Sages POV
I knock on Zayn's door tentatively. Somehow he managed to convince Louis that Harry needed a "guys night" and then faked sick to get out of it. While it took 3 hours, Louis finally had convinced Harry to go and send me over to Zayn's since he didn't want to leave me alone. I've been mentally rolling my eyes at his assumption that I can't be left alone for one night since.
"You're here, thank god," Zayn opens the door almost immediately and hastily ushers me in. He looks nervous but the sense of urgency I felt over the phone wasn't quite as prominent.
"Yeah, what's going on?" I ask and plop down onto the couch.
"Harry has been asking me to dig into Michaels past Sage," Zayn says gravely. "And if I tell him the truth it will lead right back to you, especially if he knows anything about your relationship with Michael, or should I say Collin."
I fold my hands in my lap and look at Zayn guiltily. I knew this would come back to bite me in the ass. I knew I shouldn't have told Harry about what really happened to my family. It can all be traced back to me, Violet Marks, not Sage Matthews.
Zayn groans and runs his hands over his face. "What all did you tell him?"
"Just about the car accident my dad died in, and my mum hanging herself," I say softly, not being able to make eye contact with Zayn.
"Well I dug up everything pretty easily," he says in a serious voice. "It took no more than 5 minutes for me to find out that Collin was convicted of drunk driving and killing Mr. Jonathan Marks, and wounding Mr. Marks's daughter, Violet, in the process. Harry doesn't know that Michael's real name is Collin, right?"
I shake my head no.
"Okay, so I'll just tell him that Michael had been convicted of domestic abuse in a prior relationship, and that the girl had filed a restraining order due to his stalkerish tendencies," Zayn rapidly types something into his laptop as he talks.
"Stalkerish tendencies?" I question.
"This way it shows that Michael was unstable and violent. It may not give him a definite reason to hurt you but it sure as hell gives him the personality to do it. All we need to tell Harry is that Michael was pissed and jealous because you had moved on to Harry and he wanted revenge. He used Liam because he knew Liam also had feelings for you that could be easily manipulated," Zayn says it all very matter of fact, as though that's exactly what happened and not just a lie. He looks up from his computer and gives me a small smile.
"You think he'll believe that?" I ask softly.
Zayn shrugs. "Even if he doesn't, his next leap won't be that Michael went to prison for killing your dad and has been holding a grudge for six years and decided to tell Liam that you're actually an undercover cop."
"I suppose you're right," I sigh and bury my face in my hands.
Zayn's hand rubs smooth circles along my back. "It's going to be okay," he assures me. "If you stay or if you go, it'll be okay."
The words do nothing to comfort me, I already know what I'm doing. I've made up my mind. I wish I could tell Zayn what I'm going to do but I just can't.
I pull my face away from my hands and look to Zayn's concerned eyes. "Am I spending the night here or—"
Zayn smashes his lips into mine in the middle of my sentence, cutting off my question. My senses are immediately overwhelmed by him. The force of his lips against mine is unlike the other brief, gentle kisses him and I shared. This one was passionate and fueled by desire and longing. I respond instinctively and he wraps his arms around me, pushing me closer to him.
"Sage," he groans into the kiss.
I immediately find myself pulling away from him, pushing my hands against his chest. I shake my head in confusion. He looks at me, longing still burning in his heavy gaze.
"What's wrong?" He asks, his breathing shallow.
"I don't know," I mumble and get to my feet, trying to place what exactly made me feel the need to pull away from Zayn. "I think I should go," I mutter and shake my head in confusion, taking a few steps towards the door.
"Wait, Harry thinks you're going to be here all night," Zayn halts me with his words.
"I'll just call him and tell him that I went home," I mumble and race out of the door, leaving Zayn just as confused as I am.
—
As soon as I get back to Harry's I call out for him, double checking to make sure I was really alone before I did what I needed to do. When I was sure the coast was clear, I crept up to his office. He still keeps it locked, but that can be easily remedied. I pull out a bobby pin and begin picking at the lock expertly, after all, are you really a cop if you don't know how to pick a lock? The door gives way with a satisfying click and I flick on the lights to the office gently shutting the door behind me. My heart races even though I know that he's not here, and even if he was I could talk my way out of this. As soon as the computer is awake I type in his passwords. After the first time I was in here I knew it by heart. But the last time I came in he had changed it to something that almost made me cry. My fingers fly over the keys, typing in January 15th, which also happens to be my birthday, something Harry hadn't learned until recently. I'm granted access and plug the flash drive in my purse into the computer and begin searching through his files. Most of them have seemingly random information on them that are probably extremely vital but of no use considering we can't decode them. The rest, however, are password protected. I had already equipped the flash drive with a hacking code and set it to work unlocking and uploading each of the locked files. While the documents are all downloaded I start rummaging through the desk drawers. None of them are locked, so I doubt anything super relevant will be in them, but it's worth a shot. The first drawer holds a gun (no shocker there) and a few pens and an empty notebook. The second has a group of files and I set to work going through them. All his important documents, like his birth certificated, are in them, tax returns and other things that most normal people decide to file, nothing that will help me there. I turn to the other side of the desk, the top drawer holds paper clips, a stapler, and scissors, and also a stack of face down photos.
I brace myself before pulling them out and looking through them, and I'm glad I did.
A picture of a young Harry holding what I assume is his older sisters hand is the very first photo. He was so small and innocent, with wild brown curls and bright green eyes. Yet something went terribly terribly wrong and now we're in this whole mess. I take a deep breath and flip to the next one which is a photo of him and I that I think Louis took pretty recently. It was a few days ago, after we had gotten back from the park. I wasn't ready for the picture and was laughing because Harry wouldn't stop tickling my side. My eyes well up and I shove the pictures back into the drawer, I don't need to see the rest.
The flash drive finishes and I pull it out before clicking going into security footage and erasing the footage of me coming up here, instead just looping the stillness of the house from before I came back for another hour.
I pull open the last drawer before I go, not wanting to miss anything relevant, and my heart stops.
A small jewelry box stares up at me. A jewelry box that can hold one thing and one thing only.
A ring.
I race out of the house and hop into my car, trying to calm my scattered emotions. The box could have earrings in it for all I know. I couldn't bring myself to look, knowing that if I did there would be no denying it. I turn up the radio and sing loudly to the music, drowning my thoughts until I get back into the city and call Harry, letting him know that I'm on my way home.
Harry's POV
The bar was loud, almost obnoxiously so. Pretty waitresses smiled at us flirtatiously as they passed by, hoping for a tip.
"Was this really necessary Lou?" I ask over the noise of the rock music. I still felt uneasy leaving Sage, even though I trust her with Zayn.
"You've been holed up with her for weeks mate," Louis says and pats me on the back. "It was time you got out, lived a little."
"I still don't understand why she couldn't come with," I grumble and fake a sip of my beer.
"Because it's guys night, and also I don't think she would really enjoy herself in an obnoxiously loud bar, she probably needed some time to chill out anyways," Louis shakes his head. "Now get out there and dance with some groupie. You kind of look like the lead singer."
I smirk and shake my head as Louis nods towards a group of cute, college aged girls all fawning over the lead singer of tonight's band.
"The only girl I want to dance with is Sage," I respond, scanning the girls. While they're pretty, none of them even come close to her.
Louis laughs and shakes his head, ordering us another round. My phone vibrates in my back pocket and I immediately pull it out. The picture I took of Sage while she was cooking the other day glares up at me as she calls and I immediately excuse myself, pushing through the crowded bar to outside.
"Everything alright?" I answer hastily as soon as I open the door to go outside. The cool air washes over me and I press my phone to my ear.
"Yeah, yeah, all good," she sighs. "I just wanted to let you know that I left Zayn's and am headed back home."
I sigh with relief that she's okay but my guard is immediately back up. "Why'd you leave? Did something happen?" Thoughts of Zayn trying to make a move on Sage make my hands curl into fists.
"No nothing like that, I'm just tired, and he's tired, so I figured I'd just let him be sick in peace and go to bed," my shoulders relax at her words. I pull my keys out of my pocket and start walking towards where I parked my car.
"I'll come pick you up then," I say and climb into the drivers seat.
"Harry I'm already driving," she laughs softly and I can't help but grin.
"Alright well then I'll just meet you at home," I say and start the car.
"By home I meant my apartment, your place is just too far away for me to drive, it's just kind of dark...." She trails off and I frown in dismay, of course she wouldn't want to drive all the way back there in the dark alone. I really should have dropped her off at Zayn's but she insisted, saying that this way she wouldn't be interrupting my night if she wanted to head home.
"Of course, I'll meet you there," I say, reminding myself to look for an apartment in the city. "I love you."
"See you soon," she says and the call ends. I pull out onto the street and wonder, not for the first time, why she hasn't said it back. Saying that I love her was a pretty big deal, but I really truly mean it. I think she loves me too, but I just can't figure out why she isn't saying it.

Notes

I wasn't really planning on finishing this but I reread it and realized how annoyed I would be if I were all of you and this wasn't concluded so I plan on finishing it out for those of you who still actually care.
IS IT A RING?
ZAYN????
WHATS HER PLAN?