rough draft || z.m

22.0

ZAYN.

Thanksgiving came and went, like, quite successfully I think. Now, it was two days after, our final day in Woodstock and Danny, Drew and I were all sat on the couch, Rosie was showering and Ellie and Jessa were in the kitchen with Mrs. Janson. A knock on the door caused our three heads to glance upwards and Ellie came prancing out out in her apron. All I heard was a ‘hi, is Rosie here’ which already had my heart pumping a little bit faster. Danny was quick to jump up though and within seconds, he had pulled Ellie away from the door. “You…get the hell out of here…” I got up as well, moving myself closer so I could see who was facing a seemingly angry Danny. “I fücking mean it, Mitchell…get your ass off my front porch—”

“Danny, will you just let me see her? It’s been years…”

“I don’t care how long it’s been, you get the fück out of here and if I so much as hear you getting close to her, I’ll kill you.”

“Danny, mate, everything okay?” I asked him, sidling into the mix.

“It will be as soon as he leaves.”

“Just let me talk to her—” Danny turned to me, his already brown eyes dark with anger.

“Can you go make sure she doesn’t come down?” I nodded, wondering who the hell this Mitchell guy was. I heard Danny slam the door as I walked up the stairs. The bathroom door was opened and Rosie’s door was closed so I knocked lightly before walking in. There was a sudden knock on her balcony door and she gave me a puzzled glance as she stepped forward to open it. 

“Baby…hold on…” I stepped in between her and the door, stopping her, just as Danny walked in. “I think he’s at the door, mate…” I warned him, still holding onto Rosie as she looked completely confused. 

“I’m gonna push him off—I swear to god, I will. Take her out of here.” He stomped forward and opened it up.

“What the hell is going—” The guy pushed past Danny and reached for Rosie as she looked on, horrified.

“Rosie, please, can I just—”

“What did I say? What did I fücking say?” Danny, in seconds, had him pinned up against the wall and Rosie’s hands tightened around mine.

“Kade…” Kade. Her ex-boyfriend Kade.

“Rosie, get downstairs.” I tried to pull her along but she seemed to be frozen in place.

“Rose…” Rose. I cringed. Who the fücking hell does this prick think he is? “Please, I’m begging you to just hear me out!” 

“I can’t do that, Kade. I won’t—just go home.”

“I’m sorry Rosie, I messed up, okay?”

“Messed up? Are you fücking kidding me right now? Your ass should be in jail!”

“Danny stop! Seriously, stop!” She stepped forward. “Kade, you need to leave. I don’t care what you have to say, I don’t care, I just want you gone. Please.” Her voice, as strong as she tried to sound, broke towards the end and I pulled her into my chest upon hearing it. Something wasn’t right here. This was more than cheating. It had to be.

“Get out. Go…back over the balcony, you piece of shït.” Danny shoved him back out the door and onto the balcony, and after one last sorrowful look, he was climbing over and disappearing from sight. I held Rosie tightly against my body, her face pressed into my neck as her wet hair dripped down my sweater.

“Anyone want to tell me what the fück that was about?” My question was geared more towards Danny, but she shook her head. 

“I just—I want to be alone, Zayn…I’m sorry but—”

“No, it’s fine, baby. It’s okay. I’ll, um, be, like, right downstairs, yeah?” She nodded and I pressed a warm kiss to her forehead. I grabbed my pack of smokes and my jacket before leaving the room, Danny following close behind. 

“You heading outside?” He asked me as I neared the front door.

“Yeah.”

“Mind if I join?” I shook my head and pulled a stick from the carton, lighting it as he closed the door.

“What did he do to her, besides cheat, what did he do?”

“I take it she hasn’t told you…”

“Hasn’t told me what?” He sighed and leaned back against the wall, eyes closed.

“There was this party…end of the year thing right after they broke up. She wasn’t—Rosie’s never been a big partier but this was different. High school graduation and all…it was an exception. She and her friends got really drunk…like, really, really drunk and she called me around one to come pick her up. So I get in my car and I’m outside this massive party and I call her, right?” I nod, finishing off one cigarette and starting another. “She doesn’t answer and I called her another three times before finally just going in to find her.” My heart was close to beating out of my chest, I was so damn terrified to hear this. “I looked everywhere…she wasn’t anywhere. Finally some guy pointed to the upstairs master bedroom and I just started freaking out. I run up and open the door…” He trailed off again, shaking his head in disgust. “Zayn, as her older brother…it was something—I can’t even tell you how fücking disgusting it was. She was so drunk that she’d passed out and Kade and a few other guys were just—they were just having their way with her.” I wanted to throw up. Why hadn’t she mentioned this. Why wasn’t she more damaged? “As shit as it was though…she was so pissed out of her mind, she didn’t remember any of it. We reported it, but they dropped the trial. There wasn’t enough evidence. She had no recollection, and she’d been seen following Kade upstairs…that was it. They all got off Scott-free.”

“Is that why she’s not, like, emotionally scarred?”

“I guess, yeah. She just knows what I told her. She had to get her stomach pumped and everything. I think she’s just done everything to push it out of her mind, you know? I mean, I hate it. I hate knowing that she’s in the city alone, I hate the idea of her being alone—”

“She’s not alone.” He looked at me for a few seconds. “I’ll never let anything hurt her—I’ll always protect her, mate. That’s a promise.”

“You love my sister?”

“I love her more than I’ve ever loved anything. I’d, like, I’d do anything for her, honest.”

“She deserves the world, Zayn…”

“Believe me, I know she does. She deserves more. And, um, don’t like say anything to her, cause she doesn’t know, but I’ve got guys on her most of the time, especially when I’ve been gone. I just—I get scared. Don’t want, like, anything happening to her, do y’know what I mean?”

“Yeah I do, and it’s much appreciated. Make sure she doesn’t ever find out though…you know Rosie. She’s fücking stubborn.” I chuckled and finished off my second stick. “But, um, I’m really glad she has you, man. Honestly. It’s nice to see her so happy and not so buried in work for once. I hope things work out.” We stood up, shaking hands before walking back inside. “Besides, we all kinda like you around.” I smiled, contentedly. Feeling momentarily happy, despite the shitty knowledge I’d recently acquired.