In A Hopeless Place

Chapter 16

"Where are we going?" I ask him and he shakes his head, not answering me.  

He leads me out of the yard and down a rocky back road. Then, he takes some sort of short cut through the bushes and trees.  

"Watch your step," he says and I notice a huge rock and then a gap.  

We walk around it, when he suddenly stops. I look at where we're standing, then look at him, then back to where we were.  

There's a small dock located next to a tree and I noticed that it was a lake.  

"I found this lake two weeks ago," he tells me and sits down on the dock and pats the space beside him.  

I hesitate, but sit next to him. Our legs dangling off the edge. "I wanted to show you." 

"Why me?" 

"I don't know. I just feel... like you're the only one around here who gets me." I'm sort of touched that he trusts me enough to show me something beautiful like this. I'm glad that he confides in me too. "I want this place to only be for you and me." 

"Only?" He nods and I notice that he has gotten closer.  

"Only," he whispers in confirmation.  

He lifts his hand towards my cheek, caressing it lightly. He leans his face closer to mine and I gulp. 

His lips graze mine before slowly capturing them. We move our lips in sync for a brief moment before he pulls away.  

He looks at me almost startled. "I'm sorry." He moved away slightly. "I don't know why I did that." 

"It's okay," I whisper.  

He stares at me with his amber eyes. 

We're silent for a moment before Zayn leans in again and kisses me with passion.  

"You're mine. You're my secret," he whispers against my lips.  

Alright, I don't know whether it was the way it sounded, or the heat of the moment, or even just my odd thoughts, but that sounded interesting...sexy...scandalous.  

I wrap my arms around his neck and continue the intense kiss.  

"Forever," I whisper back.

-----

Okay, I'm confused.  

Three days ago, Zayn kissed me, or I kissed him. I don't even know. I can't even remember it now. All I know is that Zayn has been avoiding me.  

He hasn't talked to me nor has even looked at me.  

He was completely ignoring me.  

At first, I thought he was hiding the whole 'secret' thing, but even when we were alone, he would still ignore me.  

I don't understand.  

What was he thinking? Why would he kiss me, claim that I'm his secret, then ignore me? Am I missing something?  

He didn't even come into my room when I had a nightmare about Harry last night. I dreamt that Harry had come back and he was hurting me again. Maybe I didn't scream this time.  

I'm currently sitting across from Eleanor as she observed my healing black eye.  

I was right.  

It had turned into an ugly, yellow-ish color, but it was hardly noticeable.  

She then examined my split lip. "You're healing. That's a good sign." She smiled.  

Suddenly, the door opens and Eleanor and I look over to see who it was.  

"Hi, Zayn," she greets him and he nods once at her.  

We make eye contact for a minute, then he looks away and walks out of the kitchen.  

"Why does he do that?" I ask her.  

"Do what?" 

"Pay attention one day then ignore you the next?" 

She smirked. "Why are you so concerned?" I don't respond. "He just... he has his bad days, you know? Sometimes he wants to be alone." 

"But he talks to the rest of you guys. The only time he seems to care about me is when I'm hurt or something. It's like he hates me." Which was weird considering the fact that I'm the only one who 'gets' him.  

I hear footsteps walking away and I grown inwardly.  

Zayn was eavesdropping this whole time.  

Eleanor helps me off the counter. "I don't know what's with him sometimes. He's Zayn. Can't expect anything." She giggles. That's what Liam said too. I guess I should learn to accept it.

-----

I'm shoved into a wall, not hard, but definitely shoved.  

"Why would you say something like that?" Zayn whispers since the rest of the gang was asleep, as he stands in front of me.  

"Say what?" I whisper back through gritted teeth.  

"Don't play stupid. You know what you said. How could you say that I hate you?" Great. So now he cares. 

I mentally roll my eyes.  

"You know, I'm really sick and tired of playing games with you," I growl at him. "You kissed me and then you stop talking to me. In fact, you completely ignored me all together. And the second I mention about being hurt or you not caring, suddenly, you're back to pretending that you care!" 

"I do care!" He snaps at me. "I care for you, otherwise I wouldn't have kissed you or let you back into this damn gang! I've just been stressed! That doesn't mean that I hate you! I just..." 

"You what?" I sneer. "You continue being yourself with everyone else, but not me? You're making me feel like some kind of outsider that doesn't belong here!" 

"Well, you don't! But I can't seem to keep you out of trouble!" He seethes and I roll my eyes.  

"Oh, really? So, now you care?" I raise a brow and he throws his head back in frustration.  

"No, Carter, you're not listening to what I'm saying!" He growls. "I care about you! I don't want you here because you could get hurt, like last time, but I have to keep you here so that you don't get hurt either. It's a lose-lose situation!" I just stare at him. He was so confusing. "But I want you here." He whispers and my confusion fades away as his lips connect with mine. 

The kiss is sweet, but he pulls away. "I'll see you tomorrow," he whispers and I nod. He pecks my lips one more time before he turns around and begins walking down the hall.  

I blink and sigh. "So you can ignore me again?" I ask softly. He stops, shakes his head, then continues walking down the hall.

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Hey, guys! You should be proud of me. I updated on all of my updating days. That's like a new record or something. Well, only a few more chapters left and I need to figure out a new idea for a story. What do you guys think? A Liam or Harry story next? Comment with what you want and some feedback on this story would be nice :) thanks, loves 

Comment, Vote, Fan!!! 

-Abby xx