Love Again (A Zayn Malik Story)

Chapter 15

I woke up at five a.m.to re-pack all my stuff neatly. I ordered tickets on my phone for flight 20USA at eight o’ clock. I made Darcy wake up also. We had a lot to do until we left for the airport.

I made sure not to ever be alone with Danielle, or else she’d ask what happened and I’d have to tell her and relive it all over again. I was either in my room getting things ready or with Darcy.

We called the Welcome Center to say that we were leaving, so we needed a Jeep. One came right away, a hot twenty-year-old driving. But I didn’t even focus on him. It took all my energy just to focus on getting my luggage loaded onto the Jeep, and all my thoughts were on Zayn. What would he think when he finds out we left?

When we got to the Welcome Center, I told the lady at the desk that we were leaving, but there was one more person that was staying. Like I’d promised Danielle, I told the woman to keep charging my card for her stay.

A taxi picked us up, and the nice old driver put our luggage in the trunk for us. He drove for a while until we finally stopped at the entrance of the airport. The driver got out to get our stuff, but Darcy grabbed my arm before I could get out.

“Why are we leaving?” Darcy asked.

I didn’t answer.

“Tell me!” she demanded.

I turned my head away from her and looked out the window.

“I’m not going with you,” she stated.

I turned back to her and exclaimed, “What?!”

“You didn’t even give me the chance to say goodbye,” she said. “I can’t leave like this. I’m staying here.”

“But—“

“Give me one reason to go with you.”

In all honesty, I couldn’t. The reason I was leaving was to run away. It had nothing to do with her.

“Exactly,” she said. “I’m staying.”

When the taxi arrived at the airport, I told him to grab just the luggage with my name on it. He had all of it but my carry-on taken for me. Darcy stayed in the taxi, the doors and windows closed. The driver got back in and left.

I continued—alone—to the line for my flight. Once it was announced, I showed the security the ticket on my phone and was allowed through. One question kept echoing in the cave of my thoughts:

Why was I running away when Zayn needed me?

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

I had a forty-five minute break between flights at the airport in New Orleans, Louisiana. I sat in the food court, eating a turkey and cheese sub I got from Subway. But this time, I didn’t have Darcy with me. I had no one to talk with about what fun we were going to have after the flight. And when I got back home, I had nothing to look forward to.