Zayn's POV
We were sitting in the car to go to our next destination. Once again, Ellie was sitting next to me, our sides touching each other, making me nervous. It was very fun playing paintball. The way she became so confident and hyper so suddenly made me really happy for some reason. I liked how she immediately wanted to have fun and she ended up making everyone crack up laughing.
There was something about her that made me feel uneasy and excited all at the same time. It wasn’t her beauty, even though she was crazy beautiful, but something that reflected invisibly around her. She had me feeling restless, like I wanted to keep learning more about her. It was something completely new to me, but it made me excited at the same time.
“What’s next?” Eleanor asked Louis. She was sitting on Louis lap, his arm wrapped around her back. It looked like he didn’t want to let go, ever.
“We are going to a carnival.” Louis responded back. It was like he meant all his words directly to Eleanor because he looked at her the entire time, not even turning to us.
“Isn’t that a bit risky? I’m sure fans will be there.” Sam said.
“Yeah, maybe, but it won’t ruin our fun.” Liam assured her.
I looked out the window into the street. I wanted to hide the blushing face I made when Ellie shifted in her seat. It’s like the air inside the car had suddenly turned thick.
We finally arrived at the carnival after what seemed like an eternity.
“We’re here!” Same cheered. Ellie laughed at her enthusiastic friend which made me laugh at her. She turned to look at me with her eyebrows raised.
“What?” I chuckled.
“Watch yourself Malik.” She responded.
“Because I’m so scared!” I teased. She hit me in the shoulder before crossing her arms, pouting her lips and burrowing her eyebrows.
“Aww, I’m sorry!” I instantly replied back as we made our way to the entrance. Ellie kept her position and kept walking a little faster so I could be left behind.
“You’re not mad.” I poked her stomach. She shooed my hand away and started walking faster.
“I’ll make you smile!” I exclaimed with a laugh. She looked at me and made a face.
“Ohhh. Zayn is gonna get beat up.” Danielle teased. Everyone laughed.
“Manhandle him Ellie!” Niall cheered.
“You go girl!” Louis squeaked.
Ellie giggled as she hid her face from me so I couldn’t see. I walked up to her and placed my arm over her shoulder. She didn’t shake it off like I thought she would and instead she let it rest. I wiggled my finger in front of her face, making sure it annoyed her.
“Forgive me.” I said.
“No way.” She shot back.
“Please.”
“No.”
“PLEASE!” We were already inside the carnival while fast paced music played on the background.
“No.” She repeated.
“I’ll get you to laugh.” I smiled. She looked at me for a second before raising her eyebrow and turning the other way.
“Just get married already!” Harry said from the other side.
“Not until she smiles at me.” I exclaimed.
“They’re cute.” Eleanor whispered to Louis. Louis just shook his head in agreement.
We walked down to the first rollercoaster. It was extremely, massively big and it made my stomach quench. I wasn’t a huge fan of them, they made me super scared (of course I would never admit that) so I decided to stay behind.
“Zayn you big pussy.” Harry remarked. I rolled my eyes at him as I sat on one of the benches next to the ride.
“Anyone else a chicken?” Niall added. I stared at everyone before my eyes landed on Ellie. She looked a little nervous and her hands kept shaking.
“Well then let’s go!” Niall pumped his fist into the air. As everyone stared walking to the entrance of the roller coaster, Ellie stayed in her spot.
“Ellie?” Danielle asked.
“Uhm, I think… I’ll stay behind too.” She sat next to me in one swift moment, crossing her legs and crossing her arms.
Danielle and everyone else giggled before leaving us behind.
We didn’t say much for the first minute or too. She just sat there, not moving an inch.
“Are you okay?” I asked. She snapped from her trance and she looked at me.
“Fine.” She murmured.
“I don’t believe you.” I replied.
“Roller coasters scare the s**t out of me.” She whispered. Then she quickly turned to look at me with a scared expression.
“Sorry.” She said.
“Did you just apologize for cussing?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t.” I laughed.
“Will you stop laughing at me Malik!” She punched me in the shoulder.
“I’m sorry! You’re just so cute.” I admitted. Her cheeks turned incredibly pink and I could see her hands shaking again. “Aww, did I make you blush?”
“Zayn!” She complained.
“Sorry!” I apologized with chuckles. She was just so adorable I couldn’t help but make fun of her. It was so cute the way she got mad.
“It’s not funny.” She claimed.
“You’re just so cute when you’re mad.” I explained.
“Yeah, well then I should make fun of you too since you are also scared of roller coasters.”
“I’m not scared. I just didn’t want to ride it.” Lies.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I can easily ride that thing if I wanted to.” Big lie.
“That’s what she said!” Ellie blurted. I looked at her with a confused expression before realizing what the joke was.
“Very mature.”
“What? You said it.” She replied.
“Whatever.”
“Hey, if you’re not so cared, then I dare you to ride it.” She said.
“I don’t want to.”
“Double dare.”
“No.”
“Chicken.”
“So are you!” I commented.
“Yeah, but I admitted to it!”
“Still.”
“Just admit that you’re a chicken!” She insisted.
“I’m not a chicken.”
“Prove it.”
“Fine, I’ll ride the damn thing if you ride it with me.” Oh god.
“No way, Jose. No. No.” She instantly replied back.
“Then I won’t ride it.” I returned immensely relieved. She stuck her tongue out at me. I purposely rolled my eyes at her to make her think I was getting annoyed when in reality all I wanted to do was laugh out loud. It seemed to work because she sat quietly, taking a few nervous glances toward me.
“Okay, okay I’ll do it!” She practically yelled in my ear. Without saying another word, I grabbed her by the arm and I led her to the waiting line.
The boys and the girls came out of the ride.
“What are you doing?” Louis asked as soon as he saw us.
“We decided to ride the rollercoaster.” I responded nervously.
“Ellie, you’re super afraid of them!” Sam exclaimed.
“Oh, I know.” Ellie replied. I took her hand in return. She instantly squeezed it tightly. Everyone saw the gesture and they walked away, getting the clue. Well, at least I know the boys did because of the wink Harry and Louis gave me.
When we reached the front of the line, I could feel Ellie’s hand shaking and becoming sweaty. I was holding back the same feelings so Ellie wouldn’t see how terrified I was too. When it was our turn to get into the car, she hesitated and I had to practically drag her into the car.
As soon as we sat down, she stood up.
“I can’t. I can’t!” She was already halfway out of the seat. I dragged her down again.
“Yes, you can.” I grabbed her waist, pulling her close to me. She hesitated at first but I managed to lock her seatbelt and make her sit still.
“Oh, I’m gonna die.”
“No, you won’t. I promise.” I chuckled nervously. My heart was beating faster and faster,
“Zayn Malik don’t laugh at me!” She urged. I was about to apologize when we started moving. Ellie cussed one more time before burying her head in my chest and wrapping her arms around me. For some reason I felt like I was her support and that I could always protect her. It made me feel safe to know that she felt safe with me. As much as I didn’t like to see her scared, I really liked her arms around me. It also made me feel less scared. We were holding onto each other for dear life.
The whole ride Ellie kept hold of me. When we reached the parts where the cart would make it feel like we were falling, Ellie tighten her hold on me. For those seconds I couldn’t feel my whole body. I didn’t mind though. Although I couldn’t move, I still enjoyed the ride. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Ellie made it better, even though she was hyperventilating next to me.
Once the ride was finally over, I could barely get Ellie off of me. Even when we started walking back to the guys, she was still holding my waist.
“Is she okay?” A worried Sam asked as we reached the guys back at the bench.
“Yeah, she’s still scared though.” I said.
“Trash can.” She whispered.
“What?” I asked.
“Trash can!” She screamed before running away to the nearest garbage bin.
We waited for her to return. She came back with a pale face and shaky arms.
“Are you sure your okay now?” Niall asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.” Ellie assured us.
“It’s tea cup time!” Louis cheered.
“Alright!” Sam cheered right back.
“Uh, I’ll skip that thanks.” Ellie grabbed her stomach at the thought.
“I’ll stay with her.” I included.
“Sure. You two go make out or whatever.” Liam chuckled. I shot him a death glare as they started walking away to the ride.
“Maybe I should stay.” Sam interrupted.
“No, it’s okay. You can both go. I just need to rest.” Ellie insisted.
“I want to.” I exclaimed. In the end, I ended up staying behind. I actually preferred it too since my love for the tea cups ride ended when I turned six. Of course Ellie kept telling me that I shouldn’t have and that I should enjoy myself. Little did she know that just being around her made me feel happy. Of course I wasn’t going to tell her that, it might freak her out, heck, it was starting to freak me out.
“Do you still feel sick?” I asked.
She looked at me with those beautiful eyes before replying.
“No, the feeling went away.”
“Good.”
“Yeah, but hey, I wanted to thank you for making me ride the coaster. I haven’t been in one in at least five years and it helped me with my fear.”
“Even though you were squeezing me and you had your eyes completely shut the entire time?” I asked confused.
“Hey, it helped okay.”
“Alright? Just glad you didn’t puke on me.”
“I can still do that!” She teased.
“NO!” I shouted. A couple of people turned to look at us. A few seconds later, three girls approached me. They were giggling to each other, one of them was jumping up and down.
“ZAYN! HELLO!” One of them shouted.
“Hello!” I responded.
“OH MY GOD ZAYN! CAN WE TAKE A PICTURE?” Another asked.
“Sure!” I took pictures with all three of them. They kept telling me how they really liked our songs and how big fans they were.
“Thank you.” I told them. Whenever fans approached me, I always feel the need to take pictures or to sign them autographs because of the massive support they have shown to me and the boys since we started in the X-Factor. Without our fans we wouldn’t be doing what we love to do and therefore we owed it to them. Besides, I didn’t mind the attention they gave us.
“Where’s the rest of the boys?” One of the girls asked.
“They’re riding the tea cups.”
“How come you’re not with them?”
“Uhm, it’s just not my thing.” I responded. I looked over at Ellie. She was patiently sitting on the bench with a grin on her face. The girls instantly saw who I was looking at and they asked who she was.
“I’m just a fan.” Ellie responded.
“How come you’re not talking to him then?” Maria, I found out was one of their names, asked.
“Too shy.” Ellie replied.
“Come on Silly! Here, I’ll take a pic with you and Zayn.” One of the girls offered. I could see Ellie trying to contain a laugh but she did it anyway. We took a quick picture together, both of us pretending to be strangers. Ellie gave the girl her e-mail address so they could send the picture to her.
The group came back soon after the girls left. The rest of the time at the carnival was spent eating junk food and going on rides. Of course me and Ellie stayed behind in most of them but it was still fun with just the two of us. I would tease her to pass the time and we ended up talking about random things, almost like we’ve known each other for a long time.
Back at the hotel, we sat around the couches to pass the time. Harry put Titanic on the TV to watch, but mostly everyone was joking around or eating (Niall). In the middle of the movie, Ellie, who was sitting between Sam and Danielle, came over to sit next to me.
“You seem sad.” She asked.
I turned to look at her. “No, I’m not.”
“Well you look sad and I don’t like that look on you.” She confessed.
I gently smiled at her. “I promise I’m not mad.”
“Good.” She smiled.
“But, do you know what would make me happier?” I asked.
“What?” She asked.
“If you would go out with me tomorrow afternoon.”
“Oh.” She seemed taken a back.
“If you want to of course.”
“I would love to it’s just, I would have to ask my mom.”
“Okay.”
“Seems weird doesn’t it? I’m eighteen but I still ask my mom to go out.”
“Hey, I don’t judge. It’s great to know you have that kind of relationship with your mom.” I responded. I didn’t mind at all. Heck, I was still a momma’s boy. I missed her like crazy and every time I get the chance to see her I turn into a little kid again.
“Then, I will let you know.”
“How?”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Uhm, give me your number?” She asked nervously.
I wrote my number on her hand with a pen. I purposely wrote it rather slow to get a hold of her hand again.
“So, it’s a date?” I murmured. I didn’t want the rest of the guys to hear me. I could already hear the jokes and teasing.
“If mom approves.” She exclaimed.
“Right.”
“Hey, if you two need a room or something, don’t hesitate to go into ours.” Louis winked. I shot him a glare before turning back to the movie.
Message from Nargles:
So, I finally found time to write a new chapter. I'm sorry for the lack of updates but Senior Year is getting to me. If you like the chapter please comment. I love them! & vote too!
See ya soon with their date!! :)
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