The Art of Seduction - Zayn Malik AU

Chapter 26: Friends?

"So, you're not a virgin are you?" I choke on air when he asks the question. Why the hell does he want to know? "No, I'm not. Why, are you?" Cole's eyes shoot open and he scoots himself to sit up on the bed. 

"No, but Serena is and she's not looking to lose it any time soon," Cole tells me. To say I'm surprised is an understatement. "Serena? Serena Valley is a virgin?" I have to hold myself back from laughing. From the look of the girl you would assume she lost her virginity freshman year. 

"Yeah, I know. Surprising right?" Cole rolls his eyes. "Yeah, just a bit," I say. It grows quiet for a few seconds and I begin to think he's fallen asleep, until he grunts and turns to his side to face me and asks yet another question. 

"How do you get girls to sleep with you then? Like how to you persuade them into it?" He's obviously looking for advice on how to get Serena to sleep with him. But why is he asking me? Cole has a bunch of other friends he could bother with his sex life so why does he feel the need to come to me for advice? Maybe it's just because I'm conveniently sitting next to him while he thinks about it. 

I shrug in reply to Cole's question. It's not like I do any certain thing to sleep with girls, it just happens. "I don't know, I mean I haven't slept with anyone in a while," I have no idea why I just told him that, but he's drunk off his ass so I guess it doesn't matter. 

"Really? How long has it been since you got laid?" Cole asks. I am beginning to feel a bit more comfortable sitting next to him. The alcohol in his system also gives me comfort talking to him about this. I barely even talk about this stuff with Dylan, much less Cole Fallon. "I guess not since mid summer really," I answer. 

Both of Cole's eyebrows raise in response to my confession. Almost as high as mine when he told me how Serena is still a virgin. "Well, what's stopping you?" Cole asks me. I have to stop myself from spitting out the entire truth. I just now realize how ironic the situation really is. The reason I haven't been laid since summer is because of Cora, but I can't just come out and tell him that. He's drunk but he isn't that drunk. 

Cole would kill me right here and now if he knew what Cora and I have been up to. At the beginning of the year Cole would never talk to me or even acknowledge my existence as anything other than a waste of space. 

I look back at Cole who is drunkenly waiting for me to answer. I have to come up with something quick but I've never been a good liar. "Well, the girl I'm interested in now is kind of playing hard to get," I tell him. Fuck. That was not what I was supposed to say. Now I'm going to have to think of someone in place of Cora if he asks who it is. 

"Hard to get? What do you mean?" Cole looks at me with questioning eyes. I put myself on a slippery slope and now I have to watch what I say so I don't get myself killed. But I can't just cut off the conversation, he would get suspicious. I don't know what Cole used to think about me and his sister but I'm sure he was already a bit suspicious. There's no need to bring that back. 

"Oh come on, you can tell me Malik! We're friends right?" Cole asks. Friends? Hearing the word come out of Cole's mouth is almost as weird as the concept itself. A few years back I would never think that sometime in the future Cole Fallon would refer to me as a friend. But If that's what we are...the last thing I want to do is ruin that. If he ever finds out about Cora, maybe it would soften the blow?

"Well, I really like her, and I'm pretty sure - no I'm sure she likes me. But we can never really be on the same page about it and we just end up teasing each other," I say, a bit slower than usual to make sure I don't say anything that could out me. Cole eyes look tired and I don't even know if he's really even listening to what i'm saying. 

"Well take her on a date or paint her something - aren't you good at that?" Cole says and sinks back down into Louis' bed. Where is Louis anyway? It seems like he's cooking Cole and entire turkey or something. 

"A date? I haven't taken anyone on a date since Brighton a couple years ago and then we went out once earlier this year but it was terrible," I confess and make myself a bit more comfortable in the bed. "Wait, I thought you we're talking about Brighton?" Cole sits back up on the bed, apparently more coherent than I thought. 

"Oh uh, no, I wasn't," I bite my lip, hoping he wouldn't ask further but he does. "Well then who is it?" Cole asks. There are almost 5,000 names in our school and the only one that comes to my mind is Cora. Fuck. "She uh-" I start but Cole interrupts me. "It's Marissa isn't it!" he looks at me inventively. I just smile and give him a small nod. Thank god Cole is better at thinking of names on the spot. He claps his hands in victory and mumbles a muffled "I knew it" to himself. 

Louis barges back into his room with a cup full of water in one hand and a bowl of noodles in the other. "Cole, sit up I brought you some food," Louis says and Cole lets out another groan before sitting up to meet Louis with the food. 

I can't believe I just talked to Cole about my problem getting laid with his little sister. It's not even that I want to sleep with her - I mean, of course I do - but I'm not that urgent about it. And if she's a virgin still, which I think she is, Cole and I have even more to relate with each other. 

After Cole falls asleep, Louis and I move to his living room to actually get some studying done. I wonder what Louis would think if he knew I was interested in Cora. I doubt he would tutor me anymore. 

That's another problem. Even if Cora and I stop teasing each other, everyone we know would freak out if I took her on a civilized date. Her brother would murder me before I even got her in the car. Maybe what Cora and I are doing right now is all we should do - or can do? And maybe that's why we've never taken it further. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once again, sorry it took so long! I'm on vacation right now that's why! Anyway hope you liked it! 

Don't forget to comment and vote PLEASE!!! - C