Stripped (a Zayn Malik Fanfic)

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After a long and drawn out conference call with Simon, we were finally able to head home. He had left us with a warning: "If any of you so much as step a toe out of line or I find you near any strip clubs ever again, so help me God, I will pull the plug on this whole thing." In other words, our careers depended on the clean and pure image we put forth to the world. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I would not be able to stay away from Victory for long, I would not be able to stay away from Leila. 

"So let's get our story straight," Niall began. "We were attending a private birthday party that was simply renting out the venue. There were no strippers there at the time." He looked around at all of us to make sure we understood what he had said. 

Liam let out a laborious sigh. "I doubt that even the dimmest of our fans would believe that." He said. 

"I guess we'll find out in the morning." I announced, rising heavily to my feet. The whole day had been exhausting, more mentally than physically, and I was desperate to be alone. "I think I'm going to head home lads, so I'll see you lot tomorrow." I said, taking my opportunity to escape while the others scoured the internet in search of the photographs the garbage pap had taken. 

The boys mumbled their goodbyes, their eyes still glued to the computer screen as Louis scrolled through articles furiously. We had decided to take the conference call at Louis and Harry's place, a luxury townhouse located just next door to mine. Next door to mine was Liam's place and next to Liam was Niall's. It was nice being close to them but also having my privacy at the same time. On numerous occasions, we ended up staying over and Louis and Harry's. 

Reaching my front door I made my way inside and climbed the stairs wearily. We only had a month to ourselves with performances here and there before our tour of Australia and New Zealand was set to begin. Normally, I would have gone for a visit to Bradford during our time off, but we were so busy with promoting the North American release of our album that it was impossible to. 

Collapsing on the sofa, I switched on the tele and grabbed my MacBook from the coffee table. Opening the browser, I headed for the Sun's webpage and saw an article had popped up in the few minutes since leaving Louis and Harry's as well as an array of photographs. The heading read: ONE DIRECTION ARE VICTORIOUS AT THE STRIP CLUB. I sighed, rubbing my eyes. This entire thing was my fault. The idea of Harry and Leila together had bothered me so much that I was literally seeing red. And just as I knew it would, my mind slowly drifted back to her. 

An idea entered my mind and I closed the Sun's webpage. I had transferred everything from my old computer at home before moving out to the city – music, documents, and of course photographs. I accessed my old files easily enough and browsed through my pictures until I found what I was looking for. Opening it, I was face to face with a sixteen year-old Leila, rosy-cheeked and makeup-less, standing with me on the porch of her house. The both of us had enormous smiles plastered onto our faces. Where had that girl gone, the girl I grew up with? The girl who always had her nose tucked into a book? The girl who I once knew as my best friend? A better question yet, where had that boy gone who stood beside her? 

Leila still had not told me why or how she ended up working at Victory, so I decided to find out on my own. After a quick search I had exactly what I was looking for. Reaching over to my iPhone, I typed in the first phone number that had popped up in my search results. It was almost eleven at night, so I planned on just leaving a message. The phone rang twice and surprisingly someone answered it. 

"Manchester Intelligence, how can I help you?" A man greeted gruffly through the phone. 

"Hi there, I was wondering if you could track down some information on an old friend of mine. Her name is Leila Karim and she's originally from Bradford..." I trailed off. 

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I woke the next morning to my cell phone chiming loudly. I had fallen asleep on the couch, not bothering to change or even head up to my bedroom. I scrambled to reach my phone, haphazardly swiping the screen and answering it. 

"Hello?" I inquired groggily, my voice thick with sleep. 

"Good morning Mr. Malik. This is Ron calling with the information you requested regarding one Leila Karim from Bradford." The same man who I spoke to the previous night said. 

I jolted upwards on the sofa, fully alert. "Yes, yes. Thank you for getting back to me so soon." I said, the anticipation I felt shining through in my voice. 

"So you were mainly interested in the past foyr years of Miss Karim's life. The most significant information that we were able to gather was that both of Leila's parents were killed in a car crash during the Christmas holiday of 2010 while they were visiting friends in the neighbouring city of Leeds." Ron told me. 

I sat there dumbfounded. That was just after I had auditioned for the X-Factor. It took a moment for the shock to wash over me. Her parents...?Leila had been so close to her Mother and Father. I had been close to them. A lump formed in my throat as I thought of Irfan and Kalila, my eyes beggining to water dangerously. No wonder Leila hated me so much. How could she not? She must have gone through hell and back. I rejected her, and then I abandoned her, too caught up in my own life to even give her a second thought. Had she tried to reach out to me? Would I even have noticed? 

"Shortly after Leila moved in with her grandparents, but once she reached the age of eighteen she relocated to London and is still living there currently. She is employed by the Victory Nightclub and attends the University of Westminster every other semester, majoring in criminology and law." 

I nodded to myself. "Is that everything?" I inquired darkly, bracing myself for more terrible news. 

"That's everything. Miss Karim is not in significant debt nor does she have any criminal charges laid against her, although she is more than often late in paying her rent according to a number of warnings that have been issued against her by the landlord of her building." 

"Thank-you Ron, you've been a great help." I said. "I take it you went ahead and charged my credit card?" Money was of no object when it came to helping Leila, and knowing her, she wouldn't have made this information easy to come by. 

"That we did." Ron informed me distractedly, an array of phones ringing in the background. 

"Good. Thanks again." I concluded. 

"Pleasure doing business with you Mister Malik." Ron said, hanging up. 

How long I sat motionlessly on the sofa, I did not know. I had to help Leila. Redeeming myself in her eyes didn't matter. I deserved her hating me. All I knew is that I had to help her. And also, I needed a pack of smokes, badly.

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A/N: It seems Zayn is starting to realize just how much his fame cost him. Thank you all so much for reading, it means the world to me! Please visit s.t.r.i.p.p.e.d.f.a.n.f.i.c.t.i.o.n.t/u/m/b/l/r.c/o/m (remove slashes and periods) for Leila's outfits, accompanying music, and fanart. xx