LAUREN:
I awoke the next morning feeling like I was on top of the world. Camila was still fast asleep, grasping tightly to her stuffed bear. It was only 10:00am, but I was wide awake, and that was a first.
I was in the kitchen making breakfast, when Normani walked in humming. She stopped in place. "What is the miracle that you're awake Lauren?" She sounded surprised. "I'm making breakfast." I said obviously, flipping a pancake. "There are only five of us. I feel as though you're trying to feed an army." Normani joked.
I turned off the stove. "No Mani, I'm just being a good best friend and making you lovely ladies a nice meal." I smiled. I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice. "Okay. As generous as this is. I want the old Lauren back."
I made a face at her. "I'm just happy. You can't shoot me down for being happy." I smirked, pouring orange juice into glass cups. "Now, can you please go wake up the others and tell them breakfast is served?" Normani nodded, and left the kitchen.
I began placing the plates on the table, when my phone vibrated. I scurried over to it, and it was a text message from Zayn. "I woke up thinking of you. (: I have to see you. Please say you aren't busy later." I couldn't help but grin at my phone.
I don't think I had anything planned so I text back, "I'm not busy. Just let me know what you have planned, and I'll gladly go along with it. :)" I placed my phone down on the table and let out a breath.
Dinah walked into the kitchen. "Yum pancakes!" She clapped sitting down at the table. "What are you so smiley about?" She asked me. I sat down at the table, and shrugged. "Can't a girl smile anymore?" I giggled.
Normani, Ally, and an exhausted looking Camila joined us at the table. We all joined hands, and bowed our heads so Ally can say a prayer over our meal. "Lord, thank you for another beautiful day together. Thank you for allowing us to have this meal, and thank you for everything you continue to do for us. We are so grateful, and truly blessed to have all of these amazing oppurtunities occur in our lives, all thanks to you. Amen." Ally said.
"Amen." We all said in unison.
I was at the sink washing dishes after breakfast and the girls were still sitting at the table talking. "They are having a sale at American Apparel today and I do not want to miss it, so let's head to the mall after we're finished getting ready." Normani said. Ally nodded, taking a sip from her juice. "Sounds great. Girls day."
"And can we please go get mani pedi's after because my claws are looking rough." Dinah said.
"I might just stay here. I feel like death." Camila said in a very raspy voice.
"What's wrong?" Ally asked. Camila shrugged. "I just don't feel good, so I'm going to head back to bed. You guys have fun for me." She stood up and headed up the stairs.
"Poor Mila." Ally sighed.
"It was probably the leftover sandwhich she ate last night after the guys left." Normani said. "I told her it had a funky smell."
"I guess it's just us four." Dinah said.
I looked up from the sink. "Actually, it's just you three. I have plans with Zayn."
"So that's why you're so giddy." Normani pointed out. "So you guys resolved whatever issues you had going on last night?" Ally asked. I smiled. "Something like that."
"Aw. I am so happy for you Lauren." Ally said. "I hope you guys have the best time."
"But not too much fun if you know what I mean." Dinah winked.
"Shut up." I laughed.
--
"Are you sure you're going to be fine alone?" I asked Camila as I waited for Zayn to arrive. Camz was curled up on the couch in a blanket watching Full House reruns. She nodded. "Yes. Go out and have fun with Zayn do not let my stomach ache refrain you from doing that." I hugged her.
"Stay hydrated." I said to her. She waved the water bottle in her hand. "Yes mother." She joked.
ZAYN:
I was sitting in my rented black Ford awaiting Lauren to walk out of the house. I'm not sure why but I was slightly nervous. We made out yesterday, now what? We both know we have feelings for each other. Would it be too early to ask her to be my girlfriend? Would she even want to be my girlfriend? I know she likes me, but does she like me enough to date me and be thrown into my hectic lifestyle? Also how was my breath?
All of these questions were running through my mind at full speed. I leaned over and dug around in the glove compartment where I had mints. I popped two in my mouth. I looked up and that's when I saw Lauren walk out of the door.
I took a deep breath, and shook out my body, trying to rid these unwanted nerves. Lauren's hair was blowing in the wind, and she had a heartmelting smile on her face. She was truly breath taking. Why did she make me feel all of these things, all at once?
Lauren and I shared a hug. "Why do you smell so minty?" She asked, as she clicked on her seat belt. I cleared my throat. "I ate onions for breakfast, so I had to mask the scent." I lied, driving down the street. Lauren laughed, that cute laugh of hers. "Wait. You ate onions for breakfast?" She asked.
I know she knew I was lying, but she still went along with it. "Yes. I ate onions for breakfast.." I probably sounded so stupid, but I couldn't help myself. "That's gross. So you still haven't told me where we're going onion boy." Lauren said, glancing over to me.
"That's a great question..." I said focusing on the road. "You don't even know where we're going?" She asked. I shook my head. "Do you know your way around Huntington Beach?" I asked her. She shook her head no. "Do you?"
"No." I chuckled. "Looks like we're going to get lost together."
"I guess so." Lauren smiled.
LAUREN:
Zayn had been driving around for two hours, and we hadn't stopped yet. We weren't even in Huntington anymore. I'm not sure where we were, but all the houses were no longer beachy looking. They were all looked extremley expensive, with long drive ways, and nice hedges bushes some spelling out letters, others shapes, and I even saw a bush trimmed into the form of a rabbit. Some of the elegant homes even had gates around them.
"Is there a gas station somewhere?" Zayn asked.
"I really don't know." I said. When we turned the corner Zayn slammed down on his breaks hard. I bounced foreward a bit, but thank God my seat belt protected me from hitting my head on the dash. "Oh my God are you okay?" Zayn asked concerned. I nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm fine." I said. I stared into the street where the paparazzi, the cause of our near accident, were running in a crowd across the street.
Being this up close and personal with the paparazzi was a scary thing. They all had this money hungry look in their eyes. They looked insane. I strained my eyes to see who they were running after and that's when I saw an older looking woman carrying a puppy. I'm not sure who she was, but she must have been famous. A tall buff white man was shooing away the paparazzi. I'm going to assume he was her body guard.
"Oh my God that's probably my first celebrity siting." I said amazed. "Who is she?" Zayn asked. I shrugged. "I have no idea, but she's a celebrity. Maybe she's from one of those Housewives shows."
"Was I not a celebrity siting?" Zayn asked. I laughed.
"It wasn't really a siting if it was a meet and greet after a concert." Zayn frowned. "I just wanted to feel special." He joked.
He continued to drive, and we still saw no gas station or rest stops. "You have to ask someone for help." I said. Zayn stopped the car at a stop sign, and rolled down the window. A girl around 14 years old was jumping rope with another girl. "Hey, can you come here for a moment?" Zayn said.
The girl walked across the street and to Zayn's open window. "Wait oh my God, you're- you're -you're-" Her voice started to tremble, and the finger she was pointing at him with was shaking uncontrollably. The next thing you know she faints.
"Oh dear Lord this wasn't supposed to happen. I just wanted some directions." Zayn panicked, getting out of the car. "Oh my God!" I freaked, placing my habd over my mouth. The girl was lying there and she must have hit her head on the griund because there was a small puddle of blood. "Call 9-1-1!" I shouted.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Zayn said, gesturing to his phone.
The girls friend ran over. "What happened?!" She shrieked.
"She just fainted." I answered. The girl pointed to Zayn who was a few feet away on the phone with a dispatcher. "Is that Zayn Malik?"
"Yes. Please don't faint! I'm already going to be traumatized by this."
"I'll go get her mom!" She ran back across the street.
I was nervously biting on my thumb. Zayn walked over. "They said not to move her at all, and they're on their way." I nodded.
"Has this happened before to you?" I asked.
"Once. But it happened when me and all the lads were here." He began pacing back and fourth.
The girl made her way back over. This time she had an older woman with her. "Can you explain what happened to Hannah?" The mother asked. "I called her over, simply because I needed directions and she started stammering her words and saying "you're" and pointing and then this happened." Zayn recalled.
"You're from that boyband all over her walls." Her mom said. "Let me let you in on a little something."
"Yes?" Zayn asked.
"You see that house right over there nice cars, gated." We nodded. "Miley Cyrus lives there. This happens to Hannah, atleast once a week." Zayn raised his eyebrow. "She faints her head atleast once a week?" The mom nodded. "It hasn't been as frequent lately, I think she's growing used to the fact thats her neighbor." Zayn raised an eyebrow.
Sirens roared through the street, and they stopped right in front of us. They all hopped out. "Mrs. Elmer." The paramedic greeted her, as the others loaded Hannah onto a stretcher gently. They knew her by first name. She must be an ambulance regular, which was slightly weird. "She's still breathing." A man called out from the ambulance. Mrs. Elmer took a breath. "That's great." She said.
"Come on Katie, off to the hospital we go." Mrs. Elmer said to Hannah's friend. They followed the paramedic into the truck. "We'll follow you there." Zayn called out. They shut the back doors.
We were in the hospitals waiting room, awaiting word from Mrs. Elmer that Hannah was awake. "Well this isn't really what I had in mind for a fun day." Zayn said. I shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I'm still having a great time."
"Even though we're in a hospital? That's kind of morbid of you." Zayn laughed. I nudged him. "We're still getting lost together, so you can't complain. I mean have you ever been to this hospital?"
"I've never even heard of this hospital." He said.
Standing in front of us was Hannah, Katie, and Mrs. Elmer. "Hi." Mrs. Elmer said. "So Hannah is okay, they didn't see any internal brain damage or anything out of the norm." Hannah was looking at the ground. Her head was wrapped in gauze. "Hannah also has some words to say to you." Mrs. Elmer said.
Hannah still stood there silent. Katie pushed her. "Say it!" She loudly whispered. "Can I get a picture?!" Hannah asked. Zayn nodded. "Of course." He smiled.
"Hannah Bethany Elmer that was not what you were supposed to say!" Mrs. Elmer shouted.
"Also I'm sorry for fainting in front of you I'm sorry if I made you panic." She said all in one breath. She pulled out her phone. "Oh my God mom, take a picture of me and Katie!" She handed her mom, her phone.
They all got into their poses, and I backed out of the frame. "No, you can join the picture. You're really pretty." Katie said.
"No thank you." I said. They snapped their picture and thanked Zayn. "Thank you for waiting." Mrs. Elmer said. Zayn nodded. "Of course, it was no problem."
"Thank you so much! We love you so much!" Hannah squealed.
"Thank you. It's appreciated." Zayn said. Katie pointed at me.
"Is she your girlfriend?! We see a lot of pictures of you two on blogs."
"No she's my close friend." Zayn said. "Sure whatever you say." Katie winked.
After hitting the road once more, we finally found a gas station. It looked very shady, but his car needed gas. "Are you sure about this?" I asked.
"There aren't gas stations anywhere else." Zayn said, "Plus if I keep driving the car will shut down in the middle of the street." I nodded.
A man walked up to the window. "Hi, can I get 40 on 2." He nodded, taking Zayn's 40 bucks, and walking into the small building. Zayn stood in front of the pump waiting for it to be active. Nothing happened. "Lauren can you please go see what's taking him so long?" I really didn't want to, but I agreed.
I walked up to the small building and pulled on the door. It wouldn't budge. I kept pulling, and nothing. "It's locked." I called out to Zayn. "What do you mean it's locked?"
"I mean it's locked. It's not opening at all."
"Try knocking." He said. I began banging on the door and that's when a car from around back drove off fast. The gas man was the one driving.
"That's him!" I shouted. It was too late. He was gone. "I was just robbed.. by a greasy old fella who works at a gas station.." Zayn leaned up against his car. I wasn't going to say I told you so to him, but in all fairness, I did say this looked like a shady gas station.
I stood in front of Zayn. "I made a girl faint and hit her her head, and I just got beat for 40 dollars all within two hours. Maybe getting lost wasn't the best idea." He said. I took his hands, and laced my fingers in his. "Let's just find another gas station. Where there's one station, there has to be another nearby." I said thinking positvely, although I wasn't one hundred percent sure it was true. Zayn nodded.
I was right! Three blocks away was another gas station, and we actually got gas, and didn't get robbed. Next door to it was a diner. We were starving so we decided to stop in.
"So what was your favorite part of today?" I asked Zayn. He swallowed the french fry he was eating. "I'm gonna have to say being with you." He smiled. I rolled my eyes, and laughed. "That is such a cheesy answer." I said.
"It's true though. Remember yesterday night, I said I promise I'll see you again and I kept my promise." He said. I smiled.
"I guess that's true."
"Well what was your favorite part of today?"
"That's a tough call but I'm going to have to go with being at the hospital."
"Oh here we go with you being morbid again."
I laughed. "I'm not being morbid, I only say I liked the hospital because of Katie and Hannah. I thought they were so cute." Zayn made a puppy dog face. "Do you think I'm cute?"
"I think you're very handsome." I answered. "Close enough." He said.
After our meal, Zayn was paying up front, and I was waiting for some to go soup to give Camila. "You remember how Katie asked if you were my girlfriend?" Zayn asked. A man handed me a container full of the soup. I thanked him and Zayn and I headed outside. "Yes. Everyone thinks that though." I shrugged.
"Maybe you should actually be my girlfriend." He said, kind of low as we got into the car. "Wait, what?" I asked.
"Nothing." He said, clearing his throat and starting up the car. "Let's start this long drive back to Huntington." He said.
Three hours of talking, and singing along to the radio later, we were back in Huntington. Zayn stopped the car in front of the beach house. "So I guess I'll see you around?" Zayn said. They were starting up tour again tomorrow, and who knows when we'll see them again. I nodded. "I guess so." I opened up the car door. "Have a great time on tour." I said.
"Will you be there tomorrow?" He asked. "Where?"
"Our first show back is in LA."
"I promise I'll see you again." I smiled stealing Zayn's line from last night. He leaned foreward and we shared a quick soft kiss. "You know Lauren, you have very kissable lips." He said.
I giggled. "I better get going, this soups already cold."
"Goodnight beautiful."
"Goodnight." I smiled.
I heated up the soup and headed upstairs. Camila was laying in the bed watching Maid in Manhattan. "Where is everyone?" I asked. "Dinah mentioned something about bowling with cute boys." She shrugged.
"Well I brought you soup." I handed it to her. "Aw, thank you!" She smiled. I kicked off my sandals and got in the covers beside Camila.
"So how was your day with Zayn?"
"It was quite an adventure. We found out where Miley Cyrus lives, we ended up at the hospital, and Zayn got robbed for 40 bucks." Camila jaw dropped. "What?!" She asked straining her voice. I laughed. "I'll explain later. Now eat your soup, and watch some J. Lo."
"Are you okay though?" She asked. "I'm fine, we ended up in the hospital waiting for a patient." I said. "You know something Camz."
"What?" She asked.
"When Zayn and I were leaving the diner, I could have sworn he asked me to be his girlfriend." Camila almost choked on her soup. "HE DID?"
"Atleast that's what I thought I heard. I said what? to him and he said it was nothing. So maybe I was just hearing what I really wanted to."
"No. Zayn is crazy over you, anyone with eyes that work can see that." Camila said. I smiled.
"Don't they have a show in LA tomorrow?" Camila said. I nodded.
"Well guess what? We're going there tomorrow and you're gonna get your man." Camila said.