Accepted[Zianourry AU]

Chapter 2: The Pool House

Chapter 2: The Pool House

It was like a block party when Zayn made his way downstairs. It felt as if the entire Birmingham community was in his house for the event. There were people with wine glasses, chatter louder than a sold out concert, the smell of delicious food and absolutely no space to walk through. 

Zayn squeezed through the body of people, looking for his mother or father to see which one of them said it was okay for four complete strangers to lounge inside of his room while he was just getting out of the shower! If it was any guess, Zayn knew that it was his mother. She was never a woman of boundaries. One time(or the one time he caught her), Tricia had stalked Zayn to the park to meet up with his ex-girlfriend which whom he shared his first kiss with. If he hadn’t kept his eyes opened, he would never have seen Tricia ten yards away, a binoculars covering the half of her face. Her excuse when Zayn confronted her was that it was every mother’s legal right to witness their child’s first kiss. Needless to say, it scared his ex-girlfriend off the following day. 

The kitchen was the most packed in the entire house. Everyone gathered around the display of food, Zayn knew his mother wasn’t wonder woman from the array of different styles of food lined across every counter of the kitchen, so he assumed that the neighbors brought with them dishes to be eaten as well. There was a loud clamber of voices when more people arrived in the kitchen carrying more food and desserts. They all jeered and hugged each other, getting in the flow of things. 

Zayn however felt like a fish out of water. He needed to find at least one of his parents. And fast. 

“Can I have everyone’s attention.” 

Zayn’s head immediately followed the familiar voice over the racket of noise. 

A moment later the noise died down. His mother stood five steps up the staircase with a full glass of red wine in her hand. By the look of it, she was passed happy hour and Zayn couldn’t help but crack a smile. She was really happy here. 

“Can my husband and son come up here please!” She placed a hand on her forehead, surveying the room. She jumped and waved when she saw me. 

I tried to hide in the crowd, but there were people cheering for me towards my mother. Sulkily, I followed their wishes. When I stepped near my mother, my father followed after, taking her right side. Thankfully, he took the glass away from my mother and tapped her nose saying no. It got the entire house roaring. 

She groaned like an errant child, then smiled to the crowd, wrapping both my father and I around the waist. 

“My name is Tricia Malik,” she began. “My son Zayn Malik---” she rubbed a small circle on my lower back, “and my wonderful husband Yasir Malik. We would like to thank each and every one of you who came here tonight. Really I wasn’t expecting this much of you but I’m ecstatic from the outcome.

“You know, when we lived in Bradford our family didn’t really have much interaction with other people beside ourselves. We worked hard through the day and came together at a family at night.” Someone in the crowd yelled ‘incest!’ I turned bright red. 

The house erupted into another fit of giggles. 

My mother joined in. “I know, I know, I’m blessed to be surrounded by gorgeous men.” She grabbed both my cheek and my father’s, pinching them hard. “However, we are not that kind of family.” She recovered quickly, keeping the crowd’s attention without seeming passive. “I would just like to continue on saying that we weren’t quite popular back in our old town. My son was even bullied at his old school.”

I tried not to glare at her or become completely infuriated but I couldn’t help myself. 

She continued.