how to love // z. m.

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

"I gotta feelin'; that tonight's gonna be a good night; that tonight's gonna be a good night; that tonight's gonna be a good, good night; a feelin'..."Do you know how hard it is to breathe in a dog costume?

No, I don't think you do.

But I do.

And soon, so will Zayn.

Once I kidnap him, that is.

Through the little patch of one-sided see-through material that was for my eyes to see, I looked around the little closet that I'd set up with everything I'd need.

Mirror on a string? Check.

Extra dog suit? Check.

Spare set of janitor's keys? Check.

Faux VIP pass? Check.

I was all set and ready to commence my mission.

From this little closet, I could hear Zayn and Louis going over their performances of 'I Gotta Feeling' and 'Valerie'. And as usual, they both were killing it.

Once I finally got my 'paw' around the doorknob well enough to turn it and pull, I did, then made sure I had the mirror and VIP pass.

I started walking down the hall when I heard footsteps. This was where the pass came in handy. I flashed the pass at them, and they just stared at me.

What? Haven't they ever seen someone in a dog costume walking around backstage of a One Direction concert rehearsal before? I have. I looked into the mirror that was in my 'paw'. Sure enough, a person in a dog costume walking around backstage of a One Direction concert rehearsal was staring back at me.

It's not THAT uncommon.

Soon enough, I was standing right behind the stage. I was looking at Zayn.

I unraveled the string around the mirror and looked around me. There was no one really near me. I was safe to do as I wanted.

I did a lasso spin in the air and then flung the mirror out to the center of the stage, right by Zayn's feet. Hearing the noise, he looked down.

"Hey, guys," he said, using his microphone to project his voice. "Who threw this?"

All of the guys just shrugged and said something along the same lines as each other. In all, they didn't know.

Zayn bent down to pick it up.

That's my cue.

I started to pull the mirror back from him as fast as I could. On instinct, Zayn reached further to get it, but he tumbled and fell.

Let's just say, I had to stifle a laugh.

I pulled it more and Zayn rolled his eyes, probably catching on, but going for it anyway. He stood up and just started to walk as he followed it.

Not gonna get away that easily.

I stopped pulling it and just sat there. And waited.

Zayn just stood there. And waited. Waiting for me to pull it away from him again, but I wasn't going to. Not yet, anyway.

Zayn sighed, and I heard him grumble, "I know what's gonna happen." He knelt down and reached out to grab it, and his fingers touched the glass.

Still, I waited.

I could tell he was shocked by the fact that it wasn't moving, and he picked it up, examining it.

Okay, screw waiting.

I yanked on the string, and the mirror shot out of his hands and toward me.

"Seriously?" Zayn shouted, jogging over to it again, and I couldn't help but giggle. I pulled it a little more, and now it was off the stage. Zayn walked the rest of the way over and I leaped up, jumping on his back.

"What the hell?" he shouted, and tried to get me off. Eventually I jumped down and smiled up at him, though he didn't see it.

I grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the closet and pulled him in.

"What is going on?" Zayn demanded. "Toni."

"Oh, how'd you know it was me?" I laughed.

"Because you're you," he said simply, looking me up and down. "Now, what do you want? I've got to rehearse."

"You know that stuff backwards and forwards," I sighed. "You need a break. Put this on."

I held up the second costume and he turned his nose up to it. "No way. I will not wear that."

"Oh, yes, you will," I smirked. "Or I'll put it on you. I don't think you want me to do that, though, do you?"

Zayn rolled his eyes and took the suit, unzipping the front. Then he looked back at me. "Out! I'm changing!"

I laughed loudly and stood up, stumbling out of the closet and closing the door behind me, making sure to grab the set of keys first. Zayn might not let me get them if I left them in there.

Two minutes later, he was out.

"Don't you look dashing in your dog suit?" I winked at him, even though he didn't see it. But I'm sure my voice kind of made it obvious.

"Ha, ha." He glared at me and picked up the tail of the costume, looking down at it. "What, exactly, are we going to do? Run out on stage and do a rendition of 'Who Let The Dogs Out'?"

I laughed. "No. That's elementary, dear Watson."

"Malik."

"Whatever."

I put my hands on my hips and twirled the VIP pass around my neck, then started walking toward a door a ways away. It looked like there was a glowing 'EXIT' sign above it. Maybe I don't need these keys.

Sure enough, when I got to it, it was unlocked. Which is good, though, because what if a fire started and everyone needed to get out as fast as possible?

Obviously it would be a heck of a lot easier to get out than in.

You don't even want to know what I had to go through to get in.

...Poor little boy. He's gonna be scarred for life.

At least he got free hot dogs out of it, though.

I started walking to the other side of the parking lot, and I heard a 'thump thump thump' of Zayn running to catch up to me.

"So you've decided to come with me?" I asked, turned my head slightly to look at him. Or, rather, a big dog...

"Yep," Zayn sighed, crossing his arms. "This better be good."

"Oh, it is."