Again «ZM» ✔️

Part Forty Six

Liam

"You're free to go," the guard tells me. I look at him. Wait, me?

"This late? Why? How?" I ask. The guard doesn't answer, he just opens the bars. I now go willingly because I'm not sitting here when they're letting me go. Maybe Isabelle got this done? Nobody else would. She was the only visitor I ever had. Zayn came once, but he's angry, so he wouldn't. Plus, he doesn't have the money or respect that would require to do this. I get my clothes back, so I change into them and then I take my phone and all the keys I had. I go out.

I'm even more confused when I see it's Isabelle's mother who's standing by the only car in the parking lot for those who are visiting or picking up someone from here. I slowly approach her car.

"You're welcome," she says without looking away from me. I frown. This is suspicious. She might blackmail me now and I don't think I'll like it.

"Why?" I don't trust this. She sighs and folds her arms over her chest. She looks protective and desperate. But I'm not sure what for. Is it something to do with Isabelle? Did she get hate about what they did?

"Isabelle got attacked. She just spent a night at the hospital and it's scared us. And as much as we're scared, we know she's more scared than us," she tells me. For some reason my heart skips a beat when I hear it. And I'm scared for her. "When she told me you're getting out next week, she sounded so relieved. And she told me she wants you out," she adds, "So that's gotta mean something to her," she opens the door and gets in the car. I get in next to her. I'm confused now. She wanted me out?

"Take me to her. I want to see how bad it is," I say. She buckles up and begins to drive. I buckle up as well. She doesn't speak for a while. Not until we get out of the prison territory.

"It's not good. She's asleep now, on painkillers. Doctor said she should recover in a week or two," she updates me. That's rough. "It was Zayn's father. And the worst is that he wiped the cameras. He got to Vincent and now we don't know where he is," she keeps making it worse and worse. I mean... Not really making it worse, but... Fuck. It sounds bad. Like really bad.

"I'll take care of it. I won't let him hurt her," I tell her. She doesn't answer anymore. We drive in silence. And when we're next to their house, I get out of the car first. I go around it and open the door for Violet. She looks surprised. "I'm not that bad of a guy, come on," I say with a grin. She gets out and nods.

"I know. I expect you to open the doors only for Isabelle. Treat her any different and you're done," she warns. We both go inside. Upstairs. She goes to the left, but I go to the right. To her room. I knock at the door in case she's not asleep. Open the doors. She's sleeping with her back to the door, so I have no idea if she's asleep or not. I get in, close the door behind me. Go closer to her. She turns on her back and her head turns to me. When she notices me, she quickly gets up and turns on the lamp on the night stand so I raise both my hands. She places a hand on her heart when she sees me.

"I'm sorry I scared you," I apologize, "I came to see how you are," I say. She slowly nods and pulls the covers up higher, realizing that she's only in her underwear. I know she sleeps like that only when she's super tired. "Are you alright?" I question. She nods. She's awfully quiet which I don't like.

"You said next week," she finally speaks up after a moment of silence. I get to the couch and sit on it. "Why faster?" she asks. I hesitate to answer because I thought she knew. Violet made it sound like it was her idea to begin with.

"Your mother bailed me out or something," I answer, "She also told me it was Zayn's father who did this to you," I frown. She nods. My mind runs through every possible way I could make Zayn's father's life miserable from now on.

"It hurts to talk, so I hope you don't mind," she whispers. I frown. Hurts to talk?

"Why? What did he do?" I ask. She hesitates to answer for a moment, but then she takes her hair away from her face. That's when I see a bruise on her jaw. I know her lip was busted before, so I thought it looked worse in the dim light, but I get it now. He made it worse. I clench my teeth. She covers up again and then takes the covers away from herself revealing another huge bruise on her ribs. "That motherfucker," I whisper and get up from the couch. She quickly gets the covers back up and looks at me scared. "I'm sorry. I won't hurt you, Izzy," I try to say it as nicely as possible. She nods again. I sit next to her and open my arms for a hug which she accepts. I feel myself calm down a bit when I feel that she's safe in my arms in this moment. That she feels safe enough to hug me, even after what I did. "I'm sorry for ever hurting you, Izzy," I apologize. She lets go of me and looks me in the eyes.

"Friends. No relationship anymore," she brings her pinky up. She and her pinky swears. I lock my pinky with her as I lean in closer to her.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," I whisper to her and she smiles. Her smile fades quickly, but I can still see happiness in her eyes. "Okay, you really do need to get some rest, so I'm not going to keep you up much longer," I tell her with a smile, "I'll go home now. But you can call or text me anytime, okay?" I make sure she knows. She once again nods.

"Got it," she answers, too. I get up. She lies back down and looks as I leave. I don't really want to leave, but I can't stay either. I could stay in the guest room, but it wouldn't be such a good idea, especially not if Zayn's visiting her or her father sees me. If Isabelle didn't know, I'm skeptical that even her father knew. It was only Violet who picked me up after all. Just before I leave, Violet steps out of the kitchen with a glass of wine in her hand.

"I don't get it. Why would you let your relationship drown like this when you both are so good? Shame that it's only when you're only friends." she tilts her head, "Though, honestly, I like Zayn, too. He's a great guy. He reached out for her when no one else did," she comments. I nod a little. "Go home, get some sleep. I've got some information to work with, come visit around one or two tomorrow," she tells me. I agree and then I leave. Now my anger is loaded to the fullest. I may not hate Zayn, but I sure as hell despise Zayn's father. Nobody's going to hurt Isabelle, not when I'm around to protect her.