“Hannah! Hannah, are you okay?” I continued backwards, still facing the closed door. It took me a minute to register the voice. I clambered to my feet to risk taking another look. He stood further back this time, eyebrows pulled together and face towards the floor. He shuffled his feet slightly before getting ready to turn and walk away. I cracked the door open, dead bolt still in place.

“Zayn?” His head raised and he stood in place before turning slowly. His face studied mine through the small opening in the door and his face was filled with shock and worry. Slowly, I closed the door.

“Wait! Hannah, please?” Unlatching the dead bolt, I let the door creak open. Before I could react, two strong arms were wrapped around me. At first, I was frozen in shock. Then, fear began to stream through my veins. I wriggled free of his hold and wrapped my arms around myself. Silently, I wiped away a few tears that had striped down my cheeks. Zayn just stared at me, baffled. Closing the door behind him, he walked towards me once again, gently reaching out with one hand. I watched his face the entire time and managed not to flinch until he actually touched me. He kept his gaze on me, but it was a soft, hurt look; beautiful, but torturous all at the same time.

Slowly, I crossed the room and sunk into my recliner, careful to avoid the path of where I had been pushed to the floor. Looking back at Zayn, he was giving me a look that told me he was in deep thought, probably because I didn’t make a straight like for the chair. I said nothing to put his mind at ease. He deserved to wonder what was going on; they all did. Silently, he crossed the room and knelt down on the other side of my knees that were hugged tightly to my chest. He moved to the arm of the chair after I winced at him leaning his arms on my knees.

“Hannah, how could you do this?” How could I do this? What the hell Zayn? My face hardened but I remained silent. There was nothing left to say. “You left Harry at the club for Marcus?” I shuddered hearing his name. He was an animal, a beast. Nothing about that man was human except for his looks. I felt tears come to my eyes and Zayn’s expression quickly softened. “Hannah. No, don’t cry. I’m sorry, it’s just… he did this to you, right?” Zayn was referring to the beating, having no idea about the larger half. A few more rears slid from my eyes as I slowly nodded my head. I lifted the side of my shirt, showing him my covered wound on the side of my breast. He inhaled sharply, obviously not expecting things to be this bad. “You know that Harry would never do that to you,” I know asshole, “but you were still willing to leave with someone who would.” He gestured towards my face, still ignorant to what really went on.

“I don’t think that Harry’s been sober since you left.” I put my head on my knees, hiding my face and knowing damn well that he wasn’t when he came over screaming at me. “Maybe that’s the only reason that he’s doing this.” My head shot up and fear shot through me as I searched Zayn’s eyes for further explanation. “Hannah, he sent me over to get his key.” His voice was almost a whisper, but it didn’t stop the pain that shot through my heart. I felt my shoulders shake and then I felt tears streaming down my cheeks, burning as they seeped into my covered cut. I whimpered as I felt my body shift. Arms had wrapped around me and Zayn was now cradling me in his lap. I leaned into his chest, almost allowing myself to welcome the comfort. I sobbed heavily and hissed as more salt went under the bandage.

I saw Zayn peer down at me, softly trying to wipe as many tears away as he could. “When was the last time that you changed those bandages?” I shrugged, honestly not remembering as to whether I had changed them or not at all. “I’ll go get the first aid kit and we’ll change them.” I let Zayn stand and again, pulled my knees to my chest numbly.

Zayn returned quickly, but panic shot through me when I saw him. I heard water dripping on the wood floor as I stared at him, eyes widening. “This is too much blood for those cuts.” His voice kept cracking. “Hannah, what the hell did he do to you?” In Zayn’s hand was my club dress, dripping a watered down red. My stomach churned and I burst out of the recliner. I ran through my room and into the bathroom. Hurling up the entire nothing that I hadn’t eaten in the past few days, I winced as I felt Zayn’s hand on my back, attempting to soothe me. When in reality, all he was doing was irritating the damaged skin.

When my stomach was a little more settled, Zayn picked me up off of the cold tile, much to my protest, and carried me bridal style into my room. There was no sight of the stained, red evidence and I let my eyes clench shut as my back met my bed. I know that my shirt had fallen up to reveal a little bit of my stomach and my eyes shot open as I felt warm finger tips on my upper thighs. Studying Zayn’s face, it was bombarded by shock and worry as I saw him start to connect the dots. I followed his gaze that trailed to the indents of blue and purple on my upper thighs; he slowly began reaching for them again and I quickly flinched away, as did his hand. I rolled over, pulling up the covers and praying that he would leave it alone, but low and behold, “Hannah, what the hell. Did. He. Do?”

*Zayn’s POV*

She didn’t have to tell me what happened; I had seen enough to basically tell the story myself. I saw the way that she flinched away from my touch, and the way she got queasy at the sight of her tattered dress. I could tell just from looking at the prints on her hips and thighs that it had to be from where he… from where he held her down. It made me sick just thinking that someone so terrible could do that to someone as innocent as Hannah. The way that she refused to take the path straight to the chair, well that must’ve meant… My God, that means that it happened right there on the floor. I cringed at the thought of someone putting her through that much pain.

Slowly, I climbed into the bed to the right side of her, with every intention of wrapping her in my arms and protecting her from the horror that she must have faced. Gently touching her waist, I pulled away almost instantly when her breath increased and she flinched away from me. I sighed, wanting so terribly to be able to help her. “Hannah, I’m just going to lie here next to you. If you feel safe enough to touch me, or for me to touch you, just tell me.” There was no response, but I didn’t expect for there to be. She hadn’t talked to me since I had gotten here. We laid there silent for I’m not sure how long. It was almost becoming deafening. I would have sang to her, but I knew that was kind of Harry’s thing, and I’m not sure if Haley even knew that I was here. Plus, Harry would probably be pissed later anyways for me spending so much time trying to get this key. But I couldn’t get it now. I’d just make up something to tell Harry later. I wasn’t to keen on lying to him, but I also wasn’t about to take away Hannah’s last piece of hope. I knew that, right now, she would crumble without that one little piece of him.

After what honestly must’ve been an hour, she moved. Hannah slowly eased back until her back was almost flush with my chest, but a thin line of air still hovered between us. Not looking at me, she reached behind her, looking like she was searching for my hand. “Right or left?” Maybe she would talk if I was giving her something that she wanted. In turn, she picked up her left hand, showing me which one she was looking for and I put my left hand where she could see it. Carefully, she grabbed my hand and picked her head up, wincing slightly. She placed my arm across her pillow and rested her head in the nook of my elbow. She stayed on her side, but I still heard the sigh that escaped her lips. I watched and felt as Hannah played with my hand, smoothing her thumb over each finger and knuckle.

Suddenly she stopped. Now she picked up her right hand so that’s the one I gave her this time. I watched as slowly but surely Hannah lowered my hand onto her waist. She winced and her breathing increased. I could tell that she was about to push me away. “No, shhh Hannah, relax. It’s me. It’s Zayn. Hannah, I’m right here and I’m not about to let you go through this by yourself.” I felt her skin warm up under my hand at my words. Then I felt wetness drip onto my arms and I knew that she was crying. I wanted to help her so terribly, but resisted, waiting for her to make the first move.

“Then why do I still feel so alone?” Her voice was hoarse and cracked multiple times before she was finished. Her walls were crumbling, and that’s when I knew; I had to be here to hold them up until she had recovered enough to do it herself.

“I know, I know. Hannah, I’ll be here. You’ll never have to be alone.” I’m not sure what gave her the sudden burst of confidence, but all at once she rolled over and snuggled tightly into my chest. I remained silent, waiting for her to get comfortable.

“Zayn?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you talk to me, just to let me know that it’s you? Not all the time, just sometimes.”

“Of course I will Hannah. Anything that you want, I will do for you.” With those words, she finally settled into my chest. One of my arms wrapped around her back gently and the opposite hand was intertwined with hers and they were resting on my stomach. I could feel where her other hand was fisting my shirt.

“Zayn?”

“Yeah?”

“I never got the chance to tell him.”

“What didn’t you tell him?”

“That I love him.” We stayed in silence for quite awhile, letting her words sink into both of us. Thinking back, I couldn’t remember a time when she did let it slip that she loved Harry. I silently wondered if he even knew. “Do I really have to give you the necklace?”

“Do you want to?” She was quiet for a moment, and I knew what her answer was.

“If Harry knew the things that Marcus did to me…” she cringed using his name. I reassuringly tightened my grip around her back and she whimpered. She shoved out of my grip and rolled back over so she was faced away from me. Looking down to where her shirt had pulled up from rolling around, I couldn’t help the gasp that left my mouth. She reached down to try to pull her shirt back down, but I put my hand in her path, not grabbing her, but not letting her cover up her pain.

“Hannah, can I look at your back?” She quietly shook her head.

“Do you really have to?”

“I really want to know the extent of what happened.” She started sobbing again and I knew that the words that I had chosen weren’t exactly graceful, but I needed to know so that I could comfort her; I needed to know how. “Hannah, I’m going to touch your back, but it’s just me. Remember, it’s not him; it’s just me, Zayn. I’m the only one here Hannah.” I continued with my reassuring rambles until I had risen up the back of her shirt by the hem, careful not to touch her skin at all. Once I had exposed her entire back, I felt tears sting at my eyes, but I quickly sniffled them away; Hannah needed someone strong, so that’s what I had to be. She would kill me if I told Harry, but it didn’t look like she would tell him herself, so I had to be here to guard her and guide her until she felt safe enough to explain everything to him.

“I keep waiting for them to get better,” she whispered, referring to the horrid markings on her back, “but they just keep turning knew colors that get darker and worse looking everyday.” Her voice was shaky, but she made it through without her voice cracking.

I started to get up, careful not to move the bed a heap. “Where are you going?” She didn’t turn around, but her voice sounded tormented at the thought of being left alone.

“I’ll be right back, don’t worry,” I whispered through the silence. Heading to the kitchen, I found a zip lock bag and some ice, wrapping the package in a towel. I got a pack of frozen peas out of the freezer and then continued back to where she laid. “Put these on your eye.” She jumped a little, but turned to look at me none the less. Taking the bag of peas, she turned around, lying on the ice pack. I lied back down next to her, and before long, she got brave again and decided to roll back into me. I shivered a little when she let the ice pack hit my chest, but quickly was overtaken by the warmth in the rest of my body.

“Hannah?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to touch your back, okay? But I promise that it won’t hurt; just tell me if it does. Just give me a chance.” She took a deep breath before she nodded. Apprehensively, I touched the back of her shirt with the ice pack just enough for her to feel the cold through the two standing materials. She hissed through clenched teeth and fisted the front of my t shirt, but other than that she remained silent. “Are you alright?” She shook her head I slowly moved the ice pack to a different spot. She winced and I stopped in my tracks.

We lied like that for hours probably, but I didn’t care. I have to admit that I definitely didn’t feel the same way about Hannah that I did about Haley, but Hannah was honestly one of my best friends; she showed me that she was there as something different, even if she wouldn’t allow herself to be a love interest. I sat there to comfort my friend; there were no other intentions, because I knew that I had Haley waiting for me when I got home. That’s the one that I wanted.

Hannah had fallen asleep on my chest, but I could tell that it wasn’t a very peaceful one right off. She twitched and kicked under the sheets. Starting awake, she tried to pull away from me, but I whispered soothing things into her ear, telling her that it was me and that I wouldn’t hurt her. Eventually, she was back asleep, but she didn’t move around this time. She was still for I don’t know how long. I got a few texts from the guys asking where I had been all day and when I would be back. I had a missed call from Haley, but I would make up an excuse for that later. I made the decision right then and there that they weren’t going to know about this from me. When I convinced Hannah to tell them, she would, and then I would be out of the dog house for lying to them. Did I have another option?

Seeing that the sun was getting low in the sky, I decided that it was probably time for me to leave. I got up, carefully placing Hannah back down onto her pillow. Finding a piece of paper and a pen, I scribbled down a note that said I would be back tomorrow and that if she needed me sooner, she could call me anytime. I signed it and quietly left the apartment, taking the bloody evidence with me. That was the last thing that she needed to wake up to in the morning. I cleaned up where it had dripped on the floor and carried it out, throwing it in the dumpster outside.

~

“She did what with it?!” Harry’s nostrils flared and I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears.

“I’m telling you lad, she was pissed; she threw it away.” I looked him straight in the eyes and I was kicking myself for being able to lie to his face this easily. I had gone over it in my head about ten thousand times and ended up breaking my face every time, but when it came down to it, I lied. I knew that it still hung around her neck. I knew that he would want her to have it again when we all worked this mess out.

“It had our bloody key on it! She went out wearing it! Anyone could notice that it’s ours! What if someone breaks into the God forsaken house?!”

“Chill out Harry, she’s pretty torn up about the whole thing.” My face scrunched as I realized the double meaning in my words.

“I don’t care. She never loved me anyways.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“Did you ever hear her tell me that she did? If she did tell me, then I sure as hell missed it.” I could tell that Harry was sobering up a little bit; this was the first time since New Years. “She was a dumbass for leaving with him anyways.” This was true. It had been a stupid thing Hannah had done. She, nor did anyone else, know how extensive the punishment would be. I decided that I would let Harry talk. Even if it was in a less serious form, he was coping too. After letting him ramble, I walked into the kitchen to find Liam and Niall chatting. I suddenly felt rage run through me. Liam wasn’t to be put to blame for what happened to Hannah, but it was his fault that Harry thought that Hannah had cheated on him purposefully. Liam was the one who told Harry that she had left.

Notes

So is everyone's mind at ease? Don't get too comfy :) Is everyone cool with another chapter of Zayn's POV? It's going from his and then to Haley's in the next chapter. Hope everyone is enjoying reading!
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xoxo Hannah <3