Double update because I love y'all and Zalory. Warning: There's a harassment issue mentioned in this chapter but I didn't give much details not to trigger anything.

Malory's pov:

He rests in my arms, his sobs and whimpers have stopped now, but I still feel my shoulder soaked in his tears. How heartbreaking it was to see Zayn break down in front of me. God knows how he kept all of that inside for four years.

I wish I was there for him at that point in his life. How he must have broken down when he got the news, how he would have felt and continued his normal life under all the pressure from his parents.

Four years ago, I knew there was something wrong with him when he used to come to school with heavy and red eyes. Everyone always thought that it must have been because of his late-night studies for higher grades. But I had felt that something was wrong, so I wanted to go and ask him about it. But as soon as I had walked out of my class to talk to Zayn, I was met by a tragedy of my own.

"I wish I was there for you at that time," I breathe out, my head on top of Zayn's who is resting his head on my shoulder.

"No one was," I hear him mumble and I feel my heart drop at his words.

"I was coming to you," I speak, raising my head from Zayn's head, which makes him raise his head from my shoulder and sit up straight to look at me.

His eyes are puffier than before, his cheeks stained with tears, a few drops still present there, which makes me pull my hand to his face and rub the tears with my thumb. His cheeks feel delicate under my touch.

"I was on my way to see you because I had noticed something was wrong with you, but I was called out to the principal that time..." I trail out, giving a long pause before I sigh and continue. "There, I saw Harry into a crying mess, waiting to break the news of my father's accident to me."

His expression changes from sadness into concern and worry, as he quickly grabs my hand and looks at me with upset eyes.

"Then something happened to me that day," I take a huge breath.

I have never talked about this to anyone. Not even Paige. No one except my brother and mother knows what happened to me that day. But can I tell this to Zayn? Can I speak about this for the first time after keeping it inside me for all those years?

I have still not recovered from what happened. I don't know how I can bring up my words to tell someone about it.

But it's not someone, it's Zayn. I feel as if I have been with him for years, even if we never talked before the deal.

My eyes look up at him, and he stares at me patiently, wearing a concerned expression.

Even if I want to hide everything from everyone, I can't hide anything from him. My trust for him comes from within, and with him, I feel comfortable.

I look down at our hands intertwined with each other, giving me a feeling of security. The warmth of his hand makes me feel safe and maybe protected. Maybe I don't have to hide anything from him. Maybe I can tell him anything and everything without having a fear or regret.

I trust him.

"My mum and dad had separated two years before dad's death. Harry and I used to live with him as we were way more attached to him," I started speaking, Zayn quietly listening to me. "Then mum found a guy and dated him for a year," I say, gulping a lump in my throat.

I feel my breathing fasten with each word I speak. "After dad's funeral, I couldn't stand in my dad's house. So mum and Harry shifted our things to my mum's house, while I stayed with Renae, my mum's boyfriend, at my mum's house, waiting for my things to arrive,"

My heart beats rapidly as I talk about that day. My hands begin to shake underneath Zayn's hand, making him hold them tightly as he scoots closer to me and looks at me with a worried expression. "What happened, Mal?"

"Renae, he..he..tried to harass me that day!" I break into sobs, the vivid memories of the past hitting me like a hurricane. "How helpless I had felt, until my brother barged into the room and threw Renae off of me," my whimpers are loud, making me leave Zayn's hand and cover my face with both of my hands.

Zayn quickly removes both of my hands from my face and engulfs me in a hug, keeping me as close to him as possible. "He wasn't able to do much because Harry had come at the right time, but still I remember how I tried to save myself from that monster, helplessly."

"I'm so sorry, Malory, I'm so sorry," Zayn speaks in his soft voice, nuzzling his face in the crook of my neck. "I'm so sorry," he whispers again.

"We got him arrested and news had come that he killed himself in the prison, but..." I speak up, unable to breathe due to my fast heartbeat. "But Renae is alive and out again, Zayn, he's out!" I cry, breaking into sobs again. Zayn's body stiffens, but he quickly tightens his grip around me, before I feel a light kiss on the side of my head.

"He cannot do anything to you again, I promise you that," Zayn breaks from the hug and looks me straight in my eyes as he speaks with gritted teeth. "And I'll make sure he returns to where he belongs,"

The anger evident in his eyes is so extreme that it makes me worried. "Zayn," I call out for him but he quietly grits his teeth and stares behind me, not making eye contact with me anymore. "Zayn," I call out again and his furious eyes turn to me.

"Is that what was bothering you today?" he asks.

"Yes," I answer, a little unsure.

A part of me was bothered by Zayn and Paige's date. I don't feel like I can tell him that because I don't know the reason behind it, myself. Was I angry or was I upset?

"You're the strongest girl I've ever known, and you have Harry by your side..." he says, grabbing my hand again.

What about you, Zayn?

I want to ask him that, but I quietly stare at him, because he's just a person I'm helping out, I should not expect more from him and it would be wrong because he likes Paige.

"And me too," he says, breaking the chain of my thoughts, as he gently rubs his thumb on the back of my hand.

A slight smile forms on my lips as I look at him and he places his hand behind my back, pulling me closer to him as I rest my head on his shoulder and we stare at the lights below.

"You know I had become a mess after that, I stopped talking to people, lost my interest in everything I loved, and became rude to everyone," I say, feeling the burden in my chest getting lighter. "I changed myself after that so no one could get closer to me, I had become scared of the world," I pause when I feel Zayn's thumb tracing patterns on the back of my hand. "I had built up anger inside of me by being silent," I finally admit, feeling the burden in my chest lighten, making me give out a huge sigh.

I never admitted those things to anyone, not even to myself.

"I know," Zayn speaks and I tilt up my head to look at him and he lowers his, to look down at me, our faces only inches apart from each other, giving me a better view of his perfect jawline, honey brown eyes and plum lips.

"I told you, it was an act," he says and my mind goes back to the day when Zayn had confronted me on the bleachers and I got angry at him.

"How did you know?" I slowly say, my eyes travelling from his eyes to his lips and then back to his eyes.

"Because I remember the old you, the one who used to be excited for every event at the school, the one who used to compete with me for higher grades, the one who used to laugh all the time," He says, giving a pause as he looks away from me, to the lights below.

"The one who was every teacher's favourite, everyone's greatest friend, a happy, bubbly person. Full of life," he pauses again, his eyes travelling back to me again and I hold his brown-eyed gaze. "And the only one who smiled at me every day, when no one acknowledged that I existed." He completes his sentence, making my heart skip a beat. I silently listen to him, not daring to speak a word as he continues.

"All of that changed suddenly, and people might have thought you became rude, but I knew it was an act, I just couldn't walk up to ask you that," he say, with a glint of sadness and regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he apologises, looking at me with regret.

"You don't have to be sorry, we both got consumed by our own problems," I say, bumping my forehead with his. "But something great came out of all of this, though," I grin, moving away from Zayn, who squints his eyes and looks at me in confusion.

"I learned boxing and beat up Louis' ass so many times!" I yell in joy, making Zayn laugh, as he shakes his head at me.

"You're out of this world, Malory Collins," he says, with a smile, still shaking his head as he looks down at our hands below. "Do you feel better?" He looks up and asks slowly in a genuine tone.

"A lot," I mutter, a smile lingering on my face, which had been a hub for sorrows just a few minutes ago. "You?" I ask him and he gives out a huge sigh.

"I knew I wouldn't regret coming to you tonight," he slowly says with a light smile, scooting closer to me and again putting his head on my shoulder as we both look at the Aladdin's set below.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I ask, watching the colourful lights of the set, illuminate the dark area and glimmer from down below. Strung in between the trees, fairy lights twinkle, their soft light guiding a path over to the Aladdin's set. Leaning into Zayn, I gaze out, watching the multi-coloured beams of light flicker. The set makes up for the darkness, casting a positive glow all over the hill. For once I'm torn whether to look at Zayn, his face pressed against my shoulder, or these beautiful lights, the lanterns of hope.

"My brother and I loved this set, we were huge fans of Aladdin," he tells with a chuckle, still resting his head on my shoulder and I smile.

"My dad and I loved it, we used to come here and sing 'A whole new world'," I chuckle as well, recalling the memories.

"Sing it for me," he mutters.

"What? No," I laugh lightly and he again tells me to sing, but I don't.

He lifts up his head and looks at me with a smile before standing up, making me confused. He pulls his hand in front of me, asking with his facial expressions to hold it.

"What?" I ask, eyeing his hand.

"Do you trust me?" Zayn asks with a smile.

"What did you say?" I pretend like Princess Jasmine from Aladdin.

"Do you trust me?" he asks, again like Aladdin, a little smile appearing on his lips.

"Yes," I say, holding his hand and getting up and standing in front of him.

He places his other hand on my waist, bringing me closer to him.

"I can you show you the world," he sings, squeezing my hand tighter. A shout of laughter comes out of my mouth as I shake my head.

"We're not singing, Zayn," I say, smiling.

He ignores me and sways me to the left, "Shining, shimmering, splendid," he sings, making me roll my eyes playfully. "Tell me, princess, now when did you last, let your heart decide?"

He looks at me with a smile, turning me around and bringing me back to him.

I smile, lightly laughing as I finally give in, "I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over, sideways and under on a magic carpet ride," I sing, making Zayn's face light up and a bright smile forms on his lips.

"A whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew, but when I'm way up here," Zayn and I sing together, grinning from ear to ear, as Zayn sways me from left to right, turning me around. "It's crystal clear," I sing.

"That now I'm in a whole new world with you."

~*~

Video of the song above in the chapter.

My expectations from boys have become so high by my own writings that I'm never gonna find a guy if I keep going like this hdywuwjaaha

UPDATE ABOUT MY LOVE LIFE:

Shy guy next door CAME TO MY HOUSE WITH FOOD THE OTHER DAY AND I THOUGHT IT WAS MY COUSIN SO I WAS YELLING THE WHOLE WAY DOWNSTAIRS, SAYING "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS COME LATE bla bla bla?" and then I opened the door and I almost had a heart attack when I saw shy guy standing there. He smiled so big at me that I actually lost my words and went "absyeiwkqo" in front of him I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING!! I have no idea what I said to him. He has no idea what I said to him. He's probably never coming back bye-

My love story ain't gonna go anywhere but at least Zalory's getting close.

I didn't write about Malory's harassment experience in detail because I didn't wanna trigger anything. So I just gave a little overview of it.

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