Capture Me

Chapter Ten

"What?" I gaped at him. My heart started to pound in my chest. "Dubai?!"

"Yes." He confirmed.

"Why?!" I demanded. We were just about to have a romantic month together and now he was going to fly off to Dubai. He had never mentioned Dubai before but he suddenly needed to go there out of nowhere.

"My father had a stroke. I need to go see him," He said softly. His eyes fell to the floor. Was he upset?

"I thought you hated him?" I said softly back; I was really confused. I wasn't sure if I should apologize because last I knew Zayn loathed his father. I wasn't sure what to say.

"I do. But I'm his medical guardian or whatever it's called so I need to be there in case he gets worse," He sighed and ran his fingers through his hands, which he did when he was overwhelmed. "I don't want to go, but I have to; my cousin made it very clear that I had to go."

"But..." I said softly. Zayn walked over to me and wrapped me in a hug. I felt so at home in his arms. His familiar warmth and smell enveloped me; I felt a warm buzz in my stomach. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"I don't know when I'll be back but I promise it won't be long," He said as he rubbed my back. Confusion instantly hit me: I figured that I would be going with him.

I pushed him away, "I'm coming with you." I said suddenly without even really thinking.

"Ava..." He shook his head. He must have already had it set in his mind that he was going alone.

"No, Zayn. I'm coming with you." I pressed. "I want to be there for you. Be a distraction or just a shoulder to lean on if you start having a tough time."

"Ava..." He said again with a sigh. I could tell he was starting to consider it, but he was dragging his heels at the idea.

"I can either go with you or I'll go by myself," I shrugged.

"I won't allow you to go by yourself. It's not safe for you to go alone," He said sternly. I mentally rolled my eyes at him for this one. He was just being over-protective as usual.

"Then let me come with you, Zayn. Think about it: us being apart right now would just stress both of us out which is not something you want when you're dealing with your family. I won't get in the way. I promise." I pleaded with him. He didn't understand that I could be a positive person to bring with him.

"Fine," He said reluctantly. "I have to go book a flight for tomorrow after your exam." He walked away slowly and went up to the bedroom. I felt the warmth in my stomach fade away when he left. He was definitely mad at me and it was all because I wanted to be there for him. I know I was a little pushy but I believed it was the right thing to do. I followed him a second later and wrapped my arms around his chest as he sat in the chair.

"Don't be mad at me, Zayn," I said as he started searching for flights. Zayn's body language shifted and he spun around in the chair. He pulled me into his lap so I was straddling him.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. I'm not mad at you at all. I'm just having trouble processing all of this and I'm really stressed." He rested his hands on my hips and looked up at me with sincerity. "I want you to come; I don't want to be away from you. I can't be away from you, Ava. I just don't know how exciting this will be."

"I don't care about excitement, Zayn," I said and cupped his face with my hands. "I just want to be with you and I don't want you to go through this alone."

"I love you, Ava. Thank you," He smiled and kissed my lips slowly. I craved more but I figured that it would be vaguely inappropriate to do so considering the circumstances.