slow it down // zayn malik

chapter thirty // loss of presence; loss of grace.

"What look?" He asks, though judging by the smirk painted on his lips, he knows exactly the look I was talking about. 

I simply give him my unamused look, narrowing my eyes at him. Zayn tilts his head back to let an effortless laugh leave his throat. He snakes his free arm around my waist to pull me into a tight embrace, his lips lingering over my cheek, causing my skin to feel as if it were on fire. 

"He was just letting me know how lucky I was to have you," He whispers softly, his teeth grazing my jawline, causing me to let out an involuntary shiver, which of course causes Zayn to chuckle lowly. 

 Grumbling under my breath about how Zayn uses his assets for evil and not good, I push open the camper door, causing everyone crowded around the bonfire to fall silent. They turn to allow their eyes to fall upon us, each fighting against their amused grins. 

But of course that doesn't last long at all. 

Louis and Niall both burst into laughter and jump up to give Zayn a slap on the back, like the immature boys they are. I roll my eyes as Niall wraps an arm around my neck and laughs obnoxiously in my ear. 

"You two are just the cutest thing in the world," Niall coos, pinching my cheeks. Gritting my teeth, I send a swift punch to his stomach, forcing him to let go of me as his laughter now roars from his chest. 

Even Harry - whom I thought still was plotting my death - grins at the two of us as we escape from Louis and Niall's immature jokes and questions. I try to hide my pleased grin, not wanting to ruin his good mood.

I know I'm going to have to work things out with him eventually, but my pride keeps that from happening just yet. As stupid and ridiculous as that is. 

My eyes travel across the bonfire to meet a familiar pair of eyes that I haven't seen in quite some time. Andi and Sable sit there with smirks plastered across both of their faces. But behind Sable's smirk, I can see a hint of fire, obviously displeased that all this happened, and she hasn't known any of it. 

I shoot her an apologetic smile, letting her know that the moment Zayn and I are separated - a thought I've been avoiding for awhile now - I'll fill her in with all the details. She knows very well this isn't my type of thing. 

I continue wordlessly communicating when a squeeze of my hand rips my attention away from my best friends. I glance up at Zayn who's smiling down at me. He tilts his head away from the group, thinking the same thing I was thinking: running away again.

I can see the feelings pulsing behind his dark eyes, very similar to my own. When we're around all of our friends, it makes this beautiful thing we've created between us seem too... real? They'll all have questions for us that we haven't even taken the time to think about ourselves. 

A grin spreads across my lips as I nod, biting my bottom lip shyly. Joy wells deep inside my chest as I recognize the small qualities of myself that are being reflected from Zayn; qualities of mine that he's picked up on. 

The feeling of freedom and living in the moment - the feeling I live for - is being passed along to him, and I can't do anything but grin like an idiot. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," A voice pulls our attention away from one another. We both look up to see Louis getting to his feet, approaching us, "You two aren't running away that quickly. We've allowed you two to sneak around for the past few days. The least you can do is grace us with your presence for an hour or so," He wraps his arms around us both, ushering us back to the group. 

I can't help but to let out a frustrated groan as he pushes the two of us into an empty lawn chair. I go to take a seat beside Zayn on the bench with Mia and Louis, but Zayn wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me into his lap. I smirk at him, glancing over my shoulder, but he only hides his embarrassed grin as he buries his face into my back.