the fallen;; zm {slow updates}

twenty three

I turned the flashlights over and unscrewed the bottom, thinking the flashlight felt a little light and sure enough, there were no batteries. I wondered why Zayn kept a nonworking flashlight stored in his glove compartment.

It was the last thought I had before my eyes homed in on the rusty liquid that had dried at one end of the flashlight.

Blood.

The thought of Zayn murdering someone with this flashlight as a weapon made my heart beat out of my chest. He had a frightening past and many, many secrets. If brutal and senseless violence was one of them, I wasn't safe riding around alone with him.

A flashlight of distant lightning brightened the horizon and I see him exiting the restaurant. He jogged across the parking lot holding a plastic bag in one hand and bottles of coke in the other. He went around to the driver's side and ducked inside the car.

"One turkey sandwich without pickles," He says as he placed the bag on his lap and ran his fingers through his wet dark hair. "And something to wash it down with,"

"Did you kill someone?" I asked quietly, my eyes still glued to the flashlight in my hand.

"What?" His voice full of confusion. I looked up at him and noticed he was staring at my hands. "You went through my things?" He says and didn't sound annoyed but he didn't sound pleased, either.

"I—"

"And accuse me of killing someone?" He gave a curt laugh, minus the humor. He placed the bottles on my lap before reaching behind his seat, dragging out a large gun.

In instinct, I reacted to reach for the door handle to run out and get as far away from him but the doors suddenly locked on it's own. I turned to him, about to scream as loud as I could but he leaned over and sealed my mouth with his hands.

"Paintball gun," He said. His tone had chilled. I divided looks between the gun and Zayn, feeling the fear running through my body. "I played paintball earlier this week with Lou and Niall,"

I shoved his hand away and showed him the stain on the flashlight, "Then, explain the blood on this,"

"It's not blood," He says calmly. "It's paint. We were playing capture the flag. I should take you sometime,"

My eyes shifted to the flashlight in my hands. It had been used as the flag. But somehow, a part of me still didn't believe him. I turned the car ceiling lights to prove him wrong but instead, I was proven wrong. There was a splash of green and blue and abit of orange on the flashlight.

A mix of relief, idiocy and guilt at accusing him swam through me. "Right," I said lamely. "I'm sorry," But it seemed a little too late for apologies.

Zayn stared straight ahead through the windshield. His breathing deep and I wondered if he was using the silence to let go of a little steam. I had just accused him of murder, after all. I felt terrible about it but my mind was too rattled to come up with the right apology.

He sighs and hand me the bag with the sandwiches. "Let's get you home,"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We finished our sandwiches on our way to my place. When he pulled up in front of my house, the rain had fully stopped and I was glad that it did. He killed the engine and I noticed his mouth held the suggestion of a smile.

His lips looked soft and smooth and I was having a hard time looking away. But most of all, I was grateful he seemed to have forgiven me.

"We're going to have to work on your pool game, Angel,"

"Speaking of pool," I cleared my throat. "I would like to know when and how you're going to collect on that thing I owe you,"

"Not tonight," Zayn said, his eyes watching mine closely, judging my response. I was caught between an easing of mind and disappointment. But mostly, disappointment.

I glanced up and caught my aunt standing in the open doorway. To my horror, she stepped out and walked towards the car. Looking angry was an understatement. She obviously didn't like the first time seeing me with him, and now the second? She's going to have a fit.

"Let me do the talking," I said, handing the my half empty bottle to him. "Don't say a word. I mean it,"

Zayn hopped out and came around for my door. Then, we met my aunt halfway up the driveway and she says, "I didn't know you were going out," She was smiling but not in a relaxed way.

"It was planned last minute," I explained

"What happened to your bike?" My aunt asked him, eyeing the black range rover suspiciously. I was about to say something for him but he beat me to it.

"It's at the workshop." He answers.

"Mhmm. You must have quite a job to own two vehicles at your age,"

"I bus tables at a Mexican restaurant,"

"I see. . ."

While they continued talking, I noticed that Zayn was saying a little as possible, keeping himself carefully shadowed in mystery. I wondered what his life was like when he wasn't around me.

At the back oof my mind, I couldn't stop thinking about his frightening past. Up until now I would fantasize about discovering his deep, dark secrets because I wanted to prove to myself and to him that I was capable of figuring him out.

But now I wanted know his secrets because they were a part of him. And despite the fact that I routinely deny it, I do feel something for him. The more time I spent with him. The more I knew the feelings weren't going away.

"Gee, Maria," I stopped them in between their talking session. "It's getting late—,"

"Would you like to come in for some ice cream?" She offered, sounding flustered, caught between doing the polite thing and acting on the impulse to drag me inside and bolt the door.

Zayn shook his head, "I've got to get going. Maybe next time. It was nice talking to you Ms Evans,"

"It's Maria Fletcher. I'm Amelia's aunt,"

"Ofcourse. Goodnight Maria." He nods at my aunt and turns to me. "And you too,"

He was about to walk away but my aunt stops him by asking, "What did you and Mia do tonight?" And this question made him look at me, raising his eyebrows ever so lightly.

"We grabbed dinner at Subway," I replied for him. "Sandwiches and sodas. Purely harmless night,"

The trouble was, my feelings for Zayn weren't harmless at all.

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SURPRISE SURPRISE!!!!! ITS AN EARLY UPDATE AND GUESS WHOS HAPPY??? I AM!!!!

btw if you guys havent yet checked out my harry fanfiction, it can be found on my profile where my works are and its called 'darks souls' :-)

{next update: 24 august 2015}

- sarah xo