Woooo! Chapter fifteen! This is going by pretty fast. It's kind of good, but kind of bad, too. I just love this story so much. I wanted to tell you all that I officially started Driver's Ed today, and long story short, there is a lot of work involved because the whole course is packed into like two weeks. Gross. I'll still be updating long chapters, they might just take an extra day or so.This chapter was strongly influenced by Macklemore's Same Love, which is in the multimedia. Now blow up this chapter with Ziall and Larry love. xx
~*~Zayn~*~
Niall and I had been packing our suitcases for the last hour or so. While mine had been relatively light, Niall had added some of his things to it that I could borrow. He wouldn’t tell me what they were, which only sparked my curiosity even more. He had taken the bag and set it off to the side to make sure I didn’t try to peek in it. Now he was hovering over his own suitcase, one arm pressed to it while his free hand tried to work the zipper. I was on the other side of the case, watching in amusement as he tried his hardest to close it.
“Need help?” I offered for what had to be the fifth time.
Just as he had replied the other four times, he sighed loudly and shook his head. “I got it.” He mumbled. Just like that, he went back to using the same exact technique as before. It didn’t seem to work in the slightest, but I could only watch and let him handle it.
It was kind of last minute packing. The last day and a half had been spent with each other doing whatever we felt like. Today, for example, had been spent by driving around aimlessly. Niall had literally driven around and gotten lost, but after about three hours, we finally came across a few people who had given us directions back. I didn’t even care that we had no idea where we were. It was kind of embarrassing when I admitted to him that I had never driven a car before, but he had just laughed it off and promised he would teach me one day. That was the bad part about having run away at such an early age – you couldn’t do the things that most people the same age could do easily.
A familiar chiming sound made me look up at Niall, who only made an annoyed face and threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Fine! You do it! I’ll go answer the door.” As he walked past me, I reached out and tousled his hair. He scowled and slapped my hand away before leaving my sight.
I could have sworn that it would have been Liam or Harry at the door, but when I thought about it, they really wouldn’t have knocked. There was a loud slamming sound followed by a squeak of pain, and as Niall came pouting back, I recognized irritability and disbelief in the ocean-colored eyes. My hands froze on the zipper of the bag even though it was only halfway up. He didn’t even focus on it again. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair. It only messed the blonde strands up more, but he didn’t seem to care.
I awkwardly moved so I could sit close to him. “Who was it?” I asked, rubbing his thigh. He turned his head, gazing up at me. A scowl immediately spread over his face.
“Fucking Louis! He wants to talk, but I slammed the door before he could come in. Twat.” He straightened up and set his head against my shoulder. I looked down at him in surprise.
“But… he’s one of your best mates.”
“Was,” He corrected, still holding that adorable pout onto his lips. “I hate the way he treats you, Zee. I won’t put up with someone who can’t appreciate the fact that you make me happy.”
The way he said that with such determination made my heart beat a little bit faster. I held him while he continued to pout, occasionally rubbing his back or his leg or something that would hopefully calm him down. After a minute or so, he gave in and stood up, taking my hand in his and helping me up off of the bed. “Fine. If he’s still there, I’ll hear him out.”
If it was me on the other side of that door, I would have been gone the second that door had been slammed. However, when Niall opened it, he revealed an agitated Louis holding his nose. The brunette lad’s eyes went first to him and then to me, settling on Niall before he took a step forward. I stepped out of his way so he could come in, and when he did, he didn’t seem to know what to say. I rubbed the top of Niall’s hand with my thumb as we waited.
“You have one minute to explain why you’re here at nearly midnight, Tommo. Don’t even think about insulting Zayn, either.” Niall stated. Louis didn’t seem happy, but he did look a bit grateful that he had used his nickname.
“Actually, Zayn is the reason why I’m here.” His blue eyes fell on mine. I could still feel the heavy tension between us, but it wasn’t quite as bad now. “I need to talk to you.”
Without another word, Niall shook his head and stepped protectively in front of me. If he didn’t look so mad, I probably would have laughed. He was naturally smaller, so it probably should have been the other way around. It was still cute though, so I only stood back and watched the exchange between the two mates.
“No.” Niall said simply.
Louis gave him a look of disbelief. “You aren’t his mum. He can make his own decisions.”
“Why would he want to talk to you?”
“Why don’t you let him speak for himself?” Louis threw back. Niall’s lips parted in shock. Two sets of blue eyes were instantly on me, making me look down and blush. I didn’t know what to say. As much as Louis hated me, he couldn’t want anything good. I started to shake my head, but Louis stepped forward again, capturing my attention for the moment. “I just want to talk to you, Zayn.”
I really didn’t want to give in to him. The moment I looked into his eyes, I could sense something other than the usual disgust or hatred that I usually saw. Dark emotions were replaced by what seemed like desperation. No matter what he said, there was something other than talking that he needed me for. No matter how much he hated me and I disliked him… I wanted to help him.
“I’ll talk to you.” I finally spoke. Niall’s whole face filled with shock. He slowly let his fingers slip out of mine and leaned against the wall. I reached over to kiss him quickly, and then Louis gestured for me to follow him outside. I held back all of the concern I was feeling as I walked. The real wave of nervousness hit me as he got in his car, but I followed suit, easily slipping into the passenger seat and sitting silently.
If this wasn’t the most awkward situation I had ever been in, it was pretty high up on the list. I couldn’t find the words to say to begin a proper conversation. Louis looked rather conflicted himself, and when he shut his eyes and took a deep breath, I knew that this was going to be a real conversation; not just threats or insults, but something that had substance to it. It was nerve-wracking.
“I don’t hate you.”
The four words that came out of his mouth were so quiet that I could barely hear them. Even when my brain fully processed what he had said, I still couldn’t believe it. “You don’t…?”
“No. I… I hate people like you. I mean… shit. This isn’t coming out right at all.” He rubbed his eyes and took a few more breaths. “It’s just… you don’t understand how hard it can be seeing you and Niall together all the time. You can be cuddly in public and kiss and hold hands – all of that stuff. It doesn’t matter.”
The more Louis talked, the more my protective side seemed to come out. He was talking about my Niall and I as a couple. There wasn’t anything wrong with us, at least that I could see. “You have a problem with us showing affection around you?”
He smiled, though instead of a normal smile, it was more of something twisted. “Of course not. You don’t get it, do you?” I shook my head, making his smile disappear altogether. “I’m jealous of you, Malik.”
If someone had told me an hour ago that Louis Tomlinson would be jealous of me, I would have thought that they should be sent to some kind of an asylum. Me and my life were nothing to be jealous over. Unless you wanted to count my relationship – that was the only thing anybody might ever have to envy.
“Why? You seem so happy whenever I’m not around. There isn’t anything to be jealous of.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” He turned his head. There were no lights on in the car or anything, but even so, I could faintly see how much his eyes were watering. He was on the verge of tears. “You have the most wonderful relationship I’ve ever seen. Niall may have been happy with Josh, but he’s completely radiant whenever he’s around you. That’s good; I love to see him happy. The only problem I have is knowing I won’t ever have anything like you two do.”
“You can’t just say that, Louis. I never thought I would have someone like him either, but—“
He wiped his eyes and sniffled, cutting me off. “You still don’t understand. I’m gay, too. Have been for quite some time, but it wasn’t until after Niall and Josh came out a few years ago that I got the balls to do the same. Except, when I went to spread the news, Management gave me a huge slap in the face. One gay band member is enough. He wasn’t even supposed to come out, but somehow they were able to look past that because he was the adorable little leprechaun.
“I still remember them glaring at me and giving me this huge speech about how the fans wouldn’t care as much about the band if two members were gay. I don’t know if it was true or not, but either way, I was devastated. I didn’t know what to do. I locked myself up in the hotel room for days, only leaving so I could rehearse with the other lads. They thought I needed space. The only one who came up to me and made me feel better was Harry. My Harry… I never told him why I was upset. He still doesn’t know I’m gay.
“Can you guess why I’m so upset now, Zayn? I’m in love with Harry. I’ve loved him since the first time I laid eyes on him and I can’t even tell him how I feel. The closest we can be is best mates or Management will kick us out of the band. The worst part is, everyone thinks I’m as straight as a ruler. I don’t know. I’ve never… liked guys before Harry. He’s the only one I’ve ever wanted. Not that it matters, considering he left days ago and won’t even reply to my texts.”
He finally stopped, a few tears winding down his face. He wiped them away quickly as if it was some kind of a sin to cry. Just sitting here and watching him, I could feel every stab of his pain. He loved someone who he wasn’t allowed to. Harry might not even be gay! I felt the anger and the despair all rolled into one, but there was still that little surprise in the back of my mind. All this time I thought he couldn’t stand me… but I was really only hurting him.
“I’m sorry, Louis… I am so, so sorry that you have to go through this.” I whispered. He only nodded his head and stared straight through the windshield. He hadn’t even turned on the car engine just yet to signal whether we were going to go somewhere or not.
Shockingly enough, he reached out and took my hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “I’m sorry that I’m dropping all of this on you. I’m sorry for being such a wanker ever since I’ve met you, and I’m sorry that I never even gave you a chance. So… let’s be mates, okay? I don’t want to hate you anymore.”
I couldn’t help but smile at him and even laugh a little. Everything had just been a huge misunderstanding. “Yeah. I think that would be a good idea.” I squeezed his hand back, and after smiling at me through his tears, he let go of me and picked up the keys that were in his lap.
“So, to celebrate us being mates… I’d like to ask you a favor.”
“To help you get Harry back?” I guessed, already knowing the answer. He simply smiled approvingly at me and put the key in the ignition.
“We are definitely going to get along from now on.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was after midnight by the time we reached Liam’s house. Louis had quickly explained to me that Harry had told him he was coming here, and there was a big possibility that he would probably be passed out on the couch or in a guest room. He used his key instead of knocking and walked right in, his eyes immediately scanning the area for a trace of the curly-haired teen. “Harry?” He called softly. I followed him forward, but it wasn’t until we were in the middle of the living room that he actually stopped. His eyes were glued to the messy pile of blankets on top of the sofa.
“Maybe he isn’t here?” I suggested, shrugging my shoulders. He might have gone to another friend’s place or even back home.
Louis shook his head, though, moving toward the furniture. “No, he’s here.” A soft smile lightened his face, and being extremely gentle, he lifted back the blankets and revealed a sleeping Harry. His curls were messily strewn over his forehead and his lips were parted in the slightest, letting out soft snores. A fluffy black dog was at his feet. “Harry? Hazza?” Louis whispered, gently shaking the sleeping lad.
“Go ‘way.” Harry mumbled, not even opening his eyes. Louis sighed and looked back at me, silently asking what to do. Like I knew. I gestured to Harry and touched my lips, telling Lou that he should kiss him. His face lit up as he leaned down and kissed the corner of Harry’s mouth, probably not wanting to freak him out in case he wasn’t gay.
“Harry, come on. Time to wake up, love.”
As if coming out of a spell, Harry’s eyes finally opened slowly. He was looking at Louis in complete disbelief. “Louis?” As quickly as his brain made the realization, he made a face and started to turn his back to us. “Go home.”
“Wait! Listen to me for a second!” Harry slowly turned back around, a scowl on his face. At least he didn’t protest. Louis smiled with relief. “I wanted to tell you this for a while. I love you, Harry. I’m gay… or bisexual, I think… but either way, I’m in love with you. And look! Zayn and I are mates now!” He nodded towards me. Harry’s eyes grew incredibly wide as they landed on me standing off to the side. I waved awkwardly, which he returned with an even more bewildered expression.
“You came here in the middle of the night just to tell me that?” He asked. His eyes finally softened towards the older boy. Without breaking eye contact, he reached his hand out and cupped Louis’ cheek. “Took you long enough.”
“What?” Louis asked in complete disbelief.
Harry smiled sheepishly. “Now I won’t feel guilty when I do this.” He moved his free hand onto Louis’ face and pulled him close, pressing their lips together.
Well, this was awkward. I looked down so I wouldn’t be intruding on their special moment. So Louis and Harry were together now. There was still that problem with Management, but I doubted that they were too worried about that now. They were already best mates. If there was a little more affection in their hugs or cheeky remarks, who would notice? Other than the fans, they shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Even better, teenage girls could easily be influenced.
The living room lights flicked on out of nowhere. Liam made his way down the stairs, only wearing pajama bottoms. He looked tired and confused. “What the hell are you all doing?” Harry and Louis barely pulled away from each other to look at him. By the way they were leaned in, it was pretty easy to tell exactly what had just happened. Liam just shook his head and turned around, heading back upstairs. “Knew it!” He shouted, making the two other boys blush.
“Louis… it’s nearly one in the morning.” Harry chuckled, moving his hand away and sitting upright. The dog immediately crawled into his lap and tried to lick his face.
“Ready to finally go home?” Louis questioned. As if it was an afterthought, he looked back at me and smiled. “Woah, Zayn. I almost forgot about you. Why are you so quiet?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Just finish snogging your boyfriend so I can get home to mine.”
Louis laughed. “Fine. Let’s go, Haz.”
Harry grabbed his bag and pulled on a shirt. He actually had to set the puppy – whose name I learned was Loki – with Liam and Danielle because he kept trying to leave with us. Once we were sure that there wasn’t anything else we needed, we went back to Louis’ car so he could drive me back to Niall. It had barely been an hour, yet knowing that he was at home worrying about me made me miss him even more. The only thing I wanted to do was lay down with him in my arms and sleep until the next morning.
It seemed like it took way longer to get back home than it had to get to Liam’s. It most likely had something to do with the way Louis would slow down every so often so he could lean over and snog with Harry, but I wasn’t going to be the one to complain. They had just gotten into a relationship. It was something special just between the two of them, and if they wanted to keep their lips nearly locked together, they had a right to. As long as I got back to Niall soon.
“Thanks again, mate. I don’t know what would have happened if we hadn’t talked tonight.” Louis admitted, nervously looking up at me. “I owe you.”
I only shook my head at him as I shut his car door and walked back into the house. Niall was already at the door, looking like a parent who was expecting their child home from their first date. I chuckled at his skeptical expression and wrapped my arms around his waist, giving him no choice but to hug me back. He practically melted into my touch the second I held him.
“What did Louis want?” He asked. His voice was a bit muffled by my chest, but I was still able to almost perfectly make out the words that he had said. I rubbed circles into his back, trying to relax him even further. It was clear that he had been stressed the whole time I was gone.
I explained exactly what happened to the best of my ability. It took me a while to pack all of the details down, but I was able to do so without somehow falling asleep while talking. Not even meaning to, I accentuated my extreme tiredness by yawning the second I was finished talking. He was obviously tired too. He set his head on my shoulder and relaxed, only holding onto me with his arms.
“Let’s just go to bed.” I mumbled. All it took was a small nod from him to make us both race toward the bedroom. We undressed each other until we were both down to our boxers – we were just so used to it now that it had become a habit. I laid down and sighed happily when he took his normal position in my arms, of course being the smaller spoon.
I was a bit disappointed when I woke up the next morning without familiar blonde hair tickling my neck. Niall was up and ready, and when he walked in and saw me still half-asleep, he threw some random clothes to me and sat down, waiting for me to change. I wasn’t sure how, but he made the gray sweatpants he was wearing look way sexier than they would on anyone else. I hurriedly got dressed and ran to the bathroom, making sure I at least looked decent before I was fully ready. After making sure I packed my toothbrush and everything else I needed, I was ready to go.
Niall had called a cab to drive us to the airport since we would be gone for so long. When it arrived, we set our bags in the trunk and waited eagerly in the back seat. I couldn’t remember the one time that I had been on an airplane, so that would be a new experience for me as well. I wasn’t sure how I would react considering how much I hated heights, but it wouldn’t be too bad. We were flying to safety, after all.
“How many people do you think will be on the plane with us?” I asked, looking over at him curiously. He glanced down at his phone and adjusted his snapback.
“Oh, it’s only going to be us.” He answered simply.
“I might be new to this, but I do know they usually allow more than two people in an airplane, Ni.” I teased, nudging him. He had to be joking.
“I’m serious!” He laughed, nudging me back. “We’re taking One Direction’s private jet. It’s so much easier to avoid fans that way.”
For a second, I was at a loss for words. I really needed to start remembering that he was famous and not just another guy. Then again, he would always be perfect to me. “Stupid celebrities.” I joked, knocking his snapback off and causing him to poke me in the ribs. It turned into a little game between the two of us, but it abruptly came to an end as soon as the cab stopped. We got our bags and were quickly greeted by a few people standing off to the side.
“Watch your step,” Niall warned, gently pressing his hand against my back to make sure I didn’t trip. Luckily I didn’t, and we were both able to step into the large jet without a problem. His arms found their way around me, making me grin and kiss his fingers that were closest to me. “So what do you think?”
“This is insane.” I murmured, glancing around. There was plenty of space for us to do whatever. The interior didn’t even look like the inside of a plane if you didn’t count the small windows. Grinning cheekily, Niall took my hand and led me over to where the couch pulled out to form a bed. It was just big enough for the two of us. He laid down first and then beckoned me to join him. I did so and relaxed into his touch just as the jet door closed.
Surprisingly, the flight didn’t freak me out as much as I thought it would. I kept my gaze away from the window as we took off just in case my stomach decided that it didn’t like the sight of being up so high. Niall was latched onto me from the very beginning. There was obviously no reason for him to be worried, but he just seemed to want to be close to me.
“Want some wine?” He randomly asked. My eyes grew wide at the suggestion, but I still nodded. He kissed my cheek and got up, returning a few seconds later with a large bottle of wine. “Everyone knows how much I like to drink.” He explained, opening it and pressing the top of it to his lips. The bottle had quite fancy lettering on it, and upon closer inspection, I recognized it as legitimate Italian. It wasn’t anywhere near the cheap kinds I had had before.
“This is Heaven.” I sighed. This time it was my turn to lean against him. He played with my hair and chuckled into my ear, lifting the wine bottle to my lips again.
“If you think this is nice, just wait until we land.” He whispered.
God, was he ever right. Just before the captain announced that we were about to land, Niall guided me toward the window and convinced me to take a quick peek. What I saw made my breath catch. There wasn’t much detail just yet because of the height of the jet, but I did see an incredible amount of blue and whitish-tan. Beaches. There were beaches everywhere.
“You were right. This is Heaven.” I whispered, leaning back so I was against his chest. I couldn’t imagine a better view. “I love you so much, Niall.”
“I love you more.” He replied happily. I started to protest, but at that moment the jet started to land, and I once again curled up against him just to be safe. He played with my hair and placed small kisses over my neck the whole time, obviously happy about me being so clingy. Only when it came to him would I let my tough defenses down.
“Time to go!” I announced minutes later. We had landed perfectly and could now leave. Niall had informed me that there would be another cab waiting to take us to the place we would be staying, and minutes after we stepped out into the surprisingly hot air, the car pulled up. I sighed and looked up at the sky. There was finally something other than rain and clouds around me.
Niall tugged on my hand so I would follow him into the car, which was exactly what I did. I was brimming with anticipation as the cab continued on. It was stereotypical, but there were butterflies flying around in my stomach. The beautiful scenes passing outside of the window only seemed to get better and better as we continued driving. After about forty-five minutes, the car stopped and Niall’s hand reached over to squeeze mine. “Come on, love. It’s time to finally enter our paradise.” He finished off the sentence with a quick kiss to my ear, making me shiver. I loved the sound of that; Australia—our paradise.
We grabbed our things, but before I could turn around and see the place we would be staying, Niall covered my eyes with his hand. “No peeking.” He warned. I pouted but went along with it anyway. He would guide me with his voice every once in a while, but for the most part it was comfortably silent. Finally, we stopped walking and he slowly started to move his hands away as if he was teasing me.
“Niall!” I groaned, reaching up. He laughed and tightened his grip.
“Alright, alright.” He removed his hands. After a second of letting my eyes adjust to the bright sunshine, I looked to where he pointed and gasped.
“Holy shit, Niall.”