Finish Line |h.s|

Four

The low whirring of cars on the street below us provided background noise I could focus on while Zayn's fingers drew small circles on the exposed skin of my back. I tried to ignore the scowl on Maria's face as she stole glimpses of our intimate interactions. Part of me felt bad for shoving our PDA in her face, but the selfish part of me knew I needed this more than her. Her longing for Zayn had always been apparent, however she never acted on it until he and I became a "thing." I wanted to tell her it wasn't real, that nothing between us meant anything but I was afraid of what admitting that would mean for me.

"What do you think, K?" Zayn's fingers stopped their repeated movements and his fingers curled around my waist to pull my attention to him. His hazel eyes searched mine and my face grew red with heat at my obvious lack of participation in the conversation. At some point the conversation turned from pleasantries to the races, and I had tuned out, not interested in the behind the scenes anymore. I looked around as expectant eyes watched me.

"I don't know much about your races, but I don't think adding a new rule that riders need a profile and ID to participate is going to go well with anyone." Harry chimed in, bringing a glass of whiskey to his lips as he leaned back nonchalantly in his seat. Zayn dropped his head in his hands and let out a sigh. I gripped the bottle tighter in my hands, and nodded at Harry, tipping my bottle at him slightly as a silent "thank you." If he caught it, he didn't react.

"I agree," I whispered, afraid if I spoke too loudly the shake in my voice would be obvious. In the past, I was bursting with ideas on how to improve the races. Things we could do to market it better, get more money, better equipment, and prices. That all changed quickly. "The appeal of the races is that their illegal. If we're keeping profiles on people, they'll turn away from the fear of being caught." My words came out in a mumble at first but slowly I gained confidence from the liquid pooling in my empty stomach. "Even with the promise of secrecy, it's too risky for people." I brought my bottle up to my lips, needing something to distract myself from the surprised looks being thrown my way.

Before me, Harry nodded. "She's right." His pink lips glistened with alcohol, and he ran his tongue over them gently to catch a tiny taste.

"Always so smart," Zayn mumbled against my still hot skin, planting a soft kiss to my neck that caused my head to turn away from his body. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, suddenly feeling restless.

"Anyone need a drink?" I jumped to my feet and collected the empty glasses on the table in front of us.

"I'll take one," Louis chimed, chugging the last drop from his beer and handing the empty bottle to me. I gathered as much as I could in my hands and headed back inside towards the kitchen.

Once away from the crowd, my lungs finally felt free. I didn't realize how tense I had become, my shoulders tight and my stomach in knots. Talk of the races always made me uneasy, and the familiarity of this place, these people, had settled too deeply into my bones. I hadn't been around everyone this long in years.

I placed the empty bottles in the recycling before taking a moment to lean against the counter and shut my eyes. I needed a second to collect myself and my thoughts. Being involved in the races was not something I had planned to ever do again. I went to them because I felt obligated to, because I felt close to the one thing Liam loved. The way we connected over the races, the love of a family I felt was all gone and I knew it'd never come back, not that I wanted it to.

I heard the sliding of the balcony door and I was pulled from my heavy thoughts. I blinked away the saltiness that had brimmed at my lash line and reached into the fridge to grab four bottles of Heineken. Not my drink of choice, but it'll do. I popped the cap off with my tooth and brought the opening to my lips and took a heavy swig.

"I don't remember you being such a heavy drinker." Harry entered the kitchen and leaned a shoulder against the entryway. His tattooed armed crossed against his chest as he eyed the fourth bottle in my hand.

"You don't know me," I snapped, the air thickening around me. Memories clouded my judgement, and I couldn't shake away my thoughts. I trained my eyes on the black ink on his forearm, a simple circle with a ring of smoke around it drawn onto his outer wrist.

"Still have some fire, I see." He chuckled, his adored dimples on full display. It must have been the alcohol coursing through my veins and creating a veil over my eyes, but the way his head tilted slightly, and his eye twinkled playfully, a sharp contrast against his appearance, caused a flutter in my chest that travelled down my body. "Let me help," he took a step forward and I found myself trying to mold my body into the counter behind me. If he noticed this, he didn't react. Instead, he continued forward until the tips of his black boots were touching the tips of my white vans. His eyes trained on mine, the playfulness vanishing and being replaced by the same danger I encountered at thirteen, he reached behind me for a few bottles. His large hand rested there for a moment, and I could've sworn his eyes fluttered to my chest for only a millisecond, before he dipped his head slightly and grabbed the bottle from my hands. "I'm cutting you off, darling."

"Excuse me," I protested, reaching forward for the bottle in his hands but his large body moved quickly and he was halfway across the kitchen now in just two long strides, draining the alcohol into the sink. I watched in disbelief as he emptied the entire thing, turning on the faucet and filling it with water before handing it to me.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I hissed, pushing his hand away and stepping closer to his body to challenge him. He simply rolled his eyes at me like I was a nuisance and moved closer to me. His frame towered over me; however I didn't back down. Anger replacing the despair I had been feeling earlier.

"Drink." He stated. When I made no advancement to his command, Harry reached for my jaw, grabbing at the sides of my face and forcing my mouth open when his fingers dug into my cheeks. I reached up with my own hand and grabbed his wrist, trying to pry out of his grip. 

The audacity to touch me. To pour my drink. To tell me what to do. 

"Drink." He repeated. His eyes hardened, his eyebrows pulling together like my life was currently in his hands. Lifting the bottle slowly to my lips, he watched my mouth as he poured the cool liquid over my tongue, coating my lips. A small dribble of water escaped from the corner of my mouth and his thumb quickly caught it before it could escape down my chin.

I stood there, dumbfounded as the water washed over my mouth. Harry's eyes moved from one tiny detail to another on my face, his fingers still gripping my jaw with slight pressure. My chest heaved with anger, still I made no more attempts to push him aside.

"Good girl." Harry's hand dropped from my face and for a glimmer of a moment I missed the warmth of his fingers. His words caused the pooling in my abdomen to deepen.

"Take this with you and finish it." He shoved the bottle into my open palm and took a step back, turned on his heel, grabbed the rest of the drinks and vanished onto the balcony. I stared at the bottle in my hands, I had half a mind to drain it just to spite him, to grab a new bottle from the fridge and defy his words.

Something told me I'd have hell to pay if I did that. The lingering sense of worry in his features stopped me, though. Some part of him had been concerned about me, observing me enough to know I had checked out and had four drinks in thirty minutes. I sighed loudly, suddenly feeling small and stressed. Without giving it anymore thought, I took a swig of water and made my way back out to the balcony. 

Harry's eyes were trained at me, narrowing at the bottle in my hand. He searched for any sign that I had swapped it, and when he found none, his eyes met mine and a smirk settled onto his lips as he threw an arm over Maria's shoulders. 

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hi. what do we think of H? 

also, I made a twitter: floweredmaliks

and a tiktok: floweredmaliks

I've already posted a few times on the tiktok, just a few videos to intro the characters and the book. let me know what you think. :)