TAINTED | Zayn Malik

Chapter 40| Surprises

He just stared at me without saying another word, his gaze taking my body in as he looked for any signs of change that may have disappointed him. I anticipated this moment for so long that I didn't know exactly what I would do when I ran into him, I expected to feel happiness and what I would hope would be love. But it wasn't there; This whole thing made me feel uncomfortable, knowing our situation was complicated and the time apart didn't even fix it. If anything I felt more distant than what I did last time, and that scared the living hell out of me. God, even the way he looked at me didn't feel the same. It was almost like I felt didn't even wanna be in his presence, but knowing Zayn was exactly two feet behind me kind of eased my mind. And thinking about that made me set a reminder to laugh at that irony later, I was more comfortable with the guy that basically kidnapped me than my own boyfriend for two years.

I walked forward making sure not to move out of line, his eyes watching me like a hawk as I went up a few spaces to make us closer but keeping Zayn hidden from our unwanted guest. "I- what are you doing here?" I could barely fine the words to speak, let alone interact with him. But he was home, he was normal and I could use every ounce of it.

Before he could respond my phone buzzed in my hand, I looked down seeing that Zayn was asking me what was going on. I knew I had less than a few minutes before this entire thing went up into flames, at first I thought of letting it happen. Just because I didn't want any part of this anymore, but somehow over the past few months I may have grew a subtle bond with Zayn and knew I couldn't do it. But as of right now, he was going to have to wait. I can handle it on my own, getting rid of Ben. I clicked my phone off again as my eyes made constant with his again.

"I missed you, Deionne." He smirked, twirling his finger around a few strands that escaped from me jogging minutes ago.

He did it again...

That fucking nickname he gave me just made me appear to be something I wasn't, as if he tried to erase a part of me that would be around for as long as I would live. I would never be this perfect little flawless girlfriend, I'm Ryder..I am a firecracker. A person that will show her emotions through explosions, yet it will still take me a long time before it could even show.

"Yeah, I briefly remember how you showed me your feelings on my departure." I exhaled, looking down. "You destroyed my apartment, left me a very interesting note then you had McKenzie accuse me of being a slut." I laughed while shaking my head at the thoughts of it all happening. A few months ago I was so sure that it was the worst thing to happen, but now it seemed like petty high school drama. "I don't know about you but those actions seemed to be the very opposite of what you're saying."

He didn't seem phased by all of that while I was mentioning the reminders of what he did when we were separated, a low chuckle just rumbled in his throat as he stepped forward. He placed a hand directly on my butt, clenching it while placing a kiss on my forehead. I knew it would be like this, him just dismissing the situation altogether. He wasn't even sorry about it happening, just wanting to go past it as if we didn't have issues to discuss. Before I would get upset but during these isolated months, I've grown to have thicker skin.