Fool For You (Sequel to Awakening) >> z.m ✔

Chapter Eighteen

[ hey-o, guys and gals! I can't believe Paranoid is almost over... it's been a blast bonding with you guys, finding some inner talents, and becoming friends with some of you! It's been almost a year since I joined Wattpad, and I have to thank you for how far you have taken my stories!

By the way, I do not know how soon I will be able to update after this, because Thursday is my birthday! I will try to update again by this weekend before posting the epilogue.]

~Zayn's POV~

Long after Rachel had fallen asleep, I had stayed up, mostly watching The Tonight Show. Louis had fallen asleep not long after Rachel, leaving me up with Rachel's mother.

Of course she didn't say anything to me, only laughed at certain parts on the TV. I didn't find Jimmy Fallon all that funny, but obviously Rachel's mom did. 

Long after The Tonight Show ended, Mrs. Hersilia and I stayed up, even though we were trying to get some sleep. I was drowsy, but something was off about the day, making me stay up, trying to find out what it is.

"Can you not fall asleep either?" I ask Mrs. Hersilia, after I heard her turn in the reclining chair once more. I felt the need to not move, fear of waking Rachel up.

"I guess not," she says coldly. I could almost see the frown on her face. She turns towards me, but I can only see parts of her face, the lack of lighting making it hard to see.

"Why are you trying so hard to break Rachel and I to break up? Don't you want her to be happy?" I say suddenly, the words spilling from my mouth. 

"Of course I want her to be happy," she says in a duh tone of voice. "I just don't want to see her get hurt."

"I know it may seem like I might hurt her after what I did last summer, but you have to understand I never want to hurt your daughter like that again. I was just in a bad position in my life, and a part of my past came back." I tell her, but she only grunts.

"That's what I'm worried about. Your 'past'," she says exasperatedly. Didn't most people have a past, or at least some parts of it, that they regret? Surely Mrs. Hersilia wasn't all virgin Mary and innocent.

"My past is my past. I lost my parents when I was still really young. I had to protect my younger sister from my abusive, shit-head Uncle. Then my sister dies, and I honestly understand how you expect me not to have any rough spots after that." 

"And I'm sorry for that, which is what I'm trying to protect my daughter from," she hesitates. "I think you're the bad boy she can't stay away from."

"I'm not a "bad boy" anymore, I just want to be me. I want to be with Rachel. She's brought out so much in me that I didn't even know was there," I felt as if this was the start of a long speech. "And what happens when you die? You expect your daughter to just be happy, and prance around a meadow?"

"No, but-"

"But what? It's not like dying is rare, it's inevitable," I could hear my voice raising, but I quickly dropped it, not wanting to wake up everyone in the room. I felt Rachel nestle up closer to me, draping her arm across my abdomen.

Mrs. Hersilia sighed. "I remember when Rachel used to cuddle up with her Dad like that." Wait was Rachel's mom actually opening up to me? "I just don't want to see anything bad happen to her."

"And with me, she won't. I swear. All I am is happy around her," I whisper, tucking a lose hair behind her ear. I glance back up at Mrs. Hersilia. "On Christmas Eve, you told me all about getting closer to Rachel. As if you wanted me to get closer to her."