Bad Boy Kisses

Chapter 4

As soon as I stepped into the house I was unwelcome. Everything was black, pure black. The walls, the floors, the decorations, the only thing that wasn't was Zayn, who stood in the center of the large room, painting a portrait.

There was a paintbrush in his hand and a palette in his other. I stared in amazement at his painting. It was many hues of blue and green, merged together to create some sort of a peacock feather effect. I was uncertain about the significance of the painting; all I knew was that it was absolutely gorgeous.

I felt uncomfortable being in his home so I decided to leave before he kicked me out.

"Anastasia." He then spoke nonchalantly. "You can stay, if you want." I flushed and felt caught off guard.

"I didn't mean to trespass." I whispered, embarrassed.

"Well, since you already did, I see no harm in you staying." He turned around and raised his brow. He was wearing a shirt now and shorts. I wasn't sure if he was being serious or not.

"Is that sarcasm?" I retorted.

"Would you like it to be?" He continued painting.

"It doesn't matter if it is, or isn't. I'm leaving anyways."

"No." He said, which stopped me once again. "It wasn't."

"Oh." I strutted closer to him, while he continued painting; he looked so consumed. "You're a great painter." I whispered. He smirked in response.

I looked around his house a bit, not straying too far from him; I didn't want to seem like an intruder. I nodded in amazement; his house was beautiful.

"You know, you're the first person to ever come and visit." He said finally breaking the silence. I looked at him confused.

"I can see why." I chuckled sarcastically and he laughed in response and turned around.

"I don't invite people over because I don't like being disturbed."

"Well, I apologize if I disturbed you Mr. Malik." He smiled in amusement and put down his palette.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" My jaw nearly dropped to the floor, where was this gentleman politeness coming from? This was not like him to be so... considerate. "Anastasia?" He waved his hand in the air and I realized I lost my voice.

"Ana, you can call me Ana." I explained, "and I'd love to."

–

"This Caesar Salad is absolutely delicious." I stuffed another fork in my mouth.

"Thank you." He smiled in satisfaction, which made me wonder.

"You made this?" He shrugged in response.

"Its not that complicated." He continued eating quietly at the table, right across from me. He seemed like he lived such a lonely life it made me feel almost sorry for him.

"Do you live here alone?" Suddenly, I had an appetite for him; I wanted to know more about him. He was so secretive.

"Yes, occasionally with my roommate from Bradford." He didn't look at me when he replied, he just continued eating, but that was the most information he had ever given me. "You know Anastasia, you're very different."

"Different good or bad?"

"Good, I think." He looked up at me and smirked and I practically melted at his gaze. He was so mesmerizing. He was so mesmerizing and beautiful.

For the rest of the meal neither of us talked. He was too indulged into his food and I had nothing left to say, I just admired him the rest of the night. But when it was time to leave my heart suddenly constricted, I wasn't sure I wanted to leave.

Suddenly, thoughts of my ex-boyfriend came to mind and ruined my mood. I was scared. So scared. He wasn't someone I liked thinking about.

"Are you sure you don't need a ride home?" Zayn offered as he picked up our plates. I nodded.

"I'll manage." He didn't say anything else so I dismissed myself.

"By the way." He stopped me halfway. "You should stay away from me." He said, with no expression on his face. "I'm not someone who people indulge with." I didn't know what to say so I just left. What the hell is wrong with him?

As I walked back I tried ignoring the fact that it was so dark. I was scared of the dark; it brought back demonic thoughts from the past, which I absolutely detested recalling.

Voices then suddenly filled my ears and I panicked. I didn't want to turn around. Keep going, keep going, keep going. I encouraged myself, trying to pick up my pace. But then I couldn't take it; I turned around and saw a group of 3 men walking closely behind me. My heart dropped to my feet, school was close by, I could make it.

"Hey, wait!" I heard one of them snicker behind me. "Where you going this late, doll face?"

"Maybe she's running away from us." Another chuckled and I prayed this would be over soon. "Come on love, don't be a tease." Suddenly I felt an arm around my waist and I looked to my left to see Zayn, I exhaled in relief.

"Hey, she's with someone, lets go." Thank god.

"Thank you so much." I whispered to him, but his expression was unreadable.

"If you needed a ride, you could've asked." He said through gritted teeth, he looked angry.

"My dorm room wasn't far by, I thought –"

"No, you didn't think. You just decided it was a good idea to walk home at 11?"

"You're the one that let me go in the first place!" I snapped back, there was no way he could blame me for this.

"I offered to give you a ride. I didn't want to force you." He let me go and his eyes were full of anger that scared me.

"And you came and followed me anyway?"

"I was trying to protect you."

"No, you were just casually stalking me." I threw my hands in the air, infuriated. "What is it with you? You're polite and sweet one moment and an ass the next." He raised his brow in astonishment and I knew I had crossed the line. I hardly knew him and he had just saved me from potentially being sexually harassed. "I – I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

"No, you did." He replied. "And I shouldn't have come." He suddenly stopped and turned to leave. I turned and watch him go, casually walking away from me. He never looked back at me once and I stayed there until he was completely out of sight.