Pressures of the Night

Chapter Seven

"There's a cute little diner down the street. It didn't look, too, full," Harry says when Liam gets on the sidewalk. So with that the five made their way down to the diner, Louis talking to Niall about some charity event him and his mum are planning since he was currently out of his headspace.

"Zayn would you be keen on coming down to it? It'll be a lot of fun and I'm sure the little girls would love to see you," Louis asks as he walks over to Zayn who just shrugs.

"If you want me to go, I'll go," Zayn says quietly.

"I would love it if you went, my mum would even be excited cause she hasn't seen you in quite some time," Louis says while nudging the boy.

"I guess I'll go then."

"Perfect! Da- I mean Liam called Caroline to come over and fit us for our tuxes tomorrow, so we'll just let her know she's doing you, too, now," Louis says with a smile before they enter the diner.

The waitress at the front guides the boys over to a far corner booth, where she quickly asked for a picture, before handing out the menus and telling them their waiter will be with them soon. The five sat in a comfortable silence while looking at the menu before a waiter arrived at the table.

"Hey, my name's Carter I'll be your waiter today. Can I start you lads off with something to drink?" Carter ask while pulling out his scratchpad.

"Uh, just a coffee for myself," Harry says.

"Make that two actually," Niall throws in and then the man turns to Liam.

"Two Yorkshire teas for me and this one," Liam says while pointing to Louis. "And, uh, Zaynie want apple juice? Chocolate milk?" Liam coos.

"We make a mean hot chocolate. If you're interested I'll even have them throw in some mini marshmallows," Carter says with a smile as he looks to the smallest boy at the table.

"I'll have a hot chocolate," Zayn says quietly while looking down and Carter nods before walking off leaving the five boys to talk on their own again. They continue to talk about the upcoming album, the new tour that'll be starting up in another month and half, and even Louis' charity event. However, throughout those conversations Zayn never once uttered a word which Liam easily noticed.

"Bubba, you feeling alright?" Liam asks while pushing the hair out of Zayn's in order to subtly feel his temperature.

"Just feel weird," Zayn mumbles and Liam can't help but frown.

"What do you mean, baby?" And now Zayn can't help but sigh in frustration cause even he doesn't understand it really. He doesn't know why it made him feel extra uncomfortable today, however, whenever the boys began talking about band stuff Zayn couldn't help but feel weird. He felt almost left out in a way.

Not left out as in the boys would not tell him about events, but rather left out in the scheduling of them. Not once has Zayn ever been in a meeting where they ask if he has any ideas on a future charity event they could do. Never once has he been to a meeting where they asked if they would be interested in performing at whatever event. He knows because of his age their management takes him the least serious, but he just wished his bandmates would try to incorporate him the planning a bit more, too.

"S'nothing. Don't worry," Zayn mumbles out just as Carter arrives with their drinks.

"How about some food?" Carter asks with a smile to which the boys return. Harry orders banana pancakes, Niall gets a traditional English breakfast, and Louis got plain pancakes with a side of whipped cream before Carter turned to Liam.

"Uh, a ham and cheese omelette," Liam says while handing the man his menu. "What do you want, Zee?"
"M'not hungry," Zayn says while handing the man his menu but Liam stops him.