It All Started with a Tweet [Zayn Malik]

09: The List of Reasons

ayyy sorry for the wait, but you're probably used to me saying this at the start of every chapter now lmao

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Outside the café, after our tummies were well fed, Perrie said goodbye. She had a music video to shoot the following day and couldn’t miss her flight back to London. I had to return home as well, considering that school started tomorrow. 

                I stood with my toes on the curb of the street, cursing for Kate and Lani to hurry up and take me home. I looked both ways in search of the old car to make its first spluttering appearance, But I saw something different; not on the road, but on the footpath. I'd thought that Zayn had left, but it seemed as if he'd been here the whole time. He was standing a few metres down the concrete path, back resting against a shop, smoking a cigarette He took a drag and blew smoke up into the air, and all I could do was helplessly watch him.

                Without any warning, he caught my eye. I tried to avert my eyes somewhere else to disguise the fact that I was staring, but it was easy for Zayn to see through it. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted Kate, considering she popped up first on my contacts list. I asked her where she was and pleaded for her to hurry up. When I didn't get a reply for five minutes, I sighed in defeat and inwardly debated what I was to do next.

                Just when I was fishing out a few extra coins out of my bag, hoping it would be enough for a bus ticket - because my friends evidently had ditched me - I felt a hand on my shoulder. I spun around, alarmed, but calmed down when I realised it was only Zayn.

                "Who are you waiting for?" he asked

                "My friends, but I don't think they're coming." I explained

                "That's okay, I'll walk you back." he offered, giving me a slight smile.

                The simple gesture that I'd read in so many books and seen in so many movies made my heart warm. I smiled back, but looked to the ground at the last minute in fear that my grin had crossed the line between friendly and creepy.

                "Which way?" he asked

                "Uh, left, I think."

                "You think?"

                "I don't know, I haven't been in Bradford for long."

                "Um, what's the name of the place you're staying at? I might know it."

                "I don't remember." I replied honestly, giving a sheepish grin to which Zayn chuckled at

                "Okay, I guess we'll just have to follow your distrustful directions then." he laughed

                We began walking down the concrete path, past various window displays which shops had provided. "So, um," I dawned, breaking the silence. "Perrie seems nice."

                "Yeah, she is." he beamed, making my heart sink. I looked at my surroundings, trying to hide my not-so-interested expression.

                "How are all the other boys?" I inquired, making hopeless small talk. Yesterday, it was effortless. We clicked almost instantly. But today it seemed as if there was an invisible barrier between us.

                “Yeah, they’ve been well. Which way?” he asked once we’d met a dead end

                “Um…” he towered over me impatient while I racked my brain, trying to remember which direction we had come from when we turned into Drewton Road