"Do you want to get out of here?" Zayn whispered into my ear.
I nodded and squeezed his hand softly. “Yeah, that’d be lovely.”
"Sorry guys, I’ve just remembered I said I’d take Sophie to see Eaton Gate. I’ll see you tonight guys. Bye." Zayn said quickly, trying to avoid questions. If anything, it only made the boys curious of what we were doing.
I smiled at them, my face plastered in its least guilty expression. “Buy guys!” I called out over my shoulder. “Don’t have too much fun with out us!” I winked at them. Louis scoffed and whispered something into Harry’s ears, probably sexual.
Harry looked up and nodded at Louis in agreement with something.
Before I knew it Zayn had his phone in his hand and was laughing.
"You should read this. It’s from Louis." He said, passing the phone over.
"Yo, Z-dawg. Genuinely never seen you so happy. The boys all agree she’s a keeper, mate! Keep the noise down tonight yeah!? I knew you were lying when you said you hadn’t had sex! ;) But seriously, keep it down!"
"Is his mind always this sexual?" I asked trying to pass it over as a joke.
Zayn rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and nodded. “He likes to make a tough situation lighter. It’s sort of his thing, making people smile!”
"What makes this situation tough?” I asked, playing my phone in my pocket. Without offering an explanation, Zayn just shook his head.
"It’s complicated." I tried hard not to let it ruin the evening. Whatever it was, he clearly didn’t want to talk about it.
Maybe there was something stopping us from being together. I felt a twang of pain and worry shoot up me. I stiffened, causing him to look at me. I began to realise as I stared into his large chocolate eyes, I was falling for him, hard.
I linked my fingers with him and rested my head on his arm as we walked through London, not sure where we were going, but not caring.
"I like this." He whispered suddenly. "I like us" He added as I glanced up, smiling at the thought that maybe I wasn’t going to be just his neighbour. He squeezed my hand lightly as he gestured for a taxi. "let’s go home, you’re freezing." kissing my forehead he opened the door, allowing me to get in.
We sat in the taxi smiling at each other, not really knowing what to say. It wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward, but it was obvious.
"Is there a reason we can’t be together, Zayn? Is that why Louis sent that text?" I asked after a while.
He looked at me pleading me with his eyes to not peruse the conversation but I locked my eyes with him edging him to explain.
"It’s a long and confusing conversation. He was just trying to help me make up my mind on something." He looked away for a second then took hold of my hand. "Soph, I really like you. I’ve never felt this way before. I know it’s cheesy, but I’m so glad that I’ve met you. It just couldn’t have been at a worse time." His eyes looked sad. I squeezed his hand, letting him know that I wanted him to continue. "We’ve got a new single out, so we’re going away for a few days, but when I get back it will all be sorted out. I promise, it’s nothing to worry about!" He smiled as he saw the look of confusion spread across my face.
He sat back and laid his arm over the back of my shoulders and lent in, kissing my cheek. “Thank you for this evening, it was lovely.” He whispered.
It was enough to ease my mind. Zayn liked me. It was all I needed to hear. Today had been so much better than I had expected! I couldn’t wait for tomorrow with Sarah and Leah, I had so much to tell them.