Zayn Malik, I. [zustin mieber]

Chapter 6

[WHY ARE PEOPLE SO DISTURBING. DON'T TELL ZAYN TO DO THOSE GROSS THINGS TO YOU, YOU'RE LIKE TWELVE.]

I wake up to an empty bed, my heart dropping. I sit up and look for Zayn only to faintly hear music coming from down the hall. I get up, not bothering to put any clothes on, and walk towards the sound of music. I walk into Zayn's art room and find him painting on the walls, covering up other pieces he's created in the past. 

"Are you okay?" I ask. Zayn makes a strange sound and continues to paint. I take a step closer to him. "Bub what's wrong?" 

"Lay down. On your back, I know you're naked so lay down and shut up for a minute," Zayn says. I'm taken back by his tone but do as I'm told. I don't know what Zayn is going to do but I'm a little excited. I close my eyes and wait. The song changes, the first few beats to Sacrifice play. I feel something cold on my back. I don't talk, even though I want to know what's going on. After a few minutes of the cold thing touching my back I realize Zayn is painting me. He runs the brush down my back, stoping at the bottom of my spine. 

"What colours?" I ask. 

"Red... A dark green and blue," Zayn answers quietly. I close my eyes. Those are all so close to his depression colours. If he was using a light green, only a change in the shade... 

"Are you alright?" I ask. 

"Shh... Let me finish," Zayn whispers. "I just want to... To help him and he keeps pushing me away. Justin what am I doing wrong?" 

"Zayn you aren't doing anything wrong," I mumble. I can feel his hand shaking with the brush that's still pressed against my back. Zayn throws the paint brush. 

"I'm going for a walk," Zayn says. I wait until he leaves the room to stand up. I look at the paints he was using, my heart sinking. Of course he lied about the shade of green. 

_-_

I sit in my living room, Alyssa beside me. Her parents are sitting across from us, and Zayn isn't back from his walk. Alyssa's dad reads through the texts Niall and Zayn have sent to each other, a frown on his face. Alyssa's mom is watching her husband. I hear the front door open, Zayn and Niall coming into the room. They look at us, and Niall's eyes grow wide. 

"You told them?" He yells, turning to Zayn. 

"I didn't know what else to do!" Zayn yells back. "Niall I'm worried for you! Do you not remember what happened yesterday? I can't keep living knowing this is happening to you and I'm not doing anything!"

"Fuck you! I trusted you not to tell!" Niall runs away from Zayn and I'm surprised when he runs upstairs instead of out of the house. Zayn turns to me, and his eyes are already turning red from crying.  

"I tried! I tried Justin! Niall and I may seem close but we aren't and I just lost all his trust!" Zayn says. He puts his head in his hands, pulling at his hair. As I look at Zayn breaking down I am reminded of the boy I first met him as. He was scared and alone in this world, no one tolove him. His parents were already acting cold towards him, and when he came out that was the last straw for them. I start to wonder that if I had never met Zayn, would he be living on he streets? Dead? I don't know. I don't want to know. 

"Come here, just let him cool down," I say. Reluctantly, Zayn sits on the couch next to me, grabbing a pillow he holds it to his chest. Alyssa's dad puts Zayn's phone down and looks at us. 

"Do you think I could go talk to him?" He asks. "Or should someone come with me?" 

"L-Let me come. He'll open up if I'm there," Zayn says. Alyssa's dad nods and stands up, Zayn doing the same. They leave the living room and head upstairs. Alyssa, her mom and I are left downstairs. 

"What will happen? If i-its true?" I ask. 

"We'll take him in until we can figure things out. We've done it before," Alyssa's mom says. I look down at my hands. This was supposed to be a peaceful break before I had to go back on tour and now I have to help Niall. I look up. 

"Please just... Don't let him go back home," I say. I wipe my eyes. "Please." 

"We will try our best." I almost tell her that won't be enough, but I stay silent. It's going to be okay. 

_-_

I hold Niall close to my chest, I tell him that it's okay, and that he'll be okay once he goes back to sleep. He woke up screaming, which I heard. Zayn slept through it and I didn't have the heart to wake him. Niall won't stop shaking, and I am worried for him. Tomorrow, Alyssa's dad will arrest his mom and older brother. It took a while, but Niall finally opened up to us. He told us at the same time, that his mom and brother had been taking advantage of him since his dad left three years ago. He told us that they would always touch him in places no one should touch their son or brother. Niall also told us about how they hit him. He says they don't have a reason, they just do it. 

"The last time they t-touched me was two nights ago," Niall mumbles. "When I first m-met you. They said I was too happy." He moves closer to my chest. "No one besides my dad and Zayn have held me like this in years..." 

"I won't stop unless you want me to," I tell him. I'm still shocked about what has happened to Niall. He seemed so happy, so strong when I met him. 

"I know you're dating Zayn b-but can you stay w-with me?" Niall asks. He looks up at me, his breath fanning over my neck. 

"Of course. Now try and get some sleep, I'll be here in the morning." He closes his eyes. 

[IIIIIIIII hateeeee myyyyselffff for this chapterrrrr.]