inferno • lrh (ON HOLD)

nine - tears

the walk home from michael and luke's apartment felt much like a walk of shame. malory was still in last nights makeup, her hair was messier than ever and she still had a random shirt on over her bralette and skirt.

she would have to wash that before she gave it back to mike. she sure as hell hoped it was mike's, but with everything going on right now she didn't even know anymore.

many people going about their day had stared at her as she trudged down the familiar streets surrounding harvard, but she didn't care. all she wanted to do was get home, shower and wallow in self pity for the day.

her head was pounding and her stomach was in knots. it was a wonder she hadn't thrown up yet. unless she had thrown up while she was blacked out last night. that was also a possibility.

but she wouldn't know. obviously.

it took her fifteen minutes to finally reach her own apartment building. usually she loved walking around the streets surrounding harvard, listening to music and just people watching, but not when she was hungover and in a foul mood.

sticking her key in the lock, malory twisted until the door sprang open, allowing her entry. she had never been so happy to see her brightly lit living room in all of her life. she didn't expect to see zara thrown on the couch with sweats on and tears running down her cheeks.

"fuck, z. are you okay?" everything malory had been feeling or thinking about on her excruciating walk home was forgotten once she saw her best friend. the girl was a mess and needed her right now, she could grumble about her fight with luke and how hungover she was another time.

"i don't even know why i'm crying." she mumbled, bringing a hand up to wipe at the mascara on her cheek. "it's not like we were even exclusive. it was no strings attatched fucking."

dropping all of her belongings by the door, malory rushed over to zara. as soon as she sat down on the couch, zara fell against her side, silent tears rolling down her face. "tell me his name and i'll end him z."

"no, no. it's my fault. i caught feelings for him but he obviously doesn't feel the same."

malory stared at zara for a moment, taking in what she had just said. all of their first year the blonde has prided herself on many things, one of the most important being that she didn't catch feelings for any man she slept with. to her, college was about friends, parties, work and sex, not relationships.

and to see her in tears because of a man? one that she had accidentally fallen for? it shocked malory.

wrapping her arms tightly around the other girls shoulders, malory pressed her chin against the top of her head, holding her close. if she knew one thing about zara, it was that she needed a hug right now. she didn't need an overprotective best friend threatening to kill the bastard.

"tell me what happened, z."

nodding softly against mal's shoulder, zara sighed. "the moment we stepped inside the frat house last night i spotted him. he grabbed my wrist and pulled me along with him, stating that he had already gotten us drinks. at first we just talked and danced, but after a drink or two we went upstairs."

"we fucked in the bathroom. he called me the most beautiful girl in the world mal. while he was pounding into me he told me that i was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and that he was so lucky that he got to fuck me. it made my heart skip a beat. no one had ever told me that before mal. usually when i fuck guys they just say boring shit like your tits are hot or something like that."

"after we finished he left me in the bathroom to get cleaned up while he went downstairs. that's when i got the text from michael saying that he was taking you and cal home. i obviously didn't want to leave yet so i just replied with a thumbs up. i thought i was gonna go back to his, you know?"

"anyway, i came downstairs only to find him pressed against the wall with another girl grinding on him. i don't think he saw me before i left. i hope he didn't. i feel so fucking stupid, mal."

mal stroked a soothing hand through zara's hair as she spoke, listening carefully to everything she had to say. "that guy doesn't deserve you, z. you deserve so much more than a no strings attached fuck birdie relationship with a guy you really like."

"i know. but fuck, mal. i thought we both felt the connection, i thought he was gonna ask me out. obviously i'm delusional."

shaking her head, malory unwrapped her arms from zara so that she could look at her face. "you're not delusional. he led you on."

"but he didn't. we both talked about a no strings hookup situation and agreed it was the best for us. i led myself on." huffing in annoyance at herself, zara angrily wiped at her cheeks again. the tears had now stopped flowing altogether, just leaving trails of makeup behind.

"can we stop talking about him, please?" a pout appeared on zara's lips. she seriously didn't want to think of that man again. his number was already blocked on her phone for a reason. "how was your night."

groaning, malory let her head glob back onto the couch, a grimace appearing on her lips as pain jolted through it. "oh, you know. same old, same old. got into an argument with hemmings, smoked, got drunk as fuck with calum. passed out on the frat houses' couch with calum, was dragged back to michael's, which also turned out to be hemming's apartment. woke up, got into another argument with hemmings and walked home."

wide eyed glued on malory, zara let a laugh escape her lips. hearing that her friend had had an eventful night just like her made zara feel the tiniest bit better about her situation. "so it seems like we've both had less than good nights."

"it would seem that way. at least i got to tell him to rot in hell i suppose." an audible gasp was heard from zara as she slapped malory's shoulder, a small smile appearing on her lips.

"you did not!"

"i did. and he fucking deserved it." letting a small smile creep up on her own face, malory laughed. ever since last night, this was the first moment she had actually felt at peace. she supposed that's what being around zara did to her. she let her talk her shit and in return supported her through it. they both did it for each other.

"oh i know he deserved it. he's been a dick ever since the night at the bar." nudging her shoulder, zara smirked. "but at least i know you can stand up for yourself. you're a grown woman after all. just saying if you ever need a time out i can jump in and tear him to pieces for a bit in your stead."

"as much as i would enjoy watching you do that, i don't want calum or michael to hate either of us. he's one of their best friends and i don't want to put them in an awkward position." malory shrugged, her hands going down to tug at the threads at the end of the oversized t-shirt yet again.

she changed her mind, she definitely wasn't giving this back. she didn't care who's it was before, it was hers now.

"that's fair." humming in agreement, zara rested herself back on the couch again. "we can still hate hemmings and my hookup from here though."

"are you ever gonna tell me his name?" mal raised an eyebrow at her friend, a curious look in her eyes. zara had consistently kept the names of her hookups to herself since the start of first year, for a reason that was still unkown to malory.

"even if i hate him, which i do right now, i'm still sticking to my rule. no one but me has to know who he, or any of my other hook ups, are." malory respected that. zara kept very few secrets from her, practically none at all, so she would give her this.

she would let her keep the names to herself.

"so, seeing as i'm severely hungover and you're wallowing, how does a girls day sound?" there was nothing else the two girls needed to do. they were both off this weekend, neither of them had exam's coming up and they had no other plans. a girls day seemed like the best thing to do for both of them right now.

movies and takeout were known antidotes for bad moods. and hangovers.

"i would love a girls day."

╭━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━━✶━━ ⋅𖥔⋅ ━╮

a/n

sorry it's a shorter chapter today, it's kind of a filler! next chapter is leading us on to the main part of the story though👀

i love you all!