Living With A Payne (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter 31: Would He Say He's In L-O-V-E? I Would.

Chapter 31: Would He Say He’s In L-O-V-E? I Would.

(Zayn’s POV)

“Listen—”

“No, Zayn, it’s okay.” Grace sighs. “I don’t mind you going to Harvard.”

“I wont leave you Grace—I don’t want to have to spend any more time away from you.”

She looked at me worriedly. “This is a big thing Zayn. You might not want to go but I think it’s a good idea.”

“Is this because my mother told you?” I was sitting up now, looking her in the eyes. Her beautiful eyes…But I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was she actually okay with being away from me? Would she not feel the pain that I would feel when we both wake up in different beds every morning? “If you’re trying to get my mom to like you, Grace, you don’t have to agree with whatever she says.”

“I’m not trying to get her to like me Zayn!”

“Then what?” My voice rose. It was bad enough my mother was nagging me about this. “Grace. What is it,” I said. “Do you want us to be away from each other?”

And that’s what I stopped talking. Grace had quickly caught a tear from sliding down her cheek. She didn’t want me away…And it pained her to convince me to…

“Grace… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for—”

“I just don’t want to be the reason why you skipped a good opportunity.” She forced a smile, but her eyes were filled with pain. “This is your life we’re talking about.”

In times like these, Grace didn’t like to be held. She said it would only make her cry more. So I held her hand. I squeezed it tightly and loosened up again as I looked at her. No matter what state she was in, she was still the most beautiful girl to me. For a moment we stayed quiet while she tried wiping more tears away with her free hand.

I said, “You are my life.”

She stared at me for a moment. Grace bit the bottom of her lip. “Zayn, look I didn’t know how to tell you, but—”

“No. I wont go. Not without you—”

“Zayn!” She said again, cutting me off.

“What is it?”

“I had gotten accepted too.”

And it was my turn to smile. “Why didn’t you tell me? You didn’t even mention you applied!”

She shrugged. “I didn’t want to be away from you either. I guess…I don’t know.” She looked at me meekly. “I mean I was accepted into a number of the colleges I applied for, I thought Harvard would be too unreasonably far if you went—And then your mom called. I went to talk to my mom too—She said Harvard was still willing to accept me, I have three days to say ‘yes.’”

I pulled her in for a tight hug. “Then I would gladly go to Harvard if you’re there.”

(Katia’s POV)

My eyes glanced up at the small clock on the screen of my phone.

5:30 pm

It’s been a couple of hours since Liam and I had arrived home from the beach. We had spent most of the time sitting down, talking more about how One Direction was and their management issues with Simon and Paul. It turned out I didn’t have to do my shift today since Brenna had offered to cover for me. She had met Liam. She knew about my past so she wasn’t very open to him at first. Eventually they got along after I pulled her aside to tell her about what exactly was going on with my late sister and our other friends.