the necklace ⇢ z.m

Chapter Thirteen

"Not gonna let you down easy, you're gonna feel it inside, it's gonna eat you alive."

-------

I climbed down the ladder after Greg did and brushed off the dirt on my legs. "I missed you so much." I told Greg as I wrapped him in a hug. "I missed you too, Crys." He breathed out before I pulled away from our embrace.

"Now, go talk to him before you have a panic attack." He laughed then patted my back. "Okay. Thanks, Greg." I smiled at him then walked out of the forest. I walked back into the house and went to the kitchen to see if my mom needed any help.

"Need any help?" I asked, watching her put different vegetables in a pot. "I don't know if I want you to help, being that you just got back." She said quickly turning her gaze to me. "I can help." I told her and walked closer to her. 

"If you could cut up the carrots that'd be very helpful." She said with a small smile. "Of course." I told her and grabbed a knife out of one of the drawers. I began slicing the carrot as I heard her drop some more ingredients into the pot.

"I'm sorry about what Zayn said earlier." I mumbled. "Don't worry about it, honey." She said not turning to look at me. "He has no censor." I said mostly to myself. "I can tell." She responded with a sigh. Once I was done cutting the carrots, I quickly washed my hands in the sink then dried them.

"Anything else?" I asked, hoping there wasn't because I had to talk to Zayn. "Nope, that's it." She said and wiped her hands on a towel. "It'll be ready in about an hour. Go rest until then." She smiled and I nodded.

I exited the kitchen then made my way outside for a minute. I saw the car we had ridden in to get here parked on the road. I was confused to find the car empty and the driver wasn't there. I furrowed my eyebrows as I walked back into the house.

I walked up to my room and saw that my bag was laid on my bed. Greg must've brought it up here. I walked around my old room and felt nostalgia creep through me. It was so strange being back here after thinking I would never be back.

"Hey." I whipped my head around and saw Zayn standing in the doorway. I rolled my eyes and turned back to look at the photos lining my dresser. "Hi." I mumbled as I trailed my finger along a picture of Derek and I.

Derek was my friend from school, before all of this happened. He used to be neighbors to us, but he moved when his older sister turned sixteen. "I brought your bag up. Don't worry I didn't look in it." Zayn told me as I sat on my bed. 

"Oh, thanks." I said with a slight smile. "You okay?" He asked and I sighed. Now, he's back to being sweet and caring Zayn. "Like you care." I scoffed and began to unpack my things. "What is that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"You're a jerk, Zayn." I told him and he gave me a weird look. "Don't look at me like that. Me and half of the population of the world think that." I said while rolling my eyes. "Wow, okay." He said then exited the room. 

As I watched him walk out I felt guilt in my stomach. Why do I feel guilty? I didn't do anything except speak the truth. I groaned as I threw a shirt onto the bed then exited my room. I went into the guest room and saw Zayn unpacking his things.

"Zayn, I-" I started, but he cut me off. "If you're here to remind me of how bad of a person I am, feel free to leave." He said coldly. "No, I just wanted to say I was sorry." and that you should say sorry too. "It's fine." He said and threw something into a drawer.

"Honestly, Zayn. You're not a bad person. I really believe that, but you're always being a jerk to me. I'm sick of it." I told him and he stayed silent. "I feel like..." He trailed off. "You feel like?" I questioned, wanting to know what he was going to say.

"I feel like I have some point to prove when I'm around you." He mumbled and I furrowed my eyebrows. "A point to prove to who?" I asked in confusion. "A point to prove to everyone." He said loudly. "Why would you have to prove a point to anyone?" I questioned.

"Well, mostly Niall." He said. "What did Niall do?" I asked. "Forget it." He sighed. "No, Zayn. What did Niall do?" I insisted. "Nothing. Leave it alone, Crystal." He said angrily. "Fine. Dinner's almost ready." I huffed and exited the room.

I trekked down the stairs and heard Greg's voice coming from the kitchen. I stopped at the door when I heard my name. "Something's weird about Zayn. He looks at Crystal like she's the greatest thing he's ever seen." He said.

"You're reading too far into this, Greg." My mother's soft voice said. "Maybe I am, but something's weird." After he spoke, I decided to make myself visible. "Knock, knock." I tapped my fist against the door frame twice.

"Hey." Greg said when he saw me. "Whatcha talking about?" I asked, acting like I didn't overhear their conversation. "Oh, nothing." My mom hummed as she set the table. "Is dinner ready?" I asked my mom, seeing all the pots with steam coming off the tops.

"Just about. Can you go get Zayn, dear?" She asked while rummaging through the cabinets. "I'll do it." Greg quickly said. "I can." I shrugged, but he shook his head. "No, you catch up with mom." He insisted. "Okay..." I trailed off with a weird look on my face.

*******

*Greg's Point of View*

*******

My feet pounded against the wood of the stairs as I made my way to the guest room. Something about Zayn doesn't sit well with me. I feel like there's something he's hiding. Only one way to find out, talking to him.

"Aye, Zayn." I said as I knocked on the door. "What?" He said as he pulled open the door. "Dinner's ready." I told him and he nodded then began to come out of the room. "Wait." I said as I stopped him by putting my hand on his shoulder.

"What?" He asked as he shrugged off my hand. "I need to talk to you." I said and pulled him into the guest room. "Make this quick. I'm starving." He complained. "I will." I told him as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"So, what's this about?" He asked, obviously annoyed. I decided to be straight forward with him. "What's your deal with Crystal?" I asked him. "What do you mean, my deal with Crystal. We hardly even speak." He scoffed.

"You act like a dick to her then you look at her like she just told you that you don't have cancer." I said with an expectant look. "I don't know where you're going with this." He said looking behind his right shoulder quickly.

"You're hiding something." I said while glaring at him. "I don't have time for this." He said with a roll of his eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat." He said, then looked over his shoulder again before brushing past me.

I rolled my eyes at him as he disappeared down the stairs. What did he keep looking at? I knew it was rude, but I walked into the guest room and started digging in his bag. There were only clothes and a few books.

What didn't he want me to see? I opened the drawers and found nothing. I started digging through stuff that had already been in the room before they arrived. I didn't even know what I was looking for, but it had to be something important.

There was only one place left to look, and that was a pile of clothes on the floor. I had a mental debate whether or not to dig through them, but I decided I should just do it. I picked up the clothes and shook them out.

Something plopped onto the floor, so I dropped the clothes in the same place they had been then tried to see where the object fell. I bent down on the floor then looked around for the object. "Greg!" My mom's voice called up the stairs. 

"One second!" I yelled back as I searched the floors. Something reflective caught my eye. I put my hand under the dresser then gripped it in my hand. It felt like some type of chain. I examined the object and my eyes widened.

He stole this from Crystal.

-------

[A/N: YIKES! He thinks it's Crystal's. hehehehe]