I woke up that next morning terrified. My heart was beating fast and I was sweating terribly. I instinctively reached over to the side of the bed all to find it empty. "Zayn?" My eyes widened as I realized that I was alone in the expanse of the bed. "Zayn?!" I practically screamed. It was dark in his room, other than the sliver of light coming from the bottom of the curtain covered window.

The door to Zayn's en suite bathroom flew open and he came running out with a towel haphazardly down around his waist. "What? What's going on? Are you okay?" His hair was dripping wet and a sheer covered his tattooed body. He had just been in he shower. 

"I-I didn't know where you were." I pulled the covers up to my chest.

"Oh." Zayn wiped his face and adjusted his towel around his waist. "I was just in the shower."

"Well I know that now." I sniffled and gave him a small smile. He sighed and for a moment I thought it was in annoyance, but the sweet smile that followed left me melted. "I'll be right out. I think I still have shampoo in my hair." He playfully ran his fingers through his wet hair and grimaced. "Yeah, just give me a moment, my love."

My love.... 

I liked the sound of that.

I managed to calm myself down but the time Zayn got out of the shower and dried off. He came out of the bathroom looking fresh and clean. I just stared at him because not once in my entire life had I called something my own, and Zayn was definitely mine.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Nothing."

I loved this man.

"No need to be cryptic with me, now." Zayn sat down on he edge of the bed, his towel loose around his waist. "Tell me what you're thinking." His dark eyes scanned my face and his hand reached forward.  I didn't flinch. I actually leaned in to his touch and smiled when his skin touched mine.

"I love you." I told him. The words flowed easily from my mouth.

He was caught off guard for a split second, but then he relaxed and leaned in to kiss me softly. "And I, you." He whispered, his minty breath tickling my Cupid's bow. He quickly kissed once more before getting up from the bed and pulling his towel from his waist as he walked over to his dresser in naked glory.

He has scratched and bruises all over, a bullet hole in his shoulder and one in his side, but I had never seen a more beautiful sight before that moment. "Nice a.ss." I joked with him. He peaked over his shoulder and winked at me.  I felt my cheeks heat up and had to hide myself under the covers. 

"Why don't you go clean up? The bathroom is still warm." Zayn asked. To my surprise any was putting on nice slacks instead of comfortable looking ones.

"Are you going somewhere?" There was no other reason for him to be dressing up. I was a little apprehensive about going into the bathroom. Zayn was obviously going somewhere.

"To my office for a few hours. I have a lot to attend to. I will be back by dinner." We had slept for the most part of the day, so normal dinner time was only about three hours away. "Please don't worry." He wandered over to his closet to finish up his formal outfit.

"Does it have to do with all those people?" I judged wished that he would be straight forward with me.

"More or less." There he went, dodging the question. "Just a lot of nonsense that should have been handled years ago when I left the business." For him to still refer to all that inhumane torture as a business sickened me slightly. "I just need you to stay here. John will be-"

"Okay." I answered him shortly. I knew I wasn't going to change his mind and that I was also too tired to fight him on it. I couldn't even get out of bed on that bum leg, let alone walk around with him at his office. There were a million things keeping me here and I wasn't happy with the reasons, but I had to go along with it. "But I am holding you to dinner."

"Would you like me to bring something back? Maybe something from Lorenzo's?" I gave him a quizzical look. I had no idea what he was talking about. "That restaurant that I took you to on our first date. As I recall, you seemed to enjoy it quite a bit."

For him to even remember that after everything that had happened.... It made me smile. "That sounds great." I nodded enthusiastically. I tried to think of the last time I ate something substantial. It had been so long and my stomach actually growled right then and there. "Heh, maybe I'll get something to eat after I shower."

"I'm not sure if there in anything in the kitchen since I haven't been living here. But John is here for the renovations-"

"And for my protection, right?" I asked.

Zayn pursed his lips. "Yes."

Liam was gone, but there was no way to tell if all of the threats to me were gone. Louis had disappeared and I didn't think he was going to be much of a problem anymore, but there were other people out there. The "business" wasn't dead, only Zayn's part in it was. Or at least it would be.

"Niall, I-"

"No. You don't have to explain things to me. I understand. So go on and do what you do best." I tried my best to look like I was okay on my own, but in all truth I wasn't. I had a lot of adjusting to do to get back on track with my life.

"Dinner then." Zayn nodded at me and I nodded back.

"I'll see you at dinner."

When Zayn left he took a part of me with him. I sat in bed for a little while longer until I forced myself up and limped into the bathroom.  It was warm like Zayn had said. I ran my hand over the fogged mirror and saw myself standing there, hair messy and grown out. I did that often, stood in front of the mirror. I guess it was my way of telling myself that I was still alive and still there.

The mirror fogged up again when I turned the shower on. Steam poured out onto the tiles. I stepped inside and let the water roll over my head and shoulders. My wounds were cleaned out and my body refreshed. After my shower I found a razor and shaved the uneven stubble off my face, cleaned up my hair a bit and even plucked a few hair from my brows. "There you are." I told myself as I patted some of Zayn's aftershave onto my face. It was weird to smell like him, but I found comfort in it.

I wasn't sure where my clothes were being kept, so I wrapped a towel around my waist and wobbled out into Zayn's room. My leg was feeling better on the medication that Zayn's Doctor had given me. It wasn't throbbing like it had been before and the skin around the wound seemed to be healing.  I sighed as I sat down on the bed and wrapped my leg back up with some bandages I found on the night stand.

A small knock came to the door before it opened up and Charles stepped inside. "Zayn said that you might be missing these." In his hands was a pile of clothing. Not my clothing, but looked to be around my size.

"Those are new, aren't they?" I asked. Zayn was always buying me things and always saving me from something. I really needed to do something for him. "Hey Charles, would you mind helping me with something today?"

I hoped that this would all work out. For my sake and for Zayn's.

I would have never thought that I had that much energy in me, but I guessed having an actual full night of rest helped out a lot. I managed to do a lot of the set up with the help of Charles and John. The house was in shambles, but at least the dining room table was left unscathed.

"You're really something, Niall. I better keep this one in the books for when my wife ever gets mad at me." He handed me the plates and I set them down on the table.

"I just wanted to do something for him. He's always doing everything for me and after all that we've been through..." John handed me the last of the table set up and stood back. "Hey, John." I looked up at him. His attention moved from the table to me. "Have you heard anything about... about Ashton?" I swallowed his name.

"I haven't." He frowned. "Zayn put me in charge of that whole situation. So I will let you know when things change. But enough about that. This is about you two tonight. So enjoy it." I knew it was stupid to dwell on the past, but Ashton had also done so much for me and was it wrong for me to worry about him, even after his death?

"I know I will, I just hope Zayn will." I admitted.

"He will love this. And you know why?" John asked me. I smiled because I knew the answers. "Because he loves you and anything that you do will be good enough for him."

A/N: so I think the next chapter will be the last one plus an epilogue. I also want to give a warm internet hug to everyone in France and around the world. The world is a scary and terrifying place and I wish we could end all of this nonsense and violence. Be kind to each other and love one another. Spread love not hate. I love you all. Stay safe out there.

Much Love

Jachxx