The Memory Jar [Zayn Malik]

Chapter 5: Caring

Hello, everyone! :D I know it's been over a week and I'm sorry, but... augh! I just wrote this chapter this morning and edited it a few times, so like always, please point out any technical mistakes I missed! Anywho, I REALLY appreciate all the comments, votes, adds, etc. on this story! It's mind blowing! You guys are great readers, and I'm so pleased you're all liking it!

PS- Guys, this story is over 2,000 reads now! :O That is amazing, and I can't thank you all enough for it! This is just... wow, I'm speechless! So since i'm speechless, I guess that gives me good reason to shut up and let you all read now! 

(Updates will probably continue on the schedule of: Weekly) 

So here you go! Chapter five! 

Zayn 

            “Hi Mum.”

           “Hi Zayn,” a sweet voice responds from my cell phone. “I heard you were all at the hospital? Is everyone doing alright, or was that just a rumor story?” Her voice sounds calm, but I sense an underlying tone of anxiety that she obviously doesn’t want me to know about. 

            “Yeah, the boys and I are all fine,” I say slowly. “But we were at the hospital.”

            There’s dead silence for a moment before she speaks again. “Why was that? Love, is there something you’re not telling me?” 

            Trust my mother to have the ultimate motherly instinct, even over the phone. 

            I take a deep breath, and notice only then that my hands are damp with sweat, my nerves becoming apparent, even though I’m in the privacy of my own room. I mean, what is she going to think? I practically kidnapped a girl, and she doesn’t even know it. 

            After another moment, I speak. In one, long explanation, I tell her everything that’s happened with Dana. How she’s from the streets, how she doesn’t remember anything… how I told her the biggest lie of her life. 

            When I’m finished there’s an eerie silence as my only response, leaving me with a sickening feeling. “How long do you plan on keeping this from her?” She finally responds, her voice a strangely threatening quiet.

            I sigh and fall down onto my bed, staring at the creamy ceiling. There’s not a single speck of obvious dirt on it. The rest of my room looks average and neat enough, but all the real mess is in my closet where no one can see. Thinking of it reminds me about how disorganized my life really is now. I have the obvious surface appearance, average, calm, collected. But if you look further, I’m a complete mess. I’m lying to a girl about her entire life, stealing her away to live with me, and dragging everyone around me into it as well.

            “I don’t know,” I finally say when I find my voice. “As long as until she remembers, I suppose. 

            I hear Mum sigh quietly through the phone before speaking again. “I hope you’re ready for her reaction then, Zayn,” she pauses. “Because I doubt it’ll be pleasant.”

            I already know that. I’m prepared for her to hate me. Hell, I’d hate me too if I found out that everything I thought I knew was just a complete lie. That I took advantage of my condition and twisted my life around. 

            “It’ll be horrible Mum,” I groan, rubbing an eye with my free hand. “And I know it’ll happen. It’s inevitable.”