One Division

Chapter One - You're Everywhere

Chapter One – You’re Everywhere

***

I’m looking out at the crowd, you’re everywhere.

***

Zayn suddenly registered Victoria spooning some oatmeal into a bowl in front of him. It landed with a sickening plop, and he tried to look up at Victoria for a thank you, but she’d already moved on. He could tell she was disappointed in him. He hadn’t even had to tell her what he’d done, Happy had called her up in tears later that afternoon after their jam session. After all the other boys’ confessions, Victoria had to take a moment in her room to  keep judgment and immediate emotion out of the equation.

When she had finally come out, a weak smile plastered on her face, she said nothing changed, but they all knew better. She had been distant to Zayn and Harry, not sure if she could sympathize with their specific plights. To her, they had brought their pain upon themselves. The angry part of her at hearing Happy break down over a phone wanted to ostracize Zayn, but gratefully the more rational part of her took over, reminding her that this was the boy who’d been there for her when no one else was. That this break up was just as hard on him as it was on Happy.

But she still kept her distance, afraid that residual emotion would cause her to lash out at him unintentionally. Zayn was secretly thankful for it. As long as she was keeping away from him, she still cared about what he thought. As long as she was still considering his emotions, she wouldn’t tell him what he already knew. That he was an idiot for letting the best thing he had go. He could practically sense the accusation in her stance: You didn’t even fight for her. You have no right to complain. She loved him too much to say it aloud, but Zayn knew she was thinking it.

Victoria treated them all a little differently. She and Liam had seemingly seamlessly returned to being friends, but they had spent less and less time together. An awkwardness had set in between them, and in the span of 24 hours, they had become best friends and total strangers all in one.

Niall, in comparison, had been getting the best treatment Zayn had ever seen in his life. The others may not have noticed, but Zayn always prided himself on his observation skills. He watched Victoria subtly throw just enough games to make Niall feel better about himself. His portion at dinner was larger than everyone else’s. The extra helping, Zayn suspected, was the reason why his own was smaller than the others’. But it wasn’t as if it mattered in the end. Niall just pushed his food around his plate awkwardly until he finally declared himself not hungry and retreated into his room.

One thing Zayn never saw coming was what happened between Louis and Victoria. He had expected Louis to go back to hating her, that he would hold a grudge against Victoria for not telling him about Willow. Instead, the opposite happened. Louis jumped at the chance to learn more about Katie’s daughter. He hadn’t left Victoria’s side all night keeping up a long running conversation just about learning everything about the three-year old. Willow had garnered the attention from the pop star that most fan girls would kill to have.

That morning, One Direction had to say good bye to the flat they’d called their home. Zayn felt almost bittersweet about it. Yes, they were leaving to go on a world tour, and that was fantastic, but they were leaving the first communal home One Direction had ever had to themselves. It was someplace to call theirs that they all went back to at the end of the day. It was where their band became a family. But it wouldn’t be theirs for much longer.

Nothing in this world is permanent, Zayn thought cynically as Victoria locked up for the last time. No matter how badly you want them to be.