In My Sister's Shadow (Book 1)

27. Lonely Together

Trigger Warning: Not for the feint hearted. Adult content ahead.

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"Treating you well, but I'm caught in the middle
I caught the edge of the knife and it hurts just a little
Yeah, and I know that I can't be your friend
It's my head or my heart and I'm caught in the middle
My hands are tied but not tight enough
You're the high that I can't give up..."

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It was few minutes past midnight when I heard Zayn come in. I sat up in my bed listening to the commotion coming from downstairs. Shaken from Jag's intrusion, I was cautious. I swung my legs off my bed and grabbed the lilac fleece blanket and wrapped it around myself covering my hip length cami top and leggings.

Downstairs, the hallway was littered with Zayn's bags, keys and jacket and Zayn was in the kitchen. I could hear the tap water. I sighed with relief.

Tip toeing into the kitchen, I found Zayn leaning over the kitchen sink, the tap gushed cold water. Zayn was dressed in a leather jacket, his hair scruffy and tied up, his black jeans hanging low. I could see the red strip of his boxers.

"Finally!"

Zayn slumped over the sink washing his bloody hand. He screwed his face with pain, his upper lip supporting a cut and a grazed cheek.

"What's going on Zayn? Where you in a fight?" I reached out to help him but he shoved me back reaching into the top cupboard. He grabbed the antiseptic and poured it over his hand in the sink, swallowing his pain like a beast. Then he grabbed my black scarf which hung on the hook and wrapped it around his fist.

"Zayn, would you talk to me?"

Something was going on between him and Jag. Zayn grabbed the milk from the fridge and gulped it down.

"Zayn, who is Jag? He came here looking for you."

"What did he say?" Zayn grunted.

"That he wanted to kill you. He scared me and the kids. This can't go on. You come and go. You're involved in fights. The children need consistency. They miss you. And the social are on my case. Where have you been for the past two weeks? Is something going on between you and Tina?"

He slammed the fridge door shut and threw the bottle in the bin, just missing it.

"What's got into you? Ever since the khatham-"

"Stay out of my way-" He warned me. "This has nothing to do with you!" His sharp tone pierced me.

I wrapped the blanket around me tight feeling the coldness of his tone. I thought we were getting closer, better. I thought things were getting better. But I was wrong.

Zayn made his way into the hallway and began sifting through his bag, throwing out his old clothes for the laundry and unfinished biscuits and bottles of juice.

"Where have you been staying, Zayn?"

He worried me.

"Zayn, please. Why won't you talk to me? What have I done wrong?"

He threw the bag down and marched into the living room. The room was dark and I switched on the lamp. With the blanket wrapped around me, I made my way deeper into the room hoping for answers.

Zayn unwound the scarf from his hand and flicked it aside. Then he proceeded to exercise his hand opening and closing his grasp.

"I've been in Bristol on a job." He explained. "I wasn't unfaithful to Zeenat. I didn't have an affair, she banished me to the kids's room and I stayed there for her sake." He seemed on edge. Moving around, unable to meet my eyes. Something was going on in his head and I wanted to know. He was struggling with something.