We didn't sleep.

All night we've been up, talking and answering questions the cops asked us. Tess called them. We didn't want to call no one else because we knew they'd want to come and they've all been waiting all night in the hospital. This didn't concern our friends, they've done enough and I couldn't be more grateful.

Zayn on the other hand, was pissed. He moved himself outside in the front porch from the living room we were all standing in to take a seat in steps.

Detectives were looking at the glass chattered in the floor, Tess pointing down the house to the spot where she nearly got shot. Avan was on the other side of the room, explaining to some officer what seemed to be just how he pushed his Mom out the way.

 Nothing made sense anymore, like the fact of why Ezra would do this. Everyone knows he and Zayn are always head to head but only against each other, never their families. And Zayn tried so hard to keep his hidden away from all that, yet it happened. When we least expected it.

"Ma'em?"

I fluttered my eyes back to reality, remembering an officer was asking for my side of the story.

Before I went back on telling him what I was meaning to say, I grew a little mischievous towards the way a paramedic walked up to Zayn. I was looking at this from the shattered window. The man only  wanted to see if he was okay from what happened in the home invasion like he did to all of us. Only Zayn wasn't responding back, he was only looking down and tapping his foot impatiently. This wasn't a good sign.

"Excuse me." I quickly moved past the officer, eyes never leaving Zayn until I got to the front door and swung it open.

"Sir, please, I have to make sure you don't have any broken bones or other stuff." The paramedic tried reasoning with him.

"Does it look like I have any broken bones?" He finally spoke in annoyance, looking up at the guy with an even more annoyed look in his face.

I finally reached them, stepping behind Zayn. The reaction on the paramedic's face was just enough to tell me he didn't like Zayn's attitude. I forgave the man for Zayn acting like that and he just gave me a dirty look. Good thing Zayn didn't catch it or things will be in real jeopardy.

I looked back down at Zayn, noticing he was really hurt. Not physically, but mentally.

I took a seat next to him in the last step up the house. My hand rose to draw small circles in his back, stunned to quickly see him reject my touch.

"No, Paige, I don't want to hurt you." He shook his head.

"Zayn. I think we both know you're not going to do that." I went back to touching his sore back.

Again, he rejected. This time he held my hand away as he turned over to look at me. "No, you don't get it, now is not a good time for me."

I immediately disagreed with him. He can't fool me, not anymore. I know he's not just angry, he's something else.

My hand swiveled away from his hold. His eyes showed he didn't know exactly what I was doing and neither did I. All I know was that I wanted to make him feel better, take things out of his mind a bit.

The sun was just beginning to rise. It was a beautiful moment. We were the only ones outside, surrounded by cars in the small driveway of his Mom's house but that couldn't bother me. A smile rose up my lips, hand coming up to play with the small hairs in the back of his head. The other one came up to rest on top of his knee.

"Good morning." I smiled a bit shyly, cheeks flooding with heat.

He closed his eyes, not smiling at all while lightly shaking his head. "Paige, what are you doing? I really don't have time for thi--"

"Shh.." I interrupted him by gently nudging my head into him and softly brushing my lips against his.

I pulled away at the right time, knowing I had him wanting more. I remained with a close distance away from each other, not wanting to leave him alone for another second.

"What's gotten into you, lately?" I finally managed to get a small smile from him.

I sighed, dropping my hand from behind his head to over his back and starting to look out in front of us. My head falling over to his shoulder.

"When am I ever going to stop thanking you?" I questioned to both, him and myself.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, finding my question a bit amusing.

"I froze." I paused as I thought back to when the shooting began. "But you got me out."

Zayn looked down, already knowing where this was going.

"I already told you, you don't have to say anything." He sighed looking back up.

"Then what kind of person would I be?" I looked back up at him, finding one of his hands with the hand I had over his knee to lace them together.

He remained silent, his grip getting a little tighter on my hand.

"Zayn?" I asked, growing concerned with him.

He was heard me but didn't reply. It was the I looked around for a moment. Seeing the cop cars only reminded me of something.

"Why can't we tell them about Ezra?" I looked back down, my shoes becoming surprisingly interesting from the step below us. 

"I already explained that to you. If you guys wanted to call them, you can't say a word about him." He spoke a bit angry.

"So we just let him get away with it?" I asked aggravated, moving away from him entirely and standing up to step into the concrete ground in front of him. "He almost got your Mom!"

"I know!" He raised his voice and himself to tower my body, looking at my side to calm himself down in deep breaths. "Which is why the cops can't find him. I am. And that's going to be the last of him."

I grew bewildered with what he seemed to say as a threat.

"Zayn.. What are talking about?" I furrowed my eyebrows, heart beginning to race.

His eyes darted back up at me. I was sure that at that moment neither was he aware of what he said. He grew worried, bottom lip beginning to shake. His eyes were drowsy due to the lack of sleep he's been getting. I'm sure he didn't mean what he said either, it was probably just his tired self speaking. Zayn? Get rid of Ezra. Call me crazy but that only means one thing.

I felt bad as I saw him about to break out. He wasn't weak, only he has been too strong for too long.

My feet stepped up to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my head against his chest. He didn't bother to hug me back but only tighter, his head firmly nudging down to the spot between my neck and shoulder. Everything got quiet, only the sounds of Zayn's quiet sobbing were heard. I closed my eyes, hating to have to see him feel like this.

"He's going to pay." Zayn spoke over my shoulder.

 I shook my head, rubbing his back and hushing him down.

"Don't do anything stupid, please Zayn." I begged, not knowing what else to say.

He knew what I meant by that and that made him angry, I felt it in his grip.

"Can I trust you?" I looked up, wiping a small tear away from his eyes and resting over his broad shoulders.

He felt broken inside as he looked down at me. No matter what he thought, I know he wouldn't break the trust he has with me. Not for revenge, and not for anyone.

He lightly shook his head, closing his eyes once again and giving me a chance to kiss his dry lips. It lasted longer than I expected but I couldn't see myself stopping. I got up on my toes to get a better contact with him, hand fisting his hair.

We finally had to break away to take in some air, our foreheads pressing against each others.

"I should've never brought you hear." He nodded his head, bringing my waste closer to his body.

I fluttered my eyes closed, smiling and slightly shaking my head in disagreement. "No, coming here was the best thing that ever happened to me."

It was where I got to share old memories with him, meet his family, reunite him with his brother, got a taste in  whole new different world; different life. It was where we went on our first date, where he gave me a piece of his appreciation. Where I knew he would stay.

This trip changed me.

"How can you say that?" He asked moving his head away to look down at me. "After what I did? The shooting?"

"It's the good things you have to really think about." I smiled. "I love it here, with you."

"Paige," He got serious, closing his eyes and slowly exhaling a deep breath. "There's something I have to tell--"

"What the hell?" He was interrupted  by the sound of Harry walking up behind me.

His head looked up and I swiveled in his hold to look at him and Vanessa walk up to us. Vanessa was too shocked to speak. Then was when I noticed the other guys, Naill, Liam, and Louis.

"What are all these cop cars doing here?" Liam asked looking behind him.

"What did you do this time?" Louis asked looking back at Zayn.

He didn't answer, only turned his back around so his friends wouldn't see that he was crying.

"What happened to him?" Niall asked me as they came dangerously close to us.

"Uh.." I looked back nervously at Zayn, not knowing what to say.

"Paige?" Harry asked waving his hand in front of my face. "Are you okay?"

I looked at them, clearly I wasn't.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked glancing at each of them.

"We were suppose to be leaving back home today." Louis answered.

"We tried calling all morning." Niall continued, "But no one answered?"

"So we figured we should come by and see if everything was okay." Liam added.

"Clearly it's not." Harry finished looking around.

"Mind telling us what happened?" Vanessa finally spoke up, "Zayn?"

I heard Zayn dry off his last tears, quickly coming back to us.

"Mate, what happened here?" Louis asked.

"Nothing, just a small incident last night." He looked as if he hasn't had sleep in days.

"What?" They all questioned.

"Look it was nothing, my Mum just called the cops because she was scared. They were just leaving." Zayn replied.

"If it was nothing than there wouldn't be this much cops?" Niall looked curious.

"Guys, what happened?" Vanessa also looked curious but mostly worried.

The least thing we needed was for them to worry so it'd be better if we just told them.

I looked up at Zayn and I can tell he was thinking the same thing too.

"Last night, someone came by and started shooting towards my Mum's flat." Zayn continued, immediately drawing gasp and looks of shock from his friends.

"We think it's Ezra." I finished.

"No, we know it's Ezra." Zayn corrected in anger.

"Oh my God, why didn't you call us?" Vanessa brought her hands up to her mouth.

"You have all been so supportive with the whole hospital thing," I continued, "And we knew you guys were tired, so we didn't tell you."

They all looked at each other, finding reason in my answer. There wasn't much they could do anymore.

"What are you guys going to do now?" Liam asked looking at both Zayn and I.

I looked up at Zayn to see him look down at me. He was going to speak but was interrupted once again, this time by his brother opening the door from behind us.

We turned to him and he looked ashamed of barging into us the way he did. "Oh, I'm sorry." He looked back at Zayn and I, "Uh.. Guys, Mum needs you inside for a moment?"

Zayn looked back at me and his friends who gave us a leading look.

"What can we do in the mean time?" Louis asked.

Zayn thought about it for a quick second, "Some breakfast would be nice."

Louis nodded his head, instantly calling Liam to come join him.

"Aye, if we want to be back in Manhattan in time to go to work tomorrow, we have to leave before 3." Harry informed.

Zayn nodded, lacing his fingers with mine before he walked us up the stairs of the porch. Harry and the others went back to follow Louis.

Avan held the door open for us as we walked in, noticing Tess was walking up to us after leaving the people in the house finish off their cleaning before walking out. I didn't know how Zayn was going to break it to her that we have to go and today. I'm sure the least thing Zayn would want is to be with his family when they're doing this stuff to him. The best thing to do is keep them away since they obviously want something with him.

"What did the cops say?" Zayn asked his Mom while letting my hand go from his grip.

She was still in her pink bedroom gown, tied tightly around her waist. Eyes closing as she sighed.

"They can't do anything until they find some suspects. Until then, they're only going to give me one hundred dollars to fix the damage."

"A hundred dollars isn't going to pay for the shit done here." Zayn angrily argued.

"They can't give you more?" I asked.

She shook her head, "My income isn't high, the house is only a rent, and both my kids are over eighteen. And since no one was hurt, this is all they can give me."

It did stink. That's not enough to cover anything done here. How can they do this?

"That's not fair." Avan was just as furious as Zayn. "They can't actually be serious?"

Tess looked as if she has given up on everything. As if she was done with the poverty she was living in. It must be hard.

"What are you going to do?" I asked feeling sorry for her.

"Well, I'll just work some more hours and--"

"No!" Zayn interrupted her, "Mum, I know you got fired okay, all because of me. You have no job and you're definitely not going to find one here."

"But Zayn, I have to pay rent and--"

"You're not going to pay rent because I'm not letting you live here anymore." He broke her off again.

"I don't have money to go and get another house. I have to stay here." She protested.

"After what just happened you seriously think you can last another God damn night in this house? No!" He raised his voice.

I tried calming him down but he was too angry. And I completely agree with him, she has to leave, go someplace else. Until this feud is over, no one knows who exactly is safe. I'm sure Zayn is only telling her this to protect her.

"I don't have anywhere else to go?" She tried to get him to understand.

Zayn understood perfectly, and I knew something had just come upon his mind by the way he quickly looked at his brother.

"Avan, you have a flat right?"

"A small one? And it's not safe there for Mum either." He replied.

"Don't worry, I only need you to keep her there for a few nights until I find a place for both of you back in Manhattan."

"Manhattan?" Tess and Avan wondered at the same time.

"Zayn, are you sure? I mean, that's where Ezra is?" I asked.

Zayn was sure of his answer. "Don't worry about him."

"Honey, I can't ask you to do that." Tess continued. "I don't have the money and I'm sure you don't either?"

"You never asked me, Mum, I offered." He looked at them, "And don't worry, I'll find the money."

"How?" Avan asked.

"I don't know!" He raised his voice, scaring all of us with the sudden mood change. Slowly, he quickly relaxed. "I can't have you guys stay here for much longer. It's dangerous."

Now I completely understand why Zayn didn't want to keep contact with his Mom after he left. It's true it's too dangerous for them but then again... It must be dangerous for me too? No, I'm not leaving him. I don't care what kind of stuff I'm put into, I'll risk it all. This family needs each other, without Zayn it's not the same. It's true what he says about them getting away, but they don't have the money.

"I can help." I volunteered.

Zayn looked down at me, all of them actually.

"No." They all complained, each saying it's okay. I'm not stupid, I know it's not okay. And I know they don't want me to but it's the right thing to do.

"The money is there, I have my own sayings account." I added. I was saving up for a car but, f that. It's not like I really have somewhere to go that I need my own car to get there. This family opened their doors to me and treated me like one of them. They even cared for me when I was in the hospital. No one's ever done that to me before. It's the least thing I can do for them.

"Paige, I'm not going to let you spend your money. This doesn't concern you." Zayn explained.

"I want to."

"We can't let you do that, sweetie." Zayn's Mom shook her head.

"I'm not taking no for an answer." I argued.

Zayn remained silent, finally speaking up before anyone else did. "Look, we'll discuss this later."  He looked at me then back at his Mom, "As for you two, do as I said, I promise I'll figure out something."

Things just got a lot harder. Not only for Zayn and his family, but for Zayn and I.