0 8 | g e t t i n g  h e r

trigger warning

Zayne sighed, staring at the man who stood before him and Max. The man lit a cigarette, staring at the two of them before he tilted his head.

"Boys, boys," He chuckled, releasing the smoke from his lips. Both of them didn't attempt to swat it off and stared at him, knowing full well that he got upset when they didn't maintain eye contact.

"Why the fuck is it taking so long?" The man raised an eyebrow, the agressiveness in his tone defeating the calmness his face potrayed. "I can't keep waiting for you rats to decide which one of you will be joining me."

Max was the first of the two boys to speak. "It's taking some time Ke-" He cut himself off, stopping himself from saying the name. He sighed, "We need to get her to trust us."

The man didn't look amused, "Well get her to trust you or I'll choose myself. I have no time for these games."

Zayne tried to nod but he failed, too disgusted by the man before him. He looked immaculate and his hid his black spot well. Nothing about him would make a person see him as revolting- in fact, he would make people feel self concious because he looked so perfect. Zayne found him disgusting though. And it wasn't because of what was outside but the black heart he hid.

"We'll be done with this quickly sir," Max finally said, after a long silence with the thoughts of being chosen haunting his mind. He couldn't lose now. Not when it meant throwing everything away.

The man turned to his sleek black Mercedes and entered it, giving them each a hard, cold look. "Making money is hard boys," The man said and he paused, "So I hope you understand why thieves like you have to go through this."

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Tris let out a deep breath as she slid into Zayne's car, glancing at him as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Your day was like mine I'm guessing?" She asked, shutting the door and resting her head against the headrest. He looked at her and gave her a tired smile.

"How bad was yours?" He asked.

She thought back to the way Max had avoided her, she'd gotten an F in the subject she was usually good at and how Rachel was acting tense around her all of a sudden. Then she remembered that she hadn't seen him the entire afternoon after lunch. Even though they had a class together.

She didn't say anything. 

"Not as bad as yours I'm guessing," She said instead, subconsciously leaning towards him. He looked at her for a long time, his eyes darting from her eyes to her lips continuously before he leant back and started the car.

He ran a hand through his blonde hair, "You have no idea."

By the time they'd reached Tris' house, he looked beyond exhausted and she couldn't help the tinge of worry that curled up in her chest. Brushing her brown hair out of her face, she turned to look at him completely and let out a deep breath  when she caught sight of his face. He looked pale and she noticed that his hands were shaking. Something was really wrong.

"Zayne, I think you need to stay here for a bit," She said, placing a hand on his. He looked up at her, taking short breaths as sweat beads rolled down his face.

She knew what this was- she just didn't expect it to be to happening to him. She couldn't believe it;

the usually calm and cool Zayne Mahone was having a panic attack. 

She helped him into the house, glad that her mum wasn't home and she set him on the couch. Zayne was so deep in the problem he was going through, he didn't protest. He just sat there. Shaking. 

Tris stood over him, tears threatening to spill as she watched him lose control. She wondered what had caused this- she wondered what had broken him.

She knelt on the floor infront of him and held his hands which were clasped together, hoping she could catch his gaze. "Zayne," She said, glad when he looked up. She smiled sadly, "It's me, Tris. I need you to calm down for me. Can you do that?"

The boy didn't answer. He rocked himself back and forth, staring at the ground before he looked at her and met her eyes. "Tris," He said, like he was trying to remember who she was. He tasted the name again,"Tris."

She ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm him down and a small part of her had to admit- she wanted to run her hands through his hair everyday. She wanted to be this close to him everyday. 

There was silence for some time with them sitting together in the same position. She rested her head on their intertwined hands, savouring the closeness and the feelings of their hands together.  Tris Jacobs was once again shocked by Zayne Mahone.

He was normal enough to have panic attacks. This was one of the rare moments when Zayne Mahone was a normal human and not some superior celestial being like everyone else believed he was.   

She couldn't do anything but wait.

An hour later, when she woke up and was surprised to find Zayne Mahone sleeping on the couch besides her. Her legs had rested on his lap and he placed his hands on them, comfortably snoring away. She tried to shift slowly so that she wouldn't wake him. His eyes darted open immediately and he turned to look at her.

"Morning," Tris muttered after some time, smiling. 

He smiled back but it didn't reach his eyes, "Hey."

They sat in silence for some time and it was a comfortable one. But there it was, hanging in the air- the conversation they both knew they needed to have. Tris didn't want to bring it up now. She was just glad he was back with her and she couldn't explain why she needed him so much.

Tris sat up and tilted her head so that she was looking Zayne in the eye. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up more. It took Tris everything she could to not run a hand through it as well.

"I'm sorry," He said finally.

She furrowed her eyebrows, "Sorry for what?"

Zayne's green eyes flickered across the large living room they occupied and it came to him that he was in her house. He wished Max could've seen him now.

"I'm sorry that you had to deal with...." The words failed to leave his throat. He hated that he'd shown her how weak he actually was. How scared he was of the situation he was in.

This was all just a game. She wasn't supposed to know the things about him he wanted to hide. And he wasn't supposed to care how he looked infront of her.

He was supposed to be perfect. 

"Don't apologise to me Zayne," She said. Not harshly. More a matter-of-factly. She finally got the courage to place her hand in his and she felt her heart jump. She swallowed, "Never apologise to me for being human or I swear I'll never talk to you again."

Lost for words, all Zayne could do was smile. And without thinking, he pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her hair, pulling her close by the waist, savouring her. Savouring the feeling of her.

And Tris hugged him back, savouring him and ignoring the words that replayed over and over again in her head.

stay away stay away stay away.

♤

I hope this chapter was okay and no one got upset or offended by it.

Special thanks to KiraMendo
For all the votes x

musawa