Give Me Love. Sequel to Nobody Compares

36. Times Running Out

ZAYN:
After the interview we had a meeting about tour things, and then we stopped for take-out. "You're a changed man, Malik." Liam noted as we awaited a traffic light.

"Is that a bad thing?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No. Not at all. It's not some drastic change. It's one of those 'you make me better' situations. You and Lauren really balance one another out and I've known you for years and I can see that she's exactly who you needed," he stated.

"I agree wholeheartedly with Liam," Louis said with a nod.

"Well thank you guys. I don't like getting too sappy, but it means a lot that you all still approve after all this time."

"We'll always pick Lauren," Niall said. The guys all nodded and having the approval from my bandmates and my family was the only thing that mattered and I had both. Fuck what the rest of the worlds views on my relationship are. I'm happy.

When I got back to the house Camila was playing with Booger on the sofa. Harry sat down beside her and she started telling him how she watched the interview. "Where's Lauren?" I interuppted.

"Bed, she's a little sick," Camila informed me.

I hiked up the stairs and down the hall to my bedroom. Lauren was laying there watching the television. "I brought you food," I waved the bag that contained sushi and french fries. Lauren smiled and sat up a little. "Thank you, baby." I handed her the bag and she started digging in.

"I watched your interview," she smirked. I could feely cheeks heating up. "Yeah. Yet another thing out of my comfort zone that I still talked about. I'm on a roll," I laughed. "But, I heard from Camila that you're feeling poorly?" Lauren nodded.

"Yeah, I just woke up with a headache and a nauseated feeling, and my tummy hurts."

Immediately my mind went elsewhere. "You're not... you're not pregnant, right?" Lauren's face for serious and she bit at her bottom lip.

"Well... there is something I need to tell you.."

"You're pregnant?!" I took her hands in my shaky ones. Lauren started laughing out loud.

"No, I'm joking! I'm not pregnant." I felt the air pump out of my chest. "You should have seen your face!" she giggled. "No, I just don't feel good. I guess it was something I ate."

While Lauren laughed, I was still frozen in place. "What would you have done if I really did tell you that I was pregnant?" she popped a sushi roll in her mouth. I ran my fingers through my hair. "I don't know.. I would like to say I'm prepared for it, but I have tour and the next album--" Lauren waved a dismissive hand.

"Zayn, don't worry. I will never ruin your life like that."

"Ruin my life?" I laughed. "You will never ruin my life Lauren. I'm just saying we both still have so much going for us, and I'm fairly busy and I would want to be there for our child. Someday in the future when we do have a child, I will be there like a hawk." Lauren smiled and I kissed her forehead. "I love you," I said.

"I love you too."

"You're leaving back to Florida soon, right?" Lauren nodded sadly and wiggled two fingers. "Just two days, so that's today and tomorrow."

"I'm not ready for you to go. I don't think I ever will be," I frowned.

"Me neither.."

"Thanks for actually coming out to see me. I don't know where things would stand.."

I felt a weird wave wash over me as I thought about Lauren and I never getting back together. As I thought about never kissing those plump lips again. Never running my fingers through that long brown hair. Never hearing that raspy voice, that childlike giggle. Never seeing those green eyes that tore a hole into my heart. Never holding those soft hands again, having them comfortingly squeeze mine when she senses I'm nervous about something. I fell in love with every single thing about her and the thought of not having any of that, just the memories made me uneasy.

It wasn't until a few hours later that Lauren was fast asleep after being hopped up on medication. It was about eight at night and I was sitting up in bed watching tv with Lauren sprawled out a few inches away from me. I couldn't sleep. I should be tired since I didn't get many hours of sleep, but I couldn't pull myself to sleep.

I got a quick shower and headed downstairs to the cinema where Harry and Camila were curled up watching Harry Potter. They paused the movie when I walked in. "Where's Lauren?" Harry asked.

"She's sleeping, still feeling poorly. Where's Booger?" I asked.

"Louis' out back with her," Camila said. I nodded.

"Do you mind if I watch the rest of the movie with you?"

"Not at all, this is your cinema too," Harry said. I took a seat beside them and the movie didn't even finish before I felt my eyes slowly closing.

LAUREN:

I woke up at seven in the morning, which was unusual for me but I felt like a million bucks. Zayn wasn't there beside me, and I knew the guys didn't have anything to do this early in the morning so I went looking for him. I went downstairs and called Zayn's phone. I heard it going off in the cinema so I pulled the curtain back and walked in. There Zayn was, still fast asleep on one of the plush sofas. I sat down beside him and started to shake his arm. He sat up, startled and rubbed at his eyes. "Why'd you sleep down here?" I asked. "I wasn't snoring was I? I never snore."

"No. You weren't snoring. I just couldn't sleep, so I watched Harry Potter with Harry and Camila but I guess I fell asleep and they left me here," he yawned. "What time is it?"

"It's like seven in the morning. You can go back to sleep. I'm sorry for waking you, I was just wondering where you were."

"Are you still feeling poorly?" he carressed my cheek. I shook my head.

"I am actually feeling like a million bucks, but I'm gonna go take a shower, make something to eat, just you know normal things to do now that I'm awake."

"It's your last day," Zayn said. He reached over and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "I know."

"I'm going to go back to my bedroom and get a few more hours of sleep in and when I wake up we can figure out how to spend it, alright?" he kissed my lips.
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sorry for not updating in like a month and I'm sorry that this chapter isn't worth the wait but I am slowly losing interest and I don't want to because I know you guys really enjoy it. I will try to update as often as I can there are only a few more chapters left of this and then I will start on the camarry spin off that I will follow through with. thanks, sorry again.