Strings and Schemes

Chapter 24

"Raina, I'm not Louis."

"I know that."

"Then stop talking like I am."

His words are direct, but not unkind. My heart stutters, feeling embarrassed at the accidental association.

"I'm here because I want to be," he continues. "Not because it's easy. Not because you need me. But, because I need you just as much. Believe it or not."

I open my mouth, then close it. He says things so simply, like the answers have always been right there, and I'm the one making them complicated.

"And if one day you wake up and you don't?" I ask quietly.

"Then we'll talk about it."

"And if one day you wake up and you want someone else?"

Zayn sighs, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "Is this really what you're afraid of? That I'm going to leave you for someone who's... what? Easier?"

I hesitate. "Not just easier. Someone who doesn't come with all of this. With me. With the expectations, the complications, the scrutiny. Someone who - " I take a breath, forcing the words out. "Someone who isn't still figuring out how to be a person outside of who she was raised to be."

His expression darkens slightly. "That's not how I see you."

"But it's the truth."

"It's your truth," he counters. "It's not mine."

I let that sit between us for a moment, the weight of it heavy in the air.

"Zayn, I need to know," I finally say. "If you ever did want someone else - if you ever felt like this wasn't enough for you - " I swallow hard. "Would you tell me?"

His eyes soften, but there's something resolute in them, too. "Yes."

"That simple?"

"That simple."

"So, no one else? Ever?" I push, just to be sure.

"Not unless we talk about it first."

I search his face, trying to find some sort of hesitation, some sort of uncertainty. But there isn't any.

"You're sure?"

"Raina," he exhales, leaning in closer, his voice softer now. "I want you. That's not changing. But if it ever did, you'd be the first to know."

I nod slowly, letting that sink in.

"So, you're saying if I wanted to fuck someone else, I'd just have to tell you?" I ask, pushing the boundaries just a little.

His jaw tenses. "I'd rather you not want to fuck someone else."

I bite back a smirk. "But if I did?"

His eyes flicker with something sharp, something possessive. He exhales through his nose, shaking his head. "Then I'd have to make sure you remembered exactly why you don't need anyone else."

Zayn's words settle between us, thick with meaning.

The way he says it—low, controlled, and laced with something dark—sends a shiver straight down my spine. I should push him, tease him just a little more, because I know exactly what this does to him. But before I can, his hands are on me, tugging me into him in the darkness of the fort.

"You think this is funny?" His voice is a murmur against my skin, his lips ghosting over my jaw, my neck, the hollow of my throat.

"A little," I whisper, though my breath stutters as his fingers press into my waist, anchoring me to him.