When Mel and Sash insisted on setting nam up on a blind date, nam wished that death was an option. They argued and pleaded that since they had found someone to be with, it was her turn to find someone too. They figured that the best way to do that would be by setting her up with a friend and probably force nam to fall in love.
"I don't like this, I'm not going anywhere." Nam groaned.
"Oh well, we're gonna get you dressed up and then we're kicking you out!" Sash replied as she did nam's makeup.
"Sash said he's really nice and your type," Mel insisted, "it's too late to back out, don't be an ass."
"I never agreed to this!" Nam cried out as Sash grabbed her chin to make her look at her again.
"Stay still! I can't finish if you keep turning away."
Nam sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. Clearly, nothing she would do or say will get her out of this now.
She didn't know much about this mystery person besides the fact that his name was Zayn and that he is an artist, who met Sash during one of their classes together. Other than that, she had no idea who she was meeting.
Mel ran into the room and warned sash and nam that Zayn was now waiting outside for her. this put sash in overload and she pushed her out of the room towards the door.
"don't do drugs!"
"call us if he fucking tries anything!" the two girls sat together on the couch and watched nam as she left, trying to watch from their seats.
"Hi," said the boy waiting for her. he was wearing a suit equally as fancy as nam's, and he looked fucking amazing in it.
"hey" she smiled, "I guess your zayn?"
"and you're nam," he said as they walked the short distance to his car
they both settled in and nam looked at Zayn as he started the car
"here's the thing," he turns to look at nam, "this fancy date thing isn't my ideal image of a date, and I really want this to go well"
"I feel the same way" nam admits
"I was thinking maybe we could forget the restaurant and you could let me take you somewhere else instead?" zayn proposed.
nam narrowed her eyes at him and thought for a moment. the main thing that made her nervous about tonight was dinner. but now, she could skip the entire small talk and awkward silences and fear portion and do something in both of their comfort zones.
"what are you thinking of doing?" she asks.
zayn smirks and starts the car, "do you like art?"
---
the car slows to a stop at the museum. nam looks at Zayn to see a gorgeously smug look on his face.
"maybe tonight won't be too bad, zayn" she teases. he helps her out of the car and they walk in together, zayn hand on nams waist.
"there's something I wanna show you," Zayn said once they were inside. he led her to a painting close by. nam gasped when she read the card underneath it.
Wheatfield With Cypresses - Vincent Van Gogh
everyone is familiar with the influential artist, but to be face to face with his work? it was breathtaking. nam was getting lost in the soft blue sky in the painting.
"it was painted a year before he died," zayn mentioned, "its the view he had in the asylum he was staying in."
nam looked up at Zayn and took his hand in his, "you're really amazing for this." this makes him blush and look away.
they spend the next hour or so wandering around the gallery. zayn had obviously been here dozens of time before, as he knew everything about every piece of art nam pointed out.
eventually, they both realized that they shouldn't have skipped dinner. they retreat back to the car and are back on the road.
"what are you in the mood for? pizza? takeout?" he asks nam.
"pizza, definitely," she answers.
they drive to his apartment and dug into the food.
"I have another thing planned for us" zayn confesses. nam gives him a suspicious look which immediately makes zayn flustered and tries to tell her it was something innocent.
"I was thinking since you really enjoyed the museum and paintings, we could paint here." he stammers.
"alright" nam chuckles, "do you... have anything else for me to change into? I don't wanna get this dress dirty"
zayn nods and goes to his room, returning with an old pair of sweatpants and a sweater.
"you can have these and change in the bathroom, ill get everything ready here" nam thanks him and leaves.
when she comes back, Zayn has two small canvases and watercolor paints out. he smiles at nam when he sees her in his clothes.
"you look beautiful" he confesses. nams face flushes, and she sits across from him on the floor.
the next hour is full of them listening to zayns playlist and talking as they worked. unsurprisingly, Zayn worked as an artist and is a student studying art. nam felt his stares lingering and decided to ignore it, focusing on her strokes as she attempted to paint a sunset over a beach.
they were both finally finished with their masterpieces and were now ready to reveal it to each other. on the count of three, they turned their canvases around to each other.
zayn had painted a stunning portrait of nam, in his oversized sweater and messy bun. she was concentrating on her own painting but still had a smile on her face, listening to whatever zayn was saying.
"Hey, you're really good!" exclaims nam, she sets down her canvas to examine zayns work.
"no, you did most of the work just by sitting there." he chuckles.
she crawls closer to him and settles her hands on both sides of his face. she hesitates before giving him one soft kiss on his lips. he leans towards her, capturing her lips in his again with more passion and warmth.
"thank you," she says when they pull away, "for the best date I've had in a really long time."
"same here" he admitted before pulling nam closer so that he was laying on the floor with her on top of him, but held close to his chest, "anything for you" he whispers in her hair.
