Vulnerable (Zayn Malik AU)

Chapter 34

"You're sure you wanna do this?" Zayn asked.

"No... But, it has to be done, don't you think?"

"I think that you don't have to do anything you don't want to..." He was right. But, I had a feeling in my gut that it would be wrong to not check on my father. "It's only been a day. He may need more time to cool off." He sounded like he was prepping me for what awaited inside, just in case my dad was still unstable.

"Maybe...just wait here."

"Yeah, right." He scoffed.

"Zayn, last time you came in, we left my dad unconscious. That's not happening again." I opened the car door and set one foot onto the driveway.

"Well if I don't go in, you may be the one left unconscious. Either I go in with you, or we leave right now."

I considered my options: I could try to outrun Zayn and get into the house before he could follow, I could pull my foot back in and close the door, or I could go in and have Zayn annoyingly try to stand between me and my father. My options were minimal, and not one of them sounded like a good time. I decided there was really only one way to go.

"Come on." I sighed.

I got out of the car and Zayn quickly caught up to me. He made sure to take bigger steps so that he could get to the door first and open it for the two of us. But, when we reached the door, his key wouldn't work.

"You don't think...?" Zayn asked.

"No. He wouldn't have." I shook my head. Out of all the things my mom did to me, even she never changed the locks. And she was definitely worse than my father.

"Dais, it's not opening..." He jiggled the lock, but was unsuccessful. "Are you sure he's even home?"

"Yes. And it's past noon. He should be up by now." I knocked on the door and listened for movement on the other side. Nothing. "I know he's here. He just might still be asleep." I rang the doorbell, and Zayn looked like he was ready to go. He didn't want to be here in the first place, let alone here while I tried to wake up my father. "You can go wait in the car, you know?"

"I'm not going anywhere and you know it." It was worth a shot.

"He has to be here." I rang the doorbell again, and finally heard some steps on the stairs. I was bracing myself for what was waiting on the other side of the door, when a young blonde woman opened it.

"What do you want." The girl rudely asked.

"To talk to my dad."

"Your dad?" She looked back. "He never said he had a kid." He never did. Not to any of his lady friends. "Got any proof?"

I stared at her in disbelief. She was in my house, asking me to prove myself, and I wasn't ok with that. "Get out."

"Excuse me? No." She looked to Zayn. "Are you her boy toy?" She looked him up and down. "You could do better." The smirk on her face would've been considered threatening thanks to her beauty, but her insides were all that showed in that moment. Her hideous, crude insides.

"Like you? Not my type." He shrugged and her face lost it's cockiness. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Ok, you're rude," she said to Zayn, "and you're annoying." That one was to me. "Goodbye." She tried to shut the door, but I blocked it.

"Excuse you." I pushed her out of the way and squeezed into the house. "Dad!" I called upstairs.

"You can't be in here!" The girl called after me.