12.24.07

15

12pm - 06/17/2017

Zayn brought us to a diner not too far from the hospital. He's obviously not afraid of being found by Harry again. He doesn't even seem fazed by what happened this morning.

"Are you going to eat?" Zayn asks, a mouth full of his food. "Or just stare at me the whole time?"

Dylan leans over to me and whispers. "Who is this guy again?"

The morphine had worn off Dylan a few hours ago. He was staring at Zayn as much as I was.

"He's a friend of a friend." I tell him then pick up a couple fries. "And yes, I'm going to eat."

"A friend of a friend?" Dylan frowns, tilting his head.

"All you need to know about me is that I came and saved your ass from getting killed by that bonehead."

"Can you not talk to him like that." I say sternly.

"I'll talk to him how I want. He's a grown man, he can take it." Zayn remarks.

"You might've saved us back there, but we don't need you anymore." I say, sliding out of the booth. "Come on, Dylan."

"Wait stop," he grabs my wrist. "Barry asked me to watch after you and I promised him I would."

"Well choose, are you going to be an asshole the whole time or the friend that Barry apparently trusts?" I ask, still standing while waiting for his response.

"Okay, I'm sorry for being a jerk." he apologizes and I sit back in the booth along with Dylan. "I mean it's apart of my personality now. I've been undercover for so many years in that mafia. I'm actually a really nice guy once you get to know me."

I start eating as I question him. "That Ava story says differently. Are you really a nice guy after that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You killed her because you thought she was ruining your plan. She was your partner and you stabbed her in the back before she ever did anything."

Zayn shakes his head. "I didn't kill her, Harry did. You don't know the whole story, so stop trying to act like you do from that one part you heard."

"Harry might've killed her, but you actually did by putting him in that situation."

"So Harry isn't the bad guy here?" Zayn questions frustratingly. "He physically killed her."

I hush him, looking around the diner. "Harry is the bad guy, I was just saying. A nice guy wouldn't double cross their partner."

"She was going to double cross me."

"She told you that?"

"N-no, no one knows when they're getting double crossed. Besides, she was so in love with Harry. She stopped following orders and— I just knew she was going to, okay."

"Wait," Dylan speaks. "We're supposed to trust this guy? A guy who killed his partner on purpose?" Dylan questions. "Lucy, I don't know if we should trust him."

"I saved your ass you dumbas-"

"Hey!" I stop him. "He's just curious, leave him alone." I say sternly then look at Dylan. "Eat your food, Dylan. We can trust him."

"You want to know the story? I'll tell you the story then." Zayn says, obviously annoyed. "Way back, Harry and I were actually friends. I was seventeen and he was around sixteen. We were really close, called him my best friend actually. Turns out he was just using me to get to my cousin. He got to her, alright." Zayn begins. "He dated her for a while and once she gave herself to him, he broke it off and humiliated her in front of her friends. She went through depression, but she got through. Moved on with her life."

"And your cousin is Ava?" Dylan asks, but Zayn shakes his head shrugging him off.

"Once she put herself together, he comes back into her life. He tells her he's changed, persuading her to get back together, then Des Styles finds out about this girl he thought was ruining his son's chance to become like him. Des Styles had one of his men force my cousin out of her flat, they tortured her until she couldn't handle it anymore, she died. She thought Harry was going to come and save her from his dad, she was so in love with him, she trusted him, but he never came and he knew what his dad was doing to her." Zayn was starting to get angrier. He stands up, pulling out a box of cigarettes from his jacket. "Do you want to defend Harry now?"

Zayn storms out of the diner. I watch him through the window, walking down the side walk then leans against a pole. I look at Dylan to see him with wide eyes.

"I didn't expect that." Dylan croaks out. "I didn't expect Harry to be like that. He's a kind guy when it comes to his mom and sister."

I sigh, keeping my eyes on Zayn. "Dylan, I'm going to go out there and talk to him." I tell him, standing up. "Don't talk to anyone and if you suspect any trouble, run."

Dylan nods then I walk away. I follow Zayn's trail outside and slowly make my way up to him. His hands were in his jacket while the cigarette hung from his lips. I stay quiet and he takes the cigarette out and lets it rest between his fingers.

"Revenge was all I wanted." he breathes out the smoke. "I went on this mission wanting revenge, but all I had to do was capture Des Styles with the shipment of smuggled products. It- it took longer than I expected because he'd always have his men do it most of the time, so I kept having to push my revenge aside. Then I just got tired of it. Ava– she was falling for Harry's tricks. I really didn't think he'd kill her because he loved her. I know he loved her because he treated her like a princess. Better than how he treated my cousin, but I guess it was because he wasn't a teenager anymore. He grew and so did his morals. He killed Ava, not me."

"I-I'm sorry," I apologize.

"Don't apologize." he finally looks at me. "I only told you this story because I'm warning you."

"Warning me?"

"I know Des Styles killed your parents." he tells me. "Barry told me about them. They were great agents and they taught him everything he knows. Barry taught me everything I know, but I didn't listen to him when he told me that revenge shouldn't have been the only reason I volunteered to go on that mission."

"But I'm not like you."

Zayn chuckles, adverting his eyes away from me. "Yeah, you're like Ava."