brilliant discovery • zauren

29

After a long, mental battle, with himself, Zayn decided on some therapy. Family therapy. His parents and sisters were happy to see him around, but very well knew his visit was spawned by something else.

He was gloomy since his arrival in Bradford. Not even his mum's homecooked meals could cheer him up.

"What's wrong?" Waliyha asked, unable to take the grey clouds looming over her brother's head. "Looks like you found out you're adopted."

Usually, her cynical humour worked, but not this time. Zayn didn't even look at her, his eyes stayed focused on the TV screen. However, his mind was elsewhere.

Back in whatever city Lauren was performing at.

"But you two look alike," Safaa interjected cheekily, plopping down on the empty space of the couch next to Zayn. "Are you adopted, too?" She teased Waliyha, who simply rolled her eyes.

That caught Zayn's attention, and he laughed. It was short lived, though. Initially, the sisters thought he grunted in annoyance.

"Seriously, what's the matter?" Waliyha interrograted, poking his knee to garner even a bit of his attention.

"Nothing," he drawled, simply answering to shoo them away.

The therapy they were offering wasn't the kind he implored. If anything, he wanted to speak to Doniya or his mum, but they were both busy. Even his dad would have made a better shrink, but he had matters to deal with, too.

So, Zayn was left with the other two Maliks.

"Liar," Safaa sang, shaking her head. "Come on, you can tell us. We won't tell mum! Did you impregnate somebody? Is Lauren pregnant?"

The mere mention of her name had Zayn clenching his jaw. The two sisters noticed, and the once saucy smiles on their face disappeared. They hit a nerve, but it was too late to weasel around it.

"So, she's pregnant," Safaa whispered as if she hit the nail square on the head.

Waliyha groaned as Zayn flashed the youngest an incredulous glare.

"Saf!" Waliyha warned, motioning her to keep her mouth zipped shut.

Safaa was about to complain, mouth opened to protest, but she saw her brother's unpleasant stance and shut herself up. "Sorry."

Waliyha inched closer to Zayn, resting a comforting hand on his knee. He jolted, startled by the warm touch. For a moment there, he thought it was Lauren. His mind was so heavily rife with thoughts of her.

"If you want to talk, we're here. I know you'd rather talk to mum or Doniya about this, but we can try to help," Waliyha said softly. "It's better than to keep things to yourself."

Safaa nodded in agreement. She was no longer curious for her sake, but worried for her brother's.

Zayn was really against telling them. They had big mouths. The whole family would know before the clock strikes the next hour. And that was in twenty minutes.

But the guilt was eating him up and he could no longer manage to keep things inside. 

Begrudingly, he told them. Throughout his tale, they kept quiet. Nodding here and there. Humming, to reassure him that they were paying attention. From the beginning of their relationship—how it was all for show, again—to actually becoming borderline real and him ruining all those chances in one night.

The newfound information was a lot to take in. Safaa managed to barely understand. As for Waliyha, she had many questions soaring in her head.

"Let me get this straight," Safaa murmured. "You and Lauren aren't really dating?"