I ended up needing about ten stitches in my chin and the doctor said that I would have one heck of a battle scar. “The principal never really told me what happened and how he was dealing with it.” Maura said as we waited to be checked out of the hospital. At some point between my mother’s death and then, Maura had put me onto her health insurance. She slipped the card to the nurse and turned to me again. “Is he doing anything?”

“I doubt it.” I sighed, wanting to scratch at my chin. This was going to be a tough healing period. “I don’t think that school really gives a damn about me.”

“Well they will. Because I’m going to storm in there and demand something be done.” Maura, for a smaller lady, was pretty tough looking right then and there. I chuckled and shook my head. “What? Do you think I won’t? I will protect my children at all costs.”

My heart fluttered. She meant me. She had added me to her family without a second thought and I was so grateful for that. “Thank you, Maura.” I reached forward and hugged her, avoiding any contact with my chin. She hugged me in return and rubbed circles in my back. “Thank you so much.”

“You are very welcome, Zayn.” She smiled, releasing me and finishing the paper work to get me out of the hospital. I was to go home for the rest of the day and rest. Doctor’s orders and principal’s request. “I think I’ll let Niall to come home early.” Maura tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “I bet the news went around school and he’s probably so worried about you. You two sure have something going for you. I’m glad to see you two hit it off so well and are such great friends.”

I wasn’t going to lie. I felt like a terrible person when Maura was talking. If she ever found out just how good of friends Niall and I were, I don’t think she would feel the same as she did now. I just nodded and gulped down the knot in my throat.

“Yeah, we’re really close.” I gently touched the bandage over my stitches and winced. The ride was silent the rest of the way back home. Maura went ahead and called the school when we got back to the house. She requested that Niall be sent home as well and that she wanted to speak to the principal at the earliest possible time.

I hadn’t had time to lie down and take some painkillers before Niall came bursting into my room. “Zayn!” He ran at me and tackled me to the bed. “You’re okay. Thank god. I heard all sorts of crazy s.hit about what happened. Someone said you got taken away on a stretcher. Someone else said that you had your face bashed in. I’m glad to see that it’s not.” Niall pulled away, but let his hand cup the side of my face.

“Just a few stitches here.” I pointed at my chin and Niall frowned. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I will worry about it, though.” Niall leaned in, pressing his forehead against mine. “I think I-“ His eyes traveled down to my lips. “I lo-“ He bit his lip and stopped talking altogether. My heart was pounding in my chest. I knew he was about to confess something to me. I was worried that it was all too soon. If Niall said that he loved me right then and there, I didn’t think that I would have the appropriate response.

Sure I love Niall. I am very attracted to him physically as well as his personality. Everything about Niall is just perfect and that’s what scares me. I’m hardly perfect. I’m just a kid from the city with a dead mom and a deadbeat dad. I smoke. I drink. And apparently I get in school fights. I was no good for him.

But that didn’t stop him from pressing his lips to my own. He cupped my face between his hands, making sure not to touch my chin and irritate the wound further. I bit his bottom lip, causing him to gasp and open his mouth just enough for me to slide my tongue inside. I pushed him back down onto the bed, running my hand down his chest and resting just above his belt buckle. My tongue searched his mouth and danced alongside his own slick muscle.

When we finally became breathless, I lied down next to Niall, keep a finger hooked to the hem of his shirt. “Niall?” Niall hummed in response, looking over at me with a blush across his face. “Me too.” I love you too. I knew he knew the meaning behind my words. He smiled widely and curled into my side.

I don’t know how long we lied there for, but it seemed like forever and I was okay by that. Niall had dozed off and I was feeling better due to the medicine the doctor had given me. I was dreading the next day because I would have to go back to school and get whatever punishment was coming at me.

I still couldn’t believe that Mark had blamed the whole fight on me trying to make a move on him. As if. If the principal believed that then I would seriously look into homeschooling or even that online schooling thing they have out there. Though, Maura said she wanted a word with the principal, so maybe things would work out in the end. I just didn’t want to return to the rumors and all the crap surrounding that school.

And school was the least of my problems.

--

I faked sick all-day and ended up napping in the nurse’s office until it was time to talk to the principal. Maura had work until the end of the school day, so that’s why the meeting wasn’t in the morning. I was sitting in the office already in a chair opposite to Mark and his parents as well as the Principal. Maura walked into the room powerfully and sat down, glaring at everyone else in the room.

“Let’s start this shall we?” The principal asked, sitting down in his chair. We all nodded and I glanced over at Mark who was glaring at me. I gulped and sunk into my seat.

“So yesterday, these two boys decided to brawl in the hallway. Mark here says that Zayn had come onto him and Zayn says that Mark just tackled him out of nowhere.” He placed his hands in front of him on his desk, looking at both Mark and me expectantly. “I did not see the event myself, but regardless, fighting in school receives punishment. How big or how little a punishment depends on what goes on today.”

“Well I believe my son. We should have never allowed one of those gays into the school in the first place.” Mark’s dad huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Nothing but a bunch of sexual deviants I say.”

“Easy Mr. Jones.”

“I believe that the closed minded people in this town taught their own kids to hate and attack those who are different.” Maura spit venom like a snake. “Zayn is a good boy. He’s had a rough life and maybe it’s hard for people to understand that he’s different, but I think being sent to the hospital calls for some severe punishment on Marks behalf. Zayn is the victim here.”

Victim.

I hated that word. But she was right. Mark was the one who deserved punishment for attacking me out of the blue. Everyone’s voices raised and the volume in the room went crazy until Maura was in Mark’s parents face and vice versa. “What are you even doing here? You are just a chaperone for this little ingrate. He should have been sent to the system and not brought here to our town.” Mark’s mother spoke.

Maura went silent for a while and Mark’s mom’s words sliced through me. “Zayn may not be my real son, but I have taken responsibility for him. I couldn’t say the same about you and your son.”

Boom. Maura throwing it down like a pro.

“Alright. Alright. Please calm down.” When Maura and Mark’s parents finally stopped bickering back and forth, the principal cleared his throat. “Judging by both of the stories I have no other choice but to suspend the both of you for the remainder of the week. That’s what I believe needs to be done for the two of you, and I hope that you learn from your mistakes.”  With that, we were dismissed. Maura patted me on the back and that was it. I was suspended for the week and would return the following Monday to resume classes. I didn’t even want to come back to be honest.

“I cannot believe that child’s parents.” Maura huffed in annoyance. “You were clearly the one who was attacked. I mean look what they did to your poor face.” She led me to the car again, this time to just head home and try and forget everything. “I just cannot believe this.” She huffed and puffed all the way to the car and on the way home. We stopped at the end of the driveway to get the mail from the box and then rolled forward to the house.

“I’ll go let the horses out.” I said, wanting some alone time with the horse that I had come to love and of course baby Tricia. I let all of the horses out into the pasture before walking over to Tricia’s new stall. She was growing so big and I was happy to watch her grow. I spent a good part of the day just wandering around the barn. Niall and I never got around to finishing cleaning up, so I just moved some things around and cleaned up a bit. I threw feed into each of the buckets in the stalls for the horses.

I found myself calmer when I was in the barn and I guess that’s the reason Niall went there to blow off some steam. That smell that I found so strange and, well, gross when I first came to Tennessee was now a familiar smell was reminded me that I was home.

“Zayn! Can you come here for a moment!” I head Maura call my name from the house and I left the barn quickly to see what she needed from me. When I approached the house she was holding a packet in her hands and she was smiling. “I wanted to ask you something. She handed me the packet and walked me inside. We sat down at the table and she urged me to open the packet.

“What is it?” I asked, tearing the seal.

“Adoption papers.” Maura said happily. “I know your almost legal age to do things on your own, but when you’re father called after not contacting you or your mother for all those years, I was afraid that I would lose you to him. He gave up on you a long time ago and you are technically a kind without parents… So I thought… Well, Chris and I wanted to know if you would like to join our family?”

I pulled the papers from the envelope and Maura was telling the truth. All that needed to happen was the paperwork and I would belong to a family. I wanted to say yes right away. I wanted to become part of the Horan family, but when I thought about it, I wondered how Niall would feel about it. We would actually be brothers then.

And brothers don’t kiss.

A/N: Hey guys! So I changed my username as you can tell! I am now GhostiNialler, but you guys can still call me Jach. I'm sorry I've been MIA for a good part of the month. I've been super busy with my sorority and midterms. But I'm back! More drama to come in this story and keep a look out for updates on my Stuck Here sequel called Here We Are!

Much Love

Jachxx