(A/N:
1. Sorry for not answering any comments last chapter! Haha I'm not even sure I could answer half of them since most of them were cuss words! Hahaha
2. This chapter sadly concludes the daily updates! Spring break is over for me and I have to get some studying/homework done tomorrow! There will be no more daily updates – constant ones, I will be trying my best to update as much as possible though! Enjoy the chapter dolls!)
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Juliet POV
I groan as I feel my head throbbing. I close my eyes, squeezing them shut in hopes to rid myself of the pain. I let out a heavy sigh and open my eyes. I take in the unfamiliar surroundings – the area I expected to be my dorm room was Zayn's bedroom.
What happened last night? I slowly sit up and hold my head as it throbs more. The bed is empty next to me, the apartment silent. I remember Zayn and I... I remember talking to Louis, I remember Zayn and Erica disappearing... I remember drinking, trying to mind my own business... I remember Harry.
Harry... oh my God, that didn't really happen did it? I slowly stand up, gripping onto the wall as my legs take a moment to adjust. I let out heavy breath, walking into the abandoned apartment.
I stop in my tracks as I reach the main room. I take in the scene before me. The place is trashed, broken glass and flipped over chairs. I glance at the front door and it's shut tightly, this wasn't a break in or a robbery it was Zayn.
What the heck happened last night? I walk through the kitchen, carefully avoiding the broken glass. I pour myself a glass of water and drink all of it, slamming the glass onto the counter. The noise echoes through the apartment and rings in my head.
What the heck happened last night? I look around the apartment, searching for an answer. I can't seem to find any though. Where was Zayn? I stumble back to his bedroom and look around for any evidence of him being here but there are none.
I sit down on the bed and hold my head in my hands, squeezing my eyes shut to take the throbbing pain away and try to remember what had occurred. There was yelling I know that much. We kissed – more along the lines of he kissed me and then I gave in...
I quickly find my phone and dial Zayn's number. It goes straight to voicemail. Alright so the fight was that bad... I choose Sarah's number next, glancing around the cold apartment.
"Jules? Where the hell are you?" Her voice panicking from the other end.
"I'm at Zayn's apartment and... I need you to come get me." I breathe quietly looking around.
"What happened? Is everything okay?" I hear her worry.
"I don't know..." I breathe. "I don't really remember." I mumble, my heat hurting as I try to think of last night.
"I'll be there as fast as possible, text me the address."
~ ~ ~
"So the apartment was just trashed?" She asks as I grab clothes to change into.
"Yeah." I reply quietly.
"And he was gone when you woke up?" She asks, her eyes following my every move. I clear my throat and slowly nod. "What the hell happened? I mean he looked pissed but... Did he hurt you Jules?" Sarah demands. She's trying to piece together last night like I was.
"No." I laugh to myself, at least not physically.
"How do you know the place wasn't like robbed?" She asks, her eyes filling with worry. I laugh at her idea and hold my head in my hand.
"Just... it was broken into, nothing was taken from what I could tell it was just trashed... God I'm never getting drunk again." I mumble.
"Why not? You had fun!" Sarah laughs lightly.
"Yeah but it ended with Zayn and I fighting. Then me waking up in an abandoned trashed apartment." I stare at her as she slowly nods.
"Right..." She mumbles, chewing on her lip. "If you partied with me in high school you would know by now how to control your alcohol." She points out with a smile. I roll my eyes at how she's always trying to make light of every situation. "So what happened? What did you two fight about?" I rub between my eyes, groaning at the questions. I let out a deep breath and shake my head.
"I don't remember... I just I know we were fighting and I don't know. It's a blur of memories." I explain. "Sare, I'm going to take a shower and then go out for a while."
"Want me to come with?" Her voice light and hopeful.
"No I need some time to think and process last night – from what I can remember." I excuse her offer. She frowns slightly and nods in understanding.
"Alright." She mumbles. I quickly slip into the bathroom and take a look at myself. I look like a wreck, my hair is disheveled, my eyes have bags under them, and my make up is streaked. I quickly turn on the shower and allow myself to relax, trying to rid myself of the headache.
I take a long shower, the hot water releasing tension in my body, aiding the fight against my hang over. I rub my neck and quickly wash my hair before getting out. I change into my jeans and a black pea coat. Sarah is listening to music when I come out into the dorm, minding her own business.
I give her a small wave as I leave the dorm. The air is freezing today, it's cloudy, the sun not seen. It was November, officially winter as the cold weather takes.
I drive downtown where there are streets filled with café's, restaurants and shops. I park my car and get out, taking a deep breath – allowing the cold air to fill my lungs. I begin walking down the street, glancing in all the windows.
I think about last night, I think about it until my head hurts and I can't any longer. I recall bits and pieces of it. I know Zayn and I fought, I said awful things and he said things that hurt me too – like always. I remember us kissing and then nothing... I don't know what would set him off into destroying his apartment.
To take my mind off of things I step into a few of the shops. Picking out a few scarves, necklaces, and trinkets that interest me. Shopping now makes me realize why Sarah does it, buying things you want makes you feel better – for a moment that is.
"Juliet." I turn to the voice that belongs to Charles. He smiles and walks towards me. I glance around and let out a heavy breath, running a hand through my hair and giving a smile.
"Oh hi Charles." I smile back at him, tucking some hair behind my ear as he stops a foot away from me.
"What are you doing here?" He looks around the street and I shrug.
"I just was... shopping, honestly." I laugh glancing down at my bags. "Sarah was right, shopping makes you feel better." I laugh to myself.
"Oh, how are you and Zayn?" He glances up from the bags. "You guys left last night without saying goodbye." He explains.
"Right he's great..." I nod, I think he's great... I don't even know where he is. "We're kind of in a fight..." I mumble, touching my head lightly.
"About what?" He laughs.
"I don't really remember just... everything." I shrug. Charles nods in understanding. I glance past him and catch a glimpse of a face I though I would never have to see again. I do a double take and stare. It was him... Derek. Walking down the street with two of his friends, laughing, not a care in the world.
"You okay?" I hear Charles ask, his hand touching me causing me to jerk away. I turn to Charles with wide eyes and shake my head.
"I need to go. I need to get out of here." I breathe, backing away. Panic and fear filling every ounce of my body.
"Jules what's going on." Charles steps towards me grabbing my arm to stop me from leaving. He can see the panic taking over and he tries to calm me.
"Charles, please let go. I have to go." I stare past Charles as I struggle against his grasp on my arm, desperate to run away. Charles follows my eyes and his body tenses up.
"Oh shit... that's the guy isn't it?" He mumbles.
"I don't-" I begin to deny what he's talking about but he cuts me off.
"Hold on." Charles stops me, walking away towards Derek.
"Charles, wait." I call to him – not willing to chase after him since he's headed in the direction of Derek.
"Hey mate." I hear Charles speak. Derek and his two friends turn to Charles and smile. They give a friendly smile that shows they know who he is.
"Charles." Derek greets with a smirk.
"I've heard some things." Charles glances back at me and Derek's eyes land on me, causing my me to feel sick to my stomach and my body shake with fear.
"Listen whatever she's told you it's a lie, I can promise you I just-" Derek is cut off as Charles' fist makes contact with Derek's face. I cover my mouth in shock as Derek scrambles around on the ground.
"Listen you little fucker. I'm sure Zayn beat some shit into you – hopefully, but just in case you need a refresher... I see you near her again, if anyone from my fraternity sees you near her again, we'll beat the shit out of you to the point that you wish you weren't born. Are we clear?" Charles snarls at Derek.
Derek touches his face, looking from me to Charles. I can tell he's debating whether he should hit Charles back. Whether he should come attacking me again. The cold look in his eyes grow as he looks at me. I stare right back, even though I feel the fear in my body grow. He wasn't going to know that he got to me.
"Yeah." He breathes. His two friends don't dare try to fight Charles or help Derek as Charles gives them a quick look.
"Get the fuck out of here." He commands walking away from them.
"Charles I-" Charles presses a hand on my back forcing me down the street away from them. I glance over my shoulder at Derek who is being helped off the sidewalk by his friends. All they do is glare at us, none of them making a move though.
"Let's get some lunch." Charles smiles at me as if nothing had just happened.
~ ~ ~
Charles and I sit in the restaurant on opposites side of the table. The waiter takes our order and disappears into the back. The restaurant is quiet, low orchestra music plays from above as Charles and I stare at each other.
"Are you alright?" He asks quietly.
"I'm fine." I reply timidly. I wrap my hands around the cold glass cup that sits in front of me. I tap the glass, staring at the ice cubes that shift in the glass from the disruption.
"That was him wasn't it? The guy who attacked you at Brian's?" I don't look at Charles. I knew people had heard about it... I just thought they had forgotten about it.
"Yeah." I slowly nod.
"I heard that Zayn did a number on him." He laughs, rubbing his forehead as he looks down at his glass too. I bite my lip, this was awkward. This was just strange to be here with Charles. He was at least Louis' age, I'm guessing one year older. Him and Zayn were friends and then stopped being friends when he started making strange comments towards me.
"Yeah." I laugh quietly. "I um... Sorry about freaking out, it's just... Zayn told me he left town and seeing him-" I explain, fumbling with my thoughts. Zayn said he left town, did he lie about it or did he truly think he left town?
"You don't need to explain Juliet." Charles assures. "So where's Zayn? What happened last night?" I'd like to know the same thing. My memories were just bits and pieces, struggling to come back out of my desperate attempts.
"I don't know." I shake my head, I take the water and drink from it. Hoping it'll help the small throbbing that still remains in my head.
"You were that drunk?" he laughs, flashing me a charming smile that reminds me of Harry. Harry... God that happened too.
"My head hurts." I nod. "I um... I don't know last night's kind of a blur but..."
"But what?" He asks, drinking from his cup of water now, his sea green eyes remaining on me. I scratch my head and laugh before replying.
"I had a really weird dream." I mumble, staring at my glass of water. A really weird dream, I don't usually have too many dreams and if I do they aren't as vivid as they were last night.
"Do tell, unless it's a sex dream. Then you have to tell me." He laughs causing me to smile. I know he's joking and it's funny but also causing me to feel uncomfortable.
"No I um... it was about me and my ex-boyfriend." Charles raises an eyebrow – indicating for me to continue. "We were in my bedroom... it was one of those dreams that just seems like a memory because it feels so real..." I explain.
"Alright, yeah I've had those." He agrees with understanding. "What happened?"
"Well... whenever I used to get upset or frustrated or anything like that... he would read to me from my favorite book. He would read to me until I wasn't upset or frustrated anymore." I smile to myself at the memory. He would do almost anything to cheer me up – even if that meant reading pages and pages of my favorite book until I fell asleep.
Our relationship was a good one. It wasn't exciting or an emotional roller coaster like it is with Zayn. It was just steady and stable. Predictable.
"In my dream I was upset about something... And he came into the room. I was lying on my bed and he came and sat down on the edge." I explain, remembering the dream that felt so real. I head felt the weight of the bed shift when he sat down in my dream. "He rubbed my back and was calling me... " I remember that too. The hand rubbing my back felt so real. It seemed all so real. "The strange thing is, he called me Juliet." I mumble.
"Isn't that your name?" Charles chuckles, folding his arms as he leans back. Relaxing as I continue the story.
"No... I mean... he always calls me Julie." I furrow my eyebrows. "Which is why the dream is just so weird. I distinctly remember hearing 'Juliet'." I explain, along with the weight of the bed and the hand on my back.
"Well what happened next?"
"I asked him to read from my book. He laughed and told me he didn't know what my favorite book was." I remember hearing that too – hearing it in a way that made it seem so real. I remember him laughing saying he didn't know my favorite book, it was real... wasn't it?
"I told him please and that I loved him." I say looking up at the ceiling. "He told me to tell him again. So I told him again that I loved him... and then – nothing." I quietly finish, my shoulders sinking as I let out a heavy breath.
"The dream became weird and blurry after that... Someone was like shooting at me? Glass shattering..." I trail off. Glass shattering, Zayn was breaking things when I was asleep and it had gone into my dream. That was real – he destroyed the apartment early in my sleep and it affected my dream.
"Wow... so.... That's weird, dreaming about an ex? And then dreaming about getting shot." Charles lightly teases. I smile and shake my head.
"I grew up with him. He's like family." I shrug. It didn't seem that strange to me. Well it was strange I guess in a sense, especially since I never dream of Matt.
"Right..." Charles smirks with a shake of his head. I bite my lip as we sit in silence again. The awkward tension making it's way back in. This dream was a sign of something. I don't dream of Matt – I don't...
"There's something I really feel I need to do." I blurt out. Charles widens his eyes at my sudden outburst and I feel my cheeks redden.
"So do it." He firmly nods at me. I glance around the restaurant that was starting to fill with people. The decorating is very exquisite. Beautiful paintings hanging between the windows on the black painted walls, red carpet and table cloths along with curtains.
"I can't." I shake my head. Staring back at my glass. I couldn't do what I felt I had to.
"Why's that?" Charles questions with a singing voice, tapping on his glass.
"Because..." I trail off. Because Zayn wouldn't like it, Zayn wouldn't like it one bit.
"Because Zayn wouldn't approve?" Charles reads my mind. I meet his eyes and shake my head. I didn't want Charles to think I made my decisions based on Zayn.
"I-"
"Jules..." He stops me, lifting his hand slightly to indicate for me to stop. "Despite what Zayn thinks and you think... I'm all for you and Zayn being together. I just... you can't make all your decisions based on whether they'll make Zayn happy or not." He explains, his lips in a thin line.
"You're rooting for Zayn and I?" I laugh at his statement. It always seemed that he was making compliments towards me that were more than friendly. Zayn noticed them too – he was always noticing things like that.
"Okay, sure I find you attractive Jules but he's my mate... Bros before ho's, no offense." He laughs, sending me an apologetic look.
"None taken..." I shake my head. I understood guys – well somewhat. I understood they respected each other... most of the time. "So you think I should do what I feel I need to do?" I ask, lifting my shoulders.
"Yeah. I do." He nods. I take a deep breath as the waiter brings us our food. I glance at the food as Charles begins eating right away. I didn't have much of an appetite. Especially with my blurred memory and seeing Derek.
"Hey Charles, why does Erica call you Charlie?" I ask, picking up my fork and playing with my food.
"Oh she's called me that ever since I was little." He shrugs as if it were no big deal. Ever since they were little? That's a little gross considering they've hooked up... I'm assuming.
"You've known each other since you were little?" I laugh. "Does that make hooking up weird?" I ask lightly.
"Oh gross Juliet, no I've never even kissed her." He laughs hysterically now. Dropping his fork as he shakes his head with laughter.
"Then... What?" I ask with complete puzzlement. Charles laughs and leans forward across the table.
"Erica is my cousin." I feel my jaw drop and eyes widen. His cousin? They were related? No... no way. That wasn't real, I would have heard about it. Someone would have told me by now if that were true, wouldn't they?
"What?" I laugh at him. "You're kidding right?"
"No... She's my uncle's daughter." He explains, beginning to eat his food again.
"What? How?"
"Well I guess my uncle and his wife had unprotected sex, and then out popped Erica?" Charles smirks at me, I roll my eyes at his smartass answer.
"I didn't mean it like that." I laugh. "I just never realized you two were related..." I explain. "So is that how her and Zayn met?" Zayn never talked about he met Erica or how they became so close. I wonder if they were friends first or hook ups first.
"Through me? No that's how Harry and her met..." He waves his hand at the idea I brought up.
"But Zayn trusts her because of you... right?" I speak my thoughts. I don't know how Zayn trusts erica and doesn't trust me... She seemed to know more than I did and certainly has been around longer than me - or any other girl for that matter.
"Not anymore. Zayn doesn't trust me." He laughs.
"I thought you and Louis were his closest friends." I reply, taking a bite of my food.
"Yeah well... ever since you came around Jules he's kind of changed." I lower my eyes in guilt. "Oh he's changed for the better don't worry." I look up at him now with surprise. Zayn has changed for the better? "He just is very over protective... all my flirtatious comments really piss him off." He explains.
"Right..." I mumble. I scratch my head and let out a heavy sigh. "You know Charles thank you for lunch and punching Derek." I laugh. "But I really need to go do that thing..."
"The thing that'll piss Zayn off?" He raises an eyebrow with a playful smirk.
"Yeah... that." I mumble.
"Good for you Juliet. If you two plan on being together... you guys need to learn to make your own decision and be accepting." He tells me as if he's my therapist.
"Right. Thanks Charles." I mumble with a small smile, standing up and leaving the restaurant. I get into my car and start it, staring at the steering wheel for a moment.
I shouldn't do this... but I have to. I have to, after last night I had to do this and figure things out. My memory wasn't getting any better from the events of last night – all I know is that it was bad. If he was missing when I woke up and he trashed the apartment, our fight was bad.
So why would me doing this affect our state in the relationship? All I know is that this could actually help our relationship. It really could. Matt... my dream... Our fight... I feel pieces of my memory coming back from last night.
I brought up his dad... I brought up his dad! Why would I do that? He brought up Matt though... I brought up my distrust in him, how he lied the first night... what else did he lie about? I shake my head, I don't want to remember last night but it's coming back.
The hurtful words, the way I forced myself not to cry when he said things. How I kept everything bottled up, even my fear when he broke the glass. I just don't understand what caused him to trash the apartment. I remember making out and then I passed out... Nothing happened, nothing could have set him off – I mean he kissed me.
We fought until we were left with sexual tension. We tore into each other, breaking each other down... we didn't solve anything by fighting, we didn't figure anything out. We ruined things... But the night had ended on a kiss – why would he destroy his place? Why would he turn off his phone?
That meant that we weren't okay, that we weren't on good terms, we weren't going to be okay... Unless we solved everything – which I know would never happen. Solving everything would include him being honest – something he never seems keen on doing. So how would we fix this broken mess we created?
I drive, turning up the music as loud as I can. Though the loud music hurts my head it takes away the thoughts of anything else I could think about. I just listen to the music and drive down the highway until I find myself at my destination. I stare at the unfamiliar buildings and strange town.
It was a nice town. Trees, brick buildings, local restaurant, students walking and biking everywhere – even in the cold November weather. I glance up at the clouds that weren't as gray here. The mountains are farther away than they are in Boulder. It was nice here. I inhale and exhale deeply as I grab my phone and dial it.
"Julie?" His confused voice answers - I feel my heart hurting and the tears brimming. The feelings from last night building up, this being added to the small bottle it was being kept in. But this had to be done - I had to do this.
"We need to talk." I mumble into the phone.
"Julie? Is everything okay?" His voice reminds of Sarah's panicked voice this morning. I bite my lip, fighting back the emotions threatening to surface. But the moment I open my mouth to answer all my built up emotion breaks loose.
"No... Nothing's okay Matt." I let out a quiet sob, the tears and hurt breaking from the bottle I kept them in from last night.