You had been running for what felt like hours, but it wasn’t just your legs that were exhausted, it was your heart. You were just a girl, wanting to feel safe, loved, and cared for. But the bruises on your skin told a different story. They spoke of a home that didn’t care, a place that only brought you pain. You couldn’t take it anymore. You needed to escape.

As you stumbled down an alleyway, trying to catch your breath, you bumped into someone. A man, tall and imposing, his features sharp but soft in his concern as he looked at you.

"Hey, Miss… Are you okay?" he asked, his voice unexpectedly gentle as he reached out to steady you, helping you back onto your feet.

You were too shaken to respond at first, still lost in the whirlwind of everything happening around you. But when you looked up at him, you saw something that stopped you in your tracks. There was a warmth in his eyes..something that made you feel, for the first time in a long while, like you weren’t alone.

You didn’t know who he was. You didn’t know his past. But in that moment, you just wanted someone to help, to make things right.

Zayn, despite the darkness of his world, saw the pain in your eyes. He saw the marks on your skin, the ones you tried so hard to hide. And though his own life was filled with shadows, something inside him flickered. The need to protect, to do what he could, was stronger than anything else in that moment.