HEY EVERYONE!
This is the epilogue to "Idol", in which you'll learn what happened after Zayn's proposal to Astrid. I hope that you liked the story!
I'm also publishing an A/N after this that I'd love you to read, hence is my goodbye to you!
Moreover, I invite you to read my new story, "FAKE". It is a completely new idea that is totally different to what you've seen in "Idol". Nonetheless, I can assure you that if you give it a shot, you'll enjoy it very much! :)
Thank you for following the story for so long! Please let me know what you think about it.
-I
P.S: PLEASE CHECK THAT YOU'VE LIKED EVERY CHAPTER OF THE STORY! I HAVE MANY MORE READS THAN VOTES AND IT IS REALLY DISCOURAGING!
IF YOU LIKED THE STORY, HELP A SISTER OUT AND VOTE ON EVERY CHAPTER
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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20 YEARS LATER
"SO, can you explain us again why have you been dating this girl for three months now and yet we didn't know anything about it?" His voice sounded across the car. There wasn't a tone of disappointment to it; it was more one of sadness.
There was a brief silence. She was glaring at her husband. How could he ask a question so bluntly?
"I just figured that you wouldn't care." The teenager sitting on the backseat finally responded, a neutral tone on his voice.
"Li, you know that you can trust us with anything." She talked. "We love you and we want you to be happy."
"Yeah, yeah." The kid spoke. "Whatever, mum."
She sighed. To the date, she had tried everything to make her son happy, she just really didn't know what to do anymore.
"So...what's her name?" Now her husband's voice talked to her son.
A silence wrapped the car, again. Liam was doubting whether to tell them or not (even though he knew that he would have to tell them at last. In the end, they were right now on their way to her house.)
"Hana." Liam talked after a while. As she heard that, there was a glimpse of shock in her eyes. She had not heard that name since her teenage years.
Truth was that she couldn't help but feel nostalgic at the sound of it, some feeling that she hadn't regarded in years. Sure, she would feel somehow sad when she remembered her home back in Florida, but she didn't miss it. She had been settled in London for 17 years now, and she couldn't feel any happier about it.
But there was something in that name that took her back to the good days, the days she could feel nostalgic about.
"That's a beautiful name, Li." She responded as she stared at her son; the kid's green eyes glistening with his mother's words. "Isn't it, Seb?"
If we were to talk about Liam, it would be safe to say that he was confused. Being completely honest, he didn't know what it was like to have a girlfriend. Hell! He was fifteen years old and Hana was the first girl who had ever meant something to him (apart from his mum, obviously). Even though he didn't know it yet, Hana would be a great part of his future.
Moreover, in his father's eyes, Liam was still a little baby (but deep down both his parents knew that his little kid was growing up).
Sebastian was still driving with his eyes on the road. Even though he couldn't see his wife's expression as she talked to him, he could have bet an arm that she was smiling.
That was the thing about Astrid: she was always smiling.
"Mhmm." Sebastian finally muttered in response to his wife. He didn't know how to feel about his little boy having a girlfriend (but he sure as hell wasn't excited about it).
"Hey." Astrid hit Sebastian playfully with her hand. "Don't be so gloomy. He seems happy about it."
Sebastian shrugged but sighed. He then turned to see his wife, and his face lit up in a smile.
"You're right." He laughed. "But it seems that he'll be such a Casanova."
Astrid grinned back at this. She didn't know how her son would be in the future, but she sure as hell knew that she hadn't been whatever a "Casanova" meant back in her days.
"In any case, he got those Casanova gifts from you, sir." She joked, but they both knew she was right.
Sebastian had been a charmer since the day he had been born. He knew that he could get any girl, so he made sure to get Astrid as soon as he met her.
"Let's just hope that he uses them correctly." He laughed again, but this time full heartedly. Astrid loved how his nose would scrunch and his green eyes would glisten when he chuckled like this.
"So, Li, have you met Hana's parents before?" Astrid called out to her son.
Liam had just mentioned his parents that he had been dating this girl for three months now. Truth was that he wouldn't have told them just yet, but Hana's parents wanted to meet Liam's, and Liam couldn't say no. He'd had to finally talk to his parents about his girlfriend, and then invite them to her house.
"Mhmm." He replied simply, and Astrid turned around to see her son.
"You know you can tell us, Li. We won't get angry or anything."
"I know." He spoke. "I just don't know."
Even though he didn't make sense, Astrid knew better than to keep talking to Liam.
There was a lengthy pause in the car. No one dared to speak a word.
"I call her Astrid though." Liam completed out of the blue, making his mum turn around and see him. "It's her middle name, and she likes it more than the first one."
Astrid just smiled at this. Looking at her son (and even more when he seemed this happy) made her jolly.
"Well, that's a very lovely name." Sebastian contorted, his eyes still on the road. He was hanging tight onto the steering wheel of his Porsche Panamera.
"I told her that it was your name, mum." Liam added, a shy smile on his face. "She said her Godfather's called like me, too."
"That's amazing, sweetie." Astrid smiled, just as Sebastian's car started making a halt at the doors of a closed urbanization.
"Is it here, Li?" Sebastian talked to his son.
"Yeah." The kid responded quickly. "Password is 1902."
Sebastian laughed lowly to then add. "He's been here so many times that he knows the password by heart."
"I know the password by heart because it happens to be mum's birthday's date, too." Liam talked, and just then both his parents realized that he was right.
February the 19th was the date of Astrid's birthday.
After typing the password, the doors opened automatically and Sebastian started driving his Porsche Panamera inside the place. Astrid noted that most of the houses looked like hers, nothing too special.
"It's here." Liam uttered, and the car stopped in front of one of the mansions.
The family got down and walked to the door together (well, Liam got ahead of them to knock on the door). They waited for a second, to then a young girl to open the door.
Both Sebastian and Astrid saw different things in the girl.
Sebastian noticed her long brown hair and her bright smile. He then shivered when his son saluted her with a kiss on the cheek (I mean, he totally didn't see it coming).
Astrid noticed just one thing in the girl. Besides of her being very, very beautiful; her big hazel eyes stood out. They were honey colored, some tone that truly mesmerized her.
"Mum, dad; she's Astrid." Liam took Astrid's hand and smiled. Both his parents realized that despite of their age, there was love in each one of their actions.
"Nice to meet you, Astrid." Liam's mum was the first to speak. "I'm Astrid, too." She smiled and embraced the girl. Even though the etiquette rules may say that you have to 'shake' a stranger's hand instead of doing anything more 'personal', Astrid thought that it was pertinent to make the girl in front of her feel, as if she was welcomed into their life.
Hana Astrid didn't know how to react, so she just invited her boyfriend's parents inside her house and asked them if they wanted her to take their coats.
After Sebastian's awkward introduction to Hana Astrid, and both the kids leaving the room, a new voice filled the place.
"You must be the Andersens." The feminine voice spoke. "I'm Amanda, Astrid's mum." She smiled and shook both Astrid's and Sebastian's hands.
Amanda's blue eyes got Astrid wondering if her daughter had gotten her eyes from her father (I mean, she most probably had).
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but I was getting everything ready and..." Amanda kept talking, but Astrid didn't pay attention. Being completely honest, Amanda was too loud for her liking (she got nervous when she heard her talk). Anyways, Astrid knew that she had to be nice for Liam, so she put her best smile on and nodded to whatever Amanda was saying.
But then, both Astrid and Sebastian noticed a new figure through their peripheral vision. None of them gave importance to it, but until a new voice filled the room.
"Hey, I'm so-." And as Astrid looked up to look at whoever had just arrived into the room, everything turned to be in slow motion.
He looked at her and she looked at him. None of them could believe what was happening before them.
Him?
Her?
They hadn't been before each other for so long, that it seemed almost impossible, surreal.
A smile filled both of their faces. This simple gaze took them back to their teenage years: to the best months of their lives.
"Astrid?" The man, who could have seemed very strong before; had just now turned into a fluffy little boy.
She, one of the most powerful women in the country, seemed a little fan girl at the very moment. Her eyes opened wide, showing that she couldn't believe what was happening. Indeed, she couldn't even utter a word, so she just nodded to reply to her former lover's question.
Unnecessary to say, no one in the room understood what was going on (obviously, anyone but Zayn and Astrid), but at that very moment, none of them wanted to take the time to explain. They were just now drowning into the thousands of memories, into the millions of things that they had wanted to tell to each other in the past twenty years, but weren't able to.
"What are you-" Astrid was finally strong enough to talk.
"I-I..." Zayn wanted to answer, but he couldn't. His heart – just like Astrid's – was beating hard and he couldn't help it.
"Wait, do you...know each other?" Sebastian suddenly stepped closer to Astrid.
None of them could respond to his question though. They kept staring at each other and just nodded to acquaintance that he had just talked.
"Zayn, have you met her before?" Amanda moved Zayn's arm, but he didn't bulge. He couldn't get his eyes off Astrid. "Zayn!" Now Amanda almost slapped him, for him to finally react.
"Yeah." He said, obviously overwhelmed by the whole situation. "She was someone that I..." He looked at her again and smiled. "She was someone that I used to know."
"How did you meet?" Sebastian was more confused than anyone else in the room. For all he knew, the man in front of him was a regular Briton. He had no idea that he had been one of the biggest pop stars of all time – take it that he had been his wife's boyfriend -.
Amanda stared at Zayn accusingly, almost as if he had cheated on her. At this, Astrid had the sudden urge to hit her. Why would she think that Zayn Malik would cheat on her? Didn't she know what had happened between him and Perrie? Didn't she know her husband right?
"We..." Zayn smiled, probably remembering all of their memories together. "We met in the middle of a fight, turns out this one's here's pretty feisty." He declared joking, to which Astrid cracked out.
"Oh my God!" She exclaimed. "No, I am not." She smiled and then looked at him. "Problem's that this one here used to be a douche."
"Used to be? You're underestimating me, babe." He laughed, but until they both realized what had just happened.
He had called her babe.
That single word had taken both of them back to the millions of memories that they had built together. That single word took them back to the kisses, the tender touches, the late night calls.
That single word took them back to the best time of their lives.
"Mum, is dinner ready yet? Liam and I are starving." Suddenly, Hana's voice took them off of their trance.
Amanda, yet with the same annoyance look, stared at her daughter and shook her head, to then just walk off to the kitchen.
Zayn knew better than to bother Amanda in a situation like this. He knew that she would snap at him or something. I mean, why wouldn't she?
He had clearly "clicked" with Astrid. He had never talked about her before, yet he had named their daughter after her.
And Astrid, how could we start talking about her? She looked flawless, despite of the years that had passed through her. She was older, obviously; but that didn't take anything away from her beauty. She looked more mature if anything, but flawless nevertheless.
So, Zayn didn't find any better solution than to walk closer to his daughter and talk to her.
"Mum's getting the food ready, sweetie." He smiled at her, to then place a sweet kiss to her forehead. "Let's go there together." He then took his daughter's hand in his – just as if the fifteen-year old was just five - and told everyone to follow them.
Sebastian's case wasn't too different to Amanda's. A very, very, very attractive man had just exploded from the chemistry he had had with Astrid (who happened to be his wife). Not just that, but he also seemed to be the best father in the world. Like seriously, he could win the crown for #1 Daddy (and ironically enough, Zayn drank his coffee every morning from a mug that had that scripture).
Zayn guided the Andersens to a very well illuminated room, a dinning room that could fit at least 20 people. He took his place on the headboard, and the rest sat in random places nearby.
Sooner than they had ever expected, Amanda brought the food and they started eating. There was something weird about this dinner though. It was so weird that it could almost seem like the time that Zayn and Astrid ate dinner in-.
"Hey, Tri, remember the time when we ate dinner in Bradford?" Zayn didn't know why he brought that up. He knew that this dinner resembled the one with his family in Bradford (that seemed ages ago), but he didn't need to bring it up. Moreover, why in the hell world was he calling her Tri? He had never called her so before.
"Yeah." Astrid laughed, also wondering why Zayn had chosen to call her by the nickname that she hadn't heard in ages. "Funny to think how long ago it was." She smiled, nostalgia in her voice.
Amanda was tired of her husband talking to Astrid. She knew that she had to get Zayn's attention as soon as possible.
"Zayn, love." She looked at her husband, whom glanced at her immediately after she talked. "Eat this." She passed him a plate full of ribs, and Astrid couldn't help but wonder if she was joking.
"No thanks, love." He responded and went back to his plate.
"Oh, come on, Zayn!" Amanda insisted, and to this, Astrid couldn't help but interrupt.
"You are kidding, right?" She asked, to which Amanda looked at her in shock. "He can't eat that, and I'm sure that you know that."
Astrid didn't know why, but she felt the need to 'protect' Zayn. She didn't care what everyone would think of her.
Amanda looked at the plate she had been offering to Zayn, and just then realized that there had been pork ribs on it. It's not that she hadn't known that Zayn was a Muslim and couldn't eat pork (she knew that clearly), but it's just that she hadn't cared much at the time.
The rest of the dinner went by silently. Turns out that both Sebastian and Amanda work at the same enterprise (Sebastian is the founder of it, and Amanda is just one of the workers, but they found a topic of interest to them both).
"Ugh, dad." Hana's voice sounded in annoyance. Astrid noticed that when her voice sounded like this, she resembled loads her mother. "Why do you like music that it's this ugly?"
"Zayn is in the music industry." Amanda explained and Astrid couldn't help but think 'well duh!' "Anyways, he just happens to like the most horrendous music. American Country music."
Astrid looked at Zayn after Amanda had finished talking, and she noticed that he was blushing. She hadn't noticed until now, but there was a Country song playing on the background. She couldn't help but smile when he listened to the lyrics that were playing.
"If you wanna call me, call me, call me.
You don't have to worry 'bout it baby.
You can wake me up in the dead of the night;
Wreck my plans, baby that's alright."
"Hey." Astrid spoke, a huge grin on her face. "That's Luke Bryan." She stared at him and it seemed as if they could read each other's minds.
"It was a great night." He cleared his throat. "That party, y'know?"
"What party?" Hana interrupted and Zayn looked at his daughter in awe.
"The LA gala." He smiled. "It was ages ago, wasn't it?" He now watched Astrid, who nodded after hearing this.
"So..." Amanda talked. "What do you do for a living, Astrid?" She asked, clearly trying to change the topic.
Astrid was going to answer (I mean, she obviously was), but someone bet her to it.
"She's a psychologist." Zayn stated, to which Sebastian laughed.
"You've got that wrong, mate. She's a lawyer." He spoke.
Zayn was confused, so he looked at Astrid, in hopes of getting a response.
"I finished psychology at Northwestern." She explained. "But when I came to England, I decided to join Law School. I had the credits to, and I finished the career easily. I figured that it was more like my character than psychology; you know?" Even though her explanation should have been directed to the whole audience, she was only looking at Zayn.
And even though her explanation could've gotten Zayn to consider a million of things, he was only thinking one thing:
She had come to England.
And even though he wanted to ask about it, he knew that this wasn't the time, so he just kept going with the conversation.
"You were great at psychology anyways." Zayn muttered. "But once again, you happened to be great at everything."
Astrid giggled to this. Yes, giggled. A grown-up woman giggling to something her ex boyfriend had told her.
"Talking 'bout that, how're you with your writing?" Zayn completed, eating a bit of the chicken on his plate.
"You write?" Both Sebastian and Liam asked at the unison.
"Used to." Astrid was quick to respond. "But I guess that it was a different time of my life." She tried to laugh off the situation, but Zayn knew better than that.
And just when Astrid moved to fix her hair behind her ear, Zayn saw something. He saw something on her wrist that she'd thought he'd never see again.
But he knew that that was something he'd have to ask her a little bit later on.
After dinner, and even though Amanda hadn't want to, she realized that – whoever Astrid had been for Zayn – she was special, and she had to therefore let them talk. This is why she pretended to be interested in whatever work talk Sebastian had for her, and let them both talk in peace.
"Do you still don't drink?" Zayn asked as he filled a glass of whiskey. Jesus, he would need that whiskey after the crazy day he'd had.
"Just occasionally." She admitted, and he laughed, not believing what she was telling him. "I mean, last time I drank was at my wedding, I think." She spoke with a laugh, but he didn't laugh back.
"So." Zayn cleared his throat. "You and Sebastian...married?"
"Mhmm." Astrid stared at him. Even though many years had passed by, she still had that aching feeling on her chest when she looked at him. "So are you and Amanda, aren't you?"
"No, we are not." He looked at the ground. "I've only proposed to one girl in my life and I think that we both know who she is." He looked at her and her cheeks were red. "Well, two if you count Perrie, but you know what I mean. You are the only one worth remembering" This made Astrid even more nervous, of course it did, and Zayn knew that and, even though he hadn't noticed it, he had done it on purpose. "Anyways, Amanda and I are too dysfunctional to be married." He laughed, but then drank half a glass of his whiskey.
"Don't you think that Seb and I are dysfunctional?" She asked and he raised his eyebrow.
"I wouldn't say. You seem like the perfect suburban family."
"Wow, I'd forgotten how quick you are to judge."
Zayn thought that he could respond that he'd forgotten how beautiful she was, but he decided against it. It was true. She seemed happy with her husband now, and he wasn't anyone to ruin this happiness.
"Are you happy?" He almost whispered, but she heard it perfectly. After he finished talking, her heart started beating hard.
"Well, I love him." She answered after a while, and it was true. She loved him, yet she wasn't sure if she was happy (at least not at the moment).
"You didn't answer my question, love." He looked at her, and she could swear that it was the same look that he'd had years ago.
"I am, Zayn. I am happy." She smiled.
Another silence filled the room, this time she was the one to break it with the one question she'd had for so many years.
"Why didn't you fight for me?" She muttered. She knew that she couldn't be heard, because that'd break a fight for both the Maliks and the Andersens.
"You-you" He didn't know how to respond to this. In all of this time, he had thought that she didn't want him back; and it hadn't even occurred him the idea that she might still love him.
"You said no when I asked you to marry me. I thought that it was my cue to leave you forever." He finally got to pronounce.
Both of them closed their eyes, holding back their tears. The rest of that night, Doniya's wedding, had been awful.
She had said no and hell had broken loose. He had started screaming and she had begun crying. Chace had came and asked what was going on and, when he had seen that Astrid was too broken to respond, he had just taken her away and back to the States.
That had been the last time that Zayn and Astrid had seen each other.
"What did you expect me to say?" Astrid asked to his former lover. "We hadn't been together for seven months." She sighed, her voice becoming weak. "You had hit me, for crying out loud, I wouldn't get married to you just because you had asked nicely. You knew me well enough to be aware of that."
"I wasn't ready to forgive you, hence you had done nothing for it to be worthy me to forgive you." She muttered. "You had to work hard: you had to show that you really wanted me, but you never did. You asked me to marry you, and when I said no, what did you do?" She looked at him in the eye, he was barely holding on. "You didn't fight for me, Zayn, you just walked away, like you always did."
There was another pause, Zayn didn't dare to respond to Astrid's speech.
"I came here for you, you know that, right?" Astrid wanted to sob, but she decided against it. She couldn't show how weak she'd been. She couldn't show how hard it had been to keep going without Zayn.
Obviously, Zayn didn't know what Astrid meant with all this, so she had to explain herself.
"After I finished school, I transferred to the University in Bradford." She talked. "I knew that you weren't in the band anymore and that you were trying to stay low key, so I figured you'd be in Bradford." She laughed, not believing how stupid she'd been. "I stalked your house, Zayn, and I went back to the places we'd been together in hopes you would be there. But it never happened. You never came."
It broke Zayn's heart seeing Astrid so broken. He wanted to hold her and kiss her problems away, but he knew that he couldn't. Things were different since the last time they'd seen each other.
"I then learned that you had been in Los Angeles all the time, and you hadn't even bothered to look for me. You were living your life, so I decided that I'd live mine." She shrugged. "So I met Sebastian. I decided that I'd start all over, so I forgot everything about you. That's why I never told him about you."
There was another pause. Both of them were nearly sobbing, but none broke down at last.
"There's a reason we're not married." He finally talked, and she looked at him with a curious look. "Amanda and I, I mean." He disarranged his hair. "She was originally an one night stand, but something went wrong and she got pregnant. I knew that I couldn't leave the mother of my kid just like that, so I got together with her, but we never got married."
"She seems like a good woman." Astrid talked with pain in her heart.
"She might be, but she's not you."
That statement caught Astrid off guard, but anyways, she responded.
"You know, Sebastian's not you either, but he's a good man; and he loves Liam."
Just then Zayn realized that Astrid still loved him, and something inside of him lit up for the first time in years. He still loved her too, without a single doubt, but the same bulb that lit up was shattered to pieces when he realized that they could never be together.
"I know that this may seem odd." He started talking again. "But for some reason, I caught myself wishing so many times that it had been you instead of Amanda, you know? The one that I'd gotten pregnant."
Astrid laughed at this, but she secretly wished the same. She knew that if that'd happened, she wouldn't have Liam or Seb; but for some reason, she still wished it.
"I was running away from you, actually, that's why I didn't look for you." He finally explained. "I knew that I had fucked up, I convinced myself that I didn't deserve you. After Liam told me why you hadn't wanted me to smoke pot, I felt myself shredded to pieces." He stopped. "I thought that our break would only last a few days, weeks at most; but it never healed. I couldn't make it heal, Astrid."
She didn't know how to reply.
"I had fucked up so, so much that I was sure that I didn't deserve you, and before I noticed it, I was in too deep. I couldn't get back to my feet, so there was no way that I'd be looking for you."
"I actually met Waliyha in class many times." Astrid cleared her throat. "She seemed all awkward when I asked her about you."
He shifted weirdly on his seat.
"I lost contact with my family after you left, and even more after Hana." He admitted, and she could have just thrown her arms around him, but had to hold herself against it. "Dad thought that I was a failure to our family, to our religion, and even prohibited my sisters to see me. The only one who I've seen since then is Doniya."
Astrid almost cried with this. She knew how important family was for Zayn, and she understood how much he must have been suffering.
"But I'm all good, you know? I just..." He was about to tell her that he missed her, but she interrupted him.
"I know." She smiled knowingly. "Me too."
She shushed for a while, to then keep going.
"You lost contact with the guys?" She asked.
"Yeah, not really talk to them anymore. Well, I'm really close to Liam, made him Hana's Godfather, but the rest kinda shuffled away." He muttered.
"You know that they may be able to help you, Zayn." She talked to him. "You shouldn't push away the people who care about you."
"Wow." He stared at her in awe. "You have really gotten good at this, even though now you happen to be a lawyer. Laws fit you though, considering how we met, even more."
She laughed, and he loved to see her laugh.
"Yeah, I guess that's what University does to you." She smiled.
"How come did you end here in London?" He asked.
"Oh." She beamed. "After Seb and I got married, we decided to come here to try luck. No specific reason."
"And your family? How're Chace and your parents?"
"Oh." Her gestures now showed how sad she truly was. "My parents got divorced more than ten years ago." She tried to smile, but failed miserably. "Turns out dad was cheating on mum, and mum knew it; but she didn't care because she was cheating on dad, too." She spoke and his jaw dropped. "Yeah, I know. My life is pretty much like a cheap soap opera."
He laughed at this, but this didn't take away how sad he felt about what she had just said.
"And Chace, he ended up marrying my friend Ava. They're happy now living in New York."
"Oh, New York, I remember that." He smiled sadly. "How're Max and his family? I'm surprised that you didn't up marrying him."
Astrid shook her head at this.
"I've told you this a million times, Max is like my brother." She smiled. "He ended up marrying one of my school best friends, Trisha. His family is still being as cool as always."
"I thought that your school best friend had gotten married to Niall." He spoke.
"Yeah, Lexi, but she's the other one." Astrid shrugged. "And you didn't go to the wedding."
"No, I didn't. " He half smiled. "I knew you'd be there."
"I'm sorry, I guess."
"Don't be silly, love, there's nothing to apologize for."
Another silence was pushed into scene, but this time it was much less awkward.
"You called her Hana." Astrid finally talked.
"Someone told me long ago that it meant happiness." He beamed. "And she was my little ray of happiness after a while. She was the only one who could put me on my feet."
"So what does Astrid mean then?" She asked, a smirk on her face.
He laughed lightly, to then stare her right into the eye.
"Divinely beautiful." He spoke simply. "Thought it'd fit her."
She tried to hide her smile, but failed miserably.
"Told you I'd never forget you, babe. I don't dishonor to my word."
"His middle name is Zac. Every time I say it out loud I think of you." She admitted and he nodded smilingly.
"I told you that if I had a son I'd name it Liam."
"And I thought that if you had a son it'd be with me." She stated. "But it didn't happen like that, yet I still felt as if I had to have a bit of you in my life."
There was another pause in their conversation. Zayn sipped on his whiskey and Astrid looked at him as he did so. She loved how his Adam's apple moved with every gulp. Everything about him – no matter how many years had passed by – was still beautiful.
"See you still got the tattoo." He observed and she nodded. "Thought I heard in the middle of our last fight" He closed his eyes, trying hard not to cry by how disastrous their last fight - the one after she had said no - had been "I thought I heard you said you'd get it out."
"Yeah." She laughed. "I didn't." She sighed. "I guess that I just said it because of the moment. I would never have erased it. It was part of my life...you were a great part of my life."
He looked down at the ground and laughed softly.
"Amanda asks me sometimes what does the tattoo on my back mean." He looked at Astrid and he could have sworn that they were back in their teenage years. "Never told her though."
"There's nothing wrong about the meaning though. Nothing that she shouldn't know." She admitted.
"Yeah, I just...I just don't like saying it, y'know? It's something that's exclusively mine...well, mine and yours."
"I know what you mean." She whispered. "Seb used to ask, but he doesn't anymore. I don't want to go on telling him the whole story of everything about us."
"Afraid he might get jealous?" Zayn asked, a smirk prominent on his face.
"No, I'm sure that he would get jealous." She laughed softly. "It's just that I don't like looking back at that time of my life."
"Why? Was it too bad?" Zayn was hurt, even though he wouldn't admit it. His life with Astrid had been great, and he expected that she would feel the same about her life with him.
"No, I just get sad imagining everything I could have had, but I don't." She stated bluntly.
"Like what?" He gulped hard.
There was a silent pause between both of them, until Astrid dared to talk.
"Like you."
He didn't talk back, he just drank some more of his whiskey, and then proceeded to talk to her.
"Why do you think we didn't work?" He asked the same question he'd made many years before.
"We were doomed since the beginning." She said. "All of that lovey dovey stuff is good for a while, but it isn't strong enough."
"Then why is it that after so many years you're the only one I think of?" He thought, but didn't say it out loud.
"Do you think that they'll be doomed?" Zayn asked, referring to the kids that were probably upstairs.
Astrid smiled and then shook her head.
"Let's hope not."
And just as their favorite Taylor Swift song started playing, both Hana and Liam were immersed into a profound chat.
"And what is it with your mum and my dad?" She asked, and he shook his head showing that he had no idea. "It's weird, it would almost seem as if they are flirting."
"Don't say that, Tri, it sounds gross." He laughed scrunching his nose.
"It's true though, Liam." She smiled. "They were giving each other looks and had their own inside jokes. I'm sure that they're even dancing to this 'Love Story' song at this very moment."
"Don't be ridiculous, babe. Mum and dad have been together for 17 years. It's not that their marriage will break because an old friend of hers – who just happens to be your dad – appears."
"Liam, look at it!" She almost screamed, to which he rolled eyes. "Dad never wanted to get married to my mum, there has to be a reason behind of it." She gulped hard. "You said your mum came to the UK looking for someone. What if it was my dad? What if our whole lives are lies? What if my dad's true love is your mum and vice versa?"
"Then I'd say that true love sucks because they're with different people now." Liam laughed cynically.
"What if it's not?" Hana insisted. "Hell! I just realized why I have this middle name. It was no coincidence, Liam. I'm named after your mum; and you may even be named after my Godfather! It's as if our parents had a completely different life that we know nothing about."
"Yeah, you're right. For all we know your dad could have been a pop star!" Liam stated, to which his girlfriend glared at him.
"Don't joke with this, Li. I know who my father was in the past; but I know nothing about his former loves."
"And what if it was my mum, Han, it's over!"
Hana shrugged and then sighed. She then nodded to agree with Liam's argument.
"You're right, Liam." She sighed again.
To this, Liam took a quick decision and kneeled down in one knee.
"What are you doing?" She asked confused.
"Proposing." He joked, taking a candy out of his pocket. "I know that this is nothing, Tri, but I need to do this. " He licked his lips. "Hana Astrid Malik, I promise that from today, no matter what happens, I will treasure our love; and in case of it being true love, I promise to never let it go."
"And what if it isn't?" She asked before taking the piece of candy from his boyfriend's fingers.
"Hey, don't be so cynical." He joked. "Because if we are, we're all doomed."
And just parallel, in the living room located underneath Hana's room, Taylor Swift's Love Story was playing and both Astrid and Zayn were reminiscing on every single memory that they'd had together.
Everything since their first lunch together in Chicago...
"Beef tongue or pig face?"
...to their late night talks...
"Sing to me so I can sleep."
...to their fights...
"Who is she?"
...and their moments of love...
"I love you, Astrid Taylor."
"And I love you, Zayn Malik."
So when he asked her to dance, she didn't say no. She didn't say no because she still remembered all this: she still had all of this love fresh on her mind.
And they danced. They danced even though they probably shouldn't have been dancing. Her ear was pressed to his chest and it just felt perfect. They felt whole for the first time in years.
"Funny how not all Romeo and Juliet stories have a happy ending." He spoke into her ear.
"I don't know which play you've read, because Romeo and Juliet certainly doesn't have a happy ending." She laughed.
"Yeah, but they do end up together. Even in death, they do."
"But the fact that we're not lovers doesn't mean that we can't be together." She stated, to which only one more question was left unanswered.
"So." He cleared his throat. "If we're not lovers, what are we?" Zayn finally dared to ask.
"Well, Mr. Malik, the answer to your question is simple." She looked at him. "You're my idol, and I'm your fan."
___________
A/N: there's a longer A/N on next chapter, but as for now, I'd love to know your opinion on this!
Firstly, what did you think of Idol?
What did you think of the ending? You expected something like that to happen? Would you like it to have ended differently?
What's your favorite part of the story? Personally, and contrary to the popular opinion, I'd have to admit that I love the ending.
Please, do give me some advice and feedback. Thank you all for your comments, your support means the world to me.
See you on next page 😘