Little Secret « z.m au »

Two: Hiding

Two: Hiding

Zayn Malik

"What the hell were you thinking?" Parker shouted back at me, though his eyes remained focused on the road before him. I assumed he was talking about my sudden case of trigger finger back at the bank, and I quickly formulated a response.

"I don't know. I just - she came right at me, Parker. What was I supposed to do?"

"Not pull the fucking trigger. Maybe that would've been a good start," his voice was full of rage, and his hands wrapped around the steering wheel tightly. His knuckles were a ghost white, and, although I couldn't see his face, I knew his jaw was clenched just as tight as his fists, "We're in a bigger mess than we started with."

"I'm sorry," I kept my eyes trained on the bleeding girl beside me, and I continued to apply pressure to her wound. 

"Sorry won't fix this, Zayn. Nothing will," Parker's voice remained the same as the last he'd spoke, though I could now here a small bit of calmness within his tone. He remained silent for a moment, and I relaxed, thinking he was done reprimanding me. Out of the blue, his head shot back to face me, a look a genuine concern on his face, "Where's your gun?"

My jaw dropped and my breathing came to an abrupt stop. Where was my gun? Shit.

"It's, uh - I have it here-"

"No, you don't. You left it in the fucking bank, didn't you?" Parker was yelling quite loudly at this point, and my body tensed. He scared me when he got like this. "Your gun is in the fucking bank! The cops will be able to track us. Your finger prints are all over that damn thing."

Parker slammed his hands angrily on the dashboard of the truck, shaking the whole front end of the vehicle. I messed everything up. 

"We can't go home now. We've gotta head somewhere else."

"Where can we go, Parker?"

"I know a place. Don't worry, it'll be fine."

With that, Parker made a quick turn, veering off in the direction of the highway. I tried to stay calm, but I couldn't help but wonder if everything truly would be fine. There was a girl bleeding out in my lap, and I was now a wanted criminal. Yeah, sure, everything will work out. The bad guy always wins, right? The only problem was, I didn't really want to be the bad guy. 

* * *

We'd been driving for a bit over 15 minutes, which wouldn't have been a problem on any normal day. But, considering the substantial blood loss the young girl had suffered from, I knew we need to help her quickly. 

"Parker, she's lost a lot of blood. We're gonna need to speed this up," I called to him, gently stroking the girls hair. I just now noticed how strikingly beautiful she was. Slightly curled brunette hair draped around her face, and faint freckles dotted her nose. Normally she would've been a girl I'd hit on at the bar on a Friday night, but instead she was the one I'd nearly killed. Life has a funny way of working out, I guess. 

"Calm down, we're here." Parker replied, pulling up a dirt pathway, and coming to a stop before a small farm house. The home was quite hidden, giving the illusion that it was completely isolated from the rest of the world. 

Parker hopped out of the truck, opening the back door for me to carry the stranger inside. I lifted her up bridal style, taking her in though the front doors of the house.

"Set her down here," Parker said, clearing all the objects off the kitchen counter with a brush of his arm, "It'll be fine, Zayn. I've done this before. One of my buddies got shot once on a heist like this one. We got him through it. She'll be no different."

I nodded hesitantly as I watched Parker get to work. He flipped her over slightly searching for something on her back, presumably an exit wound. He smiled nervously at the discovery of a bloody puncture within her underside. 

"Zayn, go in that cabinet right there. Get me rubbing alcohol and some bandages." 

I obeyed his commands, not wanting to halt the process. I brought the items out and set the on the counter top near his 'work-station.'

"I'm gonna need you to hold her down while I sterilize the wound. Can you do that?" Parker's blue eyes stared into my brown ones, a hint of nervousness in his face. He didn't want to cause her anymore pain. 

"Yeah, of course I can," I replied, my words coming out as a quiet mumble, though Parker understood. I gently placed my hands on her shoulders to keep her still as he poured the alcohol on her injury. Although she had been passed out for a good while now, this seemed to awaken her. She screamed loudly, her hands trashing about. I struggled to hold her down. She was definitely stronger than she looked. 

Parker took a towel, and dried her wound before wrapping white bandages around her abdomen. She had settled into a state of unconsciousness once again, now allowing me to carry her into an empty bedroom. I laid her down on the mattress, covering her with a beige sheet.

"See, man. I told you she'd be fine," Parker followed me into the room, placing a strong hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks, Parker. I owe you one."

"Damn right you do. You owe me a couple. After the shit you pulled today, we'll never be able to go back home again. It's probably all over the news by now."

"I messed up. It's my fault."

"Don't say that. Que sera, sera," Parker said to me, seemingly wanting to forget everything that had happened today, "Everything happens for a reason, right? We just don't know what that reason is yet."

I laughed at his cliche response that I found to be quite true, though I'd never admit it.

"Maybe, it'll be something good. Maybe it'll make all this shit worth while."

"Of course it will, Zayn. I won't accept anything short of that," Parker chuckled, giving me a pat on the back before turning on his heels and exiting the room.

After he had gone, his words continued to echo endlessly in my mind.

"Everything happens for a reason, right?"

[Thanks to @suncutie99 for the cover!]