Bullied By Zayn Malik.

Chapter 17: The Truth Comes Out.

*Niall's POV*

After about a half an hour, Zayn still didn't come back. I got a little worried, so I went searching for him. "Mum?' I asked, she was sitting on the couch watching Chatty Man. "Did you see where Zayn went?" She nodded, pointing to the slide glass door that lead to my backyard. "He went outside, he seemed pretty upset. Is everything okay, dear?" I sighed, running my hand through my hair. "Sorta... I'll explain later." She nodded and I turned and went to the back door.

Zayn was standing on the tip of my back porch, grey-white smoke coming out of his mouth. I narrowed my eyes, silently opening the door and stepping out. "You never told me you smoked." He spun around with a gasp, nearly tripping over his feet and falling into the grass. "Jesus Niall, don't scare me like that!" I ignored his spazzing and focused on the cancer stick in his hand. "Zayn, put that out. Now." He didn't make eye contact with me, he turned away. "I don't want to. It helps me relax." I stepped over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Zayn, you're 19. You have a whole life ahead of you. But everytime you smoke one of those things, it cuts it shorter and shorter." He bit his lip, staring at the death stick. "Plus, if my mum catches you, she'll flip. She can't stand cigarettes." That seemed to get his attention. He took one last drag before dropping in on my porch and putting it out with his foot.

There was an awkward silence between us. He started walking towards the swing set that the family before us had left here when they moved. "Who cares if I'm only 19." he mumbled, sitting down on one of the old swings. "And what are you talking about? Having a whole life ahead of me... I'm not gonna go anywhere. I'm probably gonna die under a bridge somewhere.." His eyes were full of hurt and sadness, so I could tell he was thinking of his parents. I frowned, taking a seat on the swing beside his. "Zayn, don't talk like that. I know you're smart, you just don't try in school." He bit his lip again, not answering back. "You do that a lot." I smirked, trying to lighten the mood. He looked at me puzzled, "Do what?" I started giggling, "You bite your lip whenever you're nervous or in an awkward situation. You must of done it at least a billion times since last night." He narrowed his eyes and light smile appeared on his face. He reached over and gave me a light shove. "Shut up, Horan."

I smiled, but I saw something that made my heart jump into my throat. Zayn wasn't wearing his leather jacket, his was wearing his varsity one with the letters "ZM" stitched onto the front of it. It was blue and the sleeves of it were white. Well, not anymore. The cuffs of the sleeves were turning red, and seemed to be getting darker by the minute. Zayn must've caught my gaze, because soon his hand covered the sleeve and he cursed under his breath. "Zayn..." I managed to say. "What's that?" He got up from the swing and started to walk away. "It's nothing Niall." I pretty much jumped up from the swing and ran over to him. I grabbed his arm, pulling up his sleeve. I gasped at what I saw. There were at least 4 semi deep cuts going across his wrists, and I'm guessing it was the same sight on his other wrist too. "Zayn.." I whispered. "Leave me alone Niall." his voice cracked on my name, I knew he was holding back tears. He tried to walk away, but I wouldn't let him. "Zayn, give me the blade." He seemed angry, "No! Leave me alone! You don't understand!" he broke out into a run, opening my gate and running down the street. You better believe I followed him.

Zayn never told me he was fast. I swear, he could be an Olympic runner. He ran into a park, which I was glad had no one in it at the time. When I finally got close enough, I tackled him. We both fell to the ground with a grunt. Once we stopped rolling, he tried to push me off. "ZAYN! STOP!" I yelled, pinning him down. His eyes went wide, staring up at me. "How did you.."

"I'm a lot stronger than I look. Now are you going to give me the blade, or I'm going to have to find it myself?" He didn't answer. All I heard was his heavy breathing. "Fine, I'll find it." I started to go through his pockets. The first one had nothing, the second nothing, the third one? It had a razor about three centimeters wide, covered with dried blood. I got off of him, sitting next to him in the grass. He sat up, not saying a word. "Zayn, this isn't the answer. To anything."

He said nothing. "I know you have a hard life. I get that, but this isn't going to help anything. Please, believe me." Again, he said nothing. The only sound there was, was the birds chirping in the trees. "You don't understand Niall. And you never will. Unless your parents beat you until you can't move, kick you out of your own house, never give you any money for food so you basically starve, and never give you any type of love or affection no matter how much you beg for it, you just won't understand!" He was crying now, pulling his knees to his chest and hiding his face in his arms. I felt my own eyes start to fill with tears. I had no idea went Zayn went through. Not the slightest clue. All this time I thought his life was perfect; boy was I way off.

I moved closer to him, engulfing him in a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his head on my shoulder. I could feel his tears soaking through my shirt. I rubbed his back soothingly, trying to calm him down. "Easy Zayn.. I'm here." His breathing was shaky, "N-No one loves me Niall. I'm just a w-waste of space, my father was right." those words broke my heart. How could anyone be so cruel, to their own child? "You are not a waste of space, Zayn." I assured. "And someone loves you.." he looked up at me, his eyes all red and puffy. "Who could possibly love me?" I smirked. "I do. You're my best friend, Zayn." He stared at me, stunned. I swear I saw a faint smile before he hugged me again. I smiled back, then looked at the blade in my hand. I chucked it far away in disgust.

"You'll be alright Zayn. Everything's going to be fine." I whispered.