It's been a week since I've posted an update so here I am doing it again. I don't know what to say about this chapter, but it feels like this is a filler but not exactly. There's Zerrie (although I didn't want to write, I have to keep the drama flowing). There's also Louis being Louis. I love writing that because he's a funny character. You'll know what I'm talking about when you read it. And also, you'll get a glimpse a little bit of personality behind Aiden. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. And of course, Ziall, I wouldn't dare forget to write that. There's a bit of drama behind them.
And here I am posting this chapter at 2:30 in the morning on a Sunday. I was supposed to post this last night, but I wasn't feeling well, so I postponed it after I took a nap.
Before I forgot, I think I'm going to stay updating once a week not twice. Although, I love writing this story with hectic schedule behind me, I feel like I won't be able to keep with the story. But do not worry, I'll try my best to update at least once a week.
Enjoy reading this chapter and I do appreciate the votes and comments.
*****
Zayn was busy browsing on his Instagram, looking for pictures to like. Scratch that, he's looking for Ziall pictures to save on his phone. He heard from the background was Louis screaming his lungs out and Harry saying 'I'm going to catch you!' He tried blocking it out but it wasn't working and sitting beside his fake girlfriend doesn't help either.
He cringed when he felt the sensation of Perrie's skin, sliding on his arm. He slowly looked at her, and she had this flirtatious gaze from her blue eyes. He had an idea what Perrie wanted, but he's not exactly sure.
"What do you want?"
"People are starting to talk..." Perrie whined, grazing her arms against her boyfriend.
"What people?"
"The Internet people." She answered. "They said that our relationship is not real."
Zayn just stared at her with an impassive look. He's not sure if Perrie's creating drama again. He can't deal with that shit anymore.
"Where'd you get that idea?" He asked.
"Duh, the internet. Where else?"
Zayn sighed deeply. Deep inside, he was relieved that people were catching up on them. He really can't do this charade anymore. He just wanted to be free from her.
"What do you want me to do then?"
"To prove them wrong, I think that we should make a sex tape."
Zayn had to blink twice, processing the randomness of his fake girlfriend. All of a sudden, his throat closing up and all he wanted to do was to cough out loud.
"Say what!"
"Oh come on, Zayn! It's not like you haven't thought about it."
"I am not making a sex tape!" Zayn said firmly. His thoughts were running wild. He can't believe that Perrie would even suggest such a thing.
"Why the hell not?" Perrie pouted, glaring at her boyfriend who was apprehensive about the idea. She needed to do anything to save her career, no matter what it takes. Ever since she was paired up with Zayn, everything went well for her. She'd be damned if she just let him slipped away from her claws.
"It's disgusting!"
"Disgusting? And how about the leaked pictures that came out before with you and a woman in bed! Did it just appear out of thin air?" Perrie spat her venom in a whispering manner. She didn't want to cause trouble, at least not right now.
"How the hell should I know that she'll take a snapshot?"
"Why would you sleep with someone else and not me?" Perrie frowned, deeply hurt as she recalled the memory when the leaked pictures came out. Ever since the management put them together, she thought that Zayn was hot, and she wanted to make him her husband, someday.
Zayn scoffed, rolling his eyes out in irritation. "I can't believe you're bringing this again. I already apologize to you. So many times." This is why he wanted to get out of this fake relationship; every time that he would mess up, Perrie would bring that up. So what's the big deal about him having sex? He thought the girl was hot and he was horny at that time, so he remedied the situation. The only miscalculation he made that he didn't expect that the girl would take a picture of them in bed together.
"So sleep with me."
"I am not sleeping with you," Zayn said with a firm tone.
"Why won't you sleep with me?"
"Ugh! Perrie, you know the reason why."
"No, I don't." Perrie pleaded. For once, she wanted to feel Zayn's manhood inside her. She knew that he would blow her brains out. "Enlighten me then."
"I'm not into you―as simple as that. Period."
Perrie sighed in defeat. She would do anything for Zayn to look at her with adoration and love. "Tell me what I needed to do and I'll do it."
"It's not you, okay?" Zayn said, hoping that his girlfriend would stop badgering him. Ever since that he had that sex dream with Niall hours ago, he can't stop thinking about him. He needed to do something to rectify the situation after saying that vulgar word.
"I just want you inside me," Perrie whispered, caressing Zayn's crotch that made the raven-haired lad jumped from his seat.
"The heck, Perrie!" Zayn growled. "Don't touch me like that!" Then, he realized that pairs of eyeballs were staring at them. He said it out loud by accident. He leaned towards Perrie, "Don't you do that to me again, do you understand?" And with that he stepped out, rushing to the bathroom.
*****
Niall was walking anxiously as he goes back to the press conference venue with Aiden walking beside him. He wasn't sure if Aiden meeting the boys would be a good idea but how could he refuse when Aiden batted his long eyelashes at him. The blonde thought his knees would buck and faint afterward.
"What are they like?" He heard Aiden asking, and that was enough for him to snap out of his paranoid. He glanced sideways, studying Aiden's features.
"I'm sure you can get along with Liam. He's cool. With Harry, he's very..." Niall paused, thinking of an appropriate word to describe the curly-haired lad. "I'd say grabby."
"Grabby?"
Niall nodded. "He tends to grab my ass every chance he gets."
"Should I be worried?"
"Uh no. He's usually friendly and flirtatious. That's his personality, but overall he's harmless."
"I mean with you. He's not like gonna steal you away from me."
Right away, Niall felt his cheeks warming up from the implied compliment as he diverted his gaze away from Aiden. He never thought that Aiden was so incredibly sweet.
God damn! That boy got moves! His inner conscience was twirling his body to show his delightedness.
"Uh no. He's not like that..." Niall replied, hoping that Aiden didn't see his cheeks blushing because that would be too embarrassing. He doesn't want Aiden to think that he's an easy guy.
"That's good to know then. What about the others?"
Niall returned his gaze back towards Aiden. But those mesmerizing brown eyes were making him really nervous and giddy inside.
"Be careful about Louis." Niall warned. For three years, he kind of gets what kind of personality Louis has.
"What about him?"
"He has a very sharp tongue."
"Sharp tongue?" Aiden asked. His head was painting this image of a fantasy beast that has a very sharp tongue. "What is he like a monster?"
Niall chuckled. "No, silly. I meant metaphorically."
"What does that mean?"
"When I said Louis has a sharp tongue, I meant he's frank." Niall explained. "And he's more of like the thinking-out-loud type of guy. You know?"
"Gotcha!" Aiden nodded. He's glad that he's getting to know the people around Niall. For him to get Niall to like him, he must get along really well with the people surrounding Niall because they were the ones who are going to influence the blonde's decision. So if he's in good terms with them, he's positive that it wouldn't take long for him and Niall would be a couple. "I thought there were four of them. I only got like three."
"Yes, there are four." Niall was a bit apprehensive about describing Zayn. How could he say something about the love of his life?
Are you freaking stupid? He broke your heart, it's time to move on, and his inner conscience was holding a gun, pointing at him.
"The last one is Zayn."
"So what can you tell me about him?"
"He's mostly quiet but he's excellent at singing." Niall smiled, at least trying to. Even though the smile was not real, he could still feel the sting of rejection.
Aiden looked at his phone, checking Zayn's Instagram. Seeing Niall and Zayn being cozy and almost intimate in every picture raised a red flag on his side. He wondered if he should address right away but if he does, he doesn't want to make it sound like a clingy boyfriend or something. That's why he decided not to say anything about it, at least for now. But he's going to make a subtle remark about it.
"You two are quite cozy in here..." Aiden said with a hint of mild jealousy in his tone as he showed the picture of Zayn kissing on Niall's forehead.
Niall cringed when he saw the picture. "That's nothing." He chuckled nervously, wondering how Zayn got these weird pictures. He's positive that Zayn never took those. "He's just affectionate. Besides, he always told me that I'm his little brother."
"Little brother?" Aiden just looked at Niall with a weird expression. "Are you sure?"
Niall was starting to get uncomfortable with the interrogation. "Can we talk about something else?"
Aiden felt awful for pressing those questions. He agreed that Niall's issue with Zayn was none of his business. For now, he's going to let it go but for now and just keep a closer look on Zayn. He doesn't trust the guy so he'd better be careful on meeting him.
*****
"Finally food!" Louis screamed out his lungs out. As he was getting closer to their assistant, he noticed that Niall wasn't alone. As he saw Niall and the guy were getting closer to him, Louis was gobsmacked after his cerulean orbs adjusted to the guy.
"Here's your biscotti..." Niall handed the paper bag filled with hardened cookies. "I'm not sure how many you want so I bought more."
Louis gawked at the hot guy standing next to Niall. "Oh my God, he's hot!"
Niall instantly hit Louis on the side to stop from his god-awful embarrassing moments. "Stop that, okay?"
"Did he come with the biscotti?" Louis asked, chuckling. "If he does, what kind of bakery that sells cookies with hot guys? I definitely wanna know!"
"What? No!" Niall glared at Louis for making him embarrassed. He quickly glanced at Aiden, who was somehow was blushing.
"Hi, I'm Aiden." Aiden introduced himself, extending his hand towards Louis to shake it.
"I'm Louis." Louis reciprocated Aiden's action. But when they hands met, Louis felt this strong hands against him. "Wow, you have a strong grip."
"Uh, thanks?"
Louis stared at Aiden and he was almost positive that he looks like someone he knew. Someone very close to him and he glanced back to their assistant who was blushing profusely.
Niall, what kind of game are you playing here? Louis thought.
"You know Aiden, you look like someone I know."
"Really?" Aiden asked. "I hope it's a good thing." He smiled nervously. He needed for Louis to like him so he can be in good terms with Niall.
"Definitely a good thing. I can assure you that." Louis explained, glancing back to Niall. "You look like Za―"
A loud voice behind them calling out that made them turned around. It was Liam and Harry jogging to Louis and Niall's direction.
"Zayn! What are you doing there? I thought you were in the bathroom and how come you changed your clothes so quickly―" Liam said. But as soon as he gets closer he realized it wasn't Zayn, but it was somebody else. He cringed instantly.
"I told you it wasn't Zayn." Harry scolded. "These emerald eyes of mine are sharp." He pointed his sparkling green eyes.
Louis grinned at Liam because he was thinking the same thing.
"Sorry, I thought you were Zayn because you look exactly like him." Liam explained, utterly mortified for making himself like a fool.
"No big deal." Aiden said. He heard those words before from the comments from his youtube channel and tweets and direct messages he received on twitter―that he looked like Zayn. He never really thinks about it that hard until now, until one of the boys of One Direction mentioned it to him.
"Hmm... Now that you mention it. He does look like Zayn." Louis teased, glancing at the blonde. Of course, he knew that Aiden looks like Zayn. That's his first thought when he saw Aiden. Now, he's thinking what Niall's thoughts about this. It's making him very weary.
"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment." Aiden smiled, reintroducing himself to Liam and Harry. Then, he told them his history with Niall.
"Oh wow, isn't that nice, Niall?" Liam asked, facing the blonde.
"Yeah sure is." Niall nodded, agreeing with Liam.
"So what are you doing here in Milan?" Harry asked. "Vacation?"
"It's kinda vacation and work altogether." Aiden answered. "I'm filming for my Youtube channel."
"Cool." Harry grinned. "What kind of videos do you post?"
"I post videos about fitness, nutrition, and workout exercises."
"Then you should bond with this guy." Louis pointed Liam, who was gleaming with joy after hearing Aiden's video content. "This one is so addicted when it comes to working out."
"It's because you three are all lazy." Liam retorted back with humor. "We could do some work out together."
"Sure. I don't see why not." Aiden answered gleefully. He was more than glad that he found Liam's weakness; he knew that he could use that to his advantage.
"Is that some kind of euphemism for masturbating together?" Louis asked with a straight face. But then he felt a poking sensation on his side that made him squeak altogether. "Niall, you do know that I'm very ticklish!"
Niall glanced with Aiden, who was kind of shocked by the words coming from Louis. He needed to remedy the situation before Aiden could run away from him. "Sorry about this crazy Louis..." He chuckled nervously at Aiden. "I'll just wash his mouth with muriatic acid." And with that he dragged Louis away.
"What is the matter with you?" He scolded the giggling lad.
"Nothing." Louis answered, pouting. "The question is, what is the matter with you?"
"What about me?"
"This Aiden guy." Louis pointed Aiden, who was showing Liam how to properly flex biceps. "Don't you see it?"
"See what?" Niall asked, confused as he stared down the two guys flexing together. "I don't really know what you're talking about."
"Oh come on, Niall. You can't be that stupid."
"I really can't help you, Louis."
"Look..." Louis pointed again at Aiden. "The black hair, brown eyes, ear piercing, the quiff hairstyle! Doesn't that remind you of someone?"
Niall paused, studied Aiden's features one more time. The harder he stared at Aiden, the more he got confused because he doesn't understand what Louis was telling him.
He shook his head. "Sorry, Louis. I don't see what you're saying."
"He is..." Louis whispered but loud enough for the blonde to hear. "Zayn!"
Suddenly, a voice spoke to them that made them turn around and they were shocked that the raven-haired lad was looking at them innocently.
"I'm sorry, what about me?" Zayn asked. He noticed how the blonde was flustered. Speaking of, he needed to talk the blonde in private to tell how sorry he was for the awful things that he did.
"Here's Zayn, what do you know?" Louis said in a knowing tone towards Niall.
"It's nothing to be concerned about." Niall gritted his teeth, completely annoyed by these weird, subtle metaphoric stabs from Louis.
"Niall, can I speak to you in private?" Zayn pleaded, doing his puppy-eye dog look.
"Well, you better before Aiden swoop in." Louis stated plainly.
"Aiden? Who's Aiden?" Zayn asked, confused.
"Nevermind that." Niall answered, started dragging Zayn away.
At one corner of his eye, Aiden saw how Niall was pulling away a guy. He thought it was Zayn because he already met the three boys. He got to admit that he's got a little jealous.
*****
"Who's Aiden?" Zayn asked the blonde once they found out that a private area where no one can hear them.
"None of your business." He heard the bitter tone escaping from the blonde's lips. He can't exactly blame the blonde for being hostile towards him. Besides, he turned him down and insulted him to his very core. If it was him, he probably punched the person who said those words to him.
"Okay." He frowned. "Look, I just want to apologize for my actions earlier."
The anger inside Niall was still brewing up as he recalled how awful he felt after hearing those words from Zayn. It was beyond shocking.
"Do you think one apology is enough?"
"No, of course not." Zayn spoke gently. He dared to caress the blonde's hands, wondering if Niall would flinch at his touch. Fortunately, the blonde didn't. His warm touch always works with Niall. "I just want you to know how deeply sorry I am."
Niall felt his heart thundering inside of his chest and touch Zayn was giving him was making him calm for a bit. He gazed once more at those golden amber orbs that he loved so dearly for the past three years.
What on earth are you doing? Don't fall for his traps! His inner conscience was chasing him down with a huge ax ready to decapitate him if he dared to believe in Zayn's words.
Niall pulled away his hand away from Zayn. He saw how hurt the raven-haired lad was.
"I can't just let it go. Saying those words were beyond cruel even for you."
Zayn felt horrible as he realized what he has done. No matter how many times he apologized, there's no way of fixing that. It's just his subconscious was playing tricks on him.
"I know that and I'm really sorry." Zayn pleaded, begging for the blonde's forgiveness. "I'll do anything for you to forgive me..."
Suddenly, Niall became flustered and a million of things were running through his head. And none of those was appropriate for young audiences.
Tell him to drop his pants off and fuck your mouth! His inner conscience was doing this thrusting movement on his hips.
"I can't do that." Niall said intended for his annoying conscience, but it was loud enough for Zayn to hear.
"What?" Zayn felt this bone-crushing sensation in his insides as he heard those words from Niall. He can't have this; he would do anything for the blonde. "Please, Niall. I'm begging..." Zayn pleaded. "I can't lose you..."
Niall cringed right away when those words left his lips. It wasn't intended for Zayn. If only he could pull his conscience out of him, he would've done that. But seeing the frown on Zayn, it doesn't feel right―something was tugging at his heart. Although he hated Zayn, he can't resist the charm of this guy standing in front of him.
"Just name it and I'll do it." Zayn beseeched one more time, stepping closer to the blonde as he caressed the soft, milky skin of Niall, pulling him. "You're the one I cannot afford to lose..."
The erratic heartbeat inside Niall became more prominent. The masculine scent escaping from Zayn seeped through his nose. Niall shivered with excitement as soon as he felt those slow, seductive caresses from Zayn's fingertips, pulling him to get closer to the raven-haired lad. The distance was getting smaller and smaller between them, and how Zayn was leaning towards him―specifically towards his lips. He felt the warm breath brushing from Zayn against his skin.
But a voice snapped him out, pulling himself away from Zayn. He saw how hurt and pained were seen on the raven-haired lad. And for a moment, they had this silent staring contest.
"Niall, I've been looking for you..." Niall turned around to see Aiden smiling back at him.
Oh my God! What just happened? Niall thought to himself. Did Zayn was about to kiss me?
The blonde forced himself to regain his composure as he felt Aiden was pulling him, enclosing him to a hug and he just let it happen because his mind was still reeling for what happened moments ago.
Zayn felt an utter defeat, seeing the blonde was being imprisoned in someone else's arm. If only he could turn back time, then none of this would happen.
"Hello, I'm Aiden." Zayn heard the guy, seeing him extending his hand towards him to shake his hand.
"Zayn." He replied, reciprocating Aiden's actions. The moment he saw him, he hated his guts already. The way he held the blonde was bothering him as if there's something between them. But then he remembered Louis' words earlier.
Well, you better before Aiden swoop in...
Those words haunted him like a ghost in his nightmares. It bothered him the way Aiden touched and looked at the blonde. Something tells him that this Aiden guy would be a huge obstacle that he has to go through before reaching Niall.
"Can you walk me out?" Aiden said, holding Niall firmly close to him.
It took a couple of seconds before Niall could snap away from his thoughts. He glanced one more time at Zayn who had an unreadable expression on his face then he glanced back to Aiden.
"Uh sure."
"It was nice meeting you." Aiden said towards Zayn. His tone was polite and calm.
"Likewise." Zayn replied. His fists were clenching at his sides. If only the blonde weren't here, he would pound this Aiden guy right away.
"Come on let's go." Aiden pulled the blonde away.
And that's how Zayn watched the blonde was drifting away from him. An unfamiliar pain and loss were reverberating deep within...
*****
What are your thoughts on this week's chapter? What do you guys think?