Please read the author's note at the end.

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I close my locker just as the bell rings and walk down the hall.

It's been a few weeks since my first date with Zayn, and we've been on several more. They were all wonderful. And I felt more comfortable and happier with each one.

We aren't dating, well at least I don't think so. Zayn hasn't made it official.

I want us to be official. I think Zayn does too, but maybe he isn't ready yet? I don't know.

But I'm not going to worry about it. He'll ask me when he's ready.

I walk into Science class and see Tyler and Niall sitting together. I walk over to their table and sit next to Tyler.

They know that I've been going on dates with Zayn. They aren't happy about it, but they don't complain too much either.

I'm grateful they don't complain, but I wish they could understand that I like Zayn.

"Hey," I say as I sit beside Tyler.

"Hey," Tyler and Niall both greet me back. The teacher soon speaks up and starts the lesson.

Zayn and I have been closer. We talk more and hang out more, which is fun. Sometimes if I'm bored or can't sleep at night, I'll call him and he'll always pick up. We usually talk until I'm tired or I fall asleep while we're talking.

Last week, Zayn took me to a fair that was a few minutes away. We had a lot of fun that day. I made us go on all the rides and play all the games. Zayn even won me a giant stuffed panda.

But we had to leave when Zayn mysteriously got gum in his hair. I think it was from a kid that was sitting behind us on one of the rides.

Zayn started freaking out when I told him and he immediately brought me back to the parking lot and left. It was quite funny actually.

When we got back to his apartment, he spent a long time in the bathroom getting it out and I had to help him. I wasn't much help though because I kept laughing.

When the bell rang at the end of class, I shot up out of my seat and exited the room.

That was my last class for today, so I put my books back into my locker and walk outside.

"Emily!"

I turn around when I hear my name called and see Eleanor walking over to me.

"Hey, I was wondering if you would like to go to the mall," she smiled.

"Uh, sure," I smile back. We start walking to the parking lot together when I see Zayn leaning against his car watching me.

"I'll be right back," I say to Eleanor and she nods. I go over to Zayn and stand in front of him.

"I thought you were coming over to my place," Zayn says.

"I can't, I'm going to the mall with Eleanor."

He nods. "Okay, have fun buying everything."

I lightly hit his arm and laugh. Zayn kisses my cheek and smiles.

"Bye," I smile and walk back to Eleanor.

***

We have been shopping for about two hours now. My feet hurt and Eleanor's arms are loaded with bags while I only carry three.

"I have to sit," I say and sit down on a bench. Eleanor sits next to me and drops all of her bags in front of her.

"That was a lot to carry," she sighs.

"Why did you buy so much?" I laugh.

"Because I liked it." I rolled my eyes.

"Emily, why are you going out with Zayn?" She surprised me by asking.

"I've already told you why," I say a little to harshly.

"We told you not to get involved with him. We told you that he was dangerous-"

"But you never told me why. Why is he dangerous? Why do you want me to stay away from him?"

"Because he's trouble-"

"That's not enough."

She sighed. "I'm only trying to help."

"No, you're not. You want me to stay away but you won't tell me why. I like Zayn but you won't let me."

She didn't say anything. I sighed and looked around.

There were a lot of people walking around, eating, talking. But I saw a man leaning against the wall with a serious expression on his face. I would've waved it off if he wasn't staring at me.

My eyes widened and I saw another man leaning against the opposite wall, also staring at me.

"Eleanor, we have to go," I said to her as I stood up and brought her up with me. She grabbed all of her bags and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Why? Something wrong?"

"No," I lied, "I just remembered that I have an important project that I have to start working on."

She nodded and we started walking out of the mall. I looked behind us but the two men were nowhere to be found.

We got into Eleanor's car and she drove out of the parking lot.

When we got to my house, I grabbed my bags and thanked her before climbing out of the car and going inside.

I went straight up to my room and dumped my bags in front of my closet, then fell on my bed.

My feet ache so I took my shoes off.

I sighed as I reached for my bag and took my homework out. I placed it in front of me and got to work.

I tried to focus on my homework but I couldn't get those two men out of my mind. It reminded me of when Zayn and I were in the woods.

What did they want? I'm just glad I left before I found out.

***

After hours of doing homework, Tyler and I were in the living room surfing the channels for something to watch on TV.

"How are things going with Julie?" I wiggled my eyebrows and smirked.

He laughed. "Great. I asked her to be my girlfriend yesterday and she said yes," he grinned.

"Well look at that, Tyler has a girlfriend. Who knew the day would come?" I teased him.

"Yeah, yeah," he rolled his eyes and I laughed.

Just then the front door opened and dad stumbled into the house. He looked a mess. His hair was all over the place, his white button down shirt wasn't tucked into his pants and it was soaked in the middle.

He slammed the door shut and I saw he had a beer bottle in his tight grip. His eyes were bloodshot.

He stumbled as he walked into the living room. He looked around and brought the beer back up to his lips.

Tyler and I just stared at him cautiously. When dad brought the bottle back down he looked directly at me and glared at me.

"You," he said with venom laced in his voice. "It was all your fault. You killed my wife. You killed Becky!"

My eyes widened with fear. He quickly pulled me off of the couch and threw me on the hardwood floor.

"Dad!" Tyler said as he jumped off the couch and held him back.

I stood up and walked back until I hit the wall.

"It's all your fault she's dead! If only you listened!" Dad yelled at me. The tears streamed down my face as he kept telling me how it was my fault. And I know it is.

"No, dad! Emily didn't kill mom. It isn't her fault she's dead," Tyler yelled at him. But he's wrong, dad's right. It was my fault.

Dad pushed Tyler away and came back to me.

"No, no, no," I said in fear as dad yanked me from my hair and smacked me, hard.

I fell to the floor and dad took another gulp from his beer.

"Dad, stop!" Tyler said as he pushed dad away from me and pulled me off the floor.

"Go to your room and lock yourself inside," Tyler said to me. I nodded as the tears ran down my cheeks.

I ran up the stairs and into my room before closing and locking the door behind me. I could hear Tyler and dad yell at each other and a few things smash and break.

I leaned on the door and slowly slid down to the floor. I hugged my knees to my chest and hid my face.

I sobbed into my legs as my body shook.

I hate it when dad does this. He goes out and gets drunk, then comes back home and beats me and blames me for mom's death. But it is my fault.

Dad's right, if only I listened.

I cried harder and hugged my legs tighter.

Then Zayn flashed through my mind and I knew he could help me.

I lifted my head and saw my phone resting on my bed. I went over to the bed and picked up my phone. I searched for Zayn's number and called it.

It rang four times before he picked up.

"Emily?"

"Zayn," my voice cracked.

"Emily, what's wrong?" I could hear the worry and concern in his voice.

"My dad's d-drunk and h-he threw me around. Zayn-" I couldn't finished as I started sobbing again.

"Emily, baby, it's okay. You don't have to cry, I'm coming to get you. Just hold on, okay? I'm coming," he said. I could hear his door closing.

I sucked in a breath. "Okay."

"Please don't cry," he spoke softly. I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see me.

He kept talking and trying to calm me down as he drove over here.

"Okay, I'm outside. I'm coming in," he said. I looked out my window and I saw Zayn get out of his car and walk to the front door.

"No, Zayn. You can't come in. My dad and Tyler are downstairs."

"I'm not letting you go downstairs on your own." I was about to say something else when the line went dead.

I rushed out of my room and heard the front door open. There was silence and I rushed downstairs and saw Zayn in the doorway and Tyler and dad were staring at him. Zayn wore a hard expression on his face as he looked at dad.

I looked around and saw glasses and vases broken on the floor.

"What are you doing here?" Tyler asked Zayn.

"Who's this?" Dad asked.

Zayn looked at me and his expression softened a little.

"Let's go, Emily," Zayn said. I nodded and started going towards him when Tyler spoke up.

"Emily, you can't go with him." I ignored him and kept walking until dad grabbed my arm.

He slammed my back against the wall and I winced at the pain that shot through my back.

I looked at Zayn and his expression immediately turned to stone and his eyes flashed with anger. His body stiffened and his fist curled.

I looked back at dad.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dad spat in my face.

He was then torn off me by Zayn. Zayn gently wrapped his arm around my waist and brought me to the door.

"Don't ever put your hands on her again," Zayn said to dad.

Dad laughed. "I can do whatever I want to her."

Zayn started to walk towards him but I grabbed his arm.

"Zayn, please don't. Lets just go." He looked back at me and nodded before we went outside.

"Emily!" Tyler yelled after me but I ignored him again as Zayn opened the car door for me and I got inside.

Zayn got in on the opposite side and then quickly drove away.

The car was silent as Zayn drove. I leaned my head against the window and silently cried.

Soon we made it to Zayn's apartment. Zayn and I got out of the car and walked inside. We waited for the elevator and got inside when it came down. We rode the elevator in silence. Zayn wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close when the doors opened and we walked out.

Zayn opened his apartment door and we walked inside of the dark apartment. I turned the light on and walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

Zayn walked in and sat next to me and pulled me into his chest. I held onto his shirt and nuzzled my head in his chest as I cried.

Zayn softly shushed me and rubbed my back as he tried to calm me.

"Shh, it's okay," he said. "You're with me now, you're safe."

I slowly pulled away and looked down at my hands.

Zayn lifted my chin up and wiped away my remaining tears. He gently kissed my forehead and I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder.

I'm happy that Zayn got me out of there. He was there when I needed him.

"Thank you," I said softly.

"You don't have to thank me," Zayn shook his head. "I'm always there for you."

I leaned back and smiled. Zayn gave me a smile in return.

***

I've been at Zayn's apartment for about an hour so far.

Right now we're just laying on his bed in a comfortable silence. Zayn's holding me and he's playing with my fingers.

My head is resting on his chest and Zayn's chin is resting on my head.

"My dad blames me," I blurted.

"For what?"

"My mom's death. And he's right, it is all my fault." I take a deep breath and get ready to tell Zayn about how I was the reason for why mom is gone.

"I was out late with my friends. I was supposed to be home at ten but I didn't listen. My mom went out to look for me at midnight. My phone was dead so she couldn't reach me." I took a deep breath, "There was a drunk driver and...and-" The tears built up before they came rushing down my cheeks.

"He h-hit her and she d-died instantly. When I got home an hour later Tyler was there and he told me what happened. And it was all my fault. If I came home when I was supposed to then she would still be alive," I cried.

Zayn hugged me tightly to his chest.

"That wasn't your fault. It was the drunk driver's fault, okay? You are not the reason she's gone," Zayn said.

"If I just came home-"

"Don't blame yourself, Emily."

"And my dad wasn't there. He wasn't home when I got back. You want to know where he was? He was at some bar getting wasted!" I said angrily. He wasn't there to stop her from leaving.

"When he found out, he blamed me for it. He started beating me for it or for every little thing I did wrong. He went out and got drunk more often. And sometimes he would bring a girl home and I would hear them through the walls," I said in disgust.

Zayn held me tighter. "I'm sorry, Emily."

"No, don't be."

***

We lied awake for hours. It was now 1:45 in the morning.

Zayn calmed me down and now we were joking around and laughing.

Zayn poked my side and I squealed and jumped.

"No, don't do that. I'm very ticklish." Zayn smirks and raises an eyebrow.

"Really," he stretches out the word. He slowly brings his hand to me.

"No, Zayn. Dont-" I'm cut off when he starts to tickle me. He tickles both of my sides as I laugh and squirm.

"I...can't...breath," I say in between laughs. Zayn laughs as I try to get away.

"Zayn, stop! Please," I laugh some more. Zayn finally stops and I exhale as I try to catch my breath.

We sat in silence as I started to breath normally. I looked over at Zayn and he looked a little worried as he looked back at me.

"What?" I asked.

Zayn took a deep breath and sat up so I did too.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

My eyes widened and I was at complete loss for words. Did I hear that correctly?

He asked me. He wants me to be his girlfriend!

"Yes," I grinned. He smiled genuinely and I laughed as he scooped me up before laying me back on the bed and crawling on top of me.

He smiled and started kissing my neck. "You're-" kiss, "all-" kiss, "mine."

I giggled and he looked back at me.

"Yes, I am," I smiled and placed my hand on his cheek. He leaned down and kissed me passionately. I kissed back and tangled my fingers in his hair.

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A/N: THEY'RE BF AND GF NOW!! YAY!!

Well now you guys know what happened to Emily's mom and why she blames herself.

And I needed to ask you guys a question; which character would you like to see more of? It can be anyone and it can be more than one.

I hope you liked this chapter.

Remember to vote and comment :)