stars and terrain (zayn malik)

Chapter 54

Zayn

She was probably just drinking because of the stuff with her mom.

But I couldn't help but feel rejected when she chose to drink wine - wine of all things, she doesn't even like the stuff - with Holly instead of spending time with me. On Valentine's Day.

It made me so mad I let the time pass right past our dinner reservation, staying put playing video games until she came crawling back. She couldn't know why I was so mad, because she didn't know I met with her mom, but for some reason that made it worse.

When she eventually came back, I was even angrier. Because I was a few rum and cokes in and didn't she even care that it was Valentine's Day? I wanted to have a proper one. And I wasn't used to planning or wanting something to happen and then not having it line up the exactly the way I liked. Call it a side effect of getting famous too young. People don't usually say no and things usually go my way.

But then she told me she had a surprise for me after the show, and she climbed on my lap and squeezed against me and when I can smell her and feel her it's a lot harder to be mad at her.

And now I'm on stage, and she's so close I can almost reach out and touch her. And I know Preston is protecting her, so I don't have to stress about fans crushing her or something, and I feel the same way I felt on stage last night.

Like I can actually relax and enjoy it. Enjoy people screaming my name and waving signs and throwing bras on stage. Enjoy the expressions my music puts on people's faces. Enjoy how girls scream and jump hysterically with the simple act of wave.

And any time it feels like too much, like I'm drowning in the noise and the enormous amount of people whose focus is squarely on me, I find blue eyes that bring me back down.

I step on my mark and am dropped below the stage to wait for the encore, and hate being out of Charlie's eye line for even two minutes. It makes the screaming and chanting scary again. But I can breathe again once I'm back on stage and I see Charlie smiling up at me.

The next few songs fly by, and I'm happy to be racing down the hallways to where Preston drops her off right after.

"Safe and sound, Malik!" Preston booms, presenting my pretty girl before me.

"Another raise!" I tease, grabbing Charlie's hand. "Thanks, Preston."

"Yes, thank you Preston!" Charlie waves as he retreats and then turns her sea blue eyes to me. "Ready for my surprise?"

"Of course," I nod.

"Good, because there's a car waiting. Let's go!" Charlie instructs and I follow her long legs down the winding hallways and outside to the pouring rain and a waiting town car.

"How'd you like your second show?" I ask, as she directs the driver with an address and runs her hands through her now damp hair.

"Loved it. Better than the first," she smiles. "I knew what was going on this time. Even made a friend in the audience."

"Oh you did?" I ask, the earlier day's arguments falling away. She's too beautiful to ever be angry at. Especially wet from the rain.

"I did. Her name was Carrie and she had no idea who you were, so she definitely didn't know who I was." Charlie giggles. "She brought her little sisters to the show. We had a great time."

I run my hand up and down the scruff of my chin. "I see. Well, was she a convert at least?"

"Absolutely. We both decided you were the greatest singer we'd never listened to before."