k i w i

- 33 -

- arabella -

I closed my eyes as Penny stood in front of me, giving me a small prayer and crossing me. She was blessing me.

"Take care, mi niña." (my girl) She says, as if I wasn't going to see her again. Pulling me into a hug, her voice lowered a bit. "Esta re-guapo el muchachito." (the guy is hella cute)

I laugh at her comment about Zayn, kissing her cheek and winking at her. Turning back to Zayn, he walked forward and extended his arm.

"Nice to finally meet you." He said, a gasp leaving him as Penny pulled him into a hug too. "Nice hugs."

Penny's brown cheeks turned a bit pink, she pulled away and then turned serious. "You take care of them for me, okay?"

While that was happening, I saw my mom and Tabitha over Penny's shoulder. My smile only widen when I saw a red mark in Tabitha's cheek.

"We should get going." I say, trying not to stay longer than necessary and also not wanting for him to meet the devil herself. "Come on, Zayn."

"Bells!" The only person to call me that was Julian, he pushed past the two evil women and to me. Extending his arm, I saw that he was giving me a present. "This is for my little cousin."

Aw, he's so sweet.

"You must be Zayn." He said, turning to Zayn and extending his arm out. "I'm Julian. Nice to meet you."

Zayn did the same, shaking his hand and standing back a little. I pulled my nephew into a hug and pulled back, "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Yeah. Hopefully." He said back, smiling and patting my shoulder. "Love you, Bells."

"Me too, J." I tell him, turning back and beginning to walk to Zayn's car. It was going smoothly, but of course with Tabitha here, it always ended bad. "Get in the car." I managed to whisper to Zayn, "Go-"

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" She said, running and standing in front of us. Her eyes fell on Zayn, a smirk growing as she examined him. "Hey, aren't you friends with Louis Tomlinson?"

Zayn looked over at me, raising an eyebrow when I shook my head. "Um-"

"Mami!" Tabitha yelled over to our mom, making her come over as she out on puppy eyes. "This is the guy that gave me the cannabis at that one party. Remember?"

Oh no.

"You smoke marijuana?" Mom gasped, pulling Tabby a little back from Zayn as if he was an infection. "Bella? You knew about this?"

"Mom, she could be lying." I defended him, shaking my head and glaring at Tabby. I put a hand on Zayn's forearm, pulling us closer a bit. "I want to go home already."

"Oh, you can't go with him, little sis!" Tabby gasped, putting her hand to her chest and another one on mom's arm to scare her. The smirk on her face only grew bigger and bigger. "What if he smokes around you? We don't want the baby to-"

"¡Ya callate!" (shut up) I exclaimed, "At least its not cocaine, Tabby!"

That'll shut her up.

Hearing gasps, I finally push past them. Zayn was tense, his gaze on the ground but when he heard me, his face was in shock.

Nudging him to get in, he did so once I was inside the car. I looked over at the two devils, seeing the older one holding her daughter close to her.

"Bella!" Even through the closed windows, I could hear mom's yelling. "Get back here. Apologize!"

Shaking my head, I look over at Julian, he was laughing his ass off. Sammy and Pepa coming out if the house with Regina trailing behind, both confused.

At least I'm making someone happy.

"What was that about?" After pulling into the road, Zayn asked. "Was it this bad before I got there?"

I nod, shrinking in my seat. "Yes. They think she can't be a bitch because she's in her 'weakest state'."

"So, all those rumors were true?" He asked, clearly referring to the many magazine articles written about her. "The ones when she entered rehab?"

"Just the cocaine addiction one." I say, sighing as I remembered reading all those articles, they were awful. "Even though she's a bitch, she isn't heartless."

The articles all said the same things: she had stolen money from us, she had various abortions, she had done more than one type of drug, and she had sent a hitman to various women.

"She wouldn't sell you out, will she?" In almost a whisper, Zayn asked. "I-I mean, I don't want to sound cruel, but you did said she's a bitch."

Sitting back up, I looked at his profile, trying to figure out why he would think like that. Shrugging and taking a water bottle out, I took a small sip of it. "I don't think so. Why'd you ask?"

"Don't know." He sighed, going ahead and turning the radio on. "You should take a nap, I have a blanket in the backseat."

Who carries a blanket?

Furrowing my eyebrows, I followed as he said, not really wanting to end up fighting because of stupid Tabitha. Finding a grey fluffy blanket, I put it on and leaned my head back.

"Can I put Lana Del Rey?" I ask him, waving my phone a bit. "I want to listen to her since I can't smoke anymore."

His laughter filled the car, he only nodded and tweaked around with the radio. "Just connect your Bluetooth."

Doing so, I went to my music and began to scroll to find her Lust For Life album. Clicking on shuffle, I snuggled deeper into the blanket and let my head rest on the small compartment between us, closing my eyes as her beautiful voice filled the car.

"Wake me up when we get to my building, please." I say, opening one eye to look up at him. He nodded, setting a hand on my head and beginning to do a little scratching motion.. "Yeah, keep doing that."

Slowly, I snoozed off.

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