slow it down // zayn malik

chapter twenty-six // burning fires in this room.

Jonny sings into the microphone, causing my heart to do little jumps. But unfortunately it's not from his incredibly voice, instead it's leaping in my chest from the amount of pressure that's being put on me from all sides.

Though I can tell Zayn's trying to fight against it, he's being shoved into me, causing the metal bar in front of me to dig deep in my ribs. I let out a cry of pain as I try to push myself away from it without any luck.

I'm being smothered from all sides.

Soon my lungs feel as if they're shrinking by the moment. The sweaty sea of bodies on all sides of me, causes it to become nearly impossible to breathe. It doesn't help that everyone's jumping around with their hands in the air, causing them to elbow me and stomp on my feet. 

I close my eyes, trying my best to take deep, low breaths. I'm not going to let my anxiety take over, not when I've been dying to see The Young and the Stupid perform for longer than I can remember. 

Being as stubborn as always, I try to sing along, but the moment I let go of the bar in front of me, the crowd shoves Zayn with ferocity, causing the bar to hit me in the stomach with great force. My stomach churns as tears well up in my eyes. 

Not being able to take it any longer, I turn around in Zayn's tight grip. His eyes - muddy with concern - meet mine quickly.

"I need to - I nee - " I stutter, unable to get enough air in my lungs to make a comprehensible sentence. 

Zayn reads every complicated little thought that pulses through my brain, a task I never thought another human being would be able to do. He nods and glances over his shoulder, trying to figure out the best way to get out of this ridiculous crowd. 

"Get on my back," He shouts to me, trying to be heard over the music. 

He quickly bends down, getting low enough for me to wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his small, fit waist. Though the handcuffs make it rather difficult, Zayn still manages to hold on to me tightly, making sure I'm not going anywhere. 

"Excuse me!" He shouts as he shoves his way through the crowd. I tuck my head in the safety of the crook of his neck. Though it's hotter than hell in the midst of this crowd, his warm flesh against my cheek gives me a sense of comfort. 

Zayn continues to shout as he pushes his way through the crowd, that's not being cooperative at all. As we get in the middle of the large crowd, he gives up trying to be polite and ends up shoving people out of the way. 

I focus on breathing - a task so simple that I hate myself for it being so difficult. I hide my face from those around us, feeling weak and fragile for needing to be fucking carried out of the crowd. I've never been so ashamed before. I used to be able to hide my anxiety - along with all my other problems - so well. 

The song ends just as we reach the back of the crowd, where the people become less aggressive, and it becomes easier and easier to breathe. Yet I still hold onto Zayn as tightly as I can.

The crowd erupts into loud cheers as the song ends. I let out a grateful sigh as I thank my lucky stars I'm not in the middle of all that commotion any longer.

Zayn puts me down, setting me carefully on the ground below us, but he lets his hands rest upon my lower back as he leans in to talk to me.

"Are you okay?" He asks, his warm breath hitting my face as our noses nearly brush against one another's. 

"Thank you," I whisper, my cheeks flushing an embarrassed shade of red. 

He lets out a relieved sigh as he rests his forehead against mine, an effortless smile appearing on his soft, pink lips - lips that have never looked as soft as they do right at this instant.