Paranoia (Zayn Malik) (editing)

Chapter 12: Patio Talk

Luna's POV

"Serpents?" I furrow my eyebrows "Like snakes?"

"Not physically. They're like Vampires in a way, fangs, superspeed etcetera, but they don't drink blood, they bite and leave venom." Zayn explains, throwing the dart so it slices through the air and hits the target board hanging on the living room wall perfectly in the middle.

"What's the fun in that if you know you'll hit a bullseye every time?"

"Sometimes we all need small wins." He sighs, throwing a second dart.

The past few weeks, Zayn has been educating me the best he can on what occults I can expect to find at the base, meaning we are spending more and more time together. It's not like quality time, more silently sitting together while he reads and I watch TV, but I've become used to his company

I stand from the black sofa, folding my arms as I walk over to the drinks cabinet. I let my eyes scan over the various bottles of alcohol on the shelves behind the glass, along with the fancy glasses lined up at the bottom.

"You can have a drink, you know." He nods towards the bottles.

"I don't drink."

"Because of your father?"

My eyes widen at the question, meeting his own. No one mentions my father's alcoholism flat out like that, it's always something swept under the rug.

"I'm sorry, was that insensitive?" He scans my face, I can't tell if he's picked that up from my expression or my thoughts.

"Somewhat, yeah." I scoff.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I think I'm naturally a bit of a dick, but I think you understand that."

"What makes you say that?"

"You're a bit of a dick, too." He laughs lightly "You can't deny that."

I shoot him a glare, narrowing my eyes, even though I know he's right.

"Yes, because of my father." I admit "Seeing what it does to him, makes me not want to ever touch the stuff."

He places his large hand on my shoulder, weighing me down slightly "I'm sorry that you've had to see him like that. He was a nice guy before he started drinking like that."

"You knew him well?"

"Well enough, when I was Lila's right-hand man," He tilts his head to the side "I don't think he ever liked me."

"I wonder why."

"See, you're a dick." He chuckles.

"Sorry." I grin "Habit."

"I like it." He looks back at me with a soft smile.

He reaches into his back pocket, pulling out a cigarette box. He starts walking to the patio doors, waving the box at me "I'm going for a smoke, coming?"

I don't respond, my feet instinctively follow as he opens the sliding door and steps out onto the tiles of the patio. The slabs of stone are cold against my bare feet, but the warm air of May keeps me somewhat comfortable.

I watch closely as he places a cigarette between his pink lips, balancing it as he pulls a lighter from his pocket, sparking a flame and letting the end of the cigarette catch. He notices my eyes trained on him, narrowing his own in response.

"What? You don't like smokers doll?"

"I don't see why you'd do it."

The burnt smell works its way up my nose and I try to puff it out. I can feel it heating my cheeks.