Falling For You

Chapter 9

"C'mon fag, just tell us. Who gave you the black eye?" Maverick asks, his hand tightening on Zayn's collar.

"Why do you care?" Zayn asks, trying to sound tough. It doesn't work. His voice comes out in more of a whisper.

"Cause I wanna thank 'em." Maverick sneers, leaning in closer.

The 2 other guys cackle from either side of Zayn, making him flinch away. Maverick brings up a hand towards Zayn's face and Zayn tries to move away, but can't. The grip Maverick has on his shirt is too tight.

"You know, your face is looking a little uneven. Maybe I'll give you a matching bruise on the other side." Maverick says, his free hand forming on a fist. Zayn closes his eyes as Maverick winds up, but the punch never connects. Instead, Zayn recognizes the deep voice that comes from somewhere in front of him.

"Try it and I'll rip your fucking throat out." Zayn' s eyes fly open and he's staring at Maverick's fist. The only thing stopping it is Liam's hand, wrapped around Maverick's wrist. Liam steps in front of Zayn, forcing Maverick to drop his hold on Zayn's shirt.

Zayn feels as Louis takes his arm and pulls him away as Liam and Maverick stand off. Maverick is noticeably taller than Liam, but the fury in Liam's eyes makes him look a lot bigger.

Suddenly, Maverick's fist goes flying towards Liam's face. Liam blocks quickly and knees Maverick between the legs. He follows up with a quick shove and they are both on the ground. Liam is on top of Maverick, sending punch after punch into his face. Maverick sends a quick punch into Liam's ribs, causing him to drop to the side.

"Li!" Zayn shouts trying to push past Louis who is holding him back.

"Zayn, let him get it out. Trust me, you don't want to go running in there." Louis says. Maverick has taken over what Liam had been doing before.

Liam was taking the blows to the face much better than Maverick had. In between Maverick's shots, Liam manages to pop off a few of his own, sending his fist into Maverick's gut, ribs, and to the side of his head.

A crowd has begun to circle around the boys, and two teachers push through the gathered students to pull the two boys off of each other. Their history teacher, Mr. Higgins, pulls Liam to the side, and Zayn manages to shove past Louis.

Liam continues to struggle against Mr Higgins until Zayn appears in front of him. Zayn grabs Liam's face between his hands, forcing him to look at him.

"Li, it's ok. Please just let it go. I promise I'm fine." Zayn says, and Liam slowly stops struggling. As soon as Mr Higgins lets him go, he wraps his arms tightly around Zayn, burying his face in Zayn's neck.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't stand the thought of him hurting you." He whispers, and Zayn runs a soothing hand through his hair.

"It's ok." He whispers back. Liam pulls away, but keeping his hands on Zayn's waist. The touch sends butterflies shooting through Zayn's stomach as he examines Liam's face.

There is a large cut above Liam's left eyebrow, from one of Maverick's rings, his nose was bleeding, and there were multiple spots on his face where Zayn could see bruises forming.

This is all my fault. Zayn says to himself, examining the boy, who just stares back at him, anger still flitting in his eyes. Their principal, Mr Cowell, pushes through the students around him into the centre of the circle.

"What in the hell happened?" He demands and Liam steps forward, about to explain, when suddenly Maverick cuts in.

"The fags started it." He spits and Liam lunges towards him. Zayn manages to latch onto his arm and yank him back, stopping another fight from ensuing.

"Alright," Mr Cowell yells. "Both of you in my office, right now!" Liam gives Zayn an apologetic look before he is sent off in the direction of Mr. Cowell's office.

"Alright," Mr Cowell yells to the rest of the students. "Get to class!" He quickly drops into a quiet conversation with Mr. Higgens and their technology teacher, Mr. Grimshaw.

"This is all my fault." Zayn mutters to himself as the crowd disperses. Louis shakes his head at the boy.

"No it is not. It's Maverick's fault. If he had minded his own business, none of this would have happened." Louis reasons, his hands coming to rest on Zayn's shoulders. Zayn quickly shakes him off.

"It is my fault." He says, the volume of his voice growing with his emotion. "Liam got involved because of me, and now he's hurt and he's in trouble because of me!"

Zayn reaches down to grab his backpack from the floor before sprinting off in the direction of the bathrooms. Louis makes an attempt to follow him, but is quickly stopped by Mr Cowell.

"Mr Tomlinson, get to class. I will deal with Mr Malik later." He says, pointing a finger in the direction of Louis' next class. Louis sighs and reluctantly trudges off in the direction of his Literature class.