Winter

Fighting Words

I wince as I pack my bag, realizing that I have done absolutely none of my homework this weekend.  I mean, I do have a valid excuse, and it's not like any of my teachers are going to argue once they see the state I'm in.  My uniform covers most of my bruises, but the huge purple one spanning about a quarter of my face is pretty hard to miss.  I attempted to cover it up, but nothing really worked, so I've just decided to let it be.  I suppose that I'll finally fit people's stereotype of Zayn Malik's sister.

I shoulder my bag, and then quickly make my way down the stairs, breezing past my dad in the kitchen to grab a banana and a smoothie.  

"What are you doing up, honey?  Are you going to school?"  He sounds a bit confused. 

"Yeah..." I raise an eyebrow at him before refocusing on peeling my breakfast.  "I'm not that hurt and I don't want to get behind on anything."

"Well, when I spoke to Harry last night, it sounded to me like you were going to pack some of your things up and move in with him today."

I let out a bitter laugh.  "I am not moving in with Harold."

"Zaya," my dad sighs, shaking his head.  "I know it's not the best situation, but try not to make it more difficult, please."

"Dad, I am not willingly going to move in with him.  Don't you want me to stay here?"

"Of course I do," he says quickly, placing a hand on my shoulder.  "I want nothing more than to keep you here with me.  But Harry will protect you better than I can, and you are his match–"

I cut him off with a scoff before making my way towards the door.  "Well, I hope he knows that I'm going to be really unpleasant to live with." I mutter to myself while I pull on a jacket, mostly cursing about Harry's unfortunate personality traits.  "Bye, dad, love you!"

"Bye, honey, be safe!"

For once in my life, the cold city air is welcome and I feel like I can breathe properly.  I may flinch just a bit every time I pass an alley, remembering the promise of someone coming back for me, but I'm okay.  I'm okay.  I'm okay.  

I'm okay.

**

"Oi, Malik!"

"Hey, Nathaniel," I sigh, closing my locker.  I should have known that he would have heard all about everything.

"Fucking hell," he furrows his brows at me, gently taking my chin in his hands to tilt my face in his directions.  He whistles when he sees the damage.  "God, that bastard got you good.  I heard you had quite the weekend.  Kidnapped, matched..."

"Don't even get me started," I growl.  "This whole thing is fucking bullshit.  There's no way that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with Harry when we can barely go five minutes without trying to kill each other."  

I ignore the wide-eyed stares as people see my face while we walk down the hall, glaring at anyone who is a bit too obvious.  I want to scream at everyone to mind their own business, that they have no idea what went on, but I have to control myself.  I'm just pissed off right now, and dealing with people calmly is not exactly my forte.  

"Yeah, I kind of laughed when my father told me," Nathaniel smiles, nudging me with his elbow.  His father is the leader of the The Vipers.  They used to be enemies with Zayn's gang, but the rivalry has cooled a bit, and now they're relatively neutral.  Plus, his father loves Kenny and I, so I don't think he'll look to provoke anything without a good reason.  "But I'm totally down for taking out Katava, especially after what he has done to you, and I'm really close to getting my dad to give your brother's proposal to join his alliance a chance.  I think they're meeting next weekend to speak about it."