how to love // z. m.

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Three

"Shopping in Los Angeles," I sighed as I slid on my sunglasses over my eyes, blocking them from the intense sunlight shining down on us from the skylight on the roof of the mall. "Every girl's dream, huh?"

"It definitely was Louis's dream," Zayn smirked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Really?" I laughed. "Another dream of pretty much every girl is to be shopping in L.A. with a member of One Direction." I raised my eyebrows at him and elbowed him, getting a laugh out of him.

"Apparently," he smiled.

I pulled my backpack-made-purse up higher on my left shoulder and looked around the mall. The tiles on the floor were white, and the lobby that we were in was circular in shape, with halls branching off. We'd just came from the food court, where we'd decided would be the best place to start out so that we would be awake.

We'd also needed coffee (well, tea for Zayn) to sooth our jet lag.

I really do hate jet lag. Ugh.

I chewed on my bottom lip as I squinted to see down one of the halls to all of the stores that were located down that section. All I saw, though, were a sports store, music store, a Victoria's Secret, and a mattress store.

From what I could see, anyway.

I looked back over to Zayn, who was leaning towards the other hallways.

"Anything?"

He shook his head slowly. "But then again, I can't tell the difference between a Hallmark and a Spencer's." When he saw the shocked look of disbelief on my face, he grinned. "Only kidding."

"You better be." I narrowed my eyes mockingly at him, then slowly walked toward one of the halls. "I guess we're just going to have to be not lazy and actually walk down each of the wings."

"Unfortunately," Zayn sighed, disappointed.

I grinned and let my hair fall to hide it. As we were walking down the wing, I made sure to take note of each store that we passed, because who knows? There could be a very interesting and different and... unique store here that could supply entertainment for me, who isn't extremely girly and into dress shopping for award shows.

"Are we gonna be all matchy-watchy?" I smirked, winking at Zayn, who laughed.

"If you want," he said. "But I'm just wearing a black and white tux, so if you want to match, we'll just get you a black dress or white."

"'We'll'?"I paused. "I'm buying the outfit... right?" Zayn just licked his smiling lips and looked everywhere but at me. "Zayn, come on. I'm not going to let you do that."

"Toni, don't worry about it," Zayn assured. "Just take it as... a token of thanks for helping me open up."

Good answer.

I put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow. "So, you've opened up now. You're good with all of the crazy stunts?"

"Yep," he nodded proudly. "I think I can handle anything you throw my way now."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

I smirked slyly and held out my hand. "Sweatshirt."

"What?" Zayn looked at me, confused.

"Hand me your sweatshirt, Zayn."

He stared at me with a suspicious look on his face. He tried to act brave as he unzipped his hoodie and slid it off his body, handing it over to me.

"Thank you!" I chirped, smiling innocently at him. I rolled the sweatshirt into a thick ball of fabric and pushed it up under my shirt so that I had a plump stomach.

"What are you---"

"Ah, ah, ah..." I grinned. "If I told you, you might back out." Zayn was about to protest, but I shushed him again. "This is a test.... To see if you really mean you can handle anything..."

I started walking again, the sweatshirt making my stomach look a lot bigger, as if a child were in there. I made sure that when I walked, it wouldn't fall out.

And then I reached the front of the store that I had had my sights set on.

"Destination..." Zayn read. "Maternity." He looked at the pictures at the storefront of pregnant women modeling clothing from the store, and his eyes widened as he looked over at me, down to my stomach, and back to me. "No..." I raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I mean," he cleared his throat, "yes. Okay. Let's do this."

"Alrighty, then..." I giggled and grabbed his hand, walking into Destination Maternity. I walked up to one of the clothing racks and started to shift through the clothes on display. I could sense eyes on me, and not just Zayn's, either. Employees.

"Toni..." Zayn whispered. "People are staring..."

"I know," I replied. "Teenage pregnancy is looked down upon. Cruel, right?" I looked up at him and cheekily smiled, then patted his head before moving on to the next rack. I heard someone fake-cough, and I looked up at Zayn, but he just shrugged.

I turned and looked around, and then my eyes landed on one of the employees glaring at me in disgust. She was looking at my supposed 'baby bump', then back to me. She eyed Zayn, too.

"Teenagers..." she sighed, speaking to her co-worker. "Filthy, sex-crazed kids."

Just what I wanted.

I started to fake-cry, and Zayn hurried over to me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, literally concerned. So concerned, in fact, that I had to choke up a laugh. I looked up at him for a moment, winked, and then continued to cry. "Acting lessons?"

"Yep," I muttered, before looking back at the woman at the cash register who'd called me out. "Are you that blind to see that I'm just overweight? I can't help it! My parents shove food down my throat and call me skin and bones! It's not my fault I'm not supermodel thin!"

The woman instantly stood up straighter, her eyes wide. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry---"

"Save it," I wailed, then ran out of the store. The moment I was out of sight of the windows, I let the sweatshirt drop and I picked it up. I grinned and sniffed, the tears stopping.

Zayn walked out with an amused expression on his face. He slowly started clapping. "Nice one, Toni."

"Not the best, but what can I say?" I shrugged. "I came up with it in two seconds." I handed his sweatshirt back. "Now. Let's find a dress."

"What are you going to do about shoes?" Zayn asked, following me as I walked toward a Banana Republic. "You can wear converse if you want."

I smiled at the offer. "I would, but this is your night. It should be special and I should dress nicely for it."

"Thanks," Zayn said gratefully. He walked into the store with me, but when he first got in there, his eyes grew wide.

"No idea where to start?" I smiled, and he nodded. "Yeah. Me, neither."

This'll be interesting.