4. Decisions

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Zayn leaned on the wall, his side still giving him a hard time. He was waiting outside the school, in their spot, waiting for Liam to show up. He was slightly worried, because Liam was later than he’d ever been and Zayn couldn’t shake the thought that maybe Ruth and Nicola had done something to him.

There were the sounds of kids laughing cruelly and hollers of amusement coming from the front yard. “Hey, Payne! Too busy spending all your money on lube and condoms you couldn’t afford a new outfit?” Zayn heard someone yell. He pushed himself slowly along the wall to see Liam still wearing the same clothes he’d worn yesterday and taking the insults with his head bowed and his eyes looking straight at Zayn sadly.

Zayn swallowed thickly, wishing he could do something for Liam. Any other time, he’d go and walk with Liam, hold his hand and take the insults with him, but he knew with the pain he was feeling right now, he’d topple over and be an even easier target and no help to Liam. He cringed as he watched Aiden roughly pull Liam from his path towards Zayn and throw him to the ground. The crowd all laughed, cheering Aiden on as he kicked Liam repeatedly in the stomach. All Zayn could do was yell and cry, watching as Aiden continued to hurt Liam and Matt joined in, picking Liam up and punching him everywhere he could reach.

Liam didn’t try to fight back. Yeah, it hurt, but he loved the feeling of being beat over the feeling of seeing Zayn standing there looking so sad, especially knowing what was about to happen. He could tell Zayn wanted to come to him, but he knew Zayn was hurting. It was just as well, it would be a lot harder to go through with everything if Zayn braved this crowd of assholes with him.

“Hey, hey! Step the fuck back and leave him alone, you bastards!” Someone yelled, the audience parting like the Red Sea to let the small boy through.

Aiden turned to him and growled. “What the fuck do you want, Tomlinson? Get out of here and let us finish giving this kid what he deserves.” Matt nodded and the crowed agreed with a chorus of ‘yeah’.

Louis pushed Matt and Aiden out of his way and went to help Liam off of the ground. “Come on, Liam. We’re gonna get you to the nurse. It looks pretty bad this time. Where’s Zayn?” He asked as he walked through the silent crowd. No one dared try to stop him, Louis was the most feared person on campus. He didn’t take anyone’s shit and even though he was small, he beat the hell out of anyone who crossed him. He was one of the only people that ever helped Zayn and Liam, the others being his best friends Niall and Harry.

“Over by the wall.” Liam answered quietly, jerking his head in Zayn’s direction.

Louis looked up and saw the black haired boy slowly making his way over to the two of them. “Shit.” He gasped, leaning Liam on the wall and helping Zayn over to him. He then preceded to help the two of them into the school and to the nurse’s office. “Mrs. Brown?” Louis called out into the office, having set Liam and Zayn down in the chairs by the door. He walked into the office and smiled sadly at their school nurse.

“What’s wrong, Louis?” She asked, standing to check on the boy. He’d often come in with an injury from soccer or the rare rough fight. “Are you alright, love?”

Louis smiled at her concern. “Yeah, I am. But Liam and Zayn, not so much.” He said sadly. Nurse Brown nodded understandingly and walked into the waiting area, seeing Zayn and Liam both looking at the floor quietly. Neither of them seemed to be in good shape.

“Thank you for bringing them in, Louis.” She said, nodding as the short boy walked out of the office saying goodbye to Liam and Zayn. “Come on, you two, we’re gonna get you both into the room and I’m gonna give you some pain pills and hopefully you’ll be okay for the day.”

Liam and Zayn got up and followed Mrs. Brown into the room where she had the cots set up. They sat down on the cots, automatically facing each other out of habit. They stayed quiet, waiting until the nurse had watched them take the medicine and went back into her office to start talking.

“I’m so sorry, Zayn. Your dad hurt you, again, and it’s all my fault. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I love you, and you know that, I would never have tried for this to happen to you. I am so sorry, ba- Zayn.” Liam rambled of, his voice quiet and pained.

Zayn got up and walked to Liam’s cot, sitting by his side and laying his head on Liam shoulder. “It’s not your fault, baby. Don’t start blaming yourself. And I’m sorry I couldn’t come when they were… ya know.” He said, not wanting to think about Liam getting beat up.

Liam scooted away from Zayn, turning on the cot to face him. “Look, Zayn. I can’t do this to you anymore. I hate being the reason that your dad and mom beat you. So I’m gonna make it easy for you.” Liam said sadly. Zayn looked at him, concerned. Whenever Liam got like this, nothing good could possibly happen. “Zayn, we have to break up. It’s for your own good, babe.” Liam said, knowing Zayn was going to try and argue with him.

Zayn scoffed. “Liam. Why is this always the best option for you? Not being with you would be a thousand times worse than anything they, or anyone, could ever do to me.” Zayn said. Liam just sat there with his head down, and Zayn sighed. “But fine, if that’s what you want, then okay. You can leave me right now and you’ll never have to see me again or worry about anything ever happening to me. Because I’m not gonna do this anymore.” He said, going back to his own cot.

Liam finally looked up. “What does that mean?” He asked wearily. “Please don’t say what I think you’re saying to me right now.” He pleaded.

Zayn looked away from Liam’s hard gaze. “I’m tired, Li. I’m tired of everyone hurting me, I’m tired of them hurting you and making you feel like anything is your fault. I’m tired of seeing you unhappy and of being unhappy myself.” He said sadly. He looked Liam in the eye and said, “I’m ending this all tomorrow.”

Liam got up and kneeled in front of Zayn. “Please, baby, no. You can’t do that, you can’t! If you do, then they all win. They all pushed you to the edge and they win. You can’t do that and let them win, Zayn.” He pleaded. He could tell Zayn wasn’t gonna change his mind, so he tried a different tactic. “Fine, do it. But I’m doing it with you. I’m not gonna live in a world like this knowing you’re not alive. If you’re doing it, then I’m going with you. We’ll do it together and we’ll spend those last moments of our lives happy with each other.” He said, nodding so that Zayn wouldn’t disagree with him.

They were both crying, and Zayn got down on the floor, hugging Liam as tight as he could. “I love you so much, Liam.”

Liam nodded, kissing Zayn’s lips softly. “I love you, too, babe.”

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A/N: well. i dunno what to say, but uhm, sorry? let me know how you're all feeling right now, cause i know i'm upset.

dedication to punkziiall for his amazing comments on all the chapters.

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