Chapter Nine - Zayn
Zayn can't help the silly grin that won't leave his face, as he gets ready for Uni the next morning, he knows he looks ridiculous as he pulls his hair up, securing it with an elastic so the shaved sides are on display. "You look happy"Louis points out from where he's leaning in the doorway and Zayn shrugs, "so yesterday was good then?" he asks. Zayn tries to look like he's indifferent, that yesterday wasn't one of the best day she's ever had, definitely top five, but Louis knows him inside and out and can just tell, "it was, wasn't it?" Louis asks again.Zayn sighs pushing past Louis back into his bedroom to grab his bag,before he makes his way into Bella's room to wake her up, so he can drop her at his mum's for the day. Louis' following him, he doesn't say anything, is just waiting for Zayn to confirm or deny that yesterday with Liam was good, as Zayn gently shakes Bella's shoulder murmuring her name. Once the toddler has blinked her eyes open,"morning, beautiful" Zayn murmurs and Bella grins at him "morning Baba" she yawns, reaching out for Zayn, who scoops her into his arms carrying her past Louis and into the kitchen.
Louis waits longer than Zayn thought he would if he's honest, he waits until Bella is settled in her chair with a frozen waffle with berries and yogurt, before he really starts to press the topic of Liam. "For the love of God, Zayn. How did yesterday go?" Louis snaps and Zayn chuckles as he takes a sip of his coffee, "was great Lou" he murmurs, and Louis narrows his eyes at him. "You're gonna have to do better than that Malik, you kicked me out of my own flat for an entire day" Louis snaps,although there's no real heat behind it, Zayn smiles at his best friend, "he brought gifts, and movies Lou. It was really great, thebest. Bella had a great time and I-" he starts, cutting himself off. Louis' smiles softly at Zayn, "you what Zee?" he asks gently and Zayn shrugs "I don't know, I kind of freaked out, because I was worried Bells would get attached and Liam would leave. But he was so sweet about it and assured me he wouldn't. Then he...he asked me to be his boyfriend" he mumbles slowly. Zayn busies himself taking long, slow sips off his coffee as soon as he's done speaking, Louis blinks at him slowly for a second, before he launches himself at Zayn in a hug, that's nothing short of bone crushing, "and what did you say to that?" Louis shouts. Zayn chuckles and carefully disentangles himself from Louis' koala-like limbs, "I said yes,obviously" he answers. Louis nods his head, "good' he says decidedly and Zayn rolls his eyes at his best friend.
"Baba, I done" Bella calls from the other room and Zayn moves away from Louis to go to his daughter,he sees she's eaten everything she had on her plate and he's impressed, "good job Boo" he praises, scooping her into his arms,"let's go get you dressed for Grandma's" Zayn adds, making his way back to her bedroom. Bella insists on wearing a bright pink tutu,with purple leggings, and a blue shirt with Elsa on it, Zayn had tried to talk her into wearing just one of the pieces with other,more neutral items but she refused, so he let it happen, knowing this is all part of having a toddler, independence and what not. Louis smiles widely when Bella runs into his arms afterwards, "don't you look beautiful" he coos, while Bella twirls in a clumsy circle she giggles nodding her head, "do I have to go to grandma's?" she pouts at Louis who chuckles, "did Baba say you did?" Louis asks,knowing the answer already. Bella pouts and nods slowly, and Zayn chuckles, "but it's just for a little bit today, Baba only has a few classes, and I don't work tonight, so we'll pick you up early,okay?" he asks. Bella thinks about it for a second before nodding and running towards the door to put her rain boots on.
It's not until Zayn and Louis are alone in the car after dropping Bella off that Liam comes up again,it's Louis who does it, so Zayn can hardly be blamed "so Liam,already asked you to be his boyfriend, I think he should talk to Haz"Louis mutters. Zayn laughs and shakes his head, "you know you could ask Harry to be your boyfriend" he supplies, but Louis sends him a murderous glare that makes Zayn raise is hands in surrender. "What did you guys even do all day?" Louis asks curiously and Zayn bites his lip as he thinks, because they didn't really do much of anything but it was perfect. Zayn sighs "we watched Toy Story, all three of them, and played with Bella. Then he made some pasta thing for dinner, and helped me put Bella to bed. Then we watched a little bit of TV alone, before he left to go back to his" he recounts, a smile crossing his face as he thinks about how perfect the whole day actually was. "Sounds very...domestic" Louis chuckles, and Zayn shakes his head at him, "it was perfect Lou. He's perfect" he sighs. Louis chuckles pulling into the parking lot and turning off the car, "you're already gone for him, aren't you?" he asks softly, Zayn bites his lip and nods slowly, "I can't help it Lou,he's I don't even know, but just seeing him with Bella, the way he responds to her, I just, I can't help it" he sighs. Louis chuckles,reaching over to place a hand on Zayn's arm "it's good to see you so happy, Zee. Honestly, it's been a long time" he murmurs and Zayn nods, because it has been too long since he's been in a real relationship.
Zayn's phone vibrates against his thigh as he's trying to focus on copying down the notes about the origin of Cinderella in his Children's Literature class, he can't seem to make himself focus today. So he sets his pen down and carefully pulls his phone out of his pocket to see he's got a text from Liam, he grins as he taps on it;
From Liam <3: Hey babe, just on a break and thought I'd check in. How are you and Miss Bella today? Call me later? xo
Zayn bites his lip as he reads, Liam's thinking about him at work, he wishes he could be with him, see him while he's running a huge company, not stuck in class,learning about glass slippers and fairy godmothers. He quickly taps out a reply making sure no one sees him, or the ridiculous grin on his face as he does.
To Liam <3: Hey, I'm stuck in class,and it's boring, but Bella and I are fine, she missed you though :( I'm done class early today I'll call you after I pick up Bells :)xx
Zayn presses send and shoves his phone back into his pocket, before turning his attention back to the task he's supposed to be doing, school.
If Zayn was hoping for a quick escape when he picks Bella up from his mum's a few hours later he was wrong, completely wrong. Waliyha smirks at him, when he lets himself in the front door, "what?" he asks his sister, "shouldn't you be a school?" he asks, Waliyha just shakes her head, not saying anything before she disappears. Zayn finds Bella and his mum in the kitchen making cookies, Bella drops the spoon she's holding and throws herself into his arms "BABA!"she cheers and he chuckles, dropping a kiss to her messy hair. "I missed you" he mumbles and she grins "missed you too" she answers struggling to get down. Zayn turns to his mum next, "thanks,Mum, I'll bring her by around eleven tomorrow, my first class got cancelled" he says, leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek. Trisha nods, smiling before she grabs his wrist as he tries to pull away to leave, Zayn furrows his eyebrows at her, but she just raises one in response, "Mum?" Zayn asks curiously. Trisha huffs "who'sLiam?" she asks in a sing song voice, and Zayn can feel the blush rising in his cheeks, he should have known Bella would mention him,Liam's all she talks about since she met him. Zayn bites his lip, andrubs at the back of his neck "he's um, he's a friend?" he asks,more than tells her, he knows his mum knows, because she's well she'shis mum, and Zayn's never been able to hide anything from her. Noteven as a child, when he and Louis broke her favourite picture frameplaying footie in the house and Zayn tried to blame it on the dog."Uhuh" Trisha says slowly, dragging out the word and Zayn cracks,"okay, he's actually, my boyfriend, but it's all still very new andhe's really nice and sweet, and he adores Bella, and Bella loves him,and I just" he says quickly. Trisha laughs and releases Zayn'swrist to pull him into a hug, "sweetie, breathe" she chuckles andZayn sucks in a large gulp of air. "He sounds lovely, just knowthat one day soon, whenever you're ready. I would like to meet him"she says soothingly. Zayn nods and pulls away "promise Mum" he mumbles. Trisha nods her head and motions towards where Bella ran away to, "we should go see what she's up to" she suggests and Zayn laughs, nodding his head
Zayn follows his mum out of the kitchen to find Bella struggling to put her coat on in the hallway Zayn drops to the ground in front of her and helps her pull it on before he zips it up. Bella grins and wraps her arms around him"thanks Baba" she says, pressing a kiss to his cheek, Zayn smiles and nods his head at her in response. "We goin' ta see Leeyum,Baba?" Bella asks her eyes lighting up at the mention of Liam. Zayn bites his lip and shakes his head slowly "he's at work, Boo. Now you need to say goodbye to Grandma, Uncle Louis' waiting in the car"he explains. Bella pouts but nods her head and runs over to hug Trisha, "bye Grandma, see tomorrow" she mumbles, Trisha laughs and hugs her back leaning down to whisper something Zayn doesn't hear, but makes Bella giggle, before she presses a kiss to the toddler's cheek. Arabella turns back to Zayn after that "We go now Baba" she instructs pointing at the door, Zayn rolls his eyes fondly, before nodding, "bye Mum, say hi to Dad and the girls" he murmurs, pressing a quick kiss to Trisha's cheek. Trisha nods at him and smiles, "I will, remember what I said Zayn. I want to meet Liam" she says sternly, Zayn sighs and nods, "soon Mum" he promises before opening the door and watching as Bella sprints towards the car and Louis.
The ride back to the apartment is uneventful, Zayn lets out a soft laugh when he sees Arabella sleeping in her seat in the back, when Louis parks the car in their space.Zayn carefully carries the sleeping toddler into the apartment and down the hall to her room, tucking her gently into her castle to finish her nap. Once hes sure she's situated he makes his way back towards the kitchen, smiling gratefully when Louis passes him a steaming mug of tea, "thanks Lou" he murmurs, taking a careful sip. They're both quiet for a minute before Louis smirks at him, "so Trisha wants to meet Liam?" he asks and Zayn nods slowly "I wasn't even going to tell her yet I should have known Bells would though, he's pretty much all she talks about" he sighs. Louis chuckles shaking his head, "plus your mum has always had some weird super power when it comes to reading your mind, she would have known"he points out. Zayn laughs, because it's the truth, and as children that ability got both Zayn and Louis into trouble, he shrugs, "what can I say" he mumbles, sipping his tea. They're quiet after that,Louis' playing with his mug and Zayn waits, because he knows Louis wants to say something, but isn't sure how to word it, so he waits until he's ready. Louis clears his throat and Zayn looks up, arching an eyebrow, "so I thought about what you said this morning, and you're right. I'm gonna ask Haz to be my boyfriend...tonight" Louis mumbles quickly, Zayn grins, nodding his head, "that's great Lou-Lou" he teases. Louis glares at him at the name and Zayn bites his lip, "yeah, I mean I can't wait for him to do it, we'll be all old if I do that" Louis shudders and Zayn laughs loudly, nodding his head. Zayn grins "not that you need it, because he'll say yes,but good luck Lou" he says seriously, Louis finishes his tea and smiles before he nods "thanks Zee" he mumbles before he disappears from the room.
With Bella asleep, and Louis panicking over his date with Harry Zayn has nothing to do for once, he has no homework to finish today, and he doesn't know what to do with himself. Part of him wants to take a nap, but he knows as soon as he closes his eyes Bella will wake up and come bounding into his room, so he decides against it. Zayn chews his lip for a moment before he remembers his text to Liam and promise to call, so he pulls out his phone and presses on Liam's contact,then he waits. Zayn waits as it rings three times, before Liam's deep voice comes through the phone "hello..?" he asks, and Zayn bites back a laugh because he clearly didn't check his caller I.D before answering. "Hey, is now a bad time?" Zayn asks, chewing his lip,Liam chuckles and the sounds makes Zayn swoon, just a little, "no actually I'm just having lunch" Liam answers. Zayn grins because he's missed Liam, even though he saw him yesterday, "so how's work today?" Zayn asks slowly, Liam sighs "so boring, I don't know why, but today is horrible" he whines. Zayn chuckles "aw poor,Liam" he teases, "yes, exactly poor Liam" Liam sighs and Zayn can hear the pout in his voice, and rolls his eyes fondly, chewing on his bottom lip for a minute. Zayn takes a deep breath, "if you wanted to, and aren't busy, you could...I don't know come here after work? I mean Bella's been dying to see you all day, and Louis will be out with Harry. I could cook you dinner? Only if you want to that is"he mutters, chewing his bottom lip. Liam lets out a laugh on the other side of the phone and Zayn pouts, "that sounds great, really.I'll be there 'round six?" Liam asks and Zayn nods his head."That's great. And if you want I could maybe help you relax after Bella's in bed?" Zayn asks nervously.
The phone is silent and Zayn is starting to worry, he's ruined everything, "I didn't mean like...what I meant was, ugh I could give you a massage, not anything like-" Zayn stumbles, cutting off when Liam chuckles, "I know you didn't mean it that way Zayn, and actually a massage would be amazing, I've been sat at my computer all day, my neck is killing me"he soothes, and Zayn relaxes, just slightly. "Good, well not good,but ugh" Zayn groans, and Liam laughs, "but Zayn, I have to go Niall's here, with some new contract we have to finalize, but I'll see you at six?" he asks. Zayn bites his lip "yeah, can't wait"he grins "me either, see you soon, babe" Liam coos, before he hangs up. Zayn listens to the dial tone blare in his ear for a minute before he hangs up and tosses his phone onto the couch beside him,before he smacks himself in the forehead, "idiot" he grumbles before getting up to go check the kitchen to see what he can make for dinner tonight.