when you sleep :: [malik]

"the ballad of me and my brain..."

Zayn rides aimlessly on his bike for a while, pissed and upset and hurt and sad because he can't seem to shake the cycle of things going great with Zhuri, only for them to all get fucked to hell when she's suddenly reminded of her ex.

And typically, when things happen like this, he's used other girls as drunken, one-night escapes from the pain of...

God.

Of, Zhuri.

After thirty minutes of aimless driving around the city, he just gives up on trying to clear his head.

He's going home.
___

The pounding on the door shakes him from his sleep.

It's nearly two in the morning, and the only reason Zayn even rolls from bed is because there's no way in hell he's getting a two AM visit if it's not an emergency.

Pounding continues as he shuffles tiredly down the hall.

"The fuck..." He mutters. "Am I getting evicted?"

And he throws open the door.

"You've got five seconds to lemme know why I shouldn't beat your ass."

"What? Say what?" Zayn's scowl matches Taj's. "Taj," he sneers, "get the hell outta my house."

"Ha--" And Taj laughs. He actually laughs aloud. "Bet you'd like that, huh?" He nods, and pushes past Zayn into the apartment.

Zayn groans, slamming the door behind him. "The fuck are you doing here, Taj?"

"Nigga, you'd best not be taking a tone with me."

"What the--? Taj, I fucking swear, mate--"

"Don't "mate," me, Z. Don't do it. Don't even try."

Zayn pauses, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Dude..."

"Don't "dude" me either, boy."

Zayn throws up a tired arm. "What's this about?"

And Taj shoves him.

Zayn stumbles backwards into his couch, and stares up at the young man glaring down at him, fists clenched.

"My sister's all fucked up right now and I got no one to blame but you," Taj fumes, his jaw clenching, "and you got three seconds to explain to me what happened before I seriously fuck you up, no matter how much I thought I liked you."

"This doesn't have shit to do with you, Taj."

"Yeah it does, Z. I'm not gonna stand by and let my sister get fucked over by some other good for nothing piece a' shit," he wipes his mouth. "I'm not. I'm old enough now; I'll never do that again. And here I am, thinkin' you were a good one. I thought Zhu'd finally found somebody I didn't hate. Y'all--I thought she'd finally got in some typa healthy relationship, and--"

"Yeah? Well, what about me, Taj? What about my feelings? How come I'm always the one getting fucked over in this relationship?"

"'Cause it's Zhuri!"

"That's not a fucking excuse!"