Stand Up (1D - Zayn Malik Fan Fiction)

Thirty- Remember me, Lily?

You could always tell when Lily was upset because she’d focus on the ground and not look up, and she’d sniff every so often, unlike when she has a cold and she just blows her nose. As soon as she walked through the door with a small device in her hand not looking up I knew there was something wrong. It was about 5pm in the evening, and after a rather harsh hangover last night it was a surprise to see Lily in a bad mood like this. At first I didn’t even notice her mood; I saw the little device in her hand which I thought was a phone. Turns out that wasn’t the only thing she had to hide. As soon as she slammed the door it clicked. She was upset about something. I knew that it must’ve happened sometime during her work shift because when she left the house everything was fine and dandy. Whether it was to do with her co-workers or something else, I was yet to find out.

Lily storms past me in a rush to get to her bedroom but I grab a hold of her singlet just in time so that she comes to a complete stop. Her eyes dart from the ground to meet my eyes for less than a second before lowering again. Just in that half a second I could tell she had been crying- hard. Her eyes were bloodshot even more than this morning and she had red puffy bags around her eyes. Her cheeks were stained with tear marks and her hair and fallen out of her neat bun. This was nothing about a co-worker.
Lily tries to struggle out of my grip but I refuse to let go, intent on finding out what was wrong- although this probably wasn’t the right approach to it all. Too late now. 
‘Lily, babe, what happened?’ I pull Lily into a tight hug, and being that slight bit taller than her, I start to stroke her head. To my surprise she leans onto me and wraps her arms around me and starts to silently sob into my shoulder. 

This was only a surprise because Lily had always been one to keep these kind of feelings bottled up. Not once since she was officially with Niall had she cried, but when she was with Liam, before I’d known about Niall, she would get upset almost to this extent often. She’d later told me it was because of the Niall-Liam drama. I’d often sit down with her and help her with what I could, very few times she’d actually cry- but never not once had she ever been so upset that she’d willingly just cling onto me. That’s when I became more than concerned. I led her over to the couch and we sat down, or she did- I took my place on the floor. She sobbed into her hands, her back rising and falling harshly with every sharp intake of breath.

The device in her hand fell onto the floor with a crash and I’d then discovered it was a silver camera. I quickly glanced at it and realized something was on there that Lily was upset about. I reach over to grab it off the ground but Lily immediately swats my hand away, objecting.
‘Don’t,’ Lily huffs in between breaths and sobs- ‘save your eyes.’ I frown; I had to admit I was a bit puzzled. I scoop Lily’s hands up into mine and stroke her palm, trying to relax her. This is what Niall did when Lily was nervous- I recall him doing this on the night of the Melbourne concert.
‘What’s on that camera?’ I whisper, brushing stray strands of hair from her eyes.
‘I’d say have a look for yourself, but in this case, I think you’ll find it doesn’t help.’ She pauses, taking a deep breath in.

‘Niall had a party of his own, last night.’ She hesitates before continuing. ‘And he must’ve had a bit of fun.’ She huffs, crossing her arms.
‘What’s wrong with that?’ I coo, patting her back softly.
‘Well…’ She bites hard into her lip to stop herself from tearing up, but tears flow from her eyes freely down her cheeks. ‘He ended up in bed with Ella.’
I racked my brain for any Ella’s. There was the Ella who unloaded the trolleys at work, Ella who works at Coles, Ella at the hairdressers, Ella, Liam’s sister- and then it hit me like a rock to the stomach.
‘Ella? What? Why was she in Adelaide?’ I say, rather speechless.
‘WHAT WAS SHE DOING WITH NIALL?’ Lily snaps, yanking her hand from mine. I lean back, a bit taken aback, but Lily relaxes and apologizes.
‘Is that’s what’s on the camera?’ I gesture to the bit of metal in her hand. She unwraps her fingers from it and nods, playing with the grey cord.
‘Wait.’ She blinks, turning the camera on.