Unconditional

Chapter 9

I got dressed in a New England Patriots jersey. They were my favorite football team. I knew that I loved the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics, thanks to Niall. He had told me...my life story.

I had been born in Boston, Massachusetts but moved to London, England at the age of nine. Then I lived there for most of my life. A modest life. My father had stayed in Boston when my mom and I moved, and I never really knew him. Then when I was seventeen, my mother and I got in the car crash. You know the rest.

But what I didn't know was this: after the crash they didn't put me into a British hospital, as it was my mother's dying directions. Instead, I was flown to Boston for medical treatment.

Once I was stable, I was flown to Malibu under Simon Cowell's--yes the Simon Cowell--command. After I was done reminiscing about my childhood, I called Zayn up to my room.

"Coming!" he yelled, and a couple seconds later he trotted into my room.

"Hey, Zayn," I smiled.

"Hi."

"I, uh, I have a couple of questions," I said, looking at my bedroom floor.

"About what?" Zayn asked, obviously puzzled. He sat on my bed, right next to me.

"You," I said, keeping my focus on the ground, "and, I mean, we're really distant and...I mean since I remember the others and not you....What I'm trying to say is: I want to know more about you. I think by learning about you...maybe it will help me remember you. I don't know you...at all. All I know is that you and I were apparently best friends, your name is Zayn Malik, and you have a lot of tattoos."

I looked at him and smiled tentatively. He sadly smiled in return. Then he nodded.

"Ok. What do you want to know?" Zayn asked, tilting his head slightly to the left.

"What's your full name?" I asked softly. I had no idea why, but it was the first question that came to mind.

"My name actually isn't Zayn with a 'y' it's Zain with an 'i'. I adopted Zayn with a 'y' as my stage name because it was more original. So my full name is Zain Javadd Malik," Zayn told me, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay....I kinda followed that," I admitted, laughing. "But, , uh....What does your ZAP! tattoo stand for?"

"My love of comic books. I'm a bit of a nerd," he said, smiling. I felt almost happy when he genuinely smiled like that.

"So....What did you sing for your X-Factor audition?" I asked. It was random.

"Let Me Love You by Mario. I love R&B," he smiled.

"I love that song," I told him with a smile. "But, uh....Okay, erm, how do you feel about your fans?" Another random question that just popped into my mind. I thought about the day when we went to see management; the hordes of girls screaming their names. I could never live like that.

"We all love them," he laughed, "it's like we have a small army. It is a little annoying when they write those stupid fan fictions and hate on my girlfriend, but hey."

Zayn smiled at the ground when he said girlfriend and I felt a pang of jealousy. I had no idea why; we were just friends.

"What's your favorite football team?" These were all random questions that just kept popping into my head without rhyme or reason. It was like my mind was trying to tell me something. Remember him, remember him!

"Manchester United," he said.

Why are you really always mad? I know it's not just because we were close, you're hiding something! I wanted to shout.

"Where'd you go to high school?" I instead asked.

"Tong High School," he replied quietly. His sudden change in body language and attitude puzzled me.

"Who are you closest with in the band?" I was genuinely curious.

"Liam I think," he looked deep in thought, "I confide in him--a lot. He's definitely the most mature of us all. If I tried to be serious with Louis or Harry...they'd turn it into 'Oh I need to go snog my boyfriend now toodleoo' You know?" He said in a falsetto voice. "And Niall? Well he's always with you. You're like his sister," Zayn said. He had this look when he said it, almost as if he harbored some resentment toward me.

The two of us talked for hours. He even asked me some questions, and I didn't know if that was just him being polite or not. I was almost sure he knew the answers. Finally, I glanced at the clock. It was 8:45. I whistled.

"What?" Zayn asked, smiling.

"It's 8:45," I said. He whistled too.

"I'm going downstairs. The lads are probably-" Zayn was cut off by Harry, Liam, Louis, and Niall coming inside my room.

"HEYO!" Niall yelled, jumping on the bed. I shook my head.

"You're gonna break it, stupid!" I said.

"Based on you and Zayn being in your room--in the house--alone, you two may have already," Niall said, wiggling his eyebrows like a perv.

"NIALL JAMES!" I scolded him.

"Hehe!"

"Ugh, let's get going. I don't need anymore sec jokes. We should go for our drive now," I snorted. Louis nodded in agreement.

"I will drive," he said in a very prim and proper voice.

"Why you?" the five of us all asked at the same time.

"Because, I'm the queen," Louis said, pursing his lips. We erupted into fits of laughter. And I loved these guys.