Royalty

The Couch

Alex woke up his body unconsciously moving closer to her. Perrie flinched at his touch. He moved away from her not knowing what he should do.

"Don't Zayn." She pleaded in her sleep as tears rolled down her cheek. He slipped from the bed before kneeling in front of her sleeping form.

"Perrie." He said gently trying to wake her up.

"N-no." She stuttered out her tears now staining the pillow. "P-please." He moved his hand gently on top of hers that was tightly grabbing at the sheets.

Alex's fingertips slowly released her grasp before he carefully slipped his hand into hers. His lips met her knuckles for a brief moment.

"Love, it's me Alex." He said quietly his breath hitting her skin. Her features relaxed slightly. "Perrie, please wake up." He said slightly louder his hand squeezing hers carefully.

She slowly began to stir before she collapsed into him tears soaking his shirt. His arms tightly wound around her as he moved closer to her. Her sobbing form just about broke his heart.

"What happened love?" He asked pain coating his words. She shook her head her face burying more into his neck. He knew not to push her so he carefully moved his hands to under her thighs and carried her to the couch. He hoped a change of scenery would help.

As he sat down her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, her arms now squeezing his neck. She was trying to suck an ounce of comfort she could from him. His arms carefully wrapped around her back holding her protectively.

"P-Perrie please stop crying." His voice broke as he pleaded with her. She didn't cease. She couldn't. Hatchi came and pushed his way between them trying to do what Alex couldn't. But even the small dog couldn't help.

When Alex heard someone come through the door he tensed. Relief washed over him as he saw Jade. Her friendly face was outmatched by the girls angry ones behind her.

"What did you do?" Jesy growled through gritted teeth. He put his hands up while shaking his head. Jade bumped the other brunette knowing exactly what was going on. Her face softened immediately. "How long?" She asked as she sat down next to him.

"At least five minutes." He said quietly. Jesy shook her head before the other girls surrounded Perrie. She began to calm simply by the presence of her best friends. Slowly she moved from Alex's arms. Jade immediately wrapped her arms around the blonde who began to cry once more.

He gently took her hand their fingers lacing together. This time the blonde quieted in less than a minute. She looked between all four of them. The girls knew why she was crying but he didn't.

When their eyes met he gently shook his head. She inwardly sighed. It was not something she wanted to share. At least not at this point. When she leaned against him she looked between the three other girls.

"Why are yous here?" Perrie asked all three of them. They started giggling.

"You told us all to come yesterday so we could binge and watch movies. That is if you still want to." Leigh-Anne said with a wink turning the blonde redder than Santa's suit. The blondes gaze move to the man next to her. "He can stay Pez."

Perrie looked over at him as if she was pleading for him to stay. He smiled at her.

"If you all don't mind?" He said earning head shakes from all of them.

"It's not everyday you get to hang out with royalty." Jesy said with a smirk causing him to laugh.

"And it's not everyday that I get to hang out with normal people." He said causing Perrie to watch him carefully. She knew he must have felt comfortable if her was able to keep up with Jesy's banter.

"Well then I hope you're ready to get fat." Jade said before opening Perries laptop to order food. Once everyone ordered Alex took the laptop from her hands. He quickly paid for the food before they could protest. Jade hit his shoulder. "What did you do that for?" She said her voice raising a pitch.

"Leave me be. I wanted to do it." He said as Perrie leaned even more into him. His hand carefully moving to rest on her lower back making sure she wouldn't fall. Her head coming to rest against his collarbone.

The four girls shook their heads before Leigh moved to pick a movie. Alex stretched out his feet moving to rest on the table in front of him just like the others had. As Tangled began to play Perrie watched him carefully. He cautiously moved his hand to her side giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I have a little sister. This doesn't bother me." She shook her head a small giggle leaving her mouth. His fingertips gently strayed along her side. A shiver crossed her body. She cuddled closer into him not realizing why she was cold.

The three girls who had kept their eyes on him smiled. They had never seen Perrie so relaxed around someone she barely knew. When her feet tucked in between his legs the girls looked away. They knew that Alex was a definite match for her and nothing they could do would change that.

Perrie's eyes began to close as she listened to his strong heartbeat. His arms tightly wound around her keeping her in place as she fell asleep.

It was the first time in years that she didn't have a nightmare.