Rui_Li@RuiIceJasmine
"I want to go home."
You stepped into the den where your boyfriend is, who was busy playing pool and laughing along with his buddies, cue stick in one hand, beer in the other hand. "Carter. I. want. to. go. home."
Carter looked at you before groaning as the other guys around him snickered and shook their heads. "But I'm having such a good time, babe. Aren't you? Besides Ilya isn't even ready to go yet."
Ilya. That damn girl. His ex, who for some reason he still lets ride his car and even takes her home with you. Actually, he drops her off after dropping you off each time you and his friends happened to be out or in a party.
You didn't even want to be in this party. You wanted to study for midterms but this damn boyfriend of yours came to get you and told you that you 'needed to relax'.
Well, some form of relaxation this was. All you're doing is getting pissed off with his unexplainable attachment to his ex and why he drops you home first before her when your home is much farther than hers.
"I'm ready to go home. She can spend however long she wants to be here. You have other friends who can take her home instead." You seethe quietly, barely able to mask the venom in your tone.
"Just another hour baby, come on — " Carter starts to ask pathetically but was cut off as the 7 ball sank into the pocket right in front of him.
"If you have any decency in your body, Carter, you'd take her home now. Your girlfriend shouldn't have to plead for you to take her home." Zayne Li — Caleb's best friend for all intents and purposes — intervened, straightening up briefly, rubbing the chalk to the tip of the cue stick before bending over once more and lining up his cue stick, his gaze locked on the 8 ball.
Your eyes snapped to the raven-haired man, pleasantly and weirdly surprised. In spite of his supposed 'Caleb's best friend' status, he never spoke more words than necessary and prefers to keep mostly to himself.
He also was your first love — which you forced yourself to bury seeing as he prefers his books rather than enjoy others' company. You do have good memories from when you were much, much younger though, remembering him lifting you all wobbly on his shoulders when your kite got stuck on a tree branch.
You gave up when you felt that he would never see you as anything more than Caleb's younger cousin, even as you grew up and continued seeing him every other day.
"Shut uppp." Carter's irritated voice pulled you back to the present and you turned to him realizing him to be slightly drunk and defensive. "People who aren't in a relationship doesn't have any right to — "
"I'm not in a relationship but I have the right to call you out on your bullshit." Zayne cut him off almost monotonously, straightening up as he pocketed the 8 ball without so much as breaking a sweat. His eyes flickered briefly to you, hazel irises intense, before flickering back to Carter. "Caleb won't be holding himself back from socking you with how you're treating her and you can count on me to not stop him this time."
This time? Had Caleb already tried to punch him before?
Before you could ask anything Carter scoffed, his ears turning red. From anger or embarrassment, you're not sure but it felt incredibly satisfying to hear the Zayne Li call him out, loud and clear, that people started to pay attention and watch the spectacle unfolding. "Oh high and mighty Li, since you are god's gift to medicine why don't you take her home instead? That way you could finally make a move on herrr and she can finally say yessss." He glowered at Zayne, his words slightly slurring.
The room fell silent. So much so you could hear a pin drop in the silence.
You felt the blood rush into your cheeks and you felt hot tears of embarrassment form in your eyes. Why did that sound as if he was making you out to be a... loose girl of some sort? Like Zayne is someone who will go after a girl who already had a boyfriend?
Zayne looked at you — your expression — and you met his eyes. You were startled; his hazel eyes were dark and stormy. Your gaze lowered to see his fists clench and unclench and you belatedly realized that you may not need Caleb to throw the punch this time.
"I will take her home." He walked around the table to stand in front of your boyfriend and Carter bristled, realizing a little too late that Zayne might actually sock him instead. "But not because I'm trying to prove a point, it was because your inebriation makes you a damn hazard to her and other people in the road. Go take your ex-girlfriend home when you're sober enough."
"You — "
He pushed his cue stick against Carter's chest and pushed past him, uncaring of the fact that he had actually shoulder-checked him. "Let's go." He took your arm gently and pulled you out of the den, which had grown suffocating.
You said nothing, merely allowing Zayne to pull you out of there. Everything felt surreal, like you were having an out-of-body experience. This is the first time in years that Zayne dropped his filter, let alone said anything connected to you at all.
You snapped out of it when you reached your ride, and your mouth dropped open when Zayne let go of your arm to reach for a helmet he seemed to have pulled out of nowhere.
He was standing beside a silver supersport Ducati.
"Y-You drive a... superbike?" You croaked in surprise.
Zayne's lips twitched into the barely-there smirk that you recognized is his version of a huge grin. "I do."
"I never had you pegged as a superbike kind of guy." You said weakly, accepting the helmet. "Is Caleb aware of this?"
He shrugged. "Yes. He in fact, suggested rather enthusiastically for me to get this. I drive safely, if that's what you're worried about."
Rich people and their damn money. You thought, pulling the helmet over your head clumsily. He noticed, approaching you with his hands held up as if surrendering to you.
"I can help you with that but I'll have to touch you. Requesting permission."
You chuckled, in spite of yourself, in disbelief. Zayne is actually funny. "Permission granted."
He lifted the helmet from your head once more, gathered your hair to one side, asked for your hair tie, and surprised you by doing your hair in a side braid before securing the helmet over your head in record time.
Woah. He knows how to braid hair???
He then secured his own helmet, and you nearly jumped when you heard his voice from inside yours. "You can talk to me here if you want to. We'll be able to hear each other clearly even while I'm driving."
The sound of his voice by your ear had you trembling with excitement.
"O-Okay." You said, and he nodded encouragingly.
"Here."
He handed you his jacket that he had slipped from his own body and you had to gulp nervously as he revealed his low v-neckline black shirt, his clavicle in full view along with his toned biceps.
Goddammit. He is one hot doctor-to-be.
No. You shook your head mentally. You have a boyfriend. You still do. You can't let your unrequited crush resurface after burying it. Supposedly. Your boyfriend is still existing.
Even when all he's done is disrespect your boundaries.
"It's not that cold." You said, holding out the jacket again but Zayne shook his head.
"It's for road rush. I drive safely but I still want you to be comfortable."
You shrugged, then slipped the jacket on. You unconsciously inhaled — even being surrounded by different scents earlier, the jacket still smelled nice; minty and fresh and something uniquely Zayne.
You snapped out of it as he swung a long leg over the bike, settling himself effortlessly on it.
"Come here."
His tone — which slightly turned authoritative — was enough to weaken your knees. You ignored it, approaching him as he tilted the bike sideways.
"Hold on to me and sit."
Why is he talking like that??? You mentally exclaimed, realizing that you really do need to hold on to him. He showed you where to place your foot, and you held onto his shoulders with a death grip as you wobbled dangerously while swinging your leg over. It was a good thing your dress is sturdy and stretchy and you were able to settle behind him.
Reality just sank in for you — you're on Zayne's motorcycle, holding onto him like it was nothing, like you had been doing this for years in spite of just speaking full sentences to each other an hour ago for the first time in a long while.
"Hold on to me." He said, and you tentatively placed your hands on his broad shoulders.
"Not there. Here." He removed your hands and had you wrap your arms around his abdomen instead that you swore you felt electricity zap between you and you could feel the blush creep up your neck. "You'll fall off if you don't hold on properly."
And with that, he sped off.
____________
Contrary to the easy camaraderie you shared earlier, it was silent again as Zayne drove you to your home, leaving you to your thoughts.
Carter's behavior earlier has opened your eyes to the reality of what he was doing — of what he was not doing. You hadn't said much when he had first started doing this, because he claimed that he and Ilya belonged in one friend group and they had broken up amicably and things would be just awkward if they ignore each other while being in the same friend group. His behavior earlier, for some reason, just cemented the fact that there seems to be something more going on.
So now you have to ask yourself, are you willing to stay in a relationship that you seemed to be competing with the ex? Not to mention, one where he made you out to be some kind of weak woman who yields to temptation?
"I'm sorry."
Zayne's deep baritone voice came through the speaker, and you nearly startled.
"What? Why?"
There were a few more seconds of silence before he responded.
"I should have said something earlier. Carter's behavior... it's disrespectful."
"It's not your fault. If anything... I didn't say anything immediately too." You reasoned out, tightening your arms around his abdomen as he turned the corner of your street. "I should've said something from the start."
Zayne pulled to a stop in front of your house, turning the engine off. For a moment, neither of you moved, before he patted your arms. You let him go, thankful that the helmet covered your blush as he slid off the bike.
"D-Did you want to ask me out?" You asked before you could stop yourself, recalling Carter's words from earlier.
Zayne said nothing as he turned to you, seeming to see you through the tinted lenses of the helmet. He then slipped his off, placing it on one of the handlebars before holding out a hand of yours.
He's not saying anything... you thought as you removed your helmet. He did the same, placing it on the other handlebar and you squeaked rather un-lady-like as he wrapped an arm around your waist, lifting you up and off the bike, making you clutch onto his shoulders as you were temporarily suspended in mid-air.
He placed you down on the ground with all the care of someone who was handling fine china.
"I did." He admitted, looking into your eyes and your lips opened in disbelief. "I was too slow."
"Zayne — "
"You don't have to answer. I'm not placing any responsibility nor pressure for you to respond to me. Not when you're still with Carter."
You could hear your heartbeat ringing in your ears.
He bent and lifted your chin up with a finger. "I do want you to understand that you come first. Your feelings matter. That you should always be the priority and that you should never come second.
I'm not telling you to break up with him nor stay with him. You are a smart woman who knows what's best for you and someone who can decide for yourself. All I want is for you to be happy."
He was right.
Zayne's lips curved into a small smile he seemed to have only reserved for you, you noticed now. "I'll be here whenever you need someone not drunk to take you home."
So saying, he pressed his lips to your forehead, murmuring good night. He had already worn his helmet and straddled his bike before you remembered to thank him.
With a honk, he sped off.
You turned towards the gate of the house your grandmother left you.
Some conversations really do need to happen.
-----------
#loveanddeepspacezayne
