Warnings

☞ strong language

☞ trigger warning

☞ acts of abuse

☞ scenes of violence

☞ abuse of drugs

☞ abuse of alcohol

Ever since Niall's mother passed away three years ago, the happy aura that surrounded his tiny family shattered and took every ounce of familiarity he grew up in for the past seventeen years.

His father, who he constantly looked up to for support and heeding advice, became a shell of the man he used to be. Lonely nights spent drinking away his heartache in moderation, turned into sniffing multiple chemicals that left him with the remnants of the white powder constantly beneath his nose and glazed eyes that now easily fell asleep after his body got the addictive substances that he was at their mercy.

Niall was forced to begin supporting himself if he ever wanted to complete his education due to the fact that all savings and any source of income they had was taken by his father, sometimes forcefully from which he had scars on his body to show for, in order to satisfy his deadly needs.

A particular monetary drought and a desperate-to-the-point-of-convulsing Mr. Horan landed him indebted to the last drug-lord anyone wanted to upset, Yasser Malik.

Niall had found the fifth consecutive day of his father's absence to be a little strange, but he has long since stopped questioning his whereabouts and actions, so the last thing he expected after a week of his dad's disappearance, when he walked into their relocated shabby house after a long day of classes and waiting tables, was an intimidating group of unfamiliar people mobbing his house, and his dad tied to a chair with a man not much older than himself standing by his side, expertly twirling a gun with three fingers.

"D-Dad?"

"Ah. You must be Niall, Mr.Horan's most prized possession." The mystic creature, who looked too angelic to be capable of sounding so sinister, bore his unsettling gaze straight into the scared boy's eyes.

"I'm sorry, what?" Niall managed to speak past his heartbeat thundering in his ears.

"Allow me to explain, Niall. Your father here owes us money and has failed to meet all prolonged deadlines we gave him, and to top it all off, he thought he could simply run away to the next town without paying the money he pledged to have seven days ago. We made the trip ourselves to collect our money only to find that your dad had been lying all along and had no intentions to repay us. Our condition to spare his life is to claim and own the most valuable item he owns, and this happens to be you." By the last five words of the torturous explanation, Niall was shaking in trepidation.

"C-Claim? Own? I have nothing to do with this. P-Please, is there no other way out of this? I can pay the money, but can I split it up onto six months?" Niall was close to melting into a pile of desperation by the indifference he saw in the deceivingly warm hazel eyes staring back at him bemusedly.

"Now now. Sorry to break it to you, that is not how things work in the real world princess. You either come with me, or I make you both watch each other die." He continued to twirl the gun around his fingers mindlessly as if he was not currently ending Niall's admittedly fruitless life either way.

"Let me make the decision for you babe, you're coming with me anyways. Igor, untie Mr.Horan and punch him unconscious. Dave, get blondie into the car. Don't be too rough with him." With that, the disbelieving boy was hauled over Dave's shoulder and gave his dad one last unforgiving look before Igor knocked him out.

He was not aware of much after he was forced to sniff at something that slowly lulled him unconscious.

• • •

When Niall came to his senses, it took his groggy mind some time to catch up to the 180 degree shift in his life.

"The princess is finally awake. I have some matters to discuss with you." Niall squeaked in surprise at the previously unknown presence in the room.

"Can I at least get your name?" His drowsiness braved him a little.

"It's Zayn." He stated coolly and watched with ill-concealed humor as the innocent boy's eyes widened in fearful recognition.

"M-Malik?" Niall gulped audibly, now fully awake.

"Aye, kid knows his facts."

Niall slowly resigned to his fate as any and all thoughts of possible escapes left his mind. He was being held captive by the most lethal gang's heir to the throne. He might as well negotiate himself into pleasant enough conditions.

"Tell me Niall, are you a virgin?" Zayn monotonously questioned.

"Excuse me!?" The flustered boy stuttered in reply, only to receive an expectant but clearly impatient look in return.

He nodded once in response, cheeks a fiery red.

"Well, since I've never had to bring back a human in exchange for money before, and you are about as useless as a baby when it comes to working in our business, there is only one way I can benefit from your presence. You will marry me." He stated with an air of finality. Niall's breath went stagnant with utter shock.

"I will WHAT?" Niall screamed in horrified indignation.

Zayn lunged forward in one swift movement and gripped Niall's face roughly, "if I were you, I wouldn't dare raise my voice like that ever again. You are mine; I fucking own you because of your poor excuse of a father. He signed a fucking paper with these terms. You will do as I say, get it bitch? So when I say you'll marry me, you damn fucking will. Do you think I'm happy to be stuck with someone as pathetic as you for the rest of my life? There are rules around here, and one of them demands the presence of someone to fill in the role of my late mother. That person, unfortunately, will be you, and in order for that to happen, you have to be a Malik."

Niall willed his tears away and tried to ignore the glimpse of the harsh treatment he would probably be subjected to for the rest of his life, "what could I possibly be helpful in around here?" He spoke painfully around the big lump in his throat.

"You're studying for a degree in accounting right? Since you are incapable of betraying us, you are responsible for keeping track of all the money transactions for the safe. I'll explain everything you need to know later. I want nothing to do with you whatsoever, you will have your own room and you are only allowed to leave with your assigned security and my permission, you are not allowed to be involved with anyone romantically, and I will not fuck you. I will not repeat myself, and you would do yourself a favor remembering these rules." Zayn's blunt fingernails managed to dig bloodied crescent-shaped marks into Niall's face, and he only let go when pitiful whimpers left the blond's lips.

Niall only let the tears fall and burn the bloodied scratches on his face once the door slammed shut after Zayn.

• • •

The days seemed to blur into one after the fateful day ten months ago which officially marked Niall as a Malik and further solidified his captivity in what he termed his hell on earth. Zayn had meant it when he said that he wanted nothing to do with him that day. Niall had tried so many times to at least establish a friendship between him and his husband because this was his life now. He did not want to be miserable for as long as he lived. He has never felt so lonely and depressed. Zayn chose the people he was allowed to interact with until he graduated from university, and ever since, he has been trapped in the Malik's fortress.

That was six months ago.

Zayn has relentlessly turned down or ridiculed all his attempts at being amenable. Either deeming him too worthless of his time or too eager for his cock it's disgusting.

Niall had been unable to fall asleep that night, so he decided to leave his room to the kitchen in hopes of finding anything to slightly quiet his thoughts enough for him to sleep, a beer or five. He was startled by the crashing noises he heard coming from the living room. He peeked his head slightly out of the kitchen and found Zayn drunkenly stumbling around before he fell to the ground and bumped his head on the marble table in a mess of curses and pained grunts. He quickly abandoned his drink and rushed to his aid.

He inspected the growing bump on Zayn's head and decided he'd best tend to it once he got the wasted boy into his room, so he began the grueling task of lifting Zayn's much stronger body to support it on his own small form and was thankful that Zayn was in enough pain not to push him away. Once he got Zayn to lie on the bed, he made quick work of taking off his shoes, jeans, leather jacket and left him in his shirt and boxers.

"What are you doing?" Zayn groaned at being moved around too much.

"Shh. Try to sleep." Niall grabbed an antibiotic spray from the medicine cabinet in Zayn's room and two paracetamol pills for his hangover and gently applied the spray onto the bump on the side of Zayn's head. He placed the pills along with a cup of water on the stand beside his bed, pulled the covers onto him, then turned to leave only to have Zayn grab his arm, "stay," the drunk man whined petulantly.

"Trust me, you don't want that. You better get some sleep now." Niall turned to leave again, but before he took one step forward, Zayn forcefully grabbed him, ignored his surprised squeak and tucked him into his side with a strong grip around his waist and a muscled leg between his thighs with a strength someone as drunk as him should not possess, all in one swift motion.

Overwhelmed with the feeling of finally knowing what being held in Zayn's arms felt like, having fantasized about it for so long, Niall did not try to leave once his husband's soft tired snores filled the room. He could not even move if he tried without waking Zayn up. Feeling safe and protected for once in so long, Niall closed his eyes and allowed sleep to overcome him, lastly wondering if Zayn was even aware that it was him and not one of his actual lovers.

Niall woke up to the pained groans Zayn was emitting and waited with baited breath for Zayn to assess the situation and dreaded his reaction once he realized that he had shared a bed with him.

"What the fuck are you doing in my bed?" Zayn growled once he turned and found Niall slowly blinking at him.

"You bumped your head on the table in the living room last night, so I took you to your room and then you wouldn't let me leave, and when I tried to, you pulled me into bed with you." Niall could already tell that by the look he was getting, Zayn did not believe one word he said.

"I don't think even drunk I would ever want you in my bed. I can't believe you took advantage of me. I told you before that I will not fuck you; stop trying so hard for it you fucking slut." He snarled as he swallowed the two pills in one gulp. Niall recoiled as if he had been burned and hurriedly disentangled himself from the sheets. If he was good at anything, it was never letting Zayn see him cry, and god did he really need to bawl his broken heart out right now.

"W-We're not even naked. The sheets aren't dirty. I-I would never do this." Niall was sputtering pointless objections left and right in the hope of defending his dignity in any way he could.

"Don't you ever dare let your worthless self be that close to me ever again. I don't want you, when will you get that through your brain? You're only here because my father did not trust Ella enough and thought you would be the most suitable replacement to my mom since you don't know anything about our world. Besides that, you mean absolutely nothing to me."

That was the end of his attempts to get Zayn to at least tolerate his existence.

Niall had always fantasized about what marriage would be like, and so far, the neglect end cruelty he was being subjected to, crushed any of his fairylike expectations and weighed down on his soul heavily.

He spent his days mourning his mother's death and his old life, running over numbers until they all blurred into one in his mind, and hating himself for falling for the glimpses of humanity and softness he saw in Zayn when he watched him interact with his only younger sister and yearning to be on the receiving end of such gentleness, falling for the only man who ironically provided him with an unrivaled sense of protection while holding him close, even if it was a drunken mistake, when he was the only man he feared.

His heart ached for the vulnerable side of Zayn that revealed his resentment towards many of the things that came with the life he lead, like circumstances which caused him to lose his mother, but this was only known to him due to all the conversations he eavesdropped on between Zayn and his best friend Louis.

He fell for the last man that could ever want him, and the last man he should ever fall for.

He fell for his husband who regarded his existence as a burden.

Another thing that ate at his soul was watching Zayn prance around with all the men and women he had going in and out of his room every night while he could not even tolerate having a conversation with Niall that did not include numbers and records. It was as if he were taunting him with his in capability of possessing the allure all his lovers had.

Niall also did not understand how Ella, Zayn's apparent girlfriend, tolerated his well-known polygamy. He wondered if she even knew Zayn was married to him.

His answers about Ella were the start of Niall's life completely falling apart.

It had been a normal Sunday morning where Zayn and Niall went over all the week's monetary gains and expenses and the money that would be frozen in the safe. Everyone knows not to interrupt them in Zayn's office, so they were both startled when the door slammed open and fierce clicking of heels barged into the room.

"What is this I hear of "Mr. and Mr. Malik are currently busy miss Ella". You're fucking married to . . . that thing?" Ella spared him a disgusted look, only feeding his haunting demons further into self-destructing him.

"Ella baby, you said it yourself. It is a thing. I only have business purposes with him. You know how things work around here sometimes. Cmon, you found out about him almost a year later. He obviously means nothing to me. If he were to die, honestly, good riddance. Father would have no choice but to let us marry, but I sadly cannot get rid of him right now." Ella, appeased with these words, moved to properly greet her boyfriend.

Niall had to stop himself from throwing up. He knew Zayn hated him, but he could have never guessed that the level of abhorrence wished he were dead. He did not know what to do with himself and his reeling mind. He felt like he was finally pushed into free falling into the black hole his demons created for him.

He simply did not want anything to do with his beating heart anymore.

Zayn watched the life leave Niall's body, literally. His eyes dimmed in a way he did not know was possible, his shoulders sagged, and the shaking boy practically curled onto himself. He had to admit that he has never been that harsh on him before. Niall really never gave him a reason to be this ruthless towards him, but Zayn really did not know why he took time out of his day to make him miserable, and did not care enough to think much about it. He was allowed to tell him whatever the fuck he wanted; he owned him after all. He can take it.

Yet, he did not understand the gnawing feeling that ate at his heart the second he watched the blue of his eyes cloud with a stormy grey.

"Blondie, we will continue this later. Leave." Zayn did not even spare him a second glance as he pulled a giggling Ella onto his lap and shoved his tongue into her mouth.

With unsteady steps and unfocused eyes, Niall barely made it to his room before he fell to the ground, thoughts whizzing around his mind with one track mission to destruct whatever was left of him.

He has never felt so unwanted in his life. If his father did not want him, why would anyone else will? Come to think about it, his mom was the only one who made him feel like his presence was a blessing to the world.

He wondered why he did not leave to join his mother sooner.

• • •

Zayn was definitely unhappy when his father walked into his room with Ella bouncing on his dick and demanded he get the money records for him to stamp before he left to Paris to tend to some business they had there. He knew he could not stall any further because his dad would never walk into his room unannounced if it weren't necessary.

With a groan, he pushed Ella off his leaking shaft and made a weak attempt of buckling his pants and barely slipped on his tank top before he left to go and find Niall.

Nothing could have prepared him for the state he found Niall in.

He did not bother to knock and chose to just walk in, only to find Niall's frail body slumped by the end of his bed, an almost empty bottle of pills held in his loose grip, and skin paler than ever.

Something akin to horror snapped him into motion and he quickly rushed to check his barely there pulse. He picked up his featherlight body and ran all the way to his car, all the while barking orders at his bodyguard to get in the fucking car and drive them to the fucking hospital. He climbed into the backseat and held Niall in his lap, not understanding why he felt like he hasn't been breathing the second he realized that Niall swallowed a bottle of pills and closed his eyes for what could be the last time.

The same eyes he killed what innocence and joy they held.

He thought the prospect of having Niall out of his life forever would be everything he wanted, but looking at his unmoving and barely alive body, Zayn prayed that the last words Niall heard were not him wishing for his death.

He sprinted out of the car with Niall in his arms and screamed for someone to take Niall from him and do whatever they could to wake his husband up. The same husband he would be responsible for his death.

The mere thought had his eyes filling with tears.

He watched the doctors try and shock Niall's body back to life as nurses rushed around sticking bags of fluids into his body.

He did not understand the strong reaction and severe guilt he was feeling towards Niall all of a sudden, all he knew is that he needed Niall to wake up in order for him to fix things between them before his compunction strangled him to death.

He felt his lungs inhale their first stabilizing breaths the second he heard the heart monitor beep with Niall's weak, but thankfully there, heartbeat.

A•N•

Here it is, my second one shot. I'm not so proud of it. I would love to know what you guys think of it.

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Thank you lovelies

-x