After // ziall

Chapter 49

"What kind of game are you trying to play here?" Zayn yells and moves towards me. He is angry, beyond angry. 

"I am not playing a game Zayn! Didn't you see how much he wanted you to come over? He was trying to reach out to you and you were so disrespectful!" I'm not sure why I'm yelling back at him but I refuse to stand here while he shouts at me. 

"Reach out to me? Are you fucking kidding me? Maybe he should have reached out to me when I was a kid, instead of abandoning his family!" The vein in his neck is strained under his skin. 

"Stop cussing at me! Maybe he is trying to make up for lost time! People make mistakes Zayn, and he obviously cares about you. He has that room for you at his house, full of clothes in case you ever decide to come over." I remind him and he shudders with anger.

"You don't know shit about him Niall! He lives in a fucking mansion with his new family while my mum works her ass off working fifty hours a week to pay her bills! So don't try to lecture me, mind your own damn business." He snaps and gets in the car. 

"Fine Zayn! I will mind my own business but I'm going tonight whether you go or not." I say equally as harsh and climb into his car. So much for our argument free day. I knew the idea was not plausible but I had hoped it could be.

"No you're not!" He grabs his door handle and slams the door closed. If I had known accepting his father's invitation would lead to this I wouldn't have done it, but Zayn needs to understand that I will not be yelled at and told what to do. That's one redeeming quality I give my mother credit for, she showed me exactly how not to be treated by a man. 

"You have no say in what I do and in case you didn't notice, I was invited. Maybe I should see if Harry wants to join me?" I'm completely aware that I'm being childish and mentioning Harry is a sure way to get Zayn to overreact, like now. It's obvious that I've pushed him too far when Zayn jerks the steering wheel and pulls onto the shoulder on the busy road. 

"What did you just say?" The dirt and dust if flying all over his white car.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Pulling off the road like this!" I'm just as angry as he is at this point. Being around him makes me insane, I'm sure of it. 

"What the hell is wrong with you is the question! You tell my dad I will go to his house for dinner, then you have the audacity to mention bringing Harry?"

"Oh yeah sorry. I forgot your cool friends don't know that Liam is your step brother and you're afraid they will find out." I taunt him. 

"He is not my step brother for one, and two you know that isn't why I don't want Harry there." His voice is much lower now, laced with anger. 

Through my own anger, that ridiculous bubble of hope inflates again at Zayn's jealousy. I know it's more of a competition thing for him than actually caring whether I'm with someone else but it still makes my stomach flutter all the same. Even my common sense is impaired by Zayn. 

"Well if you won't go with me, I will have to invite him." I say, faking an innocent smile. I would never actually invite Harry to Zayn's father's house but he doesn't need to know that.

"Niall, I really don't want to go. I don't want to sit around with my dad's perfect family. I avoid them for a reason." He sighs and I detect a hint of the vulnerability that he is a master at hiding. 

"Well I don't want to force you to go if it will hurt you, but I would really like if you could come with me. I am going either way. He invited me and the look on his face was too much to turn down, I'm sorry." My voice is soft now as I try to diffuse the situation. Zayn and I have gone from eating yogurt to screaming at each other and back to calm again. My head is spinning, it has been since I met him.