HIGH

Chapter 45. Sleep

***AVA’S POV***

                I was awake but I kept my eyes closed. I could feel a something firm breathing beneath my head and something was holding my shoulder tightly. It was definitely a person. I was scared to open my eyes; scared of who I would see. I remember falling asleep in my chair at dinner last night. Everything after that was blank. I took a sip of my water and then things went dark. I heard Zayn say my name a few times but I didn’t respond to him.

Zayn.

He must have been furious with me. All he asked me to do was behave and I couldn’t even manage to stay awake. I failed him. I was going to be punished.

I felt the body under my head inhale sharply. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Zayn still sound asleep. I surveyed the room I was in. It didn’t look familiar at all. We weren’t at Zayn’s house. We were in a random bed in someone else’s house. My hand rested gently on Zayn’s chest as my upper body was mostly lying on him rather than the bed. I was wearing a white shirt- Zayn’s white dress shirt. What the hell happened last night?!

I sat up abruptly, the top of my head colliding with Zayn’s chin.

“Unf” Zayn cupped his chin in his hand, holding it in pain, and swore. “What? What’s wrong?” His voice was still heavy with sleep.

“I’m in your shirt and I don’t remember anything and you-”

“You’re in my shirt because I changed you out of your dress. Can we go back to sleep now?” His eyelids fluttered shut once more.

I gaped at him in horror. “You changed my clothes while I was sleeping?”

“Actually babe, I saved your life once again.” Zayn snapped at me. He kept his eyes closed with his hands folded neatly on his chest. “Don’t rush to thank me.”

“I wasn’t going to.” I spat. I went to get out from under the covers when Zayn grabbed my forearm.

“Just be grateful I didn’t leave you there. It was pathetic really. Me having to carry you out and all.”

“What happened?” I questioned him. Zayn let go of me.

I know I wasn’t drunk. I only had water to drink. “I only remember taking a sip of water and then I fell asleep.”

“Do you remember anything else?” His face was full of concern and his eyebrows were furrowed with interest.

I shook my head no. He let out a long sigh before climbing out of bed. Zayn was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. I glanced down at my own appearance. I was in his dress shirt and boxers. Lovely.

“Wait here, I’ll be back in a second.” Zayn ran his hand through the mess of hair on his head then exited the room.

I didn’t like this bedroom. It was too dark and compact. Obviously it was large and expensive but I felt cramped into it. It was uncomfortable. As promised, Zayn quickly returned. Except he wasn’t alone.

“She says she doesn’t remember anything after she took a sip of her drink.” Zayn explained to a shorter man. He was also dressed in pajama bottoms and looked like he just woke up. I recognized him as Louis. He’d been at one of the ‘meetings’ Zayn had with the other three boys.

“Yeah. That’s fine. I’ll look at her in a few hours. It’s four in the morning. I literally just checked her two hours ago. She can stay in bed until I get up. No food, it may come back up.” Louis left the room. Not once did he look in my direction or even acknowledge my presence.

Zayn stood with his back turned to me. His hands fumbled with one another while he stayed silent. He was acting strange- more cryptic than usual. I hadn’t a clue what happened last night and the least he could do was tell me. I remember certain parts. Mainly the parts where his hand was enticingly high on my leg. If I remember correctly, there was a game going on between us. He left me high and dry and I had done the same to him.

Now, I wake up to find myself in his clothing and my dress tossed aside. I had made the connection that we were in Louis’ house so the clothes Zayn was wearing must belong to him. It didn’t explain why we were in Louis’ house to begin with. It was getting very tiring always being excluded in everything.

“We’re only staying here for the rest of the day. I’m taking you home tomorrow.” Zayn muttered.

Home? As in, my home?

“I can go home?” I inquired. Please, please, please let me go home. Back to my apartment and my bed and my friends, family. Let me go home.

Zayn whirled around. He stalked over to the edge of the bed. Zayn grasped my chin between his index finger and thumb, pulling my face in close to his. My breathing quickened as did my heart beating in my chest. The proximity between us was already making my head spin from dizziness. The distinct smell of cigarettes mixed with his expensive cologne hit me in waves, completely encircling me. As he held me there for a moment, with only two fingers, I found myself leaning into him. He nearly had me in a trance. My eyes were flickering from his eyes to his lips. Shit, his lips. They were so close, so, so close.

“No. Your home is with me, in my home.” He snarled.  His cold tone made me flinch. Then he suddenly jerked his hand away.

Zayn exited the room, leaving me wanting to go home and beating myself up for being so stupid.

***

Zayn came back in a few minutes later after he had calmed down. For some odd reason my question, per usual, set him off. He came back in to tell me that I was going to stay in bed for the rest of the day. I found it really dumb of him to confine me to the bed. I didn’t like how he looked at me either. He was on edge like I was about to drop dead.

Zayn would watch me carefully as I ate the toast he’d place on the bedside table. He would come in shifts either bringing in food or just coming in to talk on the phone. It was nice, being able to stay in bed.

I was curled up under the covers with my head resting on the pillow. Every now and then I’d doze off and then be woken by Zayn ‘checking’ on me. After I had finished eating the second round of toast Zayn had brought, I fell back asleep. My stomach was full, I was warm and comfy. Not even his little pats on the shoulder woke me up. Nor did the whispers tickling my ear. He gave up from trying to get me awake. Zayn then proceeded to climbing in next to me under the covers.

He wrapped me in his arms and drew me in close.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” He drawled against my neck. Wet kisses lined the base of my neck then within seconds, we were both over taken by sleep.