Infatuated

5. Overwhelmed Yet Confused

     The next week was super busy, with interviews to go, at every possible time slot in the whole week. I was overwhelmed, I just need one day, not even, maybe a few hours just to lay back and relax. Luckily for me and the rest of the girls, we had this Saturday off. All I wanted to do was just lay in bed, all day and all night. My phone beeped with a new text. I grinned when I saw that it was from Zayn. Even though we had an awkward ending to our little movie hang-out, he had been texting me all week. ‘Free tomorrow? :) x x’ read the text. I smiled, he made me feel giddy inside. It was more than a crush. I was definitely hardcore crushing on him.

     ‘Yes! Finally a break from all these interviews :D <3’ I texted him back, after making him wait for a little while, remembering Tulisa’s words. She was more than just a mentor on X Factor, she was like a sister. ‘Fancy going out to dinner with me then? X x’ he texted back. Oh my god. As if he just asked me out on a date. I responded with a yes, though in my head it was a screaming ‘definitely.’ It was a good Friday night, and it was going to be an exceptional Saturday night tomorrow. 

The next morning

     “Perrie…why are you awake and up before me?” Jade said in an uncertain voice as she poked her head into my room. I was never up before Jade, but today was different. “And why do you have a big, stupid grin on your face?” She added. “Well…” I said as I thought back to our texts last night. “Zayn asked me out for dinner tonight.” I said as I let out a little squeal. Jade and I screamed for a little while before calming ourselves. “Finally, it took him long enough.” She snorted. “Yeah well maybe he would have asked sooner if you hadn’t interrupted us the other night.” I said accusingly. Jade rolled her eyes, “I’m glad I interrupted you guys, who would know what you guys would have done on that couch.” She said teasingly. “Jade!” I slapped her playfully, though thinking in my head what would have happened.

     “Hey you’re thinking about it too.” She said with a wink. “Anyways I was going to go out for a coffee, want to come? Since you know, you’re rarely up this early and we could never do this again.” She added. “Okay, let me get ready!” I exclaimed as she left the room. I had to admit, I was super excited. Even though the girls and I hung out every day, it was for work, for the interviews. We rarely had any time together just to chill out and hang around with each other. It’d be nice to have some down time with at least one of the girls.

     We both got dressed and ready and headed out to Starbucks. We got stopped a few times on our way there; it still felt surreal that people wanted photos with us and wanted our autographs. As we waited for our orders, Jade and I decided to take a photo of ourselves and post it on Twitter. We pulled a funny face then sent it out on twitter with “Starbucks morning run with Pez! xxjadexx” Soon, our mentions got spammed with retweets and tweets. Something stood out though, many of our mentions included ‘@zaynmalik.’ I decided to check that out a little further. He had tweeted “Lookin good ;) x x” I couldn’t help but blush and smile. “Awh Pez, you’re blushing!” She said as she got our food and drinks. “Shut up Jade, let’s just get out of here.” I said as I glanced around, noticing that more and more paparazzi were beginning to show up.

     This time, I forced myself not to go on twitter. There would definitely be hateful tweets, and not just one or two, but a whole load of them. I didn’t want to risk ruining my night by saddening myself. No, tonight was going to be wonderful, and nothing can ruin it for me. But nothing was going to be wonderful if I didn’t know what to wear. “JADE!” I yelled, beckoning her to come into my room to help me with my outfit. She came in and helped me put together an outfit. We ended up deciding on a jasmine white crochet lace dress with a navy belt, and pairing it with a pair of nude pumps. It didn’t look like I tried too hard, it was just enough. I glanced at the clock, it was 6:40 pm, and he was to pick me up at 7:00 pm. I wasn’t going to lie, I was actually getting quite nervous. I knew if we went out, everything would be out into the public. The paps would get photos and lots of rumours would spread. But I wouldn’t let it get to me this time, I’d be strong.

     A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I grinned and made myself over to the door. “Hey Zayn.” I greeted him cheerfully. “You look beautiful.” He said as he took a moment to look me up and down. I blushed and closed the door. “Thanks, so do you.” I said as we made our way to his car. He opened the door for me, “Thanks” I said as I got into the car. I fidgeted with my fingers as he got in the car and started to drive. “So, are you excited for the X Factor tour?” He asked, looking over at me. “Yeah, really nervous though. We’ve got this whole performance set up, we’re up in the air half the time.” I said with a laugh. “Really? Sounds interesting.” He said raising his eyebrow. “Yup. What about you guys? Going to America soon?” I asked, just mentally shuddering at the fact that he would be gone for a long time. I could feel him stiffen in his seat. “Not entirely sure yet. Don’t have exact dates but it’s going to be a long time.” He said as he looked off to his other surroundings. I could feel that this wasn’t a subject that he wanted to talk about. Thankfully we had arrived at the restaurant. God, it looked absolutely posh and classy from the outside, I wondered what the interior would be like.

     It was jaw-dropping as I looked around my surroundings when we walked into the restaurant. I felt Zayn’s hand on my waist as he guided me in the right direction. Our table was in the corner with dim lighting, which made the atmosphere absolutely romantic. The next hour made me feel like a blanket of love had covered Zayn and I together. We talked about everything. And by everything I meant everything. He was just such a gentleman. He didn’t pry, he knew his limits. Everything just went perfectly, it almost felt as if I were in a movie.

     Soon the time came as it was time to leave. He drove me home, holding my hand as we walked up to my front door. I could see that Jade was home as the light in her room was lit up. “I had a really good night tonight.” He said with a smile as we turned to face each other. “I did too, thank you for tonight.” I said with a timid smile. “My pleasure…” He said, trailing off as if he had something to say. “I wanted to do something a long time ago but I kind of got distracted.” He continued as his hand moved swiftly from holding my hand to cupping my waist. “And what’s that?” I asked in a small whisper. “This.” He whispered as he leaned in to lock my lips with mine. His mouth moved with mine as he kissed me passionately, holding me close to him by my waist. My hand travelled up his back as the kiss intensified. Finally, it was him that pulled away. I took in a deep breath. Wow. That was the only word that popped into my mind.

     “I guess that I should also say that uhm…” He said as his sentence broke off. “Say what?” I said as my eyes looked up into his, expectant. He looked hesitant with his next words. “That…I’ll see you next week.” He said with a weak smile. I was confused, it didn’t seem like that was what he was going to say at all. “See you next week.” I said and put on a smile as he gave me a quick peck on the lips, leaving as I entered Jade and I’s flat. Although he had kissed me and I had felt an overwhelming sensation of love come over me, I could sense that something was wrong, and I didn’t know what it was.