Mark My Words

Chapter 21: Elounor

“What do you know?” I was really hoping Danielle had told him the truth, this way I wouldn’t feel so guilty keeping it all inside.

“The truth,” he stated. “I don’t want to be blunt, but Danielle and Niall did it and she killed their baby. Plus I know something else,” he looked terrified.

“What? There’s more?”

“I can’t really tell you right now.” He was acting strange. It was almost as if he was covering for somebody. “Just let it go. Forget I said anything, okay? Let’s just… enjoy the day. You can thank your cousin for inviting me, otherwise I don’t know if I’d ever see you again. I thought you hated me.”

“I don’t hate you, Zayn, I couldn’t. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” I heard footsteps but ignored them. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Out of nowhere, Zayn kissed me. It wasn’t like I had never kissed him before. It was never anything serious, just a peck like once or twice. He just gave me a quick kiss right now because I was having a rough day and things were looking up. I honestly didn’t think anything of it.

“Sorry, am I interrupting something?” I looked outside of my bedroom door and saw Liam.

“No,” I shrugged it off because I didn’t even recognize what I did.

“Well, you were kissing,” Liam started.

“No we weren’t.” Zayn defended me.

“Really? When two lips touch together it has a different name? Sorry, what’s it called these days?” He looked annoyed.

“Liam, I’m sorry. Don’t be jealous, babe,” I walked over to him. “You know Zayn and I are just friends. We have been for awhile.”

“I know, I just don’t think it makes very much sense to kiss your friends, so maybe you shouldn’t anymore.”

“I’m really sorry mate, please forgive me,” Zayn asked, backing off. “I really meant nothing by it, I’m sorry.”

It took Liam a moment but he decided to let it go. Zayn walked out of the room to give me and Liam a little time to talk.

“I don’t think you should be seeing Zayn anymore,” he didn’t even look at me.

“Are you crazy? He’s my best friend.”

“He’s one of my best friends, too. But I’m not sure if I can trust you two together.”

“He has a girlfriend, I have a boyfriend, and we’re both really happy. Trust me, Liam, I don’t want to be with anybody else but you. You do know what today is, right?”

He nodded, remembering the time I poured my heart out to him telling him how guilty I felt about my brother’s death. I then explained to him how I told Zayn that story way back when we met on the X Factor, and how Zayn found me earlier at the cemetery.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I could be so stupid,” he paused. “Forget I said anything, alright? I think I owe Zayn an apology, too,” He stood up to go downstairs where I assumed Zayn was sitting awkwardly by himself, waiting for Perrie to arrive. “And Jordin? I’m really sorry. I wish there was something I could do to make it all easier for you.” He took my arm into his hand and turned it slightly, revealing my wrist. He looked at my scars and kissed them. “I love you.” He left the room. I was completely speechless.

How did I let him slip by in grade school? How was I such an idiot? I couldn’t get this thought out of my mind:

What if I had said yes?

Where would we be now? Maybe we would still be dating and in a long-term serious relationship. Maybe he would’ve been the first person I fell in love with. He could’ve been my first for everything. Or maybe we wouldn’t have lasted and ended on bad terms, completely hating each other. Maybe it was for the best that I said no to him 22 times. I was a fool then, but I guess everything happens for a reason. It’s just so crazy to me that my life would be totally different if I had said yes one of those times. Any of them.

My life was really looking up from there.

- January 2013-

“Happy New Year, babe!” Liam slurred. We shared a passionate New Years’ kiss, our second one together. I had been dating Liam now for 17 months. I pulled away from the kiss, my hands still resting on Liam’s broad shoulders. This was his last night on break. Tomorrow he would be leaving for Japan with the boys for yet another performance.

I was completely exhausted from partying all night at Harry’s and wanted to go home, but Liam noticed we were both too wasted to drive, as was everyone else at the party. Harry offered us his mum and step-dad’s room since they were out at a different party that night. We accepted and headed upstairs, practically crawling on all fours to keep our balance. Liam hit his hand on the wall really hard and I laughed.

“Don’t laugh at me! That kind of hurt,” he rubbed his hand on his shirt. When we finally got into Anne’s bedroom, Liam was acting a little strange. “Come on, babe,” he said, tugging at the bottom of my shirt. “We’re all alone.” He got so commanding when he was like this.

“No, Liam, not here,” I said, gently pushing him away. Liam was so horny when he was drunk, which is why I sometimes dreaded partying with him. I always knew what to expect by the end of the night, and I wasn’t really in the mood right now.

“Please,” he gently pushed me back on the wall, lifting me up a little. He tried pulling my leggings off, but I refused.

“Not tonight, Liam, I’m tired. Let’s just go to sleep.” He set me down and we walked to the bed, flopping down immediately.

“Yeah, I’m tired too,” we cuddled as we fell asleep. Everything was absolutely perfect.

I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing. I hadn’t set an alarm, so it must have been someone calling me. It was Zayn.

“Hello?” I answered my phone, my voice cracking a little bit.

“Good morning,” Zayn said groggily. “I hope you aren’t hungover that badly.”

“And why not?” I rubbed my eyes, thinking about last night.

“We have a bit of a situation on our hands, and it’s very serious.” He sounded sniffly. “It’s Eleanor.”

I hadn’t become close with Eleanor, but I had talked to her on several occasions and she was a lovely girl. I could see why Louis was dating her and why Zayn used to crush on her. I did notice however that Louis seemed upset last night. “What happened with Eleanor?”

“She went to another party after ours last night without Louis,” he started to explain. “Nobody has seen her since she left him around 1 am. Apparently she never showed up at the party.” I looked over at the wall clock in Anne’s room. It was 1 pm.

“Shit,” I sprung up out of bed, fumbling to fix my clothes. I thought about how upset Louis looked last night and tried to recall if I saw 'Elounor' fighting. “Why do we girls always have to go missing?” I attempted to lighten the mood of the phone call. Zayn wasn’t having it.

“That’s not funny,” he said, but I swore I heard a muffled laugh at the other end.