Page 49 of Sweet Anarchy

"Don't be mad, babe. It was just a quick little excursion."

I should have known something was up earlier. I've never known Zayn to be sick like that. It's not that I don't believe he can't be sick – he's human, after all. It's the fact he willingly encouraged me to leave the bedroom. There was something so unusual about his behavior, that it planted a ticking time bomb in my mind, fucking with me until I started to lose focus on everything else.

After that, Blake and Chuck were being fucking suspicious and it didn't take me long to realize something was definitely up. Chuck might be walking a bit better, but he sure as hell isn't as fast as me yet. So, when I took off from the mancave, it left only Blake to charge after me. I knew if he followed, then I was right.

He caught up to me quickly and I rounded on him, barrelling him up in the hallway, demanding to know what was going on. He didn't even try to deny it, just stared at me with a blank, bored expression that infuriated me to no end.

Fucking butthole.

Finally, I managed to get a short confession out but thankfully it wasn't long after that, that I heard the roar of Zayn's bike in the driveway. I took a peek from the front porch before heading inside and waited for Zayn at the internal garage door, ready to unleash when he got inside.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" I ask, hurt.

Zayn pulls me against him, the leather brushing against my skin. "Because you would have lost your mind. I saw how worried you were when you thought Chuck might have had to go. I didn't want you to worry about me."

"Of course I worry," I mutter. "I worry about all of you. You should have told me."

He shakes his head. "You would have demanded to either come or that I stay home. Neither option was available. What you don't know, won't hurt you. Don't be mad, pretty girl. It's done now, anyway."

Blake stands off to the side behind us, watching our exchange. I give Zayn a quick nod, stalking past Blake with a glare.

"What? Why am I the one in trouble and he gets off?" Blake complains.

"It's because I'm handsome and charming," Zayn teases.

I spot Asher lurking in the kitchen, glass of scotch in his hand. I head over to him, prying the glass from his fingers and taking a swig.

"I was drinking that," he points out.

"I need it more," I shoot back, ignoring the twins as they walk in.

Asher glares at Zayn, annoyance on his face too. He's equally as pissed about being kept in the dark.

"Oh, not you too," Zayn groans, trying to grab the drink from me.

I turn away, holding the glass to my chest. "Get your own."

Asher flails his hands in exasperation. "You took mine."

"Yeah, well," I start, narrowing my eyes at the twins. "I'm coming to bed with you, so you'll forgive me."

Asher's face lights up, sending a victorious beam at his brothers. "Sounds good to me."

"And what about me?" Chuck asks, hobbling into the kitchen.

"You're in trouble too," I say, finishing the drink and putting the empty glass into the sink. "Come on, Ash."

Grabbing his hand, I pull him behind me past the others and head towards the stairs. I hear the three of them in the kitchen grumble but I ignore them, leading the way to Asher's bedroom.

I'm allowed to be mad and frustrated right now. After all the hell we've been through recently, I'm allowed to feel this one thing. If I had done it, I know they would have been mad at me too.

"I know how you feel," Asher says when we close the bedroom door behind us. "It's a fucked up feeling."

I grab a pillow from the bed, flinging it across the room in anger. Asher watches it fly through the air, bouncing off his desk.

"I hate this whole fucking situation," I tell him. "I just want it to end. I'm sick of always walking on eggshells, waiting for the next fucked up thing to happen. Why can't we just have normal lives?"

Asher snorts. "I ask myself that all the time."

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