Tales of the Hearts

S̆̈Ĭ̈X̆̈T̆̈Ĕ̈Ĕ̈N̆̈✨

A week had passed since Louis' concussion and Trisha told Louis and Zayn about David. Trisha suggested David come over for dinner this weekend so Louis and Zayn could meet him. Zayn eagerly agreed, hoping it would be a distraction from the jumble that was his thoughts. Tutoring Liam every day was proving to be an increasingly difficult task as Zayn found it more and more difficult to deny what Zayn was feeling for him.

Zayn was setting the table when Louis came down the stairs. He was back up on his feet with few headaches, but he still needed to take it easy.

"Need help?" he asked. Zayn shook his head as he placed the last of the silverware down.

"I'm good.!" Zayn said, turning towards him.

"Are you nervous?" Louis asked, lowering his voice so his aunt wouldn't hear. Zayn thought for a moment.

"Yeah, a little bit. What about you?" Zayn asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah, not as much as you I guess. Don't worry Zee, everything is gonna be fine, yeah? "

"I just want mom to be happy. I really hope he's as good a guy as she says he is." Zayn breathed, feeling anxiety start to well up inside me. Louis nodded in agreement as Zayn's mom came down the stairs, fixing one of her earrings.

"Thank you for setting the table, Zaynie. It looks wonderful." she complimented, smiling at the boys.

"Thanks, mom. You look nice." Zayn observed, seeing she was wearing a casual black dress that she sometimes wore to work holiday parties.

"Thank you, honey. You both look lovely." she said, bringing Louis and Zayn in for a hug.

"When will he be here?" Louis asked as she released them. She checked her watch.

"Any minute now." she said with a smile. Just as she finished talking, the doorbell rang. "That'll be him. You two stay here, I'll go get him." she said. They both nodded and stood where we were, exchanging a nervous glance between the two of them as she went to the door.

"Relax baby bro."

"I'm trying"

A few moments later, she returned with a tall, tan man. He had dark hair and glasses and was wearing a nice pair of slacks, a polo shirt and a sport coat.

"Zayn, Louis, this is David. David, this is Zayn and Louis." she introduced them. Zayn shook his hand before Louis did, both of them greeting David with smiles.

"It's nice to finally meet you two." David said, grinning. "Your mom talks about you two nonstop. She's very proud of you both." he said.

"It's nice to meet you too. We've heard so many great things from mom about you, we're excited to finally meet you in person." Louis responded, when Zayn couldn't form any words and saw his aunt lightly blush at his words.

"Oh well, now you're just trying to embarrass me. David, boys, make yourself comfortable. I'm going to get the food" she said. Louis and Zayn sat across from one another, David at one end of the table and an empty chair for our mom at the other end.

"So do you work at the same company as mama?" Louis asked. David shook his head.

"No, I actually work about 20 minutes away from Trisha's firm. Our companies often work together with certain clients." David explained.

"Are you in engineering as well?" Zayn asked, trying to continue the small talk.

"I'm in sales. Your mom is a whole lot smarter than I am." David explained, lightly laughing.