It Just Takes Four [Niam&Zarry]

Chapter 13.

Zayn's POV.

I woke up the next morning, shuffling around on the bed only to find the space next to me on the bed was empty. My hand lay on the cold covers, feeling that Harry was nowhere in sight. Frowning, I sat up and found that Liam was the only person in the room just now. He had his back to me, a clean t-shirt in his hands. He was topless, and was just about to slip off his sweats. It wasn't until then that I realized just how skinny and pale Liam actually was. It was weird seeing him like that. He used to be so well-built looking, now he just looked like he was starving himself.

And there were...multiple bruises all over his body. Some more fresh than others. "Can you turn around, please?" Liam asked suddenly and my eyes snapped up to his. They were sore and puffy, showing that he had cried himself to sleep last night. "Liam, I'm seen you naked before-" I stopped dead when I saw the bruises down his chest. They began to get more swollen as they reached down to his torso, making his V-lines barely visible. Exactly like what I had when...when they raped me.

"Liam, what did they do to you?" I gasped and stood up. "Please, just turn around." he pleaded desperately, tears springing in his eyes. "They did it, didn't they? They raped you?" I questioned, placing a hand on his shoulder while he slipped a fresh top on. "Just stop it!" he snapped, slapping my hand away. I jumped, startled at him as he began to cry, sitting on the edge of his bed. Which was weird...I've never seen Liam cry. Never. "Liam, talk to me mate." I sighed, joining him on the bed as I pulled him in for a tight hug while he sobbed into my shoulder.

When he stopped crying, he hiccuped himself into silence so he could start talking again. "Know what the worse part was?" he mumbled, sniffing a little. I gave him an encouraging look. "When they started mentioning Niall. Saying that they were gonna do the same thing to him and I just...I just couldn't. It hurt too much." Liam choked, tears streaming down his face. "I try to stay strong, for Niall...but I can't." Liam crumped, squeezing his eyes tight shut and burying his face in my shoulder, holding me tight. I bit my lip, soothing him as much as could, trying to say all the reassuring things that he'd say to me. 

"Speaking of Niall...where is he? And Harry?" I asked self-cautiously, remembering that I haven't seen either since I woke up. "They're doing chores around the house." Liam said flatly and anger boiled inside me. "What about Nialls leg?" I fumed and Liam sighed. "I tried to protest about that, but...Mark's furious with both of us. Not just me." he grumbled, his lip trembling.  "You didn't even do anything wrong." I snorted and Liam looked up lazily at me. 

"Like Mark really cares about that." He chuckled bitterly. I sighed, knowing he was right. Mark would find a fault in Jesus and beat him. "When's Jay getting here?" He asked, weakly. I shrugged, not releasing my grip on him. "I don't know. She said she will as soon as possible. She's got her girls to worry about before she makes any plans to come here." I pointed out. Liam nodded, pulling back and sitting on the bed.

"I just want it to end." Liam mumbled, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his head in his hands. I sat next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Me too, Li, me too." I muttered. We fell into a comfortable silence, which was soon ruined by an agonizing scream. Our heads snapped up, looking at each other with wide eyes. That didn't sound like Harry or Niall...

"YOU STUPID BOY!" Someone - I'm guessing Mark - yelled before there was a thud and a cry. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT? YOU'VE RISKED EVERYTHING! DON'T YOU EVEN THINK?" Another thud and a scream. The basement door opened and Niall and Harry got pushed in before the door slammed close again.

"What the hell is going on?" Liam asked, pulling Niall on his lap. Harry sat on the floor in front of me with his back to me so he could rest his head on my knees. My hands instantly played with his hair, making Harry hum in approval. "Mark's going ape-shit at Louis." Niall said, worry filling his voice. "He scraped his arm with a knife, punched him in the stomach, scraped his leg with the knife, and then we were pushed in here." Harry explained, craning his neck back so he could look at me.

Suddenly, there were pounding footsteps coming down the stairs. I could hear someone wailing, screaming quietly. The door swung open, revealing Mark holding Louis by his hair. "If you love your little buddies so much, you can stay with them." He spat, before pushing Louis down to the floor, giving him a kick before slamming the door closed.

We all stared in shock at Louis. His body was shaking, as he tried to push himself up, but his arms kept giving way. His grey t-shirt showed his bloodied arms, his jeans were ripped and blood soaked the material on his left shin. His hair was covering his face, not letting us see what has happened to his face.

Liam was the first to snap back to reality. He gently put Niall on the bed, before rushing to Louis. He helped him sit up, and move him so he was leaning against the wall. His face wasn't much better. He had a slit eyebrow and lip, along with a cut along his cheek. His eyes were red and puffy; a mixture of tears and blood soaked his cheeks. It was definitely worse than any beating any of us ever got.

I came to my sense next, getting up and pulling my top over my head, before screwing it up in a ball and dabbing at his cuts on his face. When I looked down, Harry had his top off and was tying it around Louis shin. Niall did the same for his arm. We shifted Louis so he was lying on his back, making him wince. Liam lifted up Louis' top, revealing his cut stomach. It wasn't as bad as his leg or arm, so Liam just pulled off his top before wiping his stomach.

"I'll ring, Jay." I said, going over to our bed and getting Louis' phone from under the pillow. I quickly dialed Jay's number, mentally begging for her to answer the phone. "Hey, Boobear. What's up?" She answered, I bit my lip, trying to hold back a laugh. His mum calls him Boobear? "Er, hey Jay. It's Zayn. We kinda need you to, like, right now. Mark's...he's...beaten up Louis pretty bad." I stuttered, suddenly becoming serious.

I heard Jay gasp. "H-he w-what? Ho-how's Louis? I-is he okay?" She asked, her voice croaky like she's trying to hold back tears. "He's not great. Mark cut him on his shin, stomach and arms and punched and kicked him. We've used our t-shirts to try and stop the bleeding." I told her, turning around to face the others. Harry had taken over, using my t-shirt to try and clean his face. Jay's breath was shaky down the phone, and I could hear rustling.

"Keep it like that. Make sure he's lying on a bed." She said. I told the guys to put him on one of the beds, before thanking Jay. "Keep my boy safe, Zayn. I'll be there soon." She said before hanging up. I quickly hid the phone under our pillow before sitting on the end of Liam's and Niall's bed. "How you feeling...Boobear?" I asked, a slight tease to my voice when I used his nickname, trying to lighten the mood.

"Boobear?" Niall asked, all of them looking at me confused while Louis just glared at me. "It seems like Louis' mum has a little nickname for him. Isn't that right, Boobear?" I explained, ignoring Louis' glare. "Don't call me that." Louis croaked, glaring at me which made me laugh. "Jay said she'll be hear soon." I told them. They nodded, looking at Louis with worried expressions.

"We just gotta sit and wait now. Hopefully everything will turn out alright." Niall said with a small smile. Oh how I hope he's right.