January. // z.m. au

Chapter 39

Twilight Galaxy | Metric

(here, have a little Zayn at the AMAs to celebrate them attending tonight and to start this chapter off, okay?)

You know, hickeys aren't the best to hide at all. Especially from your two best friends who insist on embarrassing the pants off of you over it; especially when you're at work and your manager keeps smirking right at the dark mark that's planted on the surface of your skin.

So, embarrassing is an understatement to say in the least bit when it comes to it. I'd already spent half of my day trying to place my hair over the bruise to try and cover it up, had already tried standing in awkward positions and keeping my hand pressed against the sensitive spot as if that wasn't obvious enough.

Zayn was going to get an earful when I saw him again. He'd never hear the end of it.

Not that I was complaining necessarily, it's just -- it's kind of an awkward thing to deal with around other people. There's no telling what people were thinking about when they noticed the somewhat giant mark on the side of my neck, even the tinier one on the edge of my collarbone. But I wasn't bothered by it at all, I really couldn't complain. I mean, who honestly could complain about Zayn anyway?

At least I wasn't given a love bite before I'd gone home for the holidays last week. Now, that would be something to complain about.

But it didn't matter -- the reddish, almost purple mark -- so much anymore now that I was clocking out and practically sprinting out the front of the bookstore before anyone else could stop me. It was a bit refreshing to know that I wouldn't have to hide the hickey anymore... well, until the next day, that was.

It was a nice day outside, considering it was the middle of winter and it was cold as hell. The sun had made an unexpected appearance this afternoon, giving the city a tiny (only tiny) amount of warmth. It was something, so I could only enjoy what was given while it lasted.

Besides the fact that this hickey of mine had been putting me on edge the whole day, so was the fact that Zayn and I were finally (finally) exchanging gifts after what felt like months of waiting to do so. (It was only a few days, but still.) The fact that I'd soon be giving Zayn his present sent jitters through my body. And for some reason, I was really nervous to give it to him.

Why? I wasn't exactly sure, I shouldn't have been this nervous. There was just this little tick in the back of my mind that was scared that maybe Zayn wouldn't like what I'd decided to give him. Maybe he'd think I was too much of a sap, or maybe he would think I was a bit corny or lame for it. But then again, maybe he wouldn't because this was Zayn I was thinking about and I didn't think he'd ever think that way about me ever. Well, at least I'd hope not. Not while we were still together, anyway. (Which I hoped was for a while.)

(Maybe forever, even.)

I promised Zayn the day before that I'd meet him at his place once I got off of work. Christmas had been all but a week ago and we were just now giving each other our gifts. And now that I thought about it, we were kind of an unorganized couple, really. I felt like we were always out of the loop and stuck in our own little universe.

I wondered what our planet would be called if we ever had one... Planet Zan... Planet Jayn... Okay, it could definitely use a lot of work, that's for sure.

I'd been so caught up in my thoughts and daydreams that I hadn't even noticed I was still sitting in my car, key in the ignition, just waiting to be turned on. I quickly started my car, shaking my head and chuckling a little to myself before I backed out and started on my way.