Unhealthy Love

Chapter 24

Sleeping with my girlfriend, echoed in Niall’s mind and he felt like those words were a train that hit him full-speed; he felt dizzy and felt like the only thing holding him up were Zayn’s tight grip around his wrist; a grip that created a knot of nausea in the pit of his stomach.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zayn growled, and Niall already felt like throwing up. His shock-widened eyes had frozen on the back of Zayn’s head. “Now get the fuck out of my way.”

“Oh yeah?” The leader spat as he took another threatening step forward, but Zayn didn’t budge and returned his glare evenly. “Does the name Spencer in Daisy ring a bell?”

Spencer, Spencer, Spencer; the image of a faceless girl with a name entered Niall’s mind. A girl Zayn had slept with, and Niall had to remember to breathe in and out; it proved harder than he thought.

“We’re leaving,” Zayn said curtly and attempted to walk away; keyword, attempted. “You’re going nowhere,” The leader, Guy #1, sneered and one of the guys who’d been standing next to him, Guy#2 stepped in front of them.

And after that; things happened too fast for Niall to even react.

Zayn growled and punched Guy #2 right on the jaw and the guy cried out in pain, stumbling on his feet. Niall had barely let out of a gasp of shock before Zayn had pushed him out of the way. The push was so unexpected that Niall almost fell flat on his face, but he regained balance and spun around just in time to see another guy charging towards Zayn. He aimed a punch at Zayn, but Zayn dodged it the last minute; he grabbed the guy’s arm and brought him closer, kneeing him in the stomach. The guy doubled over and the next split-second one of the guy’s who’d been standing behind them had grabbed Zayn by the arm. Zayn hissed and turned to hit, but he didn’t see the punch coming from his blind side; Niall did.

“Zayn!” Niall cried but it was too late, the punch landed on Zayn’s temple, and Zayn staggered on his feet. Before he could regain balance, two of the guys had grabbed him by the arm, holding him still and immobile. The leader moved up in front of Zayn and closed a hand around his throat.

“Did you really think you could get away with it?” His voice dripped venom and his fury was further fuelled by Zayn’s bored expression.

“Maybe,” Zayn said slowly. “You should find yourself a girlfriend that isn’t a fucking skank.” He smirked provocatively and the guy looked seconds away from exploding. “Fucker,” He growled and then brought a knee up, burying it in Zayn’s stomach.

As Zayn doubled over with a gasp, Niall finally snapped out of his paralyzed state.

“No! Stop it!” Niall shouted and ran towards Zayn and the guys holding him. Zayn’s gaze snapped up to meet Niall’s and he sent him another look that told him to get away, but how could Niall leave Zayn to the mercy of those scary guys? He was only a step away when one of the guys suddenly grabbed him by the middle and easily moved him away.

“Stay out of it, kid,” The guy sneered into his ear.

“HEY! Let go! Damn it!” Niall flailed against the guy’s hold, but he was at least twice as big as Niall; his attempts were futile. He looked frantically towards Zayn and his stomach clenched when he saw the scene that unfolded before him; the leader was kicking Zayn in the guts – every kick making Zayn double a little over and Niall to wince – and Zayn had no way of defending himself when he was being hold up by the other two guys.

They were beginning to gather people’s attentions who stopped up and watched from a safe distance, not sure what to do. Meanwhile the leader drove a fist into Zayn’s jaw making the boy wince and without warning, the two guys holding him up released him, and Zayn had no time of bracing himself before he hit the cold concrete. Zayn grunted at the impact and he could taste his own blood in his mouth. The leader leaned over him, his gaze malicious and Zayn hand discreetly closed around a random rock. The leader leaned down and clutched Zayn’s collar, bringing Zayn’s face up and raised his balled hand. Before he could land the punch, Zayn raised the hand with the rock and smashed the rock directly into the guy’s face. A sickening crunch sound filled the air followed by an agonized howl. The leader released Zayn as both his hands flew up to hover over his nose where the blood was gushing. “You asshole!” Zayn got to his knees but wasn’t fast enough to dodge the kick and as it hit the side of his face. The side of his lip burst and he hissed as he fell on all four.