linley's pov
As slowly as humanly possible, I stretch my limbs and take my time opening my eyes. Sleep coats my joints, causing me to let out a pleased groan as I gently float back into consciousness. The bright light shines in through the camper windows.
As I slowly enter reality, realization hits me. This is the second night in a row I've woken up in this bed, with Zayn next to me, with no memory of going to bed. The last thing I remember about last night was sitting around the bonfire with everyone.
Unable to help myself, I roll over so I'm facing Zayn. He's still fast asleep, limbs stretched out. One of his legs dangles off the edge of the bed, making him look all that much more exhausted. The corners of my lips twitch ever-so-slightly as he softly snores.
He has to be one of the most peaceful-looking sleepers I've ever seen. He looks like a greek statue, or something along those lines. Unlike most people who sleep so unflattering, with their mouth hung wide open - myself included in that category.
Of course Zayn looks like a little angel...
I let out a tired yawn when suddenly sharp knocking pounds against the door in an unnecesarily aggressive manner. It sends me sitting up in bed with a jolt, letting out a little scream of surprise.
Zayn jerks away as well, gasping for air as he's unexpectedly woken from his deep sleep.
"Linley! Zayn!" A chorus of voices comes from outside of the camper, sounding frantic and worried. It sends my heartbeat through the roof.
Instantly - and I'm not quite sure why - I turn to look at Zayn, waiting for him to do something. He rubs his eyes tiredly and tries his hardest to wake his body up.
"Who in the hell..." He grumbles, his voice sounding gruff, bogged down with tiredness.
We both get off the bed and stumble around to get our boots on, our sleepy legs make it hard to balance, and our handcuffed wrists don't make it any easier either.
Gritting my teeth, finding the pounding on the door to be incredibly annoying, I whip the door open, wearing a nasty glare for whoever is standing on the other side.
Louis and Mia both quickly dart into the bedroom, closing the door behind them. They both wear expression of panic and worry, causing my eyebrows to furrow together in confusion. I stumble backwards into Zayn as they barge into the small, enclosed room.
"What's going on?" Zayn asks as the two catch their breath.
"Sorry to wake you guys up, but it's important," Louis promises as he takes a seat beside Mia at the edge of the bed, giving both Zayn and I an incredibly serious expression.
I quickly share a nervous look with Zayn, wondering if this happens often in their little boyband. Or maybe perhaps Louis just has a flare for the dramatics?
"Word got out quickly into the media of you two and your performance together. Now everyone is going wild about you guys. It's all over twitter and I just got a call from management saying that paparazzi are fighting tooth and nail to get inside the festival," Louis explains, causing my eyes to widen in shock.
Zayn mumbles swear words beneath his breath as he runs his fingers through his hair in an incredibly stressed manner. But by the look on his face I can tell this isn't out of the norm for them.
"Paparazzi isn't allowed in the festival," I assure them, remembering that from last time I was here. Otherwise this place would be crawling with those creeps...
"They'll find a way in," Zayn spits, shaking his head with frustration, his usually light voice weighed down with pessimism.
"Maybe you guys should just stay here for a bit, until everything calms down?" Louis suggests, gesturing to the small, cramped bedroom of Sable's parent's camper.
My eyes widen as I look at Louis in a state of astonishment. Does he honestly think I'm going to sit here in this stuffy bedroom all day, just because people are spreading rumors. He really doesn't know a single thing about me.
"I'm not letting them shut me up in this tiny ass room all day," I stubbornly remark, shaking my head and allowing my usual scowl to set on my face.
Mia's face lights up with a bright smile as she nods in agreement. Louis lets out a frustrated sigh, sounding as if he's given up already - smart choice.
"Besides, there's nothing to hide. There's nothing going on between the two of us," I shrug, looking over to Zayn who seems to be deep in thought himself.
Though as the words leave my lips, I can't help but to feel slightly guilty about them, for some reason unknown to me. My gut feels heavy and wrong - the same feeling you get when you say something that you know will hurt someone.
But it's true. There's nothing between Zayn and I, right? I mean, sure I've gotten quite used to him. I barely even notice the piece of metal wrapped around our wrists, binding us together. Just because sometimes I forget I've just met him and he hasn't been in my life forever, doesn't mean that there's anything going on between us.
He's just an attractive male that isn't totally intolerable to be around.
Zayn continues to ponder in silence for a few moments before he snaps into reality.
"Of course," He snorts, dismissing the thought with a wave of his hand.
"Okay..." Louis shrugs, obviously not agreeing with us, but knows that there's nothing he could do to change our minds, "There have been a few people waiting around the camper, just a forewarning," He tells us as he gets to his feet, heading to the door.
"And you both might want to check out twitter at some point, or maybe it'd be better not to..." Mia tells us, biting her bottom lip with nervousness.
I know firsthand how cruel people can be once they get behind the safety of a computer or their phone. People will say the nastiest of things, knowing there's nothing really we can do about it since we're halfway across the world.
A bunch of cowardly low-lifes if you ask me...
Louis and Mia both lead the way out of the camper. Zayn and I follow behind them, but not first without exchanging a look of disbelief. He flashes me an assuring smile, actually making me feel a little bit better.
I hadn't even realized I was nervous, until Zayn made me feel better.
Our fingers brush ever-so-slightly as we make our way through the small, enclosed hallway of the camper, one in front of another. Louis and Mia open the front door and enter into the real world, letting in the heat of the stuffy summer heat.
As soon as my boot touches the gravel dirt covered ground, a chorus of gasps ripple across the air. My eyes flash up to spot a gaggle of girls standing a few feet away from the camper, giving the other boys of One Direction enough space to breathe, but close enough to not be forgotten about.
"Oh my god! It's true!" One girl hisses, loud enough for us all to hear.
I catch the eyes of Liam and Niall and they both shoot Zayn and I sympathetic frowns, clearly feeling bad for all of this attention we can't get away from.
Never really having had to deal with hormonal teenage girls, I look over my shoulder to Zayn, my eyes wide and nervous. I can feel my heart pounding loudly in my chest, my anxiety making sure it's presence is remembered.
Zayn takes our handcuffed hands and gives my hand a quick and hidden squeeze of assurance. As I turn back around to face the terrifying group of teenage girls, I place my mask back on my face; a serious expression with a hint of angst behind the eyes.
It's the look I've come to master to fool the world that I didn't care about anything; a look you have to master in order to survive.
"Zayn; Linley!" They fight for attention as if they weren't already the center of it all.
I give them a polite wave, forcing a smile on my face despite the fact that I want to flash them the bird. I mutter a few prayers beneath my breath that they'll take the hint that we don't want to be disturbed and disappear forever.
Zayn leads the way to the chairs set up around the bonfire, claiming the only two empty ones for us. He doesn't pay much attention to the girls, pretending they aren't there, clearly hoping the same thing as me.
Niall smiles at me and offers me a sip from his cup of coffee which I graciously accept, giving him amused smile, seeing the aftermath of his incredibly drunken night. He looks like the definition of a mess. I can't help but to chuckle at him, causing him to send me a dirty look.
"Hi," The girls breathe with giant smiles plastered on their faces, now appearing behind us, completely ignoring the idea of personal space.
Zayn twists around in his seat, plastering a fake smile on his face as he replies with a polite " 'ello," sounding so incredibly British.
"Are you two dating?" One girl blurts, obviously not being able to take the anticipation. Her friends all shoot her irritated glares, mad that she blew their 'smooth' act they had going.
Zayn glances in my direction, an amused smirk playing on his lips. I can see the mischief in his eyes, causing me to narrow my eyes, warning him not to mess around with these girls. I'm sure he'd love to encourage these stupid little rumors just to piss me off.
He opens his mouth, his smirk still very prominent on his face. Knowing he's going to do it anyways, I sit up and shout over him,
"No, we're not," I assure them, giving Zayn a smack as he makes some stupid cheeky little remark.
"Oh," Their eyebrows raise as they smile gratefully, clearly over-the-moon about my answer.
Their attention turns towards Zayn, their eyes hungry and ready to devour him at any given moment. I can't help but to laugh loudly, having to cover my mouth to avoid angering them. I've never seen such sexual tension in the eyes of teenage girls before.
Zayn flashes me an unamused glare, clearly not finding this whole situation all that humorous any longer.
"But we're a bit busy at the moment, so if you don't mind..." I turn to the girls, not hesitating to anger them now that I'm no longer a romantic threat to them all.
I flash them a innocent smile, causing snickers to ripple along the circle of our friends around the bonfire. Their seductive smiles worn for Zayn fade away quickly as they turn their attention to me. That only causes my smile to grown in size.
"Sure..." They trail off as they frown at one another. I can tell I just made an awful first impression on them all, but honestly, I couldn't care less.
Zayn gives them a smile, not objecting to the whole matter, waving as they turn away to leave us and our campsite alone. The other boys smile and wave as well, keeping up their image as being the most charming boys in the world. I can't help but to roll my eyes and shake my head at them.
Once the girls leave us alone, I can breathe freely. My entire body relaxes as I slump down in my fold-out lawn chair, folding my legs beneath me. The summer heat beats down upon us all, even though it's not even mid-day yet, letting us all know today is going to be a scorcher.
Zayn relaxes as well, biting off of the other's breakfasts and laughing as they exchange stories of their night last night - or what they remember of it at least.
As they continue to talk, their laughter running together and creating a pleasant background noise, I take my phone out, unable to help myself. Mia's warning about twitter sticks in my brain, causing my fingers to ache to open the app.
My curiosity getting the best of me, I let my impulses take control as I click on the small bird icon. Pushing my hair out of my face, I watch as my newsfeed opens up to reveal busy tweets of several friends and other celebrities that lives continue to go on. Clicking on my mentions, I hold my breath, not quite sure what to expect to see.
"What are you doing over here?" Zayn whispers, pulling his chair closer to mine so he can push his dark head of hair in front of my view of my phone. I give him a slap to the arm, scolding him for being so intrusive.
"Checking twitter, of course," I smirk as recognition hits his face of the app open on my phone. He gives me a frown, clearly not approving of my curiosity.
"Why?" He rolls his eyes as he continues to speak softly, not bringing any attention on the two of us separated from the rest of the group.
"Because I can," I retort, giving him my world famous cheeky grin, letting him know that I do whatever I want and there's nothing he can do that will stop me from ever doing that.
He tries to continue wearing a disappointed frown but the corners of his lips flick up with amusement.
My eyes leave Zayn's expression - though it's rather difficult looking away from his smile at times, which is odd - to return to the screen of my phone. An endless stream of tweets appears with my twitter username written in them. Of course Zayn's name is mentioned several times as well.
@laylahlovelay: who is @linleyjaxon anyways? wtf zayn...
@britneytomlinsonnn: oh my god zayn's new girlfriend @linleyjaxon is so cute alfjdksa #ishipit
@1D-Foreverr: is @linleyjaxon even old enough to date zayn?
@Nialllsmynumberuno: IS ANYONE ELSE FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS LITTLE PIXIE @linleyjaxon HANDCUFFED TO ZAYN LIKE IS THAT A SEX CONTRAPTION
My eyes widen as I can't contain my giggles. Zayn's breathe hits the flesh of my bare skin as he reads them over my shoulder. He looks at me with surprise as the giggles just erupt from my insides. His eyes are lit up as he watches me carefully, chuckling himself.
"You're a little too okay with all of this," Zayn gives me a skeptical look, obviously expecting me to freak out about this whole ordeal.
"It's hilarious," I smile, shaking my head, "But don't worry, I'll tweet something so that your management team doesn't end up drowning in their own nervous sweat," I flash him an amused smile.
He continues to keep his head so close to mine, his messy black hair just barely tickling the side of my face. I do my best to keep my goosebumps from appearing on the surface of my flesh.
I pull up a brand new tweet, my fingers hovering over the keyboard on my screen. I purse my lips as I think of all the things I could tweet.
@linleyjaxon: handcuffs aren't as kinky as you're all thinking. hashtag i'm not abandoning the bitter single lady status ever guys. don't forget that.
I look over to Zayn, an amused smirk on my face as I find my own tweet rather funny. But he doesn't even look in my direction. He returns back to the space of his own chair and directs his attention back to conversations bouncing around the bonfire.
It's as if my tweet mad him angry. Furrowing my brows, I continue to stare at him with confusion as I post my tweet for all to see.
Why are boys so god damn confusing and frustrating and annoying, yet so god damn addicting at the same time?
And by boys I don't mean just any Tom, Jack or Adam out there; I mean Zayn of course. He's the most confusing, frustrating, annoying and addicting one of them all.
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an; sort of a filler chapter that i struggled with ugh. i apologize if it's total crap. more drama is going to come with the next few chapters. and i know you guys are going to enjoy them quite a bit!
if you haven't seen already, i started a brand new harry story. it's not part of the 'inspiration' series, but i'm already loving it a lot. it's on my profile and it's called 'history book' and if you like the movie 'sweet home alabama' you'll love it. [i based it off of that] so please please please give it a look!
this chapter is dedicated to @the1975 for leaving such lovely comments on all of the chapters! thank you so much babe <3
i feel like i say this so much, but i truly mean it when i say that i appreciate all of your comments! keep them coming <3
love always,
perksofbeingaweirdo