Art & Ink //Zauren?

•twenty three

It had been a couple days since she'd seen the two of them. The record store had been keeping her very busy. It got a lot of business during the summer. Jeffery constantly called her into work which meant less time with Zayn and Dean and more time stacking and organizing vinyls.When she'd finally gotten a day off, Lauren reverted back to her old hobbies. It was nice having a day to herself.

It'd been so long since she'd touched paint to a canvas. She was a bit rusty at first but she soon got the hang of it again. A few long hours of stroking brushes and sipping wine had gone by before she'd finally finished another painting. It was an arm. A single arm with a combination of two people's tattoos. Instead of her usual dark shades, she used a variety of colors. The same colors that were inked into their skin. Lauren stood back covered in paint and admired her work as she took a long sip of the bitter wine in her glass.

"It's nice."

Lauren jump in surprise and nearly dropped her wine. Carlos was standing in front of her when she abruptly turned around. She suddenly felt uncomfortable in only a shirt. The last time they had a conversation, it had been one of the most awkward experiences of her life. He expressed his feelings for her and now that he was standing in front of her, she didn't know how to react. Carlos leaned against the door frame in his pajamas with tousled hair. It was almost 10 o'clock at night. What did he want?

"Jesus, Carlos. you scared me." She pressed a hand against her chest. A nervous laugh masked her fear.

"I came over to say I'm sorry about the other night," he said.

Lauren sat her glass down on the stool she was once sitting in. The tension was thick enough to make it hard to breathe.

"It's ok-"

"But then I realized something," he cuts her off. Lauren swallows a large lump in her throat when she realized he wasn't done talking.

"Why would I apologize for the way that I feel? You might not feel the same way," he said. "But that's ok. I-I feel like maybe if I would've told you sooner, you might have given me a chance."

Her lips parted to say something but no words came out. After about a few seconds of trying to come up with the words to say, she gave up with a frustrated sigh.

"I don't know what to say..." Lauren crossed her arms and met his hard stare. She noted the way his eyes began to roam her body hungrily. It made her feel uneasy. Carlos never looked at her like that.

Carlos pushed off the wall with his shoulder and slowly inched towards her. Her heart raced and her palms began to sweat.

"You don't need to say anything."

He placed his hands on both sides of my neck, his thumbs slightly grazing my checks. Her fear practically glued her feet to the floor. They locked eyes and he started to lean in.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Her eyes widened when she heard Zayn's voice come from the doorway. Carlos turned around, dropping his hands down to his sides. Lauren took two steps back to put distance between herself and Carlos. How the hell did he even get in the building, Lauren thought to herself. This looks bad. No, this looks fucking terrible.

Zayn stood a few feet way with a bouquet red roses in his left hand and his keys in the right. He managed to slip in the building after someone just for the sake of surprising her but ended up getting a surprise of his own.

He was furious. Without words, Zayn dropped both the flowers and his keys to the hardwood floor, causing a loud thump and began walking towards Carlos.

"Stop!" Lauren stepped between the two of them and pressed a hand against Zayn's chest. She could tell by the way his fist were clinched that he wanted to hurt Carlos.

"Who the hell is this?"  Zayn pointed to him.

"Hey, man. We weren't doing anything." Carlos said.

Zayn was on the verge of going rogue. He thought about how close they stood and the way he caressed her face. He sized Carlos up. He was a few inches shorter but Zayn definitely had more muscle. The satisfying thought of punching his square in the face ran through his mind.

"Yeah, before I walked in!" Zayn shouted.

He gripped Lauren by the arm and moved her from in between them. His movement was so quick that by the time Lauren blinked Carlos was on the ground and Zayn was on top of him. She quickly grabbed Zayn by his shirt, the paint on her hands staining the fabric.

"Get off him, Zayn!" She yelled just as  Zayn punched him in the jaw. Carlos tried his hardest to defend himself but struggled.

With adrenaline pumping through his veins, he reached over and pushed Lauren off of him. She fell to the floor with a loud thump.

It wasn't until he took a second to think that he realized what he was doing. He looked over at Lauren who had tears running down her cheeks with a terrified expression in her face. Carlos laid beneath him in a daze, blood coming out of his mouth and nose. Zayn climbed off of him and quickly kneel down in front of Lauren. Not knowing what to say, he reached out to touch her.

"Don't touch me!" She slapped his hand away.

"Move," Lauren said as she got up on her knees and pushed him out of the way so she could crawl over to Carlos who was moaning in agony.

He recognized that look in her eyes. That was a look of disgust and hatred.
He watched as she lightly touched Carlos' face and softly asked him if he was OK. Then, she turned her head to look at him and that look was back. She was repulsed, where face contorted in anger. He'd seen that same look in Dean's eyes before. It made him feel like a monster.

"We weren't doing anything you psycho!" Lauren shouted, her hands pressed against the man's chest. Even though something almost occurred, Lauren kept thinking to herself that she would've stopped it. To see Carlos in this state, all bruised up and bloody, angered her. Sure, he was wrong for coming onto her so suddenly but Zayn was wrong for acting out.

"I thought-"

"Get out," Lauren said not looking his way.

He gave up. There was no way they could have a reasonable conversation tonight. He would only pray she'd talk to him tomorrow. Just as he began to leave the room, he caught a glimpse of the canvas in the middle of it. He quickly acknowledged the extremely detailed artwork that were his and Dean's tattoos. They locked eyes again, Lauren still on the floor.

"I'm sorry," Zayn said before walking out of the apartment feeling like a piece of him was missing. He lost control....and maybe even Lauren.