious as to how Guardians worked, considering I never had one until now. 

"No," he replied blandly. 

"So people will think I'm crazy and just talking to myself?" I laughed and he smirked at me with a shrug. 

"You know about just as much about Guardian's as I do," he answered, flicking his cig off the porch and onto the sidewalk. I heard beeping from inside and I stood up, going back inside and making myself a cup of coffee. Louis followed me in as I poured my coffee into a mug. 

"You want some?" I asked and he shrugged, leaning against the counter as I grabbed another mug. 

"Do you want anything-"

"I like it black," he replied and I nodded, knowing that, of course, a demon would like his coffee to be nothing other than black.  

Reviews

[theHobbit]

As always, fantastic work! I loved this chapter because Louis and Noelle are starting to learn to work together but I love how you don't let the readers forget that Louis is still a mischievous being. Also I love how you have Noelle's and her mom's convo which really shows another side of Noelle as a person. And all the little details really transport you to this world. Hope you update soon!!!