At First {ZM}

Chapter 21

My phone rings and I mentally curse the caller. Zayn pulls back and smiles. He runs to the stereo and quickly turns it off. He shoves his hands into his pocket.

"I'm going to the balcony. I'll give you uh some privacy, yeah?" I nod and he walks away I grab my cell out of the pocket of his jeans. I notice the caller I.D. Shit.

"Hey mom." I say biting on my fingernail.

"Hello. Avery where are you?"

"It was raining and I'm stuck over at a friends house. But I'll be home in a bit if the plan changes I'll text."

"What friend?" I rush off the phone quickly ending the call.

"Bye mom I'll text you." I end the call and start my search for him. I think he might've freaked after he realized he was about to kiss me. I come up to the bathroom; it's open and empty. I pass by the next room. The door is creaked open and I can see the bed. So I definitely know he's in his bedroom. I knock and press my ear to the door. He doesn't reply. Okay maybe he isn't in here. I knock again and still nothing. I push the door a little and a gush of wind blows in. You can still hear the loud patter of rain. He's sitting out on the balcony with the cigarette in hand.

I step into the room. He has a heap of clothes on one side of the room. I smile at the pile. Finally a mess. I creep over to the window and sit on the sill.

"Hey." I say with a light tap on the glass.

He turns around and taps the glass. "Hey." He raises the cigarette to his lips again and takes a long drag from it. He crashes the stick onto the ashtray. The smoke comes from his lips. He crawls back inside and closes the window.

"I don't think this rain is going to stop anytime soon."

"I knew I should've trusted my instincts and brought a damn umbrella."

He nods, "You couldn't have known it was going to rain."

"Uh huh."

"If you brought the umbrella and it didn't rain you would look pretty foolish don't you think?"

"No. I wouldn't because it would have rained." A smile grows and I raise my brow. From the way he was just smoking I had a feeling he didn't want to go back to dancing or almost kissing. It really did psych him out. Shouldn't that psych me out? Why wouldn't he want to kiss me unless he was in a relationship already. But I think I remember having this conversation.

He and I leave the room going back into the living room. I take a seat on the couch. I'm not really sure what to say at this point. This is our second failed attempt at a kiss. The kiss we never actually got to talk about. Zayn pushed it off.

"Zayn are you in a relationship?"

His face shoots up, "No."

"Okay." He said it so matter of factly and firm. I didn't hear any ounce of waver in his voice. I believe him but it doesn't make sense why is he afraid to kiss me?

He comes to my side and takes my hands. "I'm not trying to hurt you. Can we just wait? I mean like with everything?" I reluctantly agree. He takes a seat beside me. "Do you want me to take you home?"

"Can I stay the night?"

"Yeah." Shock clear on his face. I would rather not walk in the rain. Especially not this late. He stands up and I would just rather be away from him.

"Are you tired now?"

"No why don't we just start another movie." He agrees to it by starting up another movie. When he sits beside me I lean into him without asking. I don't bother with figuring out if he minds. I rest my head on his arm. He moves his arm onto the couch and I make myself more comfortable.