brilliant discovery • zauren

Epilogue

Dinah whistled, throwing her sandy locks over her shoulders. "Y'all need to get your mind out of the gutters. I'm an innocent child here."

"Deej, you're almost twenty-one," Lauren dismissed, rolling her eyes.

"Exactly. A child. Can you believe I'm still not legal to drink in this country?"

"But you still do," Ally reminded her, wagging a slender finger.

"Oh my God!" Camila exclaimed, having an epiphany of sorts. "In a month, we will all be legal. Holy shit."

"And can you believe will be opening our world tour at the Staples Center in a few weeks?" Lauren heaved in excitement.

The girls came together, screaming incoherently at how far they've come from the X-Factor. It may have taken a while to get where they are now, but the raising journey was always the most fun. They regretted none of their experiences and in the long run, found their way.

"Most importantly," Normani piped up, standing from her chair. "This whole Zauren PR thing will be two years in a couple more days."

Lauren pinched her best friend's arm, but laughed, anyway.

And just as Zayn said it onscreen, she said it offscreen.

"Best decision of my life."

--

Liam opened the door for the recording studio, letting in a very tired Lauren.

"Hey, sis," he greeted fondly, leading her to the leather sofa behind Zayn's producer, Malay, and his soundboard.

Zayn was in the soundproof room, going over the lyrics of the new song he just penned.

"How long has he been in there?" Lauren asked the two men, noticing the evident circles under Zayn's eyes. Even from afar, they were noticeable.

"Hours," Liam complained, sitting on an empty chair by the smaller room. He was done recording his bit for their duet ages ago.

Malay spun around in his chair, hands gripping tightly on his dark fringe. Clearly, he was tired, too. The look of exhaustion written across his facade.

"He is such a perfectionist," Malay commented. Not necessarily grousing, but pretty close to it. But as long as Zayn was keen on recording, he couldn't call it for the night just yet.

As they were talking about the man of the hour, he popped his head through the open door. Only Lauren's presence could bring him out from the confined space.

"Hey, mi cielo," he greeted with that sweet smile of his that never failed to make Lauren's heart skip a beat. "How was Ellen?"

She rushed to his side, smothering his lips with tender kisses. Zayn, who was just as tired, felt recharged. To everyone's fatigue, he could stay another hour or so thanks to energy boost.

"Great, mi gatito!" Lauren chirped. "We talked about you."

Zayn's face lit up with curiosity and amusement. "Oh, what did you say?"

Since Lauren sucked at keeping secrets, she told him in a heartbeat. "What your name in my cellphone is."

No longer smitten, Zayn frowned. "It's been two years and you haven't changed it!"

The idea of erasing when he foolishly wrote years ago bothered Lauren and her brows met. "It's special to me! Think of the memories."

On cue, memories of that night passed them both, and they laughed.