One Direction // One Shots

Ziam :: Unconditionally

Zayn's never, ever felt accepted before. There was always something that made him an outcast, always something that someone hated about him. He dressed in mostly black all the time; never wore anything other than black, white, and maybe some red now and then. He wore leather jackets all the time- he hated hoodies. He wasn't one for conversations. He liked different music than everyone else. No matter how much he tried to change, he was never accepted. No one liked him enough to stick around to get to know him better. No one ever tried to dig deep and get Zayn out of his shell. No one thought he was worth the effort. No on accepted him.

Until, one day, somebody did.

It was Tuesday. Normal old Tuesday, and Zayn was in the Library, looking through books and typing away for an essay that was due next week. One he was just beginning- one that needed five-thousand words. He'd had a pretty crazy morning already, and he was already late for school.

For of all, he missed his alarm. Second, he fell asleep in his Special K. Third, he put on his shirt while his hair was sitll wet from his completely rushed and completely cold shower, so he had to take off the shirt, throw it across his room (which wasn't completely necessary), dry his hair, and shove on a new one. He had almost forgotten his deoderant and cologne- but thank god he didn't. By then, he didn't have time to do anything with his hair, so he shoved a hat over his head and hope nobody would look at him today.

"Hi!" A boy said. Zayn turned at the sound of the voice. It was Liam Payne, one of the newer kids in school. He'd been here since last year, though, so he wasn't that new. Zayn didn't say anything, didn't even smile or wave.

"I'm, uh, I'm Liam." Liam caughed awkwardly, then he extended his arm out for Zayn. Zayn just looked at it for a moment and then, deciding not to be rude and not spread his bad day all over other people (especially not the attractive boy who was actually talking to him), shook his hand.

"Did you need something?" Zayn asked politely. He hadn't heard his voice in a while- only a few weeks ago when his mother left for a business trip and he was saying goodbye. His sisters were with his father, and Zayn was all alone in his house. It was odd, really, because, well, he was sixteen years old and he was completely alone in a giant house for five months.

"Actually, no." Liam said, but he pulled out the chair next to Zayn and sat anyways. They were the only ones at that table. There were eight others around them, and only a few people sat, reading their books in silence. "You just looked a little alone and I'm a little alone and-"

Liam paused. He cleared his throat again and lowered his voice, realizing for one that he was talking too loud, and second that people were beginning to stare. Because no one talked to Zayn, and it was odd to see him talking.

"This is probably going to sound really creepy, but," Liam paused. "Well, maybe not creepy so much as weird? I-I don't exactly know how you'll take this, you know, 'cause I'm not you and I-I don't know- I'm really awkward, I'm sorry."

Zayn chuckled a little bit, something he hasn't done in a long, long while. It felt nice to be laughing again. "That's okay. I've met people way, way worse than you. Not that you're bad, I mean! I-I'm pretty awkward, too."

"That's good, then. We can be awkward together. I mean," Liam caughed, running a hand through his hair. "I guess I'll just get to the point? I've had a crush on you for a while now, um, pretty much ever since I moved here. And, yeah, that does sound really creepy. Um. I'm sorry. But, yeah. I like you, and I just- I just kinda wanted to talk to you, you know? Figured I'd grow some balls this year."

Liam shut his eyes and made a face. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that. The balls part. Fuck. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. That was weird. Oh, God. I shouldn't have even come over- I'm making a fool of myself. I'll just- I'll just go-"