unedited
—-
It's been two months. Two long, agonizing months that felt like years. We're just now receiving good news—the treatments worked and Lia was officially cancer free. I nearly passed out when I saw the text from Zayn saying she was now able to go home.
I happily finished cleaning up the apartment she and my brother shared, and ran to the bakery around the corner, wanting to get a celebratory cake for Lia. I paid the woman behind the counter and stood off to the side while she decorated the cake using the template I had given her.
Once she finished I thanked her and carefully made my way back to the apartment, putting the cake on full display. I heard the door opening and I froze, thinking of a good place to hide. It was too late so I stood still, holding my hands behind my back.
In walked Lia, her mother, and Zayn. "Surprise!" I yelled, running over to hug her. "Sky she's still a little weak." Zayn mumbled, nibbling on his bottom lip. She hugged me back and gave me a small smile before stepping around me and going towards the cake. I hugged her mother as well and she followed Lia into the kitchen.
I made eye contact with Zayn and he sighed before smiling and taking a step towards me. "Hi baby, did you sleep well?" He asked, embracing me. I nodded and inhaled his scent, a sad smile forming on my face.
"I woke up and you were gone." I whined, wrapping my arms around his torso. "I know, I had an early meeting." He frowned apologetically, pressing his lips against mine tentatively, while I pouted and didn't kiss back. I sighed as he pulled away, standing on my tip toes to kiss his cheek. "You guys are so gross." Lia groaned, throwing a pillow at us.
Normally I would have thrown one back, but I didn't want to hurt her. She's so frail now. Cancer has impacted her in many ways. She lost a ton of weight, her skin was pale–almost to the point where she looked like she was dying. I examined her closely, noticing that her hair was starting to grow back. But to me, she was even more beautiful than before. I prayed to God every single night, begging for Lia to get better.
I picked the pillow up off of the floor and walked towards the sofa, taking a seat next to her. Zayn sat in the chair across from us, staring intently at his phone, as usual.
"So how are you feeling?" I asked morosely. "Great, I can't wait to get back to work, and for my normal routine to fall back into place." She grinned. "Absolutely not. You're not ready yet." Zayn countered, scrunching his eyebrows together. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, honestly, but I'm fine. I've been fine for a while now." She argued.
I took that as my cue to go, and walked outside to find Erin sitting there, hugging her knees to her chest. Taking a seat next to her, I placed a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention. "Is everything alright?"
"I'm so thankful for what Zayn has done for her. Do you know what it's like knowing that I can't even afford all of this treatment—to think that there's a possibility that my daughter could have died, fighting for her life through a deadly disease, while I sat there—watching in agony—because that's simply all I could have done." She said, her bottom lip trembling while tears cascaded down her cheeks and me, not knowing what to say, all I did was hug her.
I can't imagine the pain she must be going through as a mother. "You would have found a way, you always have. You would have stopped at nothing to make sure she had all that she could." I replied confidently, placing my hand on her thigh in a reassuring matter. She gave me a gentle squeeze before excusing herself to go calm down.
I found myself crying as well, because in all honesty, had Zayn not done what he did, I'm really not sure what would have happened to Lia.
——-
My phone beeped loudly, notifying me that I received a text. It was from Zayn telling me, for the sixth night in a row this week, the third consecutive week, that he'll be coming home late and I shouldn't wait up. I sighed, not really surprised, and put the food I made for both of us in the fridge.
Of course he's going to be late. He's always gone. It's like I hardly see him anymore. When I do see him, he's too tired to actually hold a real conversation. It's so frustrating to see him like this, choosing work over everything else.
I stepped onto the cool tile, letting it numb my feet as I walked towards the bedroom. It was so quiet and the house felt huge when it was just me here, but it seems as though that's becoming a normal routine.
I sent a text to Lia asking if she was free to hang out and she replied immediately, informing me that she was out with her mother. I sighed and turned my phone off, wanting an escape from everything. I ended up laying down, deciding to use sleep to pass time.
—
"Shit," I awoke instantaneously jumping in fright as I clutched hold of my chest. "Lia."
I had a dreadful nightmare that something took her away from me almost insidiously. My heart began pumping vigorously as my eyes roamed the room, softening at the fact that it wasn't real. I calmly sighed in relief as I yanked my fingers through my hair.
I sat up slightly and checked the time. It was half past two in the morning. The bed was empty, which means he's probably not back yet, which is quite ridiculous. I went to the kitchen in search of some water, and I noticed the glare of a light coming from down the hallway.
So he is here, he's just working as usual. I walked inside and he glanced up at me, eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. "Zayn it's late, come to bed?" I whispered, pouting slightly.
"I'm almost done." He grumbled lowly, focusing his attention back on his laptop.
"No, come now." I frowned, crossing my arms across my chest.
He said nothing, continuing to type as if I wasn't even in the room. He slammed his laptop shut and stood up, murmuring words to himself as he walked towards me.
His phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket, staring at it intently. Angered, I took it, throwing it across the room. "What the hell was that for?" He scoffed, eyes widening.
"You work too much, you're never home, I've seen you maybe twice in the past three weeks. I'm so sick and tired of this. We were supposed to go on a dinner date, remember? But no, you probably don't because all you care about is your company! You couldn't even take one day to spend time with me." I yelled, feeling a lump form in the back of my throat.
"You know why I'm working so much! Your best friend was diagnosed with Cancer and guess who paid for it, me. I spent so much time making sure she was okay, I fell behind on stuff. I'm sorry that I missed dinner, we can just go out some other time. I guess I forget things while I'm trying to provide money to put the food on the table while you sit here doing nothing all day." He countered.
"Are you serious? You're so infuriating! She's your friend too and it's not like anyone asked you to pay for it, no one even knew but you. I've been applying for jobs, and it's not like you're spending all of your money on me because you don't see me!"
"Are you done?" He rolled his eyes.
"Okay? I'm sorry that I miss my boyfriend and want to spend time with him. I'm sorry for even bringing this up because it's not like he gives a fuck about how I feel. He's fine with not seeing me so whatever." I cried, shaking my head.
I let the tears fall, holding my head in my hands. "I hate you." I screeched, going into our bedroom. I let out a drastic yawn, changing out of my clothes and starting the shower. I turned the dial all the way to the left, wanting the temperature of the water to be at its hottest.
After the heat became too intense, I stepped out and wrapped the towel securely around my body, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My skin was slightly red, due to the pressure and temperature of the water. I put on a black underwear set and threw on one of Zayn's shirts.
I crawled into the bed, prepared to cry myself to sleep when I felt the bed dip beside me. Oh now he comes to bed, I thought to myself. He draped an arm around me, pulling our bodies closer and moved my hair to the side, exposing my neck, and pressing his lips against the bared skin gently.
His lips were soft, warm against my neck, and the arm that was draped around me made want to forget my irritation with him and just enjoy this moment, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. I shrugged away and brought my hands to cover my face as more hot tears fell, burning my eyes.
He now kneeled in front of me, hands cupping my cheeks as he wiped my tears away. "Baby, look I'm sorry alright. I know I've been working a lot and I didn't think about how it affected you and I'm sorry. There's just a lot going on right now, you know—this is the busiest year for me. I have so many projects and things that I'm trying to get finished. I want you to know that I've missed you as well—I've just had a lot on my mind." He frowned, staring intently in my eyes.
I blinked back tears as I shrugged away from his touch, feeling less upset with him. I let out a loud sigh, using the bottom of the shirt to wipe my face. "Is this how it's going to be from now on?" I asked, my voice coming out high pitched.
"No. I promise to come home at a decent hour—to spend time with you, and to be around more." He exhaled as he looked at me with a small smile.
I bit my lip and nodded before laying back down and pulling the duvet over my body. He yanked it down and showered me with kisses all over my face, except for my lips. I found myself giggling loudly, trying to push him away. "Am I forgiven for being the shittiest boyfriend ever?"
"Somewhat." I shrugged, fisting my fingers through his hair. "Good because I love you." He cooed, bringing my hand to his lips and pressing his lips against it.
"And I love you." I replied sleepily. He sloppily kissed my lips and crawled into the bed next to me, wrapping his arms around me.
—-
When I woke up, I wasn't in the slightest bit surprised to find the bed empty, but was did surprise me was the smell coming from the kitchen. I followed the smell, smiling to myself when I saw Zayn cooking and humming a tune.
I walked in and took a seat at the bar, admiring him. He turned around and spotted me, eyes widening as he bit his bottom lip. "Morning." He murmured, yawning.
"How'd you sleep?"
"I didn't." He shrugged, giving me a small smile. He handed me a plate of food and I inhaled, my mouth watering at the thought of eating it. I took the fork and brought it to my lips, moaning in delight.
"So it's not bad?" He chuckled, getting a plate for himself.
"It's really good. You should cook more."
"I don't have time."
"You never have time." I muttered under my breath. He rolled his eyes and stormed out of the kitchen, heading in the direction of his office. I took my plate, discarding all of the food in the trash, and threw it at the wall; not giving a single care in the world as I watched it shatter into pieces, just like my relationship.
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A/n: IDEK how I feel about this chapter. If there are errors I'll fix them in the morning, it's late and I'm sleepy. ILYASM and I appreciate you taking time to read this. Since it's summer now, I'll be updating just about every day because why not?
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