He loves but little who can say and count in words, how much he loves. ~Dante Alighieri
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2012 © All rights reserved
A ЂώζЅŧ of Fate ♪ Fourteen
Yeah
I’ve never the words to say
But now I’m asking you to stay
For a little while inside my arms
And as you close your eyes tonight
I pray that you will see the light
That’s shining from the stars above
When he open his arms
And holds you close tonight
It just won’t feel right
Cause I can’t love you more than this
Cause I can’t love you more than this
When he lays you down, I might just die inside
It just don’t feel right
Cause I can’t love you more than this
Love you more than this
The Mediolanum Forum was filled to the very brink of its max capacity of twelve thousand screaming fans. It was a slightly different venue which we had previously performed at – stadiums, arenas, and universities. This was an indoor sports arena in Assago near Milan, Italy. It was my first time performing within such a near proximity to the fans and actually hear people screaming behind me.
It was hard work for the boys for they had to keep turning behind in order not to neglect those who were sitting behind us. And despite it being an indoor arena, it was surprisingly warm as I could feel sweat flowing down my back.
After the final chord of the encore piece had been strummed, I followed the rest of the band and headed out of the stage. As per plan, that was the last encore.
“Man, isn’t it hot?” Max was entirely wet as if he had just stepped in from a thunderstorm.
“That’s because you have much more fats than the rest of us!” Brick chuckled.
“Aren’t you feeling it?” Max looked to me for support.
“Yeah,” I agreed. I could feel the sticky wet blouse sticking to my body and I was disgusted.
As the boys headed towards the dressing room, I saw that they were drenched. All of them except Liam and Niall were already down to their trousers with their shirts off.
“Isn’t the air con working?” Harry grumbled.
“The fans must be hotter here,” Louis joked as he wiped off the sweat from his body with a towel.
To my own disgrace, my eyes had actually strayed to the naked chest of Zayn, resting on the small tattoo.
“If anyone should complain, it should be Jo,” Niall pointed out. I jerked my glaze away from Zayn instantly upon hearing my name.
“Why?” I asked.
“That’s because you can’t strip like us,” he smirked which caused me to stick out my tongue at him.
“Let’s get a move on,” Zayn spoke up.
“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “Way too hot…”
Since my date with Harry in Paris, I had not had a chance to speak with Zayn alone. And that was two weeks ago. We had been travelling again – Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Rome and now Milan. Everyone was looking forward to completing the show at Milan because we would be taking a pit stop in Switzerland. It was going to be a mini vacation – one week stay in Switzerland.
“Switzerland, here we come!”
I could hear the boys cheering in the background as they headed for the car and I couldn’t help smiling. Yes, Switzerland, here we come!
“Jo!” I heard somebody calling me, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I turned to see Luke waving at me. He was the backstage crew man whom I had met the very first time I performed with the boys and he took our picture for us.
“What’s up?” I asked him as he ran towards me.
“Is this yours? I found it lying next to the drums,” he waved a bunch of keys in my face.
I took and inspected it. Instantly, I knew who it belonged to. The large G was unmistakable.
“Not mine. Zayn’s,” I replied. “I can pass it back to him.”
“Thanks a mil,” he smiled as he hurried off, back to the stage again.
I held on to the bunch of keys, feeling the heat which built up as I clenched up my fist.
Strange. Why would Zayn be carrying his keys around with him? And how careless. What would have happen if Luke did not stumble upon it?
“Jo! Are you coming?” I heard Brick calling out to me from the exit door.
“Coming!” I picked up my steps as I ran to catch the car.
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I stood outside Zayn’s door as I reached for the bell with my trembling hand. I was dying to see him but at the same time, I was so nervous!
Keep calm, I yelled to myself.
I heard the bell rang out in the room as soon as the button was pressed before the peephole was covered by a dark shadow then disappeared.
The door drew opened with a crack.
“Jo?” Zayn’s head popped out through the crack – or rather, a portion of his head.
“I…” He cut me before I could state the reason why I was here.
“Give me a minute.” He shut the door and it re-opened after a few seconds past a minute.
This time, he opened the door wider.
He was dressed in a pair of brown shorts and nothing else. I tried hard not to stare at his naked chest. But it was rather difficult since he was taller and my eye level happened to coincide with his chest.
“Sorry, I was not decent just now,” he apologised. “What’s up?”
A naughty thought flickered in my head as I wondered how un-decent he was.
“Oh,” I said. “I came to return you this. Luke found it on the stage.” I handed him the keys. “I presume it’s yours?”
“Oh!” he exclaimed. “I was wondering where it went to! I must have dropped it! Thanks!”
“No problem,” I smiled, wondering what was the next step – since he had not invited me in.
He seemed to sense my thoughts, “Want to come in?”
This guy must be a mind reader. I must be careful of what I think in front of him…
“Sure,” I shrugged.
His room was in a terrible mess. Clothes and shoes were lying everywhere – on the bed, on the table, on the bed stand, on the chair, on the floor and I even saw a pair of boxers on the TV? Gosh, was this how boys live? Thank goodness I had no brothers. Mom and I would probably freak out. But then again, he would probably be trained by us to keep things neat.
“Sorry about the mess,” he said as he pulled off the boxers from the TV and gathered the mess up before shoving it onto a couch. “Can I get you a drink?”
I shook my head, “I’m fine.”
I looked around in amusement. How on earth was he going to finish packing by tonight?
“Uh…” I said. “Do you need help with packing?”
“Huh?” He was caught surprised by my question.
I scrounged up my face, “Looks like you’ve got quite a chunk to pack.”
He laughed, “No problem at all.” He picked up another shirt which was shoved under the chair. “You should see Harry’s room.”
“If he’s worse than this, I don’t think I want to see it,” I said.
He laughed again.
“Anyway, why were you carrying a bunch of keys to the stage?” I asked curiously.
He weaved his hand through his thick six centimetres hair, “I went out in a rush.”
I eyed his hair curiously, “Do you sleep with that hair?”
He saw my bewildered look and laughed. “No, I will wash it off before I go to bed.”
“How long do you take to style it up anyway?”
“Five minutes?”
My eyes widened in surprise, “That’s fast.”
“It comes with practice,” he mused.
“Seriously,” I looked at him trying to force more clothes into the luggage. “Maybe I should help you pack.”
“It’s okay…”
I stood up and pushed him into the bathroom, “Go and wash your hair off. I’ll pack up your stuff.”
“You sure about it?”
I nodded and shut the bathroom door on him.
I started with pulling out everything from the luggage except those which were already folded neatly – and it happened to be a pair of socks. Sniffing my way through to differentiate the clean linen from the dirty ones, I laid them separately. I also folded up the undergarments.
As I packed, I could hear him whistling in the shower. I couldn’t help smiling. I felt wifey all of a sudden. I shuddered at the thought as I shook my head clear of these thoughts. I don’t even know where are we now – after the official kiss. I pulled out more clothes which were shoved into the side pocket and something fell out. It was a picture of his family as they smiled happily at the camera. His mother, his sisters, his grandfather and him. I placed it back into the pocket.
I was done when he stepped out of the shower and my eyes nearly fall out from the sockets. His hair was dripping wet and he was covered at the waist with only a towel. I turned away awkwardly, trying to concentrate on the TV.
“I didn’t bring anything in,” he said sheepishly. He strolled across the room, across my vision as he picked up what he needed and strolled back into the bathroom. I pretended that it was not affecting me, even though I was a wreck.
“It’s done?” he was amazed at the neatness of the room, and a packed luggage.
“Yup,” I answered. “Eh, a picture fell out when I emptied the side pocket. I had put it back in again.”
“Thanks,” he said without bothering about his luggage as he plummeted onto his bed.
“I guess I better be going,” I stood up. I was still trying not to look at his naked chest.
“Already?” he asked, surprised as he sat upright.
I nodded, “Got to wake up early tomorrow.”
“I’ll walk you down,” he stood up and pulled out a sweatshirt from the luggage to put it on.
“It’s okay,” I replied hastily. “I can go back on my own.”
“Let me walk you,” he took my hand. “I’ll like to see you a little longer.”
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We stepped into the elevator in silent, still holding hands. I bit my lips wondering how to break the silence.
We stopped outside my door and I turned to face him. He tenderly brushed back a loose strand of hair that dangled over the centre of my forehead, covering part of my eye and pushed it back behind my ear.
I saw him took a deliberate breath.
“Jo,” he began, almost in a whisper as he looked at me. My heart almost missed a beat being so near to him once again. “We need to talk.”
Finally!
I nodded lightly.
“Let’s have a good talk when we get to Switzerland. We are both tired out today,” he said as he brushed his thumb lightly over my cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” And his usual routine – he planted a soft kiss on my forehead. “Good night and sweet dreams.”
“Good night and sweet dreams,” I whispered back before I let out a sigh after I stepped into my room.
Switzerland, it shall be then.
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“Hi Mom!”
“Hi sweetie!” My mom’s voice came across the phone and I felt the usual tearing of my heart as I saddened at the fact that I could not have her here with me.
“How’s everything?” I asked.
“Good. Everything’s fine. How’s your end? Where are you now?”
“I’m now in Milan, Mom. We’ll be going to Switzerland tomorrow. It will be like a pit stop. We’ll be going to have a short vacation there.”
“How nice!”
“I’m sorry, Mom. That I can’t be home for your birthday…”
“Don’t be silly. There’s no need to celebrate it. I don’t want to know I’m older again.”
“Mom…”
“No more news these days?” I heard her chuckling.
“What news?”
“Which boy are you with now?”
“Mom! I was never with any to begin with!”
She laughed, “Are they not worthy of my baby?”
“It’s more like I’m not worthy of them.”
“Nonsense!” she retorted. “You are more than worthy for any guy. I never want to hear you say that again. Do you hear me?”
“Yes Mom.”
“Always talking nonsense…” she grumbled.
“Mom, I bought you something from Milan.”
“Looks like I’ll have a sackful of gifts when you come home.”
I bought a souvenir from every place I had visited.
“Won’t that be nice?” I mused.
“It’ll be good if you can bring home a boy too.”
“I can bring home five,” I laughed.
“You better not bring them here,” she warned. “I don’t want the press to be here to film our house!”
I giggled, “Okay okay.”
“How’s the food and everything else?”
“It’s okay.”
“Anybody bully you yet?”
“No, Mom. They are all very nice.”
“That’s good… that’s good… Anyway, you better sleep soon.”
“Yeah, I will.”
“Take care and be good, K?”
“Of course Mom. You know I always do…”
“I love you.”
“I love you too Mom.”
***AUTHOR'S NOTE***
I thought this chapter was going to come out short - but well, 4 pages... not too bad. Sorry if this chapter is not as good. It's a prelude to the next chapter. I'm kinda squeezed dry - for loading 3 chapters yesterday (serve me right for writing too much at one go!) but at least everybody is happy :-)
I'll need a little bit of time for the next few chapters... must do it well >_<
So meanwhile, pls try to read slower K (*laughs*) - Okay, I'll try to update soon~