Page 94 of Love and War

“Not my fault you scare so easily,” Z muttered, stepping forward. Still wearing that awful mask he walked to the fridge. Neither of us spoke as he pulled out a Coke and made himself comfortable at the kitchen table.

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t wear such a creepy fucking mask,” I spat out, though there was no heat in my voice.

Sitting down across from him, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. My first friend, my first best friend since I was a child, was sitting here. It’d been nine years since I watched him drive away, telling me he had to leave. I still had no idea why he had to leave; it wasn’t something we talked about.

“How is she holding up?” Z asked between sips of his soda, sliding off his mask.

“She’s good,” I muttered. I wasn’t actually sure how she was. She told me she was fine. But Aziza liked to hide her feelings. She didn’t like to be vulnerable.

“Good… that’s good.” Nodding, he sipped more before continuing on. “When she wakes up, uh… tell her the girl is safe and she’s good.” There was something he was keeping from me; he couldn’t make eye contact. Z had never once been shy or unable to look you in the eye. So him doing so now, it was odd.

“Why can’t you tell her yourself?” I asked, sitting up. I wanted to know why Z suddenly couldn’t be around her.

“I… there’s no reason. Just tell her.” He shook his head, standing up. Doing the same, I furrowed my brows, confused on why he was rushing out. I was beginning to get angry when he stepped towards the door, ready to pull his mask on when a small gasp came from the doorway.

Snapping my head to the side, Aziza's wide eyes focused on Z standing by the back door. My heart ached for her as I realized she must have heard everything that was just said.

Z and Aziza stared at each other for what seemed like forever until she burst into tears. Folding her body into herself with uncertainty and glancing around. Getting to my feet, I was moments away from reaching towards her when Z beat me to it.

“Zion,” she cried as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he mumbled into her hair.

“Y—you’re here,” she sobbed, her words muffled with her face pressed into his neck.

“Always.” He gave me a sad smile before closing his eyes, kissing the top of her head.

Hanging onto each other for a few minutes, Aziza finally stepped back glancing at me over her shoulder. Smiling at her I opened my arms, waiting for her to come to me. When she finally did, she let out a sigh, like she was finally content.

“I’ll see you later,” Z muttered, reaching for the door once more. Aziza jerked herself away from my arms, rushing over to grab onto him.

“Why are you leaving?” she whispered.

“I just came to tell you she’s safe,” Z muttered, unable to look at her. This wasn’t like him, and all of us knew it. He never avoided her.

“Wh–why, are you running?”

“I’m not running, I have other priorities to get to.” Finally looking at her over his shoulder, one look at her face and I knew he wasn’t leaving. “Aziza, don’t look so sad, it’s—I promise I’ll come back. I just…”

“Just what, Zion!” Aziza yelled. I could hear the pain in her voice. I wanted to comfort her, but I knew she didn’t need that right now.

Z’s eyes flicked to mine, before finally letting out a groan. “The girl is at my house. I told her I would be back within a few days. I need to get back, I–I just wanted to see you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He gave her a sad smile.

“I’m okay,” she mumbled, nodding her head. “I’m okay, Zion.”

“I promise, I’ll come back.” Z pressed a kiss to her forehead, before opening the door and disappearing.

43

Aziza

“They’rehere,”Killianwhispered,pressing his lips against the back of my head. Nodding my head, I tried to calm myself down.

After Zion left, I couldn’t fall back asleep. I stayed away tossing and turning, the same thought repeated over in my head. As much as I wanted to wait, to keep my mouth closed, I had to tell her. I had to tell Salem the truth. Even after keeping it a secret for our entire friendship. I had to tell her; I couldn’t just keep pretending like everything was fine. I should’ve told her from the beginning. I never should have kept it a secret in the first place nor this long. I just hoped she understood in the end. I hated him. I hated Luca and wanted Salem to end him.

“Moya Printsessa?” Killian's voice broke my thoughts. My eyes shot up at him, pleading he understood what I was going through. That this was incredibly difficult and oh no…

“This is a mistake,” I muttered. Shaking my head, I couldn’t do this. “Nope, no, this is a damn mistake. She’s never going to forgive me. She’s going to end up hating me for the rest of our lives. She’s going to think I’m just like him, and she’s going to hate me for it. I can’t do it. I can’t.” I don’t know when I moved, but at some point, I began pacing back and forth in front of our bed.

---