Another World

I knew that going to Liam’s birthday party was going to be a mistake from the very beginning. I also knew that having sex with Zayn was a mistake, especially when you can’t even tell your own best friend about it. Blaming Kate for persuading me to go to the party wasn’t an option, especially when she wasn’t the one who made the decision to sleep with Zayn, I did.

My plan to avoid him was starting to work. I had ignored his call, left his text as “read” and that all backfired when he showed up at my door.

I was extremely hungover, ready to wring Kate and Harry’s neck for being so damn loud when the doorbell rang. Hearing no attempts from the lazy lovebirds to answer it, I headed for the door in a silent fit. I was not ready to face Zayn physically nor mentally, but he didn’t care being that he stood behind the door when I opened it.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, a bit too bitchy than intended.

“I thought we should talk.”

“If you didn’t take the hint, I kind of don’t want to.” I observed him, he had to be hungover just as much as I was, but he didn’t look like it.

“Well I’m already here,” He confidently stated as he invited himself inside, leaving me dumbfounded still holding the open door. “Look, Val, what we did--”

“What we did,” I turned around, eyeing Kate’s bedroom door and lowered my voice. “Was a mistake.”

“I wouldn’t call it that.”

“We were drunk!”

“We weren’t that drunk!”

I was about to speak when I could hear Harry’s deep voice failing to keep a quiet whisper. I headed towards the whispers and stopped to look at Kate and Harry crouched on the floor.

“Kate?” I looked at her and then to Harry in confusion.

“Did you find my earring, Harry?” Kayla lied as she looked around the floor.

“Nope, not over here either.”

“Oh, bullshit. You guys were eavesdropping.” I blurted, crossing my arms.

“Was not!” Kate cried out.

“Were to!” Zayn retorted in the same childish tone.

“Alright, alright enough,” Harry tried to smooth talk his way out of the situation. “No one was eavesdropping, Kate and I were just looking for something. Isn’t that right, babe?”

“Exactly.” She stuck her tongue out at Zayn and I before she stood up along with Harry.

“Yeah, uh huh.” I rolled my eyes. “Why don’t you two lazy, nosy, love birds go back into the room and do whatever it was you were doing. You’ve been bugging me all day.”

I headed back into the kitchen and Zayn soon followed. When I knew the coast was clear, I continued where we left off.

“Zayn, we had sex in a bathroom at a fucking club. Sober people just don’t do things like that.”

“I don’t bloody care what sober people do or don’t do. I know what we did and although it wasn’t the classiest place to do it, I don’t regret a single moment.”

“Well I do.” We both knew those words were lies and he let out a huff.

“Listen, I meant everything I said in that bathroom. I miss you loads and don’t want you upset with me anymore.”

“Why are you deliberately trying to mess with me?”

“You were the one who broke things off, remember?”

“I also remember you eagerly agreeing.”

“What else was I supposed to say?” He closed his eyes and sighed. “The only thing I’m trying to do is get my girlfriend back.”

“No offense, but you suck at trying. After it was over between us, not once did you try to contact me. Only when you thought I was over you, that’s when you were all ‘hey Val is doing better, bloody hell let me go on and fuck it all up.’”

“You don’t have to be such a...” He trailed off as he took a deep breath, trying to avoid another fight.

“A what? A bitch? You shouldn’t have hurt me, but you know what? I’m done. We seem to go around in circles and we’re going nowhere with this constant bullshit. I’m done with you, please leave.” I was really hoping that he would as I felt tears forming.

It pissed me off that I was about to cry because of him, only making me want to cry all the more. After a moment, I didn’t hear anything but my sniffling. I turned around and hoped he disappeared. Of course, it wasn’t that simple.

“God, I was finally doing okay without you. I finally felt better, and then you showed up looking the way you did.” His eyebrows furrowed, waiting for me to continue. “Don’t look at me like that, you knew what you were doing at that club. You knew I wouldn’t be able to resist.”

“I hate how you make it seem as if you were the only one who felt like shit after we broke up. Every time I wanted to call you, I remembered how horrible I made you feel. Why would I have called you after all the shit I accused you of?” I leaned against the counter for support as he explained. “I only said all of that rubbish because you mean so much to me and it frightens me. If you really want me to leave, I’ll go right now, but if there’s a slight chance that we can still be together, you’re going to have to force me out.”

We stood and stared at each other, making me flashback to when we were at Liam’s birthday. How he watched me as I talked to other people and when I caught him, he continued to stare. Soon after that, we were in each other’s arms, bare skin on bare skin.

I looked down and ran a finger across the bruise on my thigh from when I bumped into one of the hand dryers in the process of our lovemaking. But could I really call it “lovemaking” when it was completely erotic and aggressive? I couldn’t help but bite my lip, still feeling his teeth biting down on my shoulder to muffle his sounds.

He must have been thinking the same thing as I was, clearing his throat. “That was the best sex I ever had.” His voice was raspy and low.

He took three steps closer and suddenly we were inches apart. He rested his hands on both sides of me and leaned in. I could feel his breath on my lips when he parted his own. My arms flew up and around his neck, bringing him even closer as I kissed him softly. It all escalated quickly when the kiss became hungrier. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his small frame while he sucked on my bottom lip and held it prisoner in between his teeth.

Someone cleared their throat and everything froze. All Zayn and I did was turn our heads to find the source of the sound. Harry stood at the opening of the kitchen, unsure of what to do. I unhooked myself from Zayn’s waist as he let me go, still staring at Harry. Stepping away from Zayn, I began to speak but Harry shook his head with a smile.

“I’m just glad you two are back together, not so glad that you ruined my desire for popcorn, though.”

“We’re not back together.” I stated and from the corner of my eye I saw Zayn’s head quickly face me.

Harry bit his lip and muttered an “uh oh” before heading back to Kate’s room.

“What do you mean we’re not back together?”

I shrugged. “You still haven’t apologized.”

“Are you--” He stopped himself and smiled before kissing me again. “I’m sorry,” He mumbled into my lips and began to repeat those words until they lost its meaning.

“I forgive you.” I repeated back. “Doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. You need to do major ass kissing, starting now.”

He looked at me and laughed, but stopped when he realized that I wasn’t joking. “You got it.”

We headed to my bedroom and underneath the warm covers. I could see that he was beginning to fall asleep, his long eyelashes covering his tired eyes from me. I placed my head against his chest while I listened to his steady heartbeat and calm breathing, thinking to myself how much I missed having him in bed with me instead of an empty space. Reality was beginning to get away from us as we remained under the blanket, going into our own little quiet world only meant for Zayn and Valarie.

“I could lay here forever.”

“Me, too.” I heard him say. I thought he was already in his fifth dream, but he held me close and let out a sigh of content.

The doorbell rang and neither of us moved a muscle. However, I listened for any sign of Kate or Harry to open the door. I should have known better than to wait for either of them to make such an attempt while the doorbell rang once more. Zayn seemed to have not heard the doorbell as he laid still, having left to our quiet world without me.

My phone began to vibrate and I reached for it without trying to disturb Zayn. By the time I grasped it, the call ended. I was ready to set it down when a message from an unknown number was on my screen:

Open the door, please.

My instincts screamed to stay in bed with Zayn, but curiosity got the best of me and I couldn’t help but head to the front door.

I wasn’t expecting a good outcome, but seeing Edward in front of me was not what I envisioned.

“What the fuck do you want?” My tone was cold and far from welcoming.

“I haven’t been seeing you at work and I was worried.”

I couldn’t believe the nerve of this guy. He made up a lie about me cheating on Zayn with him and had the audacity to show up at my door. I didn’t know if I was more shocked or angry.

“You need to leave.”

“Take a listen to me, Val, I did it for your sake.”

“You tried to sabotage my relationship, how could it possibly be for my sake?” Although I wanted him to leave, I was genuinely curious once again.

Edward was going to explain but stopped when Zayn came up from behind me and protectively held me close. “I suggest you get the fuck out of my face before you leave with a broken nose.” I could feel Zayn’s embrace around my waist tighten as he emphasized the word “fuck.”

Edward’s facial expression completely changed from sincerity to anger the minute Zayn walked in. Probably upset that his scheme to break us up didn’t work.

“I suggest you listen and leave, ‘cause I definitely won’t stop him.”

“Val, you have to understand that he’s not good for you.” He explained almost exasperated. “All those rumors have to have some truth in them and soon he’ll leave you and you’ll be heart broken. I’m just trying to prevent that. I care very much about you, Valarie.”

I could hear Zayn scoff behind me before demanding him to leave. “And delete Val’s number!” He called out when Edward walked away. I felt him let go of me and slammed the door closed, turning the lock in the process. “The bloody nerve.” He muttered under his breath as he angrily returned to my room.

I looked back at the front door, Edward’s words still in my head. I felt odd the moment Edward finished his sentence. Was he right in some way? How could I be so sure that Zayn wasn’t going to hurt me again? Maybe even worse than before. I hated myself for letting what he said get to me, but it was difficult not to.

Leaning against the wall, I regretted ever leaving Zayn’s embrace to open the door.