Chapter Five – Zayn
Zayn's in the kitchen helping Josh wash the dishes from the busy dinner rush they just had, he's distracted as he can't help but think about the incredibly handsome brunette, with soft, deep, brown eyes, who was sitting at one of his tables until five minutes ago. "Earth to Zayn" Talia calls, snapping her fingers in his face, and Zayn shakes his head to clear it before focusing in on his friend, who is standing in front of him with a big grin on her face and a ripped off piece of the paper they use as table cloths in her hand. "Sorry Talia, what is it?" he asks and she grins, "nothing I just thought you might want this" Talia teases offering him the paper. Zayn wipes his hands on his apron before reaching out to take the paper, expecting it to be a drawing one of the kids has done, but his eyes widen when he sees what's on the paper in his hand. Underneath his name, which is written in Talia's loopy writing to let the table know their server's name, is a phone number and the name Liam, along with a short message 'call me'. Zayn bites his lip as he reads over the paper a few times before looking up at Talia, "what table is this off of?" he asks slowly and she grins, "that's the best part Zee, it's from table nine" Talia answers, and Zayn feels himself blushing because that's the table the handsome stranger and his friend were sitting at. Zayn grins widely before stuffing the paper into the pocket of his jeans and wrapping his arms around Talia in a tight hug, "that's where he sat" he crows and she giggles, "I know Zee, that's why I brought it to you, you haven't shut up about him since he sat down" she laughs, pushing Zayn's arms off of her. Zayn grins doing a little wiggle, before turning back to the dishes in front of him, he just wants to finish and get home so he can talk to Louis, he needs his advice on this.
Zayn's first stop on the way home is his mum's to pick up Arabella, Louis had a late class, and he was at work so she had to stay at his mum's the whole day, and night until now. Zayn groans as he pulls into the driveway as it's after ten o'clock, Bella should be asleep, and he knows she'll wake up when he goes to put her into her carseat, he only hopes she falls back asleep quickly. Zayn makes his way up the steps, before opening the door slowly, and stepping inside, he can hear crying coming from upstairs, and kicks off his shoes quietly to go to his daughter. His sister meets him on the stairs, "good you're here, she's been crying since mum first tried to put her to bed, I don't think she feels well Zayn" Waliyha tells him, Zayn nods and rushes past her into his old room, which is now Bella's for when she stays with his mum. Zayn slides past the door to see his mum holding a squirming, and screaming Bella, attempting to rock her, but she's having no part of it, kicking out and screaming Zayn's name. "Want Baba" she wails, and Zayn's heart breaks, he hates that he isn't always the one putting her to bed, but she usually doesn't fight like this, "hey, hey, hey, Baba's here now shh" Zayn murmurs, stepping up to her side and resting a cool hand on her forehead. He frowns when he touches the heated skin, she's definitely fighting something off, "Wali said she's been like this since bedtime?" Zayn asks and Trisha nods, "Mum why didn't you call me?" he sighs and his mum shrugs "she doesn't usually get this worked up, and I know I can handle it" she answers.
Zayn pulls his daughter into his arms and hugs her close, her screaming has stopped since hearing his voice, but she's still shaking and fighting, "hey, calm down, Love" Zayn murmurs, sitting in the rocking chair and situating the toddler in his lap. Arabella takes a deep shuddery breath before sighing and snuggling into Zayn's neck, "why are you giving Grandma such a hard time, hmm?" Zayn hums. Bella doesn't answer just shrugs her tiny shoulders and Zayn sighs pressing a light kiss to her head, "icky Baba" she says after a minute and Zayn nods knowingly. They sit for another minute before Zayn stands up, making his way back downstairs with the toddler in his arms, "how about we go home, and you can snuggle in Baba's bed tonight. And I won't go to school tomorrow, alright" he mumbles, feeling her nod against his neck. Trisha helps him put Bella's coat and boots on her, before pressing a kiss to the toddler's head, "feel better. I'm assuming you're staying home tomorrow?" she says turning to Zayn at the end, who nods "yeah, I can't leave her when she's sick" he murmurs, pressing a kiss to his mum's cheek. "Thanks Mum" he calls as he walks out the door to Louis' car, which he borrowed for the night.
By the time Zayn gets to the apartment Bella is fast asleep in her car seat. Zayn carefully unbuckles her and scoops her into his arms, holding her close to his chest, Bella whimpers and shifts around, but stays asleep. Once Zayn is on their floor he carefully makes his way toward their apartment, unlocking the door and stepping inside, he kicks off his own shoes, before manoeuvring Bella's off of her feet as well. He passes Louis and Harry curled up on the couch to get to his bedroom, laying Bella down on the mattress and pulling the sheets and comforter up over her. Zayn presses a kiss to her still heated forehead, before sighing and going out to join his friends in the living room. Louis lifts his head from where it's resting on Harry's chest to look at him, "everything okay?" he asks, Zayn nods, sinking into the chair across the room. Zayn rubs a hand over his face and looks at the pair on the couch, "Bella's sick, so I won't be going to Uni tomorrow" he sighs, Louis pouts but nods "she alright?" Harry asks concerned. Zayn nods "yeah, it's just a fever, I think she'll be good as new in a couple of days. I just hate when she's sick" he says, Harry nods and Louis pushes off of Harry's chest to stand up coming over to flop into Zayn's lap instead. Zayn doesn't miss the jealous flash of Harry's eyes, before he turns his attention back to the TV, and Zayn feels bad, even though he and Louis have been friends since they were in diapers, he knows Louis is Harry's and truthfully he doesn't see him that way anyways.
All three men are quiet for a few minutes "how was work Zee?" Louis asks, and Zayn bites his lip and feels a blush coming on, as he remembers the stranger sat at table nine, who left him his phone number. "Zayn's blushing" Harry calls out and Zayn glares at him, while Louis bursts into laughter. "So what happened Zayniekins" Louis teases, and Zayn groans at the horrible nickname, "don't call me that" he mutters, before struggling to pull the paper from out of his pocket, which proves difficult with Louis sitting on him, so he pushes his friend onto the floor, to pull the paper out. "This happened at work, tonight" Zayn says, ignoring Louis' glare as he slumps back over to Harry with a pout. Zayn unfolds the paper to show his friends what's on it, "you got a phone number?" Louis asks, and Zayn nods his head, "you should have seen him Lou. Light brown hair, strong jaw, deep, lose yourself in them brown eyes" Zayn sighs. Louis laughing stops him from going on about Liam some more, "so are you gonna call him Zee?" Harry asks, clapping a hand over Louis' mouth to stop his laughing, Zayn bites his lip shrugging, "I mean, should I? I know nothing else about him other than he's gorgeous and a very good tipper" he sighs. "How good are we talking?" Harry asks making a face when Louis licks his hand, "um he left me one hundred extra" he mumbles. Harry's eyes widen and Louis grins "Zayn, that's like five times what a pizza costs. You have to call him" he exclaims. Zayn sighs and nods, "I don't even care about the money, he was so pretty" Zayn sighs again, looking at the clock, "but I can't call tonight, it's too late, I'll sleep on it and maybe call tomorrow?" he asks. Louis chuckles "sounds good mate" he murmurs turning in Harry's lap "take me to bed now Hazza" he orders, Harry rolls his eyes fondly but stands up with Louis in his arms, "night Zee" they chorus, "night guys" Zayn calls back as they disappear down the hall.
Zayn's tired the next morning when he slumps into the kitchen to get juice for Bella, and coffee for himself, Louis' there already a stupid grin on his face, "rough night?" he asks, handing Zayn a mug. Zayn groans and stretches, "Bella woke me up a bunch of times to tell me she didn't feel good, then she woke me up by vomiting on my floor. I can't believe you guys didn't hear us" he mutters. Louis frowns, "she okay?" he asks concerned and Zayn smiles tiredly, "yea she only threw up the one time" he says shrugging, "I think she'll be okay, soon, but I'm exhausted" he mumbles, pulling out a juice box for Bella. Louis pats him on the shoulder "do you want me to skip school? Stay home with you two?" he asks seriously. Zayn shakes his head, "don't be stupid Lou, I can handle this, you go, learn how to be more dramatic" he teases, walking out of the kitchen. He returns to his room to see Bella sprawled across his mattress looking miserable, "Baba, fix" she mumbles pointing at her head and her stomach. Zayn frowns and crawls back onto the bed beside her, carefully pulling the toddler into his arms, "is that where it hurts, my sweet little Arabella?" he asks, kissing her temple. Arabella nods weakly against his chest, her head still feeling hot, Zayn reaches for the medicine he left on his night stand, manoeuvring it around to measure out the right amount. He knows shes not going to like it, and is likely to fight him on taking it, but he knows it will make her feel better, "Bella, you need to take this medicine for Baba, so you can get better" he reasons, holding out the syrupy liquid. Bella makes a face and shakes her head "no, Baba, you take" she says sternly. Zayn sighs and bites his lip, "you need to get better so Baba can take you to the zoo" he tries, Zayn knows it's wrong to bribe her, but he also knows it will work, he waits while she apparently thinks before she pulls her face out of his chest, opening her mouth. Zayn cheers inwardly, and squirts the pink liquid into her mouth, watching carefully as she swallows it down, once he's sure it's not coming back up, he hands her the juice box he brought back with him, and rests back against the headboard.
It's two hours later and Zayn's managed to wiggle out from under his sleeping daughter, he left a movie playing quietly in his room, and came out to the living room, he's already emailed his professors that he won't be there today, and Talia offered to cover his shift at the pizza place. Zayn doesn't know what to do, he's rarely alone with nothing to do, he spots the paper with Liam's number on it, on the coffee table where he left it the night before, and bites his lip. Should he call, or not? On the one hand it's been so long since he's had a date, and Liam really was gorgeous, but he worries it's too much for Bella, but he needs to be happy too. Sighing he stands up and grabs the piece of paper, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialling carefully, "he's not going to answer" he mumbles to himself as the phone rings in his ear. One, two, three rings, Zayn's about to hang up when he hears it "...hello?" a deep voice asks, Zayn bites his bottom lip, "um, hi, is this Liam?" he asks, there's a pause "yes, who's this" the voice answers. "I know this is silly, but it's um...it's Zayn, from the pizza place. You uh, you left me your number, last night?" Zayn asks rather than says. He hears Liam let out a sigh, "you actually called" he breathes and Zayn furrows his eyebrows, "I didn't think you would" Liam adds. Zayn bites his lip, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you" he mumbles. Liam chuckles "no you're not bothering me, I just...I'm shit at this, and didn't think you would call me. I wanted you to, trust me" he says. Zayn feels himself relax at that, Liam seems just as unsure as he is, "so what are you doing?" Zayn asks. Liam laughs again, "I'm at work, actually, but I can talk" he assures Zayn who grins, "you sure, cause I can let you go" Zayn asks. Liam chuckles again, "no I'm good. So what are you doing?" he asks, Zayn bites his lip, deciding quickly not to tell him about Bella, not just yet, "sitting at home, playing hooky from Uni" he says slowly. "You shouldn't be doing that" Liam scolds gently, Zayn bites his lip again, playing with a rip on his jeans, "I have a good reason" he assures Liam, who makes an unconvinced noise, but doesn't push it further.
Zayn talks to Liam for twenty more minutes, the pair just getting to know each other a little, and from what Zayn's learning he really likes this handsome stranger, there's a voice in the background on Liam's phone. "Zayn, I'm really sorry I have to go, but can we, can we uh meet up, say tomorrow? For lunch maybe?" Liam asks and he sounds so nervous so unsure, Zayn fights the urge to coo him. Zayn bites his lip as he thinks, he has a three hour break between classes tomorrow, so he could definitely do lunch with Liam, and not have to find someone to watch Bella, "yeah, I think that could work" he answers. Liam sighs over the phone "how about the little diner, just off your campus, I can meet you there, around one?" he asks, and Zayn hears some papers shuffling. Zayn can't help the grin on his face "yeah, I know the place, and one sounds great" he answers, "see you tomorrow Zayn" Liam says happily, and Zayn nods, "yeah, tomorrow" before they both hang up. Zayn smiles to himself before opening up a new text to Louis.
To Tommo: I think I have a date tomorrow
From Tommo: YOU WHAT!? You called him? Way to go Zayner!!!
To Tommo: Haha thanks Lou
Louis doesn't answer him again so he shoves his phone back into his pocket and decides to start tidying up the apartment, it's the least he can do considering it's his child who likes to destroy the place daily.