Read My Lips: Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Zach’s p.o.v

As I left Maisie’s house, I couldn’t help but feel bad. She was worried about why I had to leave, and I felt awful about the fact that I couldn’t tell her. All I could do was stare dumbly at my phone which was in my hands as I walked to my destination.

I need to meet you. Come to the usual fighting place. Tell anyone and I’ll kill you. M.

It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for me to receive a text like this, but the end part, for some reason, made me nervous. I don’t think he’d ever sent me a text like that before. However, it made my more angry than nervous. How dare he threaten to kill me?

Following my usual route, I made my way to the dark alley where most of the fights I got involved with took place. The text gave me a bad feeling and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. It didn’t scare, I knew that for sure. Nothing scared me, I didn’t get scared.

The alley walls were covered in graffiti. It was obvious that this was where gangs of people hung out at. Smashed alcohol bottles were scattered along the edges of the walls as well as broken crates. It was your typical alley where fights were held. The dark just added a more eerie feel to the alley.

A dark hooded figure lurking in the corner of the alley caught my attention straight away. I didn’t have to think twice before I knew who it was. And like every previous time, I made my way towards him before standing in front of him with no emotion on my face.

“What do you want now, Max?” I demanded, folding my arms across my chest. This guy was probably the most irritating man you could ever wish to meet.

His pale grey eyes stood out the most; they had an evil look to them. It also didn’t contribute well to his too skinny face off all the drugs he uses and the alcohol he drinks. His features made him look older. No one would really guess that this guy was only twenty-five years old.

Max chuckled at me before walking out of the dark shadows and pulling his hood down. “So, you haven’t been fighting lately.” He stated, the smell of alcohol lingering in his breath. The smell made me crinkle my nose in disgust.

“I’ve been a little pre-occupied, buddy.” I said referring to Maisie. Not that I’d ever tell him about her. Who knew what he’d do. He wasn’t one to think before he acted, that was for certain.

“Well, buddy,” He began copying my choice of words. “I, for one, miss you fighting around here. I won’t lie now; it is pretty fun watching you lose the upper hand slightly every once in a while.”

“Not that it’s any of you concern, but I’ve had more important things to deal with than fighting for you.”

He laughed a humourless laugh at my reply. “Sure you’ve had more important things to deal with. Note the sarcasm there buddy, I wasn’t been nice. Which I’m sure you knew. However, I need you fighting again.”

I stared at him as if he had suddenly grown another head. Was he been serious? Did he think he could threaten me to come here then order me like that? “You what?”

“You heard me. You need to fight for me again.” Max repeated. It wasn’t as if he was asking me to fight for him though, no, definitely not. He was demanding me to fight for him again. He wasn’t giving me a choice in the matter.

“No, absolutely not. I refuse to fight for you again.” I finalised. I wasn’t going to fight for him, Maisie was my priority and getting her through her operation this weekend was the only thing on my mind. Nothing would change the fact that she was my main priority. I’d do absolutely anything to make sure that she’d be safe.

“You will fight for me,” He demanded, taking a step closer towards me before lowering his face to mine. “You will or I’ll hurt someone you deeply care about.”

I felt the anger rise up inside when he spoke those words. My hands went into fists at his words as I stared at him. The only people I cared about were my mum and Maisie. They were the only people I really had.

“I… I… No. No you won’t.” Sure it sounded like I was testing him, but I couldn’t be sure that he was telling me the truth or not. Maybe he was just saying it so I’d cave into him straight away and go back to fighting for him.

“Shut up, you sound like a girl. I told you, you will. Who shall I hurt? Hmm?” He questioned. As if he had permission to question me who he should hurt. He faked a thinking look and held his hand to his chin.

Annoyed by his response, I took a step closer to him. “You won’t hurt anyone that I care about.” I demanded. The way he was going on, I wasn’t even sure whether he knew about Maisie or not. He couldn’t know; we only became official today.

Max ‘tutted’ at me whilst circling my body. Finally he stopped in front of me again. “Maybe I’ll just have to watch you to see who you care about the most. Then we’ll see who wins this argument.”

I knew I had to keep Maisie safe. She didn’t deserve to have to put up with the trouble in my life. I hadn’t meant to even drag her into it in the first place. And I knew there was only one way I could do it.

“Fine. Fine, I’ll fight for you again. But you won’t hurt anyone I care about.” I warned him. I wasn’t going to allow him to destroy my life more than he already had

“We’ll see about that, won’t we?” He smirked. A smug look covered his face as he stared at me. I really wanted to punch him. My anger was building up inside of me.

“I’m warning you, you won’t touch anyone I care about. I have friends who can easily attack you.” I threatened.

I did have friends who could attack him- Jake, Dan and Ryan could- but there was no way that they’d ever succeed in fighting him. Sure, he wasn’t as strong as he could be considering all the damage he’d done to his body, but he was still strong and he had people who’d back him up in a heartbeat.

“Oh, yeah? And you know for a fact that I have bigger, stronger friends who could easily kill you with one punch.” He said, confirming my thoughts. I knew he did, his friends were just like him; drug addicts. But the drugs they took didn’t really affect them; they only seemed to make them stronger.

I glared at him, finally snapping from the anger that was building up inside of me. “You know what? This is why you don’t have anyone willing to fight for you. You’re such a dick that you have to force people into fighting for you. You have to threaten people just to make it look like you have friends.”

Max chuckled at me, his laugh humourless. “Oh, Zach. You always were the funny one. You don’t realise how much you sound like a girl right now don’t you? You’re weak. You’re not as strong as you make yourself out to be, are you? You threaten people with words…”

I blanked out at what he was saying now. I couldn’t reply to him. I was too busy trying to keep my anger at bay to even think of a reply.

“Now, goodbye.” He said before pulling back up his hood and walking off leaving me stood there in the alley way staring at where he left.

And there was only one person on my mind at that moment.

Maisie.

----

As I sat on my bed, what Max had said to me earlier on in the day was swirling around my mind. I couldn’t let him find out about Maisie, he couldn’t hurt her. There was only one way to keep her safe and I knew no matter how painful it would be; I had to do it.

But I’d wait until after her operation, I’d promised her I’d stay by her side and that was exactly what I was going to do. I wouldn’t let her down, especially when I’d just gotten her to be my girlfriend.

Even though we’d only just gotten together, I already felt a strong need to protect her. The last thing I wanted was to drag her into my fucked-up life, but at the same time, I wanted her in my life. I only really had my mum who cared about me. (Well, Ryan, Jake and Dan but they were guys).

Now though, I had Maisie in my life and I knew she cared about me; I could tell by her face when I received that text and had to abruptly leave. I cared a lot about her too. Maybe too much considering the amount of time that I had known her for.

All I knew right then was that before my situation got out of control; I had to spend as much time with Maisie as I could. I had to show her how much I cared for her before I ruined everything.

Maisie’s p.o.v

As my family sat around the dining table that same night eating dinner, I could only think about Zach. Was he in some sort of trouble? I knew he could take care of himself but still, the thought scared me.

What if he needed help but he had no one he could reach? My mind was swirling with all of these crazy thoughts. What if he was in a fight? What if he was injured? What if it was something much worse? What if he was…?

Fingers snapping in front of my face pulled me out of my trance. I looked up from my food to see my parents staring at me, concern etched all over their faces.

“Is everything ok?” Mum asked whilst she re-filled her glass of water. She repeated the same action to dad’s, Ashton’s and my glass before she placed the jug back down in the middle of the table.

“Er… Yeah… Everything fine. Can I be excused?” I asked, not bothering to wait for a reply. I had already picked up my plate and began to leave the dining room.

After duping my half eaten food in the kitchen, I headed upstairs and into my room. Once I’d gotten ready for bed, I pulled my long blonde hair up into a loose bun before sitting on my bed staring at my phone.

Should I text him? What If I was just annoying him? Ok, enough with the ‘what ifs’ Maisie.

Ignoring the nerves in my stomach, I opened a text to Zach.

Is everything ok? I typed before hitting send.

Everything’s totally fine. Don’t worry, trust me. J

His reply made me smile. I hoped he was telling the truth and he wasn’t lying. I couldn’t see his face so I had no idea how he was really feeling.

Are you sure? I hit send, again, before putting my hands on my face. I felt like I was one of those over bearing girlfriends.

I’m sure. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Are you ok? I didn’t mean to worry you earlier.

How did a reply make my stomach erupt into butterflies? I had sent him a message worrying over him and he switched it over to ask me if I was ok.

I’m fine, I’m just glad everything’s ok with you. Have a nice night.

After sending that message, I didn’t bother looking at my phone for a reply. I simply got into bed and pulled my bed covers over my head.

All I wanted to do was sleep. My head was hurting and I had far too much on my mind at the minute. First my thoughts would flicker from my up-coming operation to Zach and then back again. Both thoughts made me nervous so my stomach was constantly in knots.

I tried my best to forget those thoughts as I closed my eyes and settled down into bed. I could worry about those later, right now I needed to sleep.

----

The following day, my previous thoughts weren’t affecting me as much as they had been. I’d forgotten about them slightly.

As usual, I showered, got dressed and made my way downstairs for breakfast. At the table, my mum was sat with Austin, helping him to eat his breakfast. Her plate was in front of her, another plate opposite her. Dad, however, was nowhere to be seen.

“Morning honey,” she smiled at me once she’d noticed me come in. “There’s your breakfast, I made your favourite.”

I looked down at the homemade pancakes in front of me. My mouth watered just at the sight of them. Going by my usual habit, I picked up the golden syrup and poured it all over my pancakes. Unhealthy, I know.

“Where dad?” I asked, digging into my pancakes; the taste exploding in my mouth. Pancakes were my favourite things in the world. If I had the choice, I’d live on them.

“He’s in the garage I think. Hey, do you want to take Austin to the park or something?” She asked, picking up Austin’s now empty plate and placed it in the sink before returning and wiping down his face.

I nodded at my mum. “Sure.”

After finishing off my breakfast, I pulled on my coat and shoes and done the same to Austin. We said goodbye to mum before heading off to the park.

“Are you excited?” I asked Austin, looking down at his little figure as he skipped along the path beside me.

He beamed up at me, his little face lighting up. “I am! I love the park. Can we go on the swings? Please, please, please!” He chanted.

“We can, hurry up.” I grinned. I pulled him along with me as we started running along the path.

No matter how bad I felt, I could always count on my little brother to make me smile. The kid was crazy.  And I swear he was far too clever for his age.

But, the little guy sure did take my mind off all the things that I’d been worrying about the previous night.

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Happy Valentines Day!! Real early update considering how bad I am at it but i've been off school ill these past two days bc ill D:

I have mixed feelings on the ending of this, I feel like I should have kept it all in Zach's p.o.v. I also hate p.o.v changes so I don't know why I ever did them with this story. Ps: new story coming March/April 2014 in the external link.

But, anywayyy, Vote/Comment/Follow? It really means alot!:3