Beat Still

Chapter 55: Beat Still

FINAL CHAPTER (part 1/4)

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*Zayn's Pov*

I was pacing back and forth, scrolling through my pictures from that night and comparing the information with some text messages. Even with The 1975 and Usher playlist I had blasting in the background, I still wasn't able to piece it together.

"Wait a second..." I muttered out loud.

There was a picture from the party that I remember asking my roommate Ezra to take. Instead he had jumped in between Marcel and I, and held the phone above our heads. We all had our faces pressed together with wide grins.

The next one was almost the exact same picture, except the facial expressions and some new people idling behind us. I now had a brooding expression on my face, Marcel was laughing hard at Ezra as he mocked me. This was before I started drinking like a fish, of course.

"Wait, fuck. I remember him." I zoomed in on the picture so that I could recognize the guy standing behind us more clearly.

"Remember who?" I almost threw my phone when a deep voice came out of no where.

"Shit, Ezra. You scared me." He shrugged, drying off his wet hair with a towel. He walked over to see what I was doing. He looked intently over my shoulder at the bright screen.

"Oh my God. That's the weird dude that was feeding you drinks all night. He didn't stop until I sent Marcel over to get you, remember?"

I most certainly did not remember until right now. Brown hair, big brown eyes to match, navy cardigan sweater...and a completely evil look on his face. An almost jealous expression.

But what was more concerning were his features. He definitely reminded me of someone. I don't like where this is going, and I for damn sure hope I'm wrong.

"It's a party! Take another shot, who cares?"

"It's just that tonight is supposed to be special!" I shouted over the loud music before taking the cold drink from his hand, emptying it into my mouth quickly.

"Well, this should help you take the edge off, mate." He handed me a plastic cup filled to the brim with what smelled like bourbon. I nodded before finishing that one off, too.

"You know, if you have to get all liquored up to have sex with your girlfriend, she's probably not the one." He chuckled, mixing yet another drink which was probably for me.

"Boyfriend." I corrected, giggling a little from the thought of Marcel...or maybe that was the alcohol reaching my brain? Either way, I felt great.

He handed me the cup, and cheered me with another. How did I know? I took a long swig, feeling it burn inside of my throat.

"Damn that's good! Make me another for Marcel?" His face hardened for a quick moment before his grin returned.

"That must be your boyfriend?" He began to pour, and I wish he would pour faster so that Mar-Mar could taste the deliciousness,"How'd you guys meet?" He asked curiously while handing me the second cup.

It was weird because it was almost as if he already knew the answer. I know I'm drunk as hell, but I'd like to think I still have okay social skills and this guy is mad suspect.

"He scuffed my boot on the first day of uni." I smiled at the memory,"And I was going to pummel him, but then he turned out to be really nice." I found myself taking a sip of Marcel's drink because mine was now gone.

He nodded understandingly, but it almost seemed as though he wasn't interested at all. What is this dude's deal?

I was going to question him when he pointed to something behind me,"Is that him walking over here?"

I turned my head to look and smiled widely when I realized he was right. How did he know that out of the hundreds of people here?

"Yep, that's him." I answered, still admiring Marcel as he made his way into the kitchen. "You should meet him! Oh wait, I never got your-"

"And when I turned back around he was gone..." I finished recounting the memory the best I could. Ezra threw his wet towel in the direction of the laundry basket, and turned back to me.

"And this was before the big fight?" He questioned, searching our shared dresser for a clean shirt.

I nodded even though he wasn't looking,"Right before. Weird right?"

He scrunched his face up in thought. He always did that when he was truly pondering on something.

"Maybe he was just a weird dude?" I shook my head. It was more than that, I know it. Plus Ezra thinks everyone is 'just a weird dude.'

I flipped through the next few pictures before stopping at the one I was looking for. It was a selfie that Eleanor took at the diner that day we both cried and tried to understand each other. She said it was a new beginning. We would both try to be better people.

Hold the fuck up...I've seen that necklace somewhere before...

Oh shit.

It's all finally starting to make sense.

"Oh, I remember her. The hottie from the party!" My eyes widened as I turned back to Ezra.

"She was at the party?" He nodded excitedly in response.

"Totally. Evelyn or something. She kept saying she had to find someone though, so I left her alone."

I stared at him for a few seconds, trying to comprehend everything that I was just told. It was taking a minute, but I was putting all of the pieces together.

"So I was thinking we grab some take away and a cold one? Celebrate you being famous now and shit." Ezra smirked, pulling a blue t-shirt on over his bare chest.

I grabbed my keys and leather jacket and rushed towards the door,"Tomorrow, okay? There's something I have to do."

He shrugged again before plopping on his bed and throwing me the peace sign,"Whatever. Love you, man."

"You too!" I called before locking the door and sprinting towards my bike.

I can't believe I didn't figure this out before.

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@silva5 and @0107kl thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it!

This was part one out of four of the final chapter. All of the parts will not be this short, I promise. I wanted to split it up because if I didn't...it would be just a hella long mess of drama, bombshells, and feels.

So thank you for coming this far, and I hope you like the ending.