through the dark ➳ malik a.u

fifteen - de ja vu

A car horn pulled me from my daydream and I looked up to find Riley's car pulling to stop in front of where I was standing. Before I started to walk towards the car, I took a deep breath. Should I be doing this? Was I doing the right thing by giving him another chance? And if I was being honest, even though Zayn and I had made up there was still a part of me (the stubborn part) that really wanted to prove him wrong. Riley and I were going to a public place anyway, there was no way he could actually try anything. It's not as if I was going to go out with him again after this, anyway. I planned on just listening to his apology or explanation or whatever then leaving and never seeing him again.

As I slid into the passenger side, I gave Riley a small smile and he returned it with an even wider one, "How was your birthday?"

"It was good, thanks."

"Have fun with Lauren?"

My mind flashed back to the party and everything that had happened with Zayn that night. Honestly, after the memory of Zayn and us dancing it started to get pretty blurry and eventually completely blank. This was due to me letting Louis pour my drinks and let me tell you - I'm not doing that again. The hangover I'd had today had been absolutely killer. Zayn wasn't even there at lunch - Liam has said he was still sleeping which I didn't doubt for a second. A part of me was glad that I hadn't seen Zayn all day because no doubt we would have ended up arguing about me going out with Riley tonight.

"Georgia?"

"Hm?" I responded after if returned to reality.

"I asked if you had fun."

"Oh, uh, yeah. It was a great night."

Riley nodded while he kept his eyes on the road in front of him. It was obvious that I was still wary around him and I knew that he knew. The remainder of the short car ride was spent in silence until Riley pulled up outside some cafe.

"This place is good, and it's only a few streets from your school." Riley pointed out and I nodded in response.

He let out a small sigh before unclipping his seatbelt and stepping out of the car. I waited a second before doing the same. Together, we walked into the small cafe and sat at a table in the centre of the room. There were only four or so people seated in the cafe not including us or the staff. We searched the menus for a moment before Riley called over a waiter to take our orders. Riley tapped the table a few times while we were seated in silence before a loud sigh came from his mouth. He leaned forward so that his elbows were against the table and looked up at me.

"Look, Georgia, I know what I tried to do was stupid and I am so sorry about that. I was drunk and so were you - and I shouldn't have tried to take advantage of that. It was a dick move. Frankly, I'd been thinking about you a lot and how badly I wanted to kiss you and when drink got involved my drunken brain just took control of my body." He explained, and I tried my best not to blush at him saying that he'd wanted to kiss me. Not because of him but because it reminded me of when I'd told Zayn to kiss me at my birthday party the previous night. "And I know drink doesn't excuse my actions, but I'd really like a second chance."

"I-I honestly don't know." I replied, biting my lip and his shoulders sagged.

"Please?"

"How about acquaintances for now? It's just - I need to think about this some more." I'd decided to be civil to Riley at least just for the night. He did seem genuinely sorry, and the least I could do was to give him the two hours he'd asked for. What's the worst that could happen?

"It's better than nothing." Riley shrugged with a smile just as the waiter returned with our orders.

While we ate, we spoke about school and work and the weather. We talked about how dark it was getting outside because of the winter months (it was about six o'clock at night and it was almost completely black outside) and we were civil as I'd said I'd try to be. Soon we were seated with the waiter clearing our table before leaving the bill in the centre. Yawning, Riley stretched and pulled his chair out from the table to reach into his back pocket for his wallet. He placed the money on the tray that had been left before standing from his seat and heading towards the counter to hand it over. A few moments later, he was hovering over the table and pulling his hoodie on and his phone was ringing in his hand.