Stealing Hearts (Zayn Malik Fanfiction)

CHAPTER TWELVE

Zayn POV

‘What took you so long?’ Niall hisses when I jump in the car, almost immediately stepping on the gas after I close the car door. 

‘Sorry. Lost track of time.’

He frowns. ‘How is it possible to lose track of time when you are breaking in the place?’ 

‘She kind of came home, that’s what happened.’ I mumble, hoping he doesn’t pay attention, but of course he does.

‘You may be able to fool Louis, but you aren’t fooling me man. If you stay and lose track of time like that, you like her. There is not even a doubt on my mind.’ He surprises me with that reaction. He doesn’t turn mad, nor starts to go crazy on me. It’s like he expected something like that had happened, and me saying the words was just a confirmation.

‘Where did you meet her?’ He asks eventually, when he realizes I’m not answering his thoughts.

I just stare out the window and don’t reply to him.

‘You don’t want me to know?’

I scoff. ‘It’s none of your business…’

‘You don’t trust me… Is  that it?’ He asks again, making me frustrated. I just want him to stop talking about her. ‘That only convinces me even more you know. You don’t want people to know about her because you are worried about her safety? You are worried that Stefan might know. You are worried that I’m going to tell him.’

‘DON’T YOU DARE.’ I raise my voice at him, almost shooting him down with my eyes.

‘Zayn… I told you. I hate him as much as you and Lou do and-…’

‘Don’t call him Lou.’ I interrupt him harshly.

This makes him stop and sigh. He doesn’t say a word after that. And I’m happy with the silence.

Louis believed Niall from the very beginning without really knowing who he was exactly. It was Louis who decided for me that Niall was going to drive me to Evelyn’s apartment: only having eye for Stefan’s reaction when I would not be back in time. I on the other hand, am not convinced yet. And I won’t be telling him the things that are better not told to anyone else. I’m not taking any risks with her.

‘I know how she looks like, Zayn.’ Niall says suddenly, making me bite my lip harder than I wanted too. ‘I saw her entering the apartment, just a couple of minutes after you.’ He continues making me so angry with Louis for making me do this with Niall. ‘I know how she looks, I know where she lives and I also know she’s the girl of the café we robbed about a month ago.’

I cannot help but ball my fists in anger. ‘Then why do you even bother asking me about it.’ I groan between my teeth. 

‘Because I just want you to trust me. I’m not going to tell anyone, Zayn. Not Stefan. Not anyone.’

‘And why should I believe you?’

‘You don’t have to believe me… You just can.’

He pauses. I pause. And we don’t say anything for a while.

 ‘Just be careful with her, Zayn.’ He mumbles softly eventually, still making sure I hear it.

This makes me look up. He surprises me again, not with his words, but with his tone. It’s a tone of care. Like he actually cares about the situation I’m in.

‘The reason why Stefan killed my brother is because I had contact with him. He was the only person I still could go to. He was the only one who still cared about me. So I visited him, on days we didn’t have a job to do. Eventually Stefan found out. I still don’t know how, and he killed him. Just like that.’ He was staring at the road. Without any emotion readable off his face. ‘So when I say you have to be careful with her, I mean it. Don’t let anything slip. Make sure nobody follows you. I am here to help you with it, if you want my help at least. Because I know how hard this life is and sometimes having someone else is so god damn satisfying.’

‘Why did you stay?’ I can’t help but ask. It bothered me from the moment he told me and Louis in the house. ‘Why did you stay with Stefan?’

‘Just the same reason as why you stay.’ He weakly smiles, meeting my eyes quickly. ‘I have nowhere else to go. He’s good at the threatening job… You know. And mostly… Because I still dream of a revenge someday. That’s what keeps me going.’

‘It’s not going to bring your brother back.’

‘No, but it’s going to keep my family alive.’

‘He threatens you with that?’

Niall nods. ‘Doesn’t he threaten you?’

I think about Louis. He’s pretty much the only one Stefan can threaten me with. I’m not bothered with anyone else. ‘He does. In different ways.’

‘With Louis.’

‘You do know a lot for being someone who hardly said a word in all those years you’ve been here with us.’ I frown at his knowledge.

This makes the Irish boy chuckle. ‘I may not be a very good talker, but I am a great listener.’

I laugh softly as well, already feeling a bit more relaxed than five minutes ago.

‘Where is your family, Niall?’ I ask him, not sure how he is going to respond to that question.

‘Back in Ireland. It’s not that I have contact with them. I haven’t from my sixteenth. But I still want them to be safe. I want to give them a somewhat normal life after my brother died. They didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve it.’ He quietly speaks. It’s obvious that he’s not over it. He has learned to live with it, but he’s not over it yet. It still hurts him. And I’m sure it’s not going to change until Stefan somehow gets punished for what he did.

‘Are you going back?’ Niall suddenly asks changing the subject.

‘To where?’

‘To her of course.’

And let that be the one thing I’m strangled with from the moment I closed her front door behind me.

‘Probably not.’

‘So you really like her then.’ He translates for himself.

‘God. Niall! Stop with the liking thing. I barely know the girl. And I shouldn’t be knowing her either. It’s like you say: too dangerous for her, for me and for everyone else involved. So that’s it. Last time I went. Not going back again.’

And with that, the conversation stops. Or at least, I stop talking. Not because I think Niall is going to tell anyone, but just because I’m sick of talking about her or just talking in general. I’m sick of being in this position where I cannot do whatever the hell I want at any given time of the day. I’m sick of being suspicious over any person who tries to come in my life. I’m sick of not being able to trust people. I’m sick of the fact that the two only people I trust are my best friend and a girl who shouldn’t be in this situation at all. A girl who I shouldn’t even be talking to. A girl I probably won’t see again.

And I’m fucking sick of it. 

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