Tales of the Hearts

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They found a booth in the corner of the diner. Zayn quickly glanced over the menu, already knowing he wanted mac and cheese. Cherry's was a famous hang-out spot in this small town. They serve basically anything you can think of, and all of it is amazing.

"You know what you want?" Liam asked.

Zayn nodded. "Cool, let's go order"

"Oh, and I'll pay for yours." Zayn said, pulling out his wallet. Liam raised an eyebrow at him as they headed towards the register.

"You don't have to do that." he said. Zayn shook his head.

"You didn't have to help with the adoption drive, but you did. The least I can do is buy your lunch." Zayn said. Liam just smiled and nodded.

"Huh, okay. Thanks Love." Liam said, smirking. Zayn felt his cheeks heat up at the nickname as he ordered. After ordering and paying, they waited by the counter for a few minutes while they made their food.

"Hey, Liam."

Zayn tilted his head to see a pretty blond girl greeted from behind the counter.

"Hey, Lina." Liam responded, a light smirk on his face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, leaning against the counter.

"Just grabbing some lunch before tutoring." he said, gesturing to Zayn. Lina's eyes flitted over Zayn.

"Aren't you Louis' brother?" she asked Zayn, her head tilted. Zayn nodded.

"Yeah." Zayn replied, not sure what else to say. She nodded and hummed before looking back at Liam.

"So, are you free tonight?" she asked, an enticing smile on her face.

"Sorry, I've really gotta cram for an upcoming test. Maybe another time?" he offered. Lina nodded eagerly, still clearly disappointed from the rejection.

"Sure. Here's my number." she said, writing it down on a napkin before handing them our food. Liam smiled and thanked her as they grabbed their food and sat down.

"I don't think tutoring is going to take that long" Zayn said, confused by Liam's rejection. Liam smirked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

That damn smirk.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just not that into her. Thanks for being my escape plan." Liam said, nudging Zayn with his elbow.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Zayn said before putting a forkful of mac and cheese in my mouth.

"Aren't you supposed to be at a workout today?" Zayn asked Liam, trying to make conversation. Liam shook his head as he chewed.

"It's an underclassmen workout day. It gives them an extra day a week to work out and work with the coach." Liam explained and Zayn nodded in response.

"Lou always comes home complaining about how hard the coach works them over the weekend." Zayn responded. Liam grinned.

"Yeah. Those weekend workouts are basically a rite of passage for the team. We all have to go through that. It really helps build everyone into a great player though, so it's worth it in the long run." Liam said. Zayn nodded and hummed, taking a sip of my drink.

"Were you here last night?" Liam suddenly asked. Zayn raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Yeah, I was here with some friends. I saw the whole team was here last night." Zayn said, smiling as he took another bite of mac and cheese. Liam chuckled and shook his head.

"Yeah, it's pretty hard to miss us." Liam replied, looking over at Zayn and smiling. Zayn offered him a small smile in reply before dropping his eyes back to his food. They continued eating, mostly in silence except for the occasional small talk.