chapter three

daisy

She ate the rest of her breakfast in silence. Both because she didn't know what to say after he turned her cheeks scarlet, and because she wasn't a chatty person anyway. Luckily, it was a comfortable silence rather than the awkward ones she was used to with her family.

Daisy sat for a moment and sipped the last of her water, before Seth grumbled, "c'mon," as he stood up from the bench.

Daisy looked at him, slightly startled as she didn't know where he wanted them to go. "W-where?" she asked, stumbling over the word and the bench at the same time.

He put his hand on the small of her back to steady her, though he didn't let go as they walked out of the canteen and through a large hallway. If anything, he pulled her closer by wrapping his arm around his waist almost possessively. She thought he was very touchy-feely for someone she had only met that morning, but she didn't seem to mind all that much.

"The common room is where we go in free time." She assumed the 'we' was prisoners, which unfortunately included her now. "It's that, the gym or the yard outside." he added.

"Can w-we go out-outside?" Daisy didn't know why she was asking for this man's permission to go to a place together, as if they were a couple deciding where to have their date. It was ridiculous but something about Seth made her not want to leave his side.

He looked her up and down, frowning at her clothes and said, "you'll get cold."

How did this man end up in prison?! Daisy was baffled by how sweet and attentive he was. It made him more attractive in her opinion. Although, he didn't need any help in that compartment.

She smiled to herself, trying to contain the large grin that threatened to escape and freak everybody around her out. Daisy could almost laugh that the first time a male had taken a slight interest in her, he was a criminal for whatever terrible reason.

Too focused on her misfortune, she didn't notice they were in the common room until Seth patted her side lightly. "Here it is." He said, watching her reaction.

The common room was fairly large, not as big as the canteen though, and brightly lit with windows to see outside to the yard. There were clearly different sections of the room for different activities. In one corner, people were playing snooker and in another, was a games console and a large flat screen TV with couches in front of them. The games had men yelling in competitiveness and placing bets on who they thought the winner would be.

However, the more silent area held chess and other board games. This is where some of the older and less dangerous looking prisoners were. She couldn't hear what they were saying but from their lips moving, she knew they were conversing quietly, maybe even politely.

What peaked Daisy's interest the most, was the small bookcase full to the brim with books. It was no where near as big as her own massive library at home but it was still more than she could ever wish for in a prison. There were more couches and even a couple of bean bags in the corner, occupied by a few other prisoners. In the same section was a table and a messy box of paper and coloured pencils.

This time, Daisy was not afraid to show her full on cheshire cat grin. She looked at Seth with the expression, who let out a deep, masculine chuckle at her pure excitement. "See something you like?" He asked her, rubbing circles into her waist with his thumb.

She nodded frantically and pointed at the section with the books saying, "there, please." Daisy was aware she should have been acting more fearless and vicious to warn off predators but in front of books, she couldn't contain her eagerness.

As soon as he started walking, she sped off to stand in front of the short bookcase and observe each one in detail before making her final and very important choice. She was vaguely conscious of the couple of people watching her from behind their books and the even larger amount of strangers staring from across the room.

A gasp escaped her as hands abruptly yanked her back into a body, where she was spun so her front touched a hard chest and her startled eyes met Seth's angry ones. He leaned down close enough for her to feel his breath on her face and roughly said, "don't run away from me."

She stood still, wondering why she fit so perfectly in a stranger's arms and why she liked being close to him so much. Not wanting him to be angry, she cautiously rubbed her hand over his chest in a soothing manner. "P-please don't be a-angry."

His previously tense muscles relaxed with her gentle gesture. After a while, he slowly pulled away a little, putting a hand on her hip and ran the back of his fingers over her flushed cheek. "Sorry, my angel. I don't want you to be away from me with all these men around."

Daisy understood because who knew how many murderers were in the room with her at that moment. She, however, didn't understand why he would care whether she was safe or not. She decided not to dwell on their moment and focus on what she was excited about in the first place.

"Can I read now?" she smiled shyly at him.

"Choose one." he gestured to the books with an encouraging smile. This time a little more nervously, she walked over and continued to read the spines, occasionally picking one up to read the blurb. Behind her, she heard Seth say in a low voice, "scram."

Daisy turned around and witnessed the scrawny looking inmates running out of their seats in fear of Seth. "Don't do that." She pouted, looking out at the only people she could've had a decent conversation with.

"Don't do what?" He asked with confusion.

"Be mean." Her eyes tried to avoid his, afraid he'd grow angry at her for telling him off with the sudden bravery she found. But, it was like her eyes were drawn to his as if they were magnets. She couldn't help but look at them.

He gave her an amused smile. "I'm mean?" Hesitantly, she nodded. "It's who I am, little kitten." Daisy scrunched her nose at the new nickname. "Don't like it?" He asked, refering to the name. She shook her head in response. "You're like a kitten. You jump at loud noises and your claws come out...occasionally."

"I like puppies more than kittens." She said, not responding to his teasing smile.

Daisy finally settled on a book that she had read a long time ago. Most of them were quite old and not well looked after so there wasn't much choice if she wanted one with all of the pages intact. "Are you not reading?" Daisy asked Seth when she saw him just watching her with his arms crossed, making his muscles bulge in his top.

Seth shook his head and sat down on the battered couch. "Why don't you read to me?" He suggested.

Not seeing why not, she shrugged and went to sit next to him, tucking her legs comfortably next to her side. "Have you read this one before?" She asked him curiously, now feeling more comfortable around her supposed protector.

"No. I don't really have time to read." He said softly in her ear as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her closer. Daisy let her hair fall in between them, hoping to hide the blush that sprouted from his casual action.

"W-well, you'll like this one." She told him and then busied herself with flipping through the opening title pages, before finally saying, "I'd never given much thought to how I would die."

She paused to look at his reaction to the first line and hoped he hadn't lost interest so early on. Only, she didn't expect his face to be so close to hers, letting alone staring at her with an emotion that confused her.

"Carry on." He said whilst his eyes stayed on her lips. Daisy turned her head and quickly licked her lips, hoping to get rid of any food that was stuck on them.

Looking back to him with a shy smile, she decided that it was the perfect time to ask the question that played on her mind all morning. "Seth?" He hummed in acknowledgement. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead, angel."

Now, she wanted to ask him about the nickname he had given her, angel, but thought that two questions would be pushing her luck. "Why do people look at you like that?" She finally asked after a pause.

"Like what?" He asked but looked like he already knew the answer. It would have been impossible to not notice.

"Scared." She gulped, her throat suddenly feeling dry and slightly regretting ever speaking.

Seth's face hardened, losing any hint of a smile ever existing. His chest moved up and down as he let out a large breath and finally said, "once you know, you'll look at me like that too."

~~~

"Thank you." She mumbled to the prison officer that escorted her to her cell.

Seth had to go to his own, which was on the other side of the building. He didn't hide the fact that he didn't want to leave her alone as he reluctantly walked away with an annoyed look, but only after telling the prison officer to take her to her cell safely.

She enjoyed his concern and liked the short time they had spent together. She had struggled for words after he practically gave her confirmation that he had done something horrific but surprising both him and herself, she didn't run away screaming. Instead, Daisy reopened the book and carried on reading aloud to him, managing to read a lot of the chapters until the bell rang.

As she thought about her morning, she realised how eventful it was. There was already people that seemed to hate her and someone that made her feel safer than she had ever felt in her entire life.

"You're welcome." The officer said gruffly, breaking her out of her thoughts, and left.

She walked in and sat on her bed as she waited for Owen to come. She didn't have to wait for very long as he arrived almost immediately after with a frantic look on his face. "What were you doing with Seth?" He sounded like a mixture between scared and angry but Daisy couldn't understand why.

"He protected me from Frank." She said in a timid voice, worried that she had done something she shouldn't have.

Owen looked up and groaned as Daisy's eyes zeroed in on his tightened fists. "After I specifically told to stay away from him, you decide to eat breakfast with him."

"Well you weren't anywhere to be found." She snapped. Her eyes widened at the tone of her voice and added quietly, "And he's really nice."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Of course he is." He said with sarcasm and added, "he probably just wants to get into your pants."

Daisy's forehead crinkled with the thought that Seth was only pretending to be nice to her but she quickly shook her head to rid it. He had his scary side but he also showed her his caring side - a side her family hadn't shown her for years until the few minutes before she was sent away. Owen obviously had something against him and she wanted to find out what.

"Why don't you want me around him?" She asked.

"Oh fuck!" Daisy jumped as he swore loudly. He looked at her with realisation whilst he paced around nervously. "If he's got his eyes on you, he's probably going to kill me for even talking to you right now. I'm dead! You've just signed my death certificate. I'm going to die. Im going to die."

"Owen! Why are you so scared of him?" Pure confusion laced her voice, stopping his ramblings.

He sat on the metal chair by the desk and turned to face her. He looked around like he was afraid someone was watching and carefully said, "Seth is dangerous... a really bad person. He practically owns the whole place and has gang members in and out of prison that are prepared to hurt anyone you love at his command."

Daisy gasped loudly. "G-gang?"

"Yeah," he confirmed with a nod. "You shouldn't be around him, Daisy. You- you don't even know what he's done to end up here in prison and you don't want to know."

She did want to know though, so she couldn't stop herself from asking, "what did he do?"

"They call him the devil for a reason."