TAINTED | Zayn Malik

Chapter 72 | It all ends here... pt 3

warning: intense violence

I quickly opened the door to Erica's apartment, closing it and twisting the lock before taking a look out of the peep hole. My breathing pattern a little ragged from running all of the way here, instead of taking another taxi. I didn't find it smart to wait for another ride, or call anyone to come pick me up.

The best option was to get lost within a crowd, taking all the back routes so it was harder to track me. For some reason it felt like my smartest decision, even though it was tiring. And could've been more dangerous, I had no other choice.

I heard movement behind me followed by Erica's excited squad as she limped towards me, I turned around looking at her. In return she gave me her widest grin, with her hand behind her back.

"Happy Birthday!" She held up a medium sized party themed bag, with blue and green wrapping paper coming out the top. I eyed the bag for a second, also seeing a envelope peeking out of the it.

I sighed pushing my hair back, walking past her to throw my jacket on the couch. I looked at her confused, crossing my arms.

"You know it's not my birthday." My voice was low, still feeling anxious about what happened at the grave yard. It was so daunting that I barely had enough time to think about it fully, the thought of someone watching me in such a vulnerable state felt uneasy.

"I know but it's pretty damn close." She argued, limping towards me and sitting down on the couch while sitting the bag down on the coffee table. "I just thought we shouldn't have to wait two weeks, doing it early could be fun. We need that, now." She suggested softly, giving a light-hearted smile.

Erica hasn't been exposed to this lifestyle yet, it was so consuming that I felt like my innocence was gone just from all of this. And I wasn't experienced like the rest and Taylor, they've been around long enough to deal with it. It's just started for me and I feel like I was drowning more than before, it wouldn't be right if I took that from her.

She has a lot going on in her private life that doesn't involve this, just adding this pressure would make it harder to go each day as if none of it exists. She has a way of doing that. In every way possible she made days better when it was going worse, but now I feel like it was pointless.

"You're right, we do need some fun." I agreed for her sake, sitting down beside her.

She smiled at that before grabbing it and sitting the bag in my lap and scooting back to rest on the couch. I pushed all of the wrapping paper back, seeing a picture frame with a lot of colors on it. It was the type that had a lot of glitter on it and if you touched it, your hands would be covered in sparkles for a week. It was loud but full of charismatic, but it wouldn't be right if it wasn't coming from Erica.

"It's- cute." I acknowledged it nicely, because it did take some thought for her to look at this and wanna do something for me. It was better than nothing.