Ok guys. I think I'm actually starting to really get into this story. I just finished a few chapters and they won't be up for a little while because i want to have sorta slow updates. The more feedback I get the faster I'll write though so keep it coming.
Chapter 4:
After Zayn had ran away from my house that weekend I had locked myself in my room and tried to figure out what I had said to him that pissed him off so much. I came to the conclusion that it must have been something that had to do with his parents. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on with him at home (hell, I didn’t even know what was going on with him outside of his home) but I was determined to figure it out and help him. Trying to help him was the reason that we were in this mess right now but I knew he couldn’t stay mad at me forever. I sure hoped that he couldn’t anyway. I walked into my math class on Monday hoping that I could somehow get Zayn to at least say one word to me. I had seen him a few times in the hallway that morning but he ignored me just like I had expected him to. I figured that he wouldn’t want to talk me so I didn’t push him to do so.
“You look a little down in the dumps today.”
I looked up and saw Mr. Higgins sitting at his desk. “I just had a long weekend.”
“Want to talk about it?”
I shrugged, “I suppose it won’t hurt.”
He smiled, “Go on then. I’m listening.”
I sighed, “On Saturday I went to the park to read and there was a fight going on. I didn’t want to do anything about it because I’m not exactly the strongest person out there but then I noticed that one of the people in the fight was a guy I knew. He was being attacked by five of these guys from a different school and before I could even try to help him he fought them off. After the other guys ran away he saw that I was there and I convinced him to come home with me so I could clean his wounds because he refused to go to the hospital. I know I’m not a doctor but I figured that I could at least make sure he was cleaned up. Anyway, after I cleaned him up we had lunch and watched a movie and he said that he should be going home and I made a comment that kind of pissed him off. I didn’t do it on purpose but he wouldn’t listen to me and he ran off before I could apologize. Now he won’t talk to me and I just want him to realize that I just want to help.”
Mr. Higgins nodded and said, “I see, and if you don’t mind me asking what did you say exactly?”
I looked down at my desk, “I said ‘Why? Is your mommy worried about you?’. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. It was just a joke, you know?”
“Maybe he isn’t really mad at you.”
“He is. Trust me.”
He walked over to the desk beside me and sat down, “Just because he ran away doesn’t mean that he’s mad at you Mr. Styles. You may have just touched a nerve and maybe the joke wasn’t funny to him. He could have serious problems with his parents and you would never know. Some people are so good at hiding things that you wouldn’t even know that they have problems. There are people out there that you look at and think ‘Wow. They must have such a good life. They’re so happy and confident.’ but really on the inside they could be dying. If a person is hiding their emotions at home all of the time then they just get used to hiding their emotions wherever they go. Don’t let this little thing get you down. I’m sure you two will work it out soon.”
I smiled, “You’re right. Thanks Mr. Higgins. I just hope we fix this sooner than later.”
He got up and walked back over to his desk. The bell rang and he said, “I’m sure you and Mr. Malik can find a way to talk about this.”
My head shot up from my desk and I opened my mouth to speak but before I could students started piling in. Mr. Higgins winked at me and I couldn’t help but wonder how he knew that I was talking about Zayn. I got my notebook out of my backpack and grabbed the pencil out of my pocket. When I looked back up from my desk I noticed that Zayn had just walked through the door.
He looked like he hadn’t slept in a few days and he had gone to hell and back. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was done but it wasn’t as clean cut as usual, his eyes that were usually bright and brown were now dull and sad, and he didn’t have the smirk on his face that he normally wore. He just looked completely dead and I wanted to get up and give him a big hug. But I knew that if I even attempted such a thing he would probably shove me to the floor and it would be much harder to get him to talk to me again. I made myself look away from him and when I was about to apologize the bell rang and Mr. Higgins started talking about today’s lesson.
I tried so hard to focus on what was being taught today but I just couldn’t stop thinking about what could be upsetting Zayn so much. I hoped that he wasn’t like that because of me and if it was because of me I hoped that he would let me talk to him about it. I just wanted to apologize so badly but I knew once the bell rang he would be out of there in no time. Just then I got an idea. I ripped a piece of paper out of my notebook and began writing:
Zayn, I know you’re upset with me and I’m really sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean to hurt you or piss you off or anything. I just want to say that I’m sorry and I hope that you can forgive me. Maybe we can meet up after school so we can talk. Please?
-Harry
P.S. I miss your know-it-all smirk that you usually show off. Bring it back. :)
I folded up the paper and looked over at him. His head was down and I was pretty sure that he was oblivious to the world because he didn’t say anything when I slowly slipped it into the pocket of his leather jacket. A few moments later the bell rang and just like I had thought he would do he practically ran out of the classroom. I was happy with the note idea and I just hoped that he would find it in his pocket and read it by the end of the school day. And if he did read it I hoped that he would actually meet me somewhere. I crossed my fingers and walked to my locker. Liam was standing there with a big smile on his face.
I must have looked confused because he said, “Louis and Niall are still sick so that’s why I’m alone and I’m smiling because I had a wonderful weekend!”
I laughed, “Oh yea! How was your date?”
“Oh my god, Hazza! She’s amazing! She’s funny, smart, outgoing, and so so beautiful!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at my best friend. He was such a dork sometimes but I was grateful that he had found someone that made him so happy. “So tell me everything.”
“We don’t have the time right now. We have class! But come over after school, ok? Please!”
I nodded, “Alright. I might have some stuff to do right after school but I’ll definitely be over today.”
He smiled, “Yes! I can’t wait to fill you in on everything! Gotta go!” He waved at me and happily strolled away to his next class.
I opened my locker and laughed, “He’s so adorable.” I grabbed all of the books that I needed out of my locker and put them in my backpack before closing it shut. I zipped up my bag and when I looked up I noticed something taped to my locker. I furrowed my brow in confusion and ripped it off of the door. I opened it and it read:
Styles, Can’t talk today. I have things to do. Maybe some other time. See you tomorrow I guess.
-Zayn
P.S. I wish I could put on that smirk for you but not today.
I smiled at the note happy that he would write me back but then my smile started to go away. I could tell that something was wrong with him and I was dying to figure it out but I guess I had to wait for another day.
At least you know that he’s not mad at you though, right? I mean he did say that you could talk some other time and that he wanted to smirk for you. Isn’t that a good thing?
I nodded to myself and walked off to my next class hoping that we would be able to talk soon.
“Oh Summer! I just want to marry you right now! Be mine forever!” I laughed as I mocked Liam.
He lightly punched me in the arm, “Stop it! I do not do that!”
“Do to! You’re all giddy over her!”
“Like you’re one to talk!”
I chuckled, “What are you talking about?”
It was his turn to mock me, “Zayn! I want to have your babies!”
“I do not have a thing for Zayn!”
He raised his eyebrow, “Seriously Haz? Do you think I’m stupid? I know when you like someone and you definitely want to get with him. You have some weird infatuation with that guy.”
“I, uh, he’s…” I sighed, “Ok yea. I kinda like him. But that doesn’t mean that he’s ever going to feel the same way. He’s just so interesting to me.”
“Have you even talked to him yet?”
I scratched the back of my neck and mumbled, “He sorta came over to my house on Saturday.”
Liam’s eyes grew wide, “What?! Why didn’t you tell me this?! What happened?!”
I put my hands up, “Calm down Li. He was in a fight and I just wanted to help him out.”
“You got in a fight too?! What else have you done that I don’t know about?!”
“I didn’t get in the fight. I talked to him after the fight and got him to come home with me so I could clean him up a bit before he went home.”
“Oh. Thank God. You scared me.”
“Do I look like I’ve been in a fight?”
He shook his head, “No. But neither did Zayn. He just looked like crap today. What was his problem?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know. I kinda pissed him off or something on Saturday and he ran away from my house. So I thought he was like that because of me but then I wrote him a note asking if we could talk after school and he wrote me this.” I grabbed the note out of my pocket and handed it to Liam.
He read it and said, “He seems…messed up. Like he wants to hang out but he’s scared to or something. I don’t know what he would be scared of though.”
“I know. That’s something that I have to figure out. Hopefully he’s not lying and he’ll actually talk to me sometime.”
Liam nodded, “Yea. I hope he does. Maybe he just needs some friends or something.”
“That’s what I think.” I looked at the time on my phone and said, “I would love to stay here but I should really get going. Mum’s gonna think that I died or something.”
Liam looked at his phone as well, “Damn. It’s almost 10:00 already. I gotta call Summer and get ready for bed.”
“Aww…love birds.”
He blushed, “Shut up. Do you want a ride home?”
I shook my head, “No thanks. I’m gonna walk. It’s a nice night anyway.”
“Alright man. Call me if you change your mind. I’ll come pick you up.”
“Ok. Thanks.”
We hugged each other goodbye after I put on my coat and scarf. I walked out the front door and into the cold night. I was used to walking in much colder weather since walking was one of my favorite things to do and if I could help it I would walk anywhere and everywhere. I walked a few blocks before I heard a loud yelling coming from the bridge next to the park. I ran over to it and when I peeked around the cold cement side of the structure I saw Zayn sitting on the ground. He had his knees pulled up against his chest to keep warm and he looked really upset. I knew that he must be freezing because for some reason he didn’t have his leather jacket on. All he wore was a black t-shirt, a pair of his ripped skinny jeans, and some combat boots.
I jumped when he yelled once more, “Stupid fucking parents!” He picked up a rock and threw it at the other side of the bridge.
I could tell that he was pissed and probably didn’t want to be bothered at the moment but I so badly wanted to go talk to him. My mind was yelling at me telling me to just turn back and started walking home again but another part of me was telling me to go see what was wrong. Of course I went with the latter and slowly made my way over to the shivering boy.
When I got a couple feet away from him I quietly asked, “Mind if I sit here?”
He really must have been quite out of it because he quickly looked over at me and I could tell that he didn’t even notice that I was there. There was a look in his eyes that I didn’t recognize. One that looked like he was begging for something but he was too scared to talk about. It made my heart ache and my stomach turn as I watched him contemplate how he wanted to answer. I waited a few moments before he slowly nodded his head. I took a few steps closer to him before putting my back against the wall and sliding down. I didn’t realize how cold the ground was until I got completely on the cement. I felt like I was sitting on ice and I didn’t know how Zayn could be out here like this.
We sat in silence for a little while until I couldn’t stand it any longer, “Are you alright?”
He nodded.
“Aren’t you cold?”
He shrugged.
“Don’t you want to talk to me?”
He turned his head and I saw a big bruise on his face. I knew that it wasn’t the one from his fight over the weekend because it wasn’t in the same spot. I quickly switched my position so I was kneeling and facing him. I put my hand up to his cheek and gently rubbed my thumb across the bruise. It looked absolutely terrible. When I looked more closely at his face I noticed that he had a cut also. It looked pretty fresh and I could tell that it had just stopped bleeding.
“Zayn, what happened to you?” I tried to talk but noticed that it only came out as a whisper.
He turned his face so I could no longer see the damage that had been done to him.
“Please Zayn. Just talk to me.”
He shook his head, “I don’t want to talk.”
“You need to talk to someone. I won’t tell anyone. I promise. I just want to be able to help.”
He closed his eyes, “I told you that I don’t want any help.”
I put my hand on his arm and was shocked at how cold he really was. “I can’t let you stay out here. Let’s go to my house.”
He quickly shook his head, “No. I’m staying here.”
“But you’ll freeze.”
“I’m fine Harry.”
“I have a nice guest room at my house that you can sleep in tonight and my parents won’t even find out that you were there. Ok? I just don’t want you to freeze to death out here under this bridge.”
He didn’t say anything. He just stayed there acting like he didn’t even hear a word that I had said.
“Zayn, do you hate me?”
That’s when he turned to look at me and gave me a glare, “If I hated you then you would be dead by now. You just don’t know how to mind your own fucking business.”
“I know that I don’t leave you alone but it’s just because-“
“You want to help me. I know. But I don’t want help. I never have and I never will. I’m fine the way I am and if I want to sleep under a fucking bridge then that’s what I’m going to do. Ok?”
I sighed knowing that there was no way that he was going to let me win on this. “Fine. But just if you need anything please call me or something. You know where I live so if you get too cold just come throw something at my window and I’ll let you in.”
He shook his head, “I don’t get why you’re doing this. You don’t know me.”
“I know enough to know that you’re not as bad as everyone thinks you are.”
His voice got soft, “How could you possibly know that?”
“I can just tell. I guess I just have a way of knowing what people are all about.”
“I’m still not coming with you.”
I half smiled, “I know. I just wanted you to know that you have the option.” I put my hand on his shoulder, “If you ever need anything you can always count on me to be there.”
I knew that he wasn’t going to say anything more to me so I started to walk away but then I turned back. I removed my scarf and coat from my body and held it out to him. He just looked at it and shook his head.
“You need it more than I do Zayn.” I set it down next to him and before I turned away I said, “Goodnight Zayn. Be safe.”
I walked out from under the bridge and when I was just about to go back to ask Zayn if we could meet up tomorrow after school I peered around the corner to see him putting on my coat and smiling. I quickly changed my mind and decided that it could wait until tomorrow morning. I looked at him once more and smiled to myself before making my way back home. Maybe I was finally getting through to him at least a little bit.