I Wish (Zayn Malik Fan Fiction)

Chapter 16: The Beach (Part 2)

               I looked at him in confusion, my face still burning. He continued to grin, and then let out a huge burp himself.

               He strolled over to me and slung an arm around my shoulders. I stared at him dumbly.

               He smiled, “A girl who has a good burp is a girl worth keeping.”

               “Well, that’s the first time I ever heard that,” I said under my breath, grinning up at him.

               I noticed that everyone was still staring at me. I suddenly felt extremely self-conscious as I bit my lip and looked down to avoid anyone’s gaze.

               “Hey!” Niall shouted angrily. I peeked back up at him. “What do you think you’re looking at? Go back to doing whatever you were doing.”

               At last, they dropped their gazes and looked guiltily at their dirty plates.

               “I’m so sor – “

               “It’s fine, Jennifer,” Niall cut me off, putting a hand on the small of my back and guided me away from everyone else.

**********

               We stopped walking when we got to the edge of the water. Niall gently pulled me down to sit on the soft, warm sand beside him.

               Without any words, he rested my head against his shoulder and held me, softly rubbing little circles on the skin of my arm.

               We sat like that for a little while, watching the water lap up onto the shore, missing us only by a few inches while the seagulls called out to one another and flew in circles along the surface of the ocean.

               “They – “ I choked. “They think I’m disgusting...”

               Tears built up in my eyes and ran down my face, splashing onto Niall’s bare stomach.

               He held me tighter to him and replied firmly, “No. They don’t think that.”

               “You wouldn’t know that,” I sniffed, another tear rolling down my cheek.

               “Jenn. Listen to me.” He pulled me in front of him, holding both my shoulders so that I was square to his. I looked down, and another tear dripped onto the sand, making a small dot.

               “Jenn.”  He cupped a hand under my chin and tilted my head up so I was forced to look at him. “Look at me.”

               Reluctantly, I met his gaze, my eyes watering once more.

               “Jenn. It’s fine. It’s absolutely okay to burp whenever you feel like it. They have no right to judge you for that. There’s nothing wrong with showing them how much you enjoyed their food. For all I know, they should be thanking you. Don’t let them do that to you, Jenn. I know you’re better than that.”

               I swallowed and sniffed again, pulling Niall in for hug. A lone tear slipped out of my eye and dropped down his back.

               “Don’t cry. Please,” he mumbled in my ear, “You don’t want to see me sad, do you?”

               I let go of him and looked down, avoiding his eyes.

               “To me, it’s attractive when girl burps nice and loud. It shows how much they appreciate the food that they eat,” he smiled and winked at me, “I find it hot.”