29: Don't Look Back
"...He called me... No, it wouldn't even matter because he has men everywhere. For all I know he could've been watching me this whole time! What's the whole point of working with the cops if they don't help? No, don't tell me to calm down!"
AJ takes Zayn's hand in hers and squeezes it, trying to calm him down. He looks at her and smiles sympathetic she pulls his arm around her body, leaning into him. He kisses the top of her head as he listens to Harry on the other end of the phone.
They were both on edge because of the whole situation. AJ blamed herself for everything and Zayn blamed himself for everything.
Zayn's phone call ends after a few minutes of bickering. Once he ends the call, AJ looks straight into his eyes and refuses to let him get up.
"Tell me what's going to happen," she demands, squeezing his hand in hers. "Please."
"AJ, I-"
"Zayn, please," she begs.
"They have enough proof for his arrest, so that's what's going to happen, hopefully."
"Hopefully?"
"He knows how to take out people very quickly if he needs to. He always has back up everywhere and he's not afraid of the cops."
"So what are they gonna do?"
"Attempt to arrest him."
"How?"
"Lure him in with me..."
"Zayn, you're going to get yourself killed!" AJ says to him, shaking her head frantically. "No, you can't do this. No, no, no, I won't let you." She starts freaking out and crying. "Zayn, you can't, please don't do this," she begs, hugging him tightly.
Zayn wraps his arms around her smaller frame and burrows his face into her neck, kissing her skin as he whispers sweet nothings into her shaking frame, trying his best to calm her down. "I'm going to be fine. I'm not going to get hurt. I promise you I will be fine. Please stop crying, baby, please."
She clutches on to him as she cries harder. "But last time-"
He pulls away from her and wipes her tears away with his thumbs. He gently holds her face between his hands and looks into her eyes. "Last time was very, very different. You have to trust me that I will not let anything happen to me or you or anybody that we care about, okay? This time we're going to be okay."
She nods and takes a deep, unsteady breath. "Okay, I believe you."
He smiles and kisses her forehead. "So this is what's going to happen tomorrow..."
***
AJ can't stop shaking. Nobody can calm her down; not even Zayn.
"Baby," Zayn whispers into her hair, "I need you to go with Harry now."
She held on to him tighter, nodding into his chest. They are sitting in Andy's car while he was off handling things. Their mother stayed home and Andy put Liam in charge of making sure she didn't leave the house under any circumstances. Andy also insisted AJ stayed back, but everyone else believed she was their best bet at catching this asshole, so she needed to be there.
"Nobody is going to hurt you," Zayn tells her, hugging her tightly. "And nobody is going to hurt me."
She nods, not really knowing what to say.
Zayn pulls away from her body and kisses her before leaning over her and opening the car door. He nods for her to get out. She does and he follows as they are greeted by Harry.
Harry smiles at them. "You alright?" he asks AJ, looking very concerned. AJ had really grown on him over these past couple months and Harry really thought of her like a sister, so naturally, he didn't like seeing her upset.
She sighs, shaking her head. "I've been better," she says, very sarcastically.
Zayn pulls her into his side and kisses her head as he goes on to tell Harry everything he's suppose to do. AJ isn't paying attention. She keeps looking around, trying to get to know her surrounding in case everything fails and she has to run.
"Babe," Zayn says to her after a few minutes. She turns to him, breaking from her thoughts and he goes on. "Harry is going to take you and you two are going to stay in a car nearby. You'll be with a police officer, so if anything goes wrong, you'll have him to keep you safe."
She nods and he leans down to kiss her one last time before she goes off with Harry and he walks off in another direction.
"Everything is going to be fine," Harry says, trying to lighten the mood.
She smiles, appreciating his effort. "I know," she lies for his sake. She wants to believe her words, but she can't. Something inside her has a horrible feeling about all of this. "I'm just worried," she tells Harry as they approach a black, unmarked car.
"Zayn is a survivor," Harry insists, "he'll make it out untouched and that bastard will get what he deserves."
AJ bites her lip. "Hopefully."
Harry pulls out his wallet, sliding his ID out of its holding place and presses it to the window of the driver's side of the car. After a few seconds, they hear the sound of doors unlocking and Harry opens the door to the back seat and motions for AJ to get in.
Once they're both in the car, the doors lock again and a young-looking man, maybe in his late twenties, early thirties turns to face them.
"This is AJ," Harry says to the guy. "This is Mike," Harry tells AJ. "He's the one we've been working with this whole time," he explains.
She nods. "Nice to meet you," she says politely.
Mike smiles at her. "I've heard much about you."
"Zayn is a bragger," Harry tells her, laughing.
She smiles, blushing.
"So, did Zayn tell you what is going to happen?" Mike asks her.
She nods. "Yeah, he kind of explained it."
"Good. Well, you should know there are armed officers everywhere. This guy isn't making it out of here a free man, I can guarantee you that."
She breathes out in relief. That makes her feel a little bit better about the situation. Although, she's still silently freaking out about everything. She watched Zayn get ready. He has his gun and a bullet proof vest on, just in case. He's smart and she knows he will be okay, but she still can't help but worry about him. The last time he almost got himself killed because of her and she didn't want a repeat.
The three of them sit in silence for a few minutes until a phone rings. Mike pushes a few buttons on something sitting in the passenger's seat that AJ can't see and Zayn's voice echoes through the car.
She looks at Harry and he puts a finger over his lips, telling her to be quiet.
"Hello?" Zayn's voice answers. They must have his phone tapped so they can keep up with him.
"Ready for your date with death, Malik?"
AJ's eyes widen. It's Sonny.
"I could ask you the same thing."
A low, dark chuckle echoes through the car and AJ's stomach does flips . "The second I step out of my car, your guts are going to be splattered on the fucking concrete; you won't even have a chance to blink," Sonny boasts and AJ feels like she's going to be sick. "Is the girl with you?"
"I told you to leave her out of this. It's just me. We made a deal. I show up by myself, unarmed and you can do whatever you want with me and she stays out of it."
"You're lucky I have other shit I have to take care of, or else she'd be right there with you."
"Are you almost here?" Zayn asks, sounding very annoyed.
"Patience. I'll be there soon enough." With that, the line goes dead.
AJ turns to Harry. "You can't just leave him out there," she says frantically. "Harry, please, you have to stop him from doing this. This is a suicide mission. Harry, please," she begs.
Harry shakes his head. "AJ, nothing is going to happen to him. He's going to be fine. Sonny talks a lot of bullshit. He doesn't want Zayn dead. He doesn't kill his victims like that. He would never kill someone in the middle of the street like that; it's too risky. He would completely out himself."
"Harry-"
"AJ, please, I promise he will be fine, you'll see."
"No, I'm done with this shit. I can't let him risk his life like this! I can't just sit here while he paints a target on his head! If something happens to him, I won't be able to live with myself. Don't you understand that?"
Harry takes a deep breath. "I understand, I really do, but-"
"No, no you don't because if you did, you wouldn't be letting him go through with this stupid plan!"
"AJ," Harry says calmly.
She shakes her head. "No, I can't do this anymore," she says before she tries getting out of the car. She pulls at the handle over and over again, banging on the window when the door won't budge.
Harry pulls her away from the door and tries to calm her down as she starts hysterically crying in his arms.
"I love him so much. I can't lose him again. I just can't. Why does nobody understand that─not even him."
"He does know that," Harry tells her softly. "He doesn't want to lose you either and he won't."
She hugs him tightly, trying to calm herself down again. She was doing so well before that stupid phone call. She had managed to stay calm and keep herself together as much as she could all day, but that call just pushed her over the edge.
Harry holds her until she stops crying, which takes a good twenty minutes. Mike has been on the phone with someone for a good ten minutes. AJ had completely gotten her mind off everything that was going on until her phone starts ringing in her pocket.
She wipes her face and sits up, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "It's Zayn," she says in a whisper.
Mike turns to her. "Put it on speaker."
She nods and answers the call, putting it on speaker as she says an unsteady hello?
"Hello, Annie."
AJ's eyes widen. "Why do you have Zayn's phone?" she asks sternly, trying not to start crying again.
"I thought he should have a chance to talk to the girl that ruined his life before I end it."
She covers her mouth, trying not to cry. "You don't have to do this," she says desperately.
"Oh, but I do. You're lucky I spared you, or else we could've have a modern day Romeo and Juliet, except instead of taking your own lives, I could've done the honors."
"Put him on the phone. I want to talk to him," she says sternly.
"As you wish," Sonny says.
A few seconds later, Zayn's voice flows out of the speaker. "Baby, I'm fine. You have nothing to sorry about."
"Zayn," she breathes. "What's going on?" she asks quickly.
"Nothing, everything is fine." She knows he's lying. He told her that if this happened, she would have to play dumb, like she doesn't know where he is and what he's doing. "He's just being a dick and trying to be all big and bad. Listen, I don't have much time, but I want you to know that if I don't make it out of this alive, I want you to move on, okay? Don't stop living because I have. I need you to promise me that." His voice is strained.
"Zayn, stop it. What are you talk about?" She asks. This wasn't part of the plan. He isn't suppose to be telling her his last request because he is going to be fine.
"I need you to promise me that you'll move on," he repeats and she is completely unsure of what to tell him because she is so confused and scared.
"Zayn," she whispers, looking between Harry and Mike, trying to get some sort of answer or guidance, but she doesn't get anything. They both look as equally confused and worried.
"Baby, please," he begs.
"Zayn, I─"
"AJ, I love─"
Before Zayn can finish, her world stops. Her head spins with the sound of guns, sirens, screaming and the sound of her heart pounding out of her chest. This wasn't supposed to happen. He said everything would be okay. He said he would be okay. He said he wouldn't be hurt. He said he wouldn't let anything hurt her. She knew this was a bad idea. She knew it and she didn't try hard enough to stop it. She should've tried harder, then maybe none of this would have happened and everything would really be okay.
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hiii it's literally almost 4AM here but i had to write this bc omfg
i don'thave much to say except i'm sosososo sorry it's been forever since i last updated, but i really hope this makes up for eveything.
pls comment and tell me what you think and what happened
love you guys lots :) xxx
♥