When Worlds Combine - A WWC Sequel

55; Notes, unexpected visits, and bad news

"You ready to go?" He asks me.

I nod, trying to give him a convincing smile. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me down the hall, and starts talking to me about something he watched last night. I stick my hands in my pockets, my fingers curling over the folded paper. I'm feeling a lot of things all at once, trying to listen to Liam and to not replay Zayn's words on that paper through my head.

"Are you okay?" Liam asks me as we move down the stairs. "You seem a bit distracted."

"I'm just a bit tired," I lie.

Liam stops walking, turning to me in concern. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"What?" I shake my head. "No, Liam, I-"

He grabs my hands and smiles at me. "It's just a date, Violet. We can do it any time."

"I don't want to just cancel your plans-"

"Hey, hey." He looks at me carefully. "Of course you're not. Just think of it as a rain check, yeah?"

I give him a small smile, looking up at him. "Really?"

"Of course. If you're tired, go rest."

I lean in and kiss him slowly, cupping my hands around his cheeks. I feel him smile beneath me as he pulls me closer and then he pulls away. "Go," he mouths.

"I'll call you later, okay?" I promise, backing away.

He smiles. "I'll look forward to it. Sweet dreams."

I blow a kiss to him and he just waves, descending down the stairs. I feel really shit for lying to him, because I wasn't tired enough to cancel an entire date. I just wasn't in the mood at the moment.

I walk back to my room and grab Zayn's shirt before walking back out. I wait a few minutes, to make sure Liam has properly left, and then I walk down the stairs and make my way towards Zayn's dorm.

————-

He doesn't answer right away and I start to wonder if he's even in. It was a big risk coming here in the first place, to just give back a stupid shirt. He wouldn't want to see me, and I wasn't so sure I wanted to see him. I just knew I had to do something after reading what I did.

I didn't expect the door to open, and when it did it revealed him standing there shirtless with messy hair and a sleepy expression. He looked very shocked to see me, as I did him, and for a minute or so we just stood there looking at one another.

He steadied himself on the door, straightening himself up and trying to appear more awake than he obviously was. It was three in the afternoon, but he had just awoken from what seemed to be a very deep slumber. His eyes held the permanent redness that made him look scared and broken, and not even his sleepy expression could hide that.