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Mibba

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It Haunts Me

The One Thing

I was just in the kitchen making myself something to munch on when I heard someone knocking on the front door. I quickly put down the knife, brushed my hands off and went to open the door.

“Oh, hey Zayn! You’re early,” I said after I swung the door open and it revealed Zayn on the other side.

“Yeah, I gave myself some time to get lost but I apparently found your house just fine,” he said as I ushered him inside.

“It’s quite easy to find. Aaliyah is just upstairs getting ready, she didn’t want to wear her school uniform,” I informed him as he followed me back to the kitchen.

“Your house is nice, Kace,” Zayn said as he took in his surroundings. “What is it you do?” He asked as he took a seat at the breakfast bar.

“I’m an architect,” I told him as I finished making my sandwich; I walked over to the refrigerator to grab a drink. “You want something to drink while you wait?” I asked Zayn and heard him say no while I looked for something to drink.

“Is there anything important I need to know about Aaliyah before we leave?” Zayn asked as he followed me to the kitchen table so I could eat.

“Um, well she’s allergic to peanuts so if the word peanut is in it, she can’t have it,” I told him as I took a bite of my sandwich.

“Really? How’d you figure that out?” He asked.

“When she was little one of her baby foods had peanut oil in it and her throat swelled shut and she broke out in hives,” I told him and a look of fear appeared on his face. “Oh! That reminds, I need to give you one of her epipens just in case,” I said as I stood up and went to the medical cabinet and grabbed one. When I walked back over to him I explained to him how to use it and then handed it to him.

“Hopefully I never need to use this,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, we’ve only had to use it a few times. She has kind of a strict diet just so we avoid peanuts,” I told him and he nodded his head.

“Anything else?” He asked.

“Absolutely no smoking, Zayn,” I sternly told him. “She has asthma.”

“Oh man, okay. I’ll do my best; will she warn me if she sees me pull out my pack?” Zayn asked and I nodded my head.

“Also, here’s a list of what type of metal she can wear. She’s allergic to metal,” I told him as I wrote a list down.

“How can you be allergic to metal?” Zayn pondered.

“She has sensitive skin, and if she wears a bad metal then she breaks out in a rash. She hates her rashes too so we avoid certain metals,” I told him.

“How’d you figure out she’s allergic to metal?”

“One day when she was a few months old I was changing her out of her onesie and she had little rash dots going down her stomach and I took her to the doctor and he said it was from the metal backs on the buttons and ever since we’ve had to put nail polish on the back of her buttons on all her jeans so she won’t get rashes,” I explained to him.

“I’m going to have to make note of these in my phone or I’ll forget,” Zayn said and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“No worries, that’s all you need to know,” I told him and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey Dad!” Aaliyah said as she came bounding into the kitchen. “Wow, it’s so weird saying dad now.”

“It’s weird hearing it, love,” Zayn told her as he engulfed her into a hug.

“I’m just gonna go put my shoes on, and then we can leave!” Aaliyah told Zayn as she walked to the hall closet.

“So Kace, what are you going to do tonight? You look awfully dressed up,” Zayn asked.

“Well I wore this to work, but I’m meeting up with Niall to grab dinner,” I told him as I shook my head and checked my phone.

“Oh yeah? Love my boy Niall,” Zayn said as he changed his attention elsewhere.

“Yeah, he’s been great to me,” I told him as I cleaned up the kitchen.

“Alright I’m ready to go!” Aaliyah said as she came running back into the kitchen.

“You two have fun, call me if you need anything,” I told Aaliyah as I placed a motherly kiss on her head.

--Zayn’s POV—

I parked my car outside a small restaurant that Aaliyah and I would be eating at tonight.

“So does your mum hang out with Niall a lot?” I curiously asked Aaliyah as I held the door open, to the restaurant, for her and she walked through before answering my question.

“Um, I have no idea to tell you the truth. This is the first time I’ve heard her say she’s going to hang out with him,” she told me and I nodded my head in acknowledgment before asking the hostess for a table.

“I see, so how was school today? Did you learn anything?” I asked her as we took a seat at our table and looked over the menus.

“Um, you know. Talked to my friends, went to class and that’s about it,” Aaliyah told me, and quickly adverted her attention elsewhere while biting her lip.

“That’s not all that happened. What else happened?” I asked her while setting my menu down.

“How can you tell? You barely know me,” she countered, out of curiosity.

“You focused on everything but our table and you began chewing your lip, those are things I do when I’m not telling the whole truth,” I told her while smiling at her. “Whatever happened, you can tell me. I know this is new for both of us, but the sooner you let me in, then the better we get along.”

“You’re right, but do you promise to let me in too?” She asked and I simply nodded my head while setting the menu down so I could give her my full attention. “There’s this girl, her name is Mikayla, and we don’t get on really well. Anyways, a lot of people know that I don’t know who my dad is and that I don’t have a father figure in my life, and today I was telling my friends in gym how I know who my dad is and that I met him. And don’t worry, I didn’t say it was you, I’ll let you announce that first. Well, Mikayla overheard and she began taunting me and saying how my dad is probably a druggie and a couch hopper that doesn’t even own the clothing on his back and that it would make sense because my mum was a slut when she had me,” Aaliyah finally finished informing me and my mouth about hit the table.

“So, what you’re saying is your bullied…because of me?” I asked her in disbelief.

“Not because of you! Just of the decisions mum made, but I don’t blame mum for it now that I know who you are. I just don’t know what to do sometimes,” Aaliyah confessed to me and I couldn’t help but have my heartbreak at the desperation in her eyes for an answer.

“I was bullied too, ya know?” I said to her and she looked at me with hope in her eyes.

“Yeah? How’d you deal with it?” She asked.

“I know what I’m about to tell might sound impossible to do, but trust me it works,” I told her and she nodded her head. “You just have to ignore them. Ignore them and focus on your real friends and your school work. That’s what I did and all of a sudden, my bullies left me alone.”

“I wish I had that kind of mindset like you,” she admitted as she hung her head.

“Hey, you can if you tell yourself that you have it. Not only did I completely ignore them, but I put all my focus on my friendship with your mum,” I told her and a sparkle lit in her eye.

“How old were you when this started?” She asked.

“It was when we were maybe 13 years old,” I told her while nodding my head.

“Is that when you realized you loved her as more than a friend?” Aaliyah excitedly asked.

“Not quite, I didn’t realize it until summer camp when my so called friends pushed me in the lake,” I told her and she nodded her head.

“Mum told me about that already, how she saved you and started yelling at those boys,” she told me and it made me smile as I reminisced.

“When you guys got back from camp, did you two become a couple immediately?” Aaliyah asked as she started to scan the menu again.

“Definitely not,” I told her as I, too, started looking at the menu again.

“Then when did you?”

“Tell you what, let’s order our food and after that I’ll tell you,” I told her as I waved our waitress over. We both rambled off our orders before the waitress walked away.

“Alright, so spill,” Aaliyah said as she looked at me intently, I chuckled before diving into the story.

”Come on, K! Just go to this party with me!” I exclaimed to Kacey who sat, with a grumpy look on her face, on my couch. I was invited to a party for a girl in the year above us tonight and I didn’t want to go alone. I also didn’t want to leave Kacey at home by herself. She was staying with us because her parents were visiting her older brother at university and she couldn’t go because of school.

“Zayn, I don’t want to go, okay!” Kacey exclaimed as she stood up and stomped her way upstairs to our guest room. I let out a frustrated groan before following her into the room.

“Why not? Give me one reason why you don’t want to go,” I asked her as I sat down on the bed and looked at her.

“Because I wasn’t invited. There are you happy?” Kacey said before turning away from me.

“It’s a party, Kacey. It doesn’t matter, people are just going to show up!”

“It does matter, Zayn! That girl doesn’t even like me, she’s always giving me the death glare in the halls, so why would I want to surround myself with people that don’t like me?!” Kacey yelled at me, and she hasn’t yelled at me like that in years.

“Kacey. I won’t let them do anything to you, you’re my best friend,” I said to her as I rest a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned around before speaking to me.

“And how do you suppose we’ll get out of the house without your parents knowing?” I smiled at her before pulling her into a hug.

“Leave that to me! You just need to get ready!” I told her before planting a kiss on her cheek and leaving the room to get ready myself.

“Dad? I don’t need a play by play! Just get to the party already!” Aaliyah exclaimed as she took a bite of her soup.

“Be patient, you’re just like your mother in that category,” I told her as I smirked. “Anyways before I was so rudely interrupted…”

At some point during the party Kacey ran off because she saw some of her friends there and wanted to go hang out with them for a little bit. I was currently talking to Alison, the girl who was throwing the party and invited me, when I saw a boy approach Kacey holding two cups in his hand. I felt this strong feeling in my stomach and my gut, it made me angry that another guy was talking to Kacey. There was no way I was jealous of him receiving attention from Kacey. I get her attention all the time, I am her best friend, and even if it kills me sometimes knowing nothing came from the kiss that happened years ago. I watched the two greet each other and I also watched how the guy offered Kace the other cup…and she took it. I mentally slapped myself before Alison pulled me from my train of focus.

“Zayn? Are you even listening to me?” Alison asked as she rests her hand on my shoulder and stepped closer to me so her body was pressed against mine. Alison is a fit girl, she’s tall, has blonde hair and well she’s really developed in the chest. She also knows how fit she is, and she shows it off which us, guys, love about her. Flaunt what you got, right?

“Huh? Sorry, I’m just worried about Kacey is all,” I told her while I looked back at Alison.

“What is it with your obsession with Kacey?!” Alison exclaimed with disgust on her face.

“She’s my best friend, Alison. I’m sorry if you can’t wrap your head around that,” I spat at her, causing her to take a step backwards. “Kacey didn’t even want to come in the first place so I’m sorry if I’m a little worried about her at the moment.”

“Yeah, well I don’t know why you brought her then, because no one invited her,” Alison said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Don’t you know, Alison? Kacey and I are a packaged deal,” I said before walking away from her. I walked in the direction I last saw Kacey and noticed she wasn’t in that general area anymore. I began making my rounds, trying to find her by asking some of our mutual friends if they’ve seen her. All of them, on the first floor of the house, said no so I made my way upstairs. I knew Kacey wouldn’t be up here but I decided to be safe and check. I walked towards the game room and saw one of our mutual friends, Patrick, talking to a girl.

“Hey Pat, sorry to interrupt, but have you seen Kacey?” I asked him and he nodded his head before pointing towards the hall that the bedrooms were on.

“Saw her go in that direction with some guy,” Pat told me before returning to his conversation before I showed up. I bunched my eyebrows together before walking in the direction that Pat told me he last saw Kacey. I checked the first door on the hall and it ended up being a very empty bathroom, just as I went to open the second door on the hall I heard a scream coming from the very last room. I quickly ran down the hall and threw the door open and in front of me was the same guy from before, on top of Kacey and trying to take her shirt off.

Immediately I grew angry, I ran the short distance to the bed where I threw the guy off Kacey and pulled my arm back to punch him in the face. I kept punching him until he stopped putting up a fight and grabbed Kacey’s hand before dragging her out of the house and all the way back to mine. As soon as we were safely back in my room, I pulled Kacey into a hug and rocked her back and forth.

“Are you okay?” I asked her after a few minutes.

“I am now,” she sniffled and I gently patted her hair.

“Why’d you go into that room with him, K?” I asked her and heard her release a sigh.

“Because I’m an idiot. I was talking to him but he said we should take our conversation someplace more quiet, because the music was so loud, so I followed him upstairs and into that room. I didn’t think anything of it but one second we’re talking and then next thing you know he’s on top of me, forcefully kissing me and trying to rip my clothes off.”

“You could have gotten raped, Kace,” I told her and she quickly snapped her head to me.

“Yeah well, you were too caught up in your conversation with Alison to even notice I went upstairs,” Kacey said as she stood up to go to her room.

“Why are you so upset that I was talking to Alison?” I asked her as I followed her to her room.

“You must be daft, Zayn! Have you hardly been paying attention to the way I am around you for the past 2 years?” Kacey said before rolling her eyes and shutting the door.

“What does that mean?” I said but got no response. I rolled my eyes before stomping back to my room and shutting my door before throwing myself on my bed. I laid in my bed for about fifteen minutes just thinking about what Kacey said, what was she doing these past 2 years that was any different from what she normally does? I mean whenever we do hang out now she always dresses really girly with makeup and her hair done. Whenever she does something different to her hair she always asks me if I like it, and I always tell her I do because I really do always like what she does with it. She hugs me more, as I turned things over in my head I felt my phone buzz from inside my pocket. I pulled it out with confusion, who was texting me at this hour?

Kacey-Kat:
It means everything, Zayn. But no worries, my parents come home tomorrow so I’ll be out of your hair.


That’s when it clicked, she fancies me. I jumped out of my bed and quickly walked to my door, but stopped as soon as my hand landed on the door knob. She locked the door to her room. I quickly turned around and climbed out of my bedroom window onto my roof before walking over to the window of Kacey’s room. I knocked on it four times before I was greeted with a very confused Kacey, unlocking her window.

“Are you an idiot? The door is unlocked, you know?” Kacey said once she opened the window and backed away so I could climb in.

“Actually, I didn’t know that. Normally you lock the door,” I told her once both my feet were on the ground of her room, I turned around and shut the window.

“Yeah well, maybe I was hoping for a differ—“ I cut her off my slamming my lips against hers, and after a few seconds she started to kiss me back.

“I like you too,” I told her once we pulled apart, a smile on my face.

“What about Alison?” Kacey asked, with a sad expression on her face.

“Oh please, I don’t fancy her. Sure she’s fit and I wouldn’t mind dating her, but I wouldn’t be dating her for the right reasons,” I whispered to her and watched as a smile slowly grew on her face. “Now you, you’re the complete package. You’ve got the best personality ever, you’re my best friend and you’re really fit.” Kacey smiled at me before pressing her lips to mine again, we moved our lips against one another’s before I backed her up and we fell onto her bed.

“Dad, if this is the part where you and mum began the process of making me, then please leave it out,” Aaliyah said with disgust.

“We didn’t do that! That wasn’t for a while,” I informed her while I paid the bill for our meal and then led Aaliyah out of the restaurant. “Now come on, it’s getting late and I told your mum I’d get you back so you could get enough sleep for school.”

We got into my car and I quickly pulled out on to the streets of Bradford. We sat in silence for a little while, with nothing but the radio playing, and it was a comfortable silence.

“Dad, can I ask you a question?” Aaliyah asked, breaking the silence, while turning the radio down.

“Of course, “ I told her while keeping my focus on the road.

“Do you still love mum?” My eyes got wide, because I wasn’t quite expecting her to ask that question.

“I—yeah, I do. There’s just something about your mum that I can’t get over. I never wanted us to break up, especially the way that we did,” I confessed to her before turning onto her street.

“How did you two break up?” Aaliyah asked and I sucked in my breath.

“Sweetheart, I think that’s a story that both your mother and I need to tell you,” I told her as I pulled up outside the house and saw Kacey wasn’t home from grabbing dinner with Niall yet.

“Well, if you ever want to get back with her, you might want to act quick before Niall snatches her up. I know she talks to him a lot,” Aaliyah informed me as I turned the car off and climbed out. Aaliyah and I walked up to the front porch and I patiently waited for her to unlock the door before following her inside.

“Your mum and I have a lot of baggage that we need to clear up,” I told her as I shut the door behind me.

“You know I can be home by myself, right?” Aaliyah said as she took her shoes off by the door.

“I know, but I just want to make sure your mum gets home okay,” I told her, taking my shoes off as well.

“Alright, whatever you say. I’m going to go to bed, I’ll talk to you later dad,” Aaliyah said and I pressed a kiss to her forehead before she made her way up the stairs. I walked around the house, furthermore, than I was able to earlier. I took in all the decorations in each room and remembered Kacey telling me that this is how she wanted to decorate our house, but we never got around to moving in together because management had to ruin that.

I found myself in their living room looking at the photos, framed above the fire place. I smiled at some of their family photos but one of them really made me smile. It was a photo of Kacey and Aaliyah, who was maybe 4 years old, holding a black lab puppy, Kacey always told me she’d get a dog for her kids. I, then, focused my attention on a photo of Kacey, holding a cat that looked a lot like Freckles, her old cat, and then I realized I haven’t seen it at her house or at her parent’s house. I was so engrossed with looking at Kacey’s photos that I didn’t even hear the front door open and close, let alone, Kacey’s heels clicking their way into the living room.

“Hey Zayn, you didn’t need to stay here, Aaliyah is old enough to be home by herself,” Kacey said from behind me and I quickly spun around. My eyes widened at her appearance, maybe Aaliyah was right, maybe Niall was trying to sweep Kacey off her feet. Kacey wore an orange dress, which ended a few inches above the knee with some nude heels.

“I know, but I was already here so I figured I’d wait,” I told her and she nodded her head while she bent over to take her heels off. “You look nice. How was dinner with Niall?”

“It was really nice, we went to that one place that’s just down the street from the candy store we used to go to all the time,” Kacey said while taking her earrings out.

“Kipling’s?” I asked her as I sat down on their couch.

“Yeah! That’s the place, it was really good,” she told me while putting her coat and purse in the hall closet. “How was your evening with Ali?”

“It was lovely, I bought her some new clothes and shoes, I hope you don’t mind,” I told her and she waved it off.

“Not at all, I’ve been meaning to take her shopping I just haven’t had any time to do so.”

“There was one thing she told me that I’m a bit worried about though,” I said to Kacey who looked up at me, with confusion written on her face.

“What might that be?” She asked.

“Do you know that she’s being bullied at school?”

“She’s not being bullied, she would have told me, Zayn,” Kacey said, shrugging it off.

“It’s by a girl named Mikayla. Her latest strike was making fun of Aaliyah for finally finding out who her dad is and the girl claims I’m some low-life, couch hopping, drug injecting loser. Oh, and that you were a slut,” I informed her and she gave me an incredulous look.

“What?! There’s no way that’s happening. Ali would have told me,” Kacey said, and she was upset.

“Kace, people don’t always tell their parents their being bullied. I never told my parents, and you never told yours,” I informed her and I could tell Kacey was really upset.

“She just had to inherit that from us,” Kacey, disappointedly, said. “Why’d she tell you first and not me?”

“I don’t know, that’s something you’ll have to ask her. But at dinner I asked how school was and I could tell that something was bothering her, she does that same thing as me—“

“Yeah, she bites her lip and looks everywhere but where the conversation is located, I know,” Kacey said as she pushed her hair back from her forehead. “I can’t believe I never noticed.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it. Bullying is tough to deal with, you and I both know that. Especially me, I was bullied for my background and heritage, you were bullied because girls were jealous of you. Being bullied for your lifestyle, is completely different and we tend to hide it better,” I informed and she nodded her head.

“I remember Zayn. I didn’t catch on to yours for the longest time,” she said with a weak smile on her face.

“Should I talk to her about it, maybe?” Kacey asked after a few moments of silence.

“I already did. I told her to ignore them and focus on her real friends and school,” I smiled at her. “Look, I’ve got to get back to mum’s before I’m locked out. I didn’t grab the spare key before I left and mum text me saying I had until ten o’clock to get home before she locks the door,” I told Kacey as I stood up. She stood up with me and walked me over to the door where I pulled her in for a hug. She still smelled the same, like lavender, it brought a smile to my face.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Kacey told me as I stepped outside.

“I’ll call you tomorrow to make dinner arrangements?” I asked her and she nodded her head before shutting the door. I walked to my car with a smile on my face, but little did I know, Kacey was inside crying because I’d gotten into our daughter’s head and it only took me one dinner with her and its taken Kacey sixteen years.

Notes

Sorry I've neglected this for so long!!


Kacey
Aaliyah

Comments

Update pleasee
hazzaismylover hazzaismylover
11/30/13
Please update!
HopelessDream HopelessDream
9/8/13
Love it!!!! Updateeee !!
hazzaismylover hazzaismylover
7/25/13
love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kirsten Horan Kirsten Horan
7/25/13
update i love this story it's amazayn!
Mofo Mofo
7/25/13