Moments In Time

Chapter 7: Flashback

"They're not going to be happy to see you back so soon," Preston said with a sigh as he drove Kacey to the hotel.

Kacey had caught a flight from Charlotte to Istanbul, deciding that she couldn't be on her own for another minute. She needed something to do that didn't involve going through her mother's things and deciding what was trash and what was worth keeping.

"Well, they'll get over it," she replied. "I need my boys. They'll understand."

Preston didn't say another word as he drove to the hotel. He knew she needed the boys, but the truth was that they needed her more. The guys were shit without her, he knew that much. She was the glue between them, it was clear in her time away. He was definitely happy she was back, and he knew despite them being initially upset, they would be too.

They arrived at the hotel, and Preston told her where she could find the boys. Kacey walked into their rehearsals with her head held up stubbornly. The guys hadn't seen her yet, and she wanted to keep it that way, because Preston was right. They would be upset to see her back so soon.

She'd been told to take two weeks and get some rest, but the sad truth was that she couldn't be home anymore. Marcus was now registered and settled in at college, and she couldn't be alone anymore. She wanted to get back to work. She needed to get back to work.

She watched them all rehearse with a smile on her face. They were getting ready for the second leg of the Where We Are tour, and it was shaping up to be great. They would be letting a few new songs out at a time from the new album, and she was really looking forward to that.

She dropped her bags with a bang, letting them know of her presence. She was alarmed to only see four of them turn around, and the missing person was the one she wanted to see the most.

"Kacey?" Liam asked incredulously. "You aren't supposed to be here."

"Yeah, I mean no offense, but you were told to stay home for two weeks," Niall said. "Why are you here?"

Louis ran over to her and hugged her tightly.

"Who cares if she's back early," he replied to the other two. Harry was behind him, waiting for his hug. "Are you really complaining?"

After Kacey hugged Harry, she looked around for their obviously missing member. The others went back to rehearsing but Liam hung back, wanting to catch up with her.

"Where's Zayn?" she asked, not seeing him anywhere.

Liam sighed and took a seat on the floor, patting the space beside him. She took a seat by him, curious at where her friend was.

"He's been having some bad headaches the past couple days," Liam explained. "Perrie and him are on the rocks, thanks to more cheating rumors, and he's also been worried about you. He's okay, just stressed out. He's resting up for the show tonight. I could call him, let him know you're here?"

Kacey shook her head and stood up. She wished Zayn had told her what was bugging him, but she'd get to the bottom of it.

"Nah," she said. "I got this. See you later."

Kacey walked to the hotel room and used the key that Liam had given her. She opened the door and smiled when she saw Zayn sleeping, hugging a pillow with his face scrunched up. She walked over and sat on the bed softly, ruffling his hair softly.

"Go away," he grumbled without opening his eyes. "I have a headache."

"I heard," she said. "Move over so I can lay down too."

His eyes opened quickly and widened at the sight of her on his bed.

"Kacey, what in the hell?" he asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "You're supposed to be home."

"I am home," she said, nudging Zayn over so she could lay down next to him. "Home to me is with you guys."

Zayn smiled a little as he leaned against the headboard and she rested her head against his shoulder.

"That's the cheesiest shit I've ever heard," he said.

"It's true," she replied.

"So you're back?" he asked, scratching her back gently.

"Mhm," she said softly. "And now I'm exhausted. Flying from North Carolina to Turkey is tiring as fuck."

"No one told you to," Zayn teased. "Stubborn ass."

"Bite me, Malik," Kacey whispered. "Anyway, speaking of stubborn, talk to me. What's going on with you?"

Zayn sighed.

"Perrie thinks I'm cheating on her again. She saw some pictures of me with one of your cousins at the funeral," he said. "It's just so fucking stupid."

"Well, you did cheat on her before, Z," Kacey reminded him.

"I didn't know that we were exclusive then," Zayn protested. "Shit. If I did, I wouldn't have slept with that girl and you know it."

Kacey smiled sleepily as she saw Zayn give an adorable pout. Perrie was a lucky girl, Zayn was faithful to her and only her nowadays. Despite her own feelings for him, she knew she had to help him out.

"I'll call her later, Zayn," she said. "Let her know nothing happened. I'll call the press too."

Zayn smiled and kissed the top of her head as he got up.

"I'll do it," he said. "You've got enough on your plate. I still wish you'd take a break, you've got to be exhausted."

Kacey giggled a little.

"I will," she promised. "But I'm not leaving you guys. I just can't be alone in that house."

Zayn considered that.

"Alright," he said, sitting at the foot of the bed. "Just get some rest, babes. I'll see you at the show tonight."

....

Kacey sighed as the phone rang in her ear. She was hoping that Perrie would answer her phone. The show was in thirty minutes, and she wanted to be there in the wings watching her boys.

She knew Zayn told her not to call Perrie, but she didn't want him to be too worried about petty shit, especially when he shouldn't have to. The cousin in question already confessed that she'd initiated it but Zayn didn't reciprocate. It was just horrible timing on the press's part.

"Hello?" an irritated voice answered. Perrie was probably still angry, and Kacey knew she probably would be as well.

"Perrie, it's Kacey," she said.

Perrie heaved an aggravated sigh. It wasn't that they didn't get along, because they got on very well. It was just that Kacey was always helping Zayn with his problems.

"Is he making you call?" she asked. "I ought to kill him for making you do this when you're going through your mother's passing."

"No," Kacey replied. "He told me not to, actually. I'm back on tour with them and he was a wreck when I arrived. He told me what was up, so I called my cousin. Faith. She told me that she was flirting with him but he didn't reciprocate. She promised."

Perrie was silent as she processed what Kacey told her.

"Thanks, Kacey," she said finally. "That does make me feel better. He's lucky to have a friend like you."

Kacey smiled sadly, but didn't tell her how lucky she was to have Zayn.

"Well," she said. "If he fucks up, I'll kick his ass for you."

Perrie laughed.

"Oh, I know," she said. "I'm going to let you get some rest Kacey. I need to call Zayn. Thank you so much."

"No problem," Kacey said, hanging up and laying back in Zayn's spot.

She knew she did the right thing, but she still couldn't help the tears falling down her face. Tears that were, for once, not about her dead mother, but about the best friend she was in love with, but just couldn't have.

If only she knew how much things were about to change.