A Fateful Encounter (Zayn Malik fanfic)

Chapter 14

Zayn was sitting staring at me. His face showed no expression or emotion, apart from a certain warmth the lurked in his eyes. He picked up the remote, switched off the TV wordlessly and pulled me onto his lap, slowly stroking my back.

‘Finally’ he whispered, biting gently on the cartilage of my ear.

I twisted to look up at him, confused by the statement he made. What was he talking about?

‘What do you mean?’

‘Ariella. I knew you were upset about something. I just had to wait until you wanted to talk. On your own terms’ He said quietly, but there was no denying the happiness that danced in his eyes and the corner of his lush parted lips. Suddenly I wanted to kiss him.

I wanted to kiss him so badly it physically hurt. To press against him and mould my soft body against his hard one. To learn the contours of every inch of him and just inhale his scent. My mind began wandering and when I hear Zayn’s growl I came back to the present.

‘Pardon?’ I asked, hoping to appear like I was paying attention.

‘Babe. You’re going to have to stop looking at me like that or I’ll do something we’re both not ready for. I don’t want to screw things up.’ He said, his voice sincere and overwhelming.

‘Oh’ was all I said, because really, what could I say to that?

‘Go on Ariella. I’m listening’ he prompts, his hand on my back stopping to run up and settle around my shoulders, hugging me closer. My face is pressed against his hard chest and I inhale deeply, sighing.

‘Stop it, El’ he groans, his breathing is faster and I can hear the furious beating of his heart. My eyes lock on his and I see his caramel irises are swallowed up and dilated. I was also aware of a hard, though not uncomfortable, jutting underneath me which caused my cheeks to permanently stain red.

He shrugged helplessly, as if to say, what can I do?

Bringing my thoughts back to the present, I begin the tale of how I was sitting here on his lap today.

‘First of all, you have to swear that you’ll believe everything I’m going to tell you, no matter how absurd.’

He nodded and his eyes bored into mine. They implored that I should continue and that he would support me. The wordless communication caused goose bumps to break out on my skin and my heart to palpitate in my chest.

Taking a deep breath I began explaining.

‘My ex-boyfriend Drew has been stalking me since we broke up years ago.’ I wait for this to sink in as I kinda dropped a bombshell and see that other than a fierce, possessive glint in his eyes, his face shows no emotion. He just nods solemnly for me to continue.

‘Well, when we were dating Lucy was really in to him. To the point of obsession and I think she was a little jealous.’ I said, trying not to sound vain or as if I liked the idea of someone wanting what I had. Because I didn’t.

‘Anyway, she kept this to herself for the whole time, until after we split up. A little after, I don’t know when exactly, she met up with him and because Drew was over me, but still bitter, they started dating. I wouldn’t have cared in all honesty, whether they kept it a secret or not. But they chose not to tell me. He used to tell me he loved me a lot, so it was pretty tough for him.’

‘I feel so guilty looking at what he turned out to be. And that was the result of my doing’ I sighed.

Warm, strong hands cup my face and suddenly I’m staring into heated and sympathetic brown eyes.

‘Don’t you ever blame yourself. For anything’ he whispers furiously.

I nod my head, touched by the caring in his voice.

‘Neither of them liked me anymore and—‘ my voice cracked and tears threatened to spill. Drew I could deal with, but the pain of losing a friend, someone you trusted more than yourself at times, was painful.

‘It’s okay, ssh. Take your time.’

‘And they plotted against me. To make my life miserable like theirs were. It's all kinda overboard and melodramatic, but that's just the way they are.’

‘Those are pretty stupid motives’ he replies, stroking my jaw.

‘Everything was a lie. And Zayn, it hurts. It hurts so much’ I whisper as a lone tear escapes. Kissing it away, he cuddles me closer. Feeling safe I wrap my arms more securely around him, burrowing deeper and smelling his amazing, male and clean scent.

‘I can’t stand seeing you like this El. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? What have they done?’

‘Well, there’s a bit more to the story. They wanted us to get together, so that they could break us apart and hurt me like they were hurt’ I explain, missing out the part where I told him I loved him. If I told him, after what I’m about to say, he might feel obliged to stay with me or tied down.

‘Today is my last day with you. Or else they’re going to step things up and it will get ugly. For both of us.’

I watch his face again, trying to figure out how he feels towards this. This was it. If he said okay, then we’d be over. O.V.E.R. And I don’t think my heart could take it. My greatest fear would be turning out like Drew. I wouldn’t be able to stand myself.