Hollywood and Vines (A One Direction Fanfic)

Chapter 23 - We (Me and Zayn)

I had no where to go.  I wasn't brave enough to stand in the same room as Allie who was still sobbing, so I paced the floors of the kitchen until I heard a knock on the door.  I stepped into the front hallway, peered through the peep hole and swallowed the dark, demented eyes of Zayn Malik.  

"Hey," I greeted Zayn after opening the door, but I was in no flirting mood.

"Hey, Holly."  Zayn stepped into the hallway after I stepped to the side.  "I think I took off my jumper when I was here."

"Oh, Okay," I murmured.  "I'll be right back."  I didn't encourage Zayn that he follow me to the kitchen where he'd left his sweatshirt because I feared his reaction to Allie's whimpering from the adjacent room.  I didn't want him to ask; I didn't want to explain.

"Thanks for letting me drop in."  I jumped and pivoted toward the voice.  Zayn stood towering over me, grinning.  Shoot.  "It's cold out there."

"It is, isn't it?"  I commented softly.

Another knock sounded on the door and Zayn glanced toward the door, then to me.  I gasped.  What would be the best possible way to avoid turmoil?  Hide Zayn, was the first stray thought that flashed through my mind.  When I heard Allie unlock the door from the other side, and grabbed Zayn's wrist and led him to a nearby closet where Tom and Chris kept the coats.  "Come with me."

"What--"

"Quiet,"  I urged him.

I closed the closet door and gazed through the thin gap of light that allowed me to see what was exterior of the closet.  Allie emerged from her room, blinking the tears from her red eyes, and went to answer the door.  

'What's wrong?"  Harry exclaimed.  I imagined that he had immediately consumed her in an intimate hug, but I could not see down the hall.

"Holly, I don't quite understand what's going on--"  Zayn pressed at the closet door to open it.

"No!  I mean -- please -- just stay a minute.  I'll explain later."  I clasped his arm in my hands and trembled when he turned his gaze upon me and stared at me.  His beautiful brown eyes were tainted  gold due to the shard of light that highlighted a strip of his face.

He nodded slowly, thoughtfully, and returned his attention to the scene transpiring outside our small hiding place.  I did the same. Though I wasn't sure how Zayn was going to react to this situation, I was grateful for his company, I was grateful that I was not the only on to populate this cramped closet.

The three of them were in the living room now.  Allie was shifting between her left and right foot with her hands folded across her front.  Never before had I seen such fear dominating her facial features. Harry and Niall stood close to her, but their backs were to me.  I could not see their faces.

"You can tell me anything, Allison,"  Harry murmured.  He reached for Allie's hand but she resisted.   

"I -- I want you to read this,"  Allie held her phone to the boys.  Niall was the first to grab Allie's phone and read the article.

He cursed.  "What is this!"

Harry stole Allie's phone from Niall's hands and, after he had finished reading, he shook his head.  "Is wasn't me."  He held up his hands defensively after returning Allie her phone.  "We all know that I wanted nothing more than to have a good reputation for the band."

"Yeah, that's why ya went and slept with everyone!"  Niall spewed.

"That was before I met Allie . . .."