there seriously aren't words to describe our friendship and we talk about it nostalgically all the time so let's just cut to the #rayn fluff.
ilysfm renee you're gaaaawgeous 'n bootyful 'n f-a-b.
ONE-SHOT:
"Streamers?"
"Check."
"Balloons?"
"Check."
"Are they red and yellow and blue? All the colors I specified?"
A heavy sigh from Harry. "Yes, Zayn. It doesn't even matter, really; she won't care."
"Yes it does, and yes she will, and I care," Zayn snapped stubbornly. He didn't miss the looks Liam and Louis exchanged, but he was too keyed up to bother apologizing to his friends. He knew he was being a little bossy and demanding, but he couldn't help it. Everything had to be perfect. "Is the cake--"
"Of course the cake's here, dipshit, it's lying on the table," Louis interrupted.
Huffing, Zayn pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and chewed on it, shaking his head slowly from side-to-side. "This is all wrong."
"Oh for the love of God!" Liam groaned and covered his face in his hands. Even mild-mannered Niall looked slightly peeved at Zayn's constantly shifting attitude.
Speaking over their complaints, Zayn said, "I don't think she'll like any of this. We should remake the entire thing. Let's go with another theme--"
"Christ, Malik, we did our best!" Louis hissed. "She'll be here in ten minutes, and there's no time to change anything, so pipe the fuck down and sit your butt on a chair." Sighing, he softened his tone. "Look, Zayn, mate, you know we love you, but you are being ridiculous."
Quietly, Zayn dropped his gaze to his hands. "I know. It's just... I really, really want this to go perfectly, y'know?"
"We know, Zayn," Harry said, and was polite enough not to add 'because it's all you've talked about for the past month'. "Renee's birthday is special, and we know she's special to you--but honestly, you're worrying too much. You two have already been on two dates, and she seems to really like you."
Sullenly, Zayn muttered, "Two dates doesn't prove anything. What if they were pity dates? What if she only didn't want to hurt my feelings by saying no?"
Liam patted his dark-haired friend on the back, shaking his head at the other lads. "He's hopeless."
"I can still hear you, Payne."
"Okay. You're hopeless," Liam told Zayn to his face, unaffected.
The tension in the air started to fade as each boy took a seat on the couch. Harry absently bounced a ball on the ground, while Niall and Louis surveyed the array of food--chips, snacks, soda and of course, the specially-ordered cake--that lined the tables along the wall.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway just outside, and Zayn let out an uncharacteristically high-pitched scream. "It's her!" His eyes bugged out as he grabbed Liam's arms.
Wincing, the Wolverhampton boy carefully detached himself from his friend's grip. "Yes, it's her. Try to act sane, will you?"
A soft voice carried into the room, and a pretty black-haired girl stepped in, calling, "You guys in here? I'm here for the movie night--"
"SURPRISE!" Zayn yelled, in all his nervous glory, his voice cracking on the last note. Harry face-palmed; they were supposed to wait and all shout it together, but apparently Zayn was so high-strung that he was incapable of waiting a mere second.
Well, the girl certainly looked surprised. "Z-Zayn? What's going on...?" She trailed off as she took in the cake, the posters, and the giant sign that read h-a-p-p-y-b-i-r-t-h-d-a-y hanging on the wall. One hand went to her mouth. "Oh God. You guys didn't--"
"We did," Liam said, smirking smugly.
Having lost all of his faux bravado, Zayn mumbled in a faltering tone, "H-happy birthday, Renee."
"Oh my God," she whispered, joy shining through those expressive brown eyes he'd grown so fond of during the year he'd known her. "You guys shouldn't have."
"It was Zayn's idea. He wouldn't stop talking about it. Ever. Like, I mean, he never stopped talking--"
"Shut up, Niall," Zayn blurted quickly.
Renee laughed. "Well, what're we waiting for?" She linked one arm through Zayn's, and the other through Louis's.
Harry threw a dorky cone-shaped hat on his head, curls sticking up in a messy array from under the sides. "Let's par-tay!"
* * *
About two hours of karoake(a competition to see which boy could sing the most horribly, which was quite cacophony, ranging from Louis's absurdly high falsetto to Niall just making demented clucking noises into the mic), dancing, music, and eating, Zayn was pretty tuckered out. As the other boys continued horsing around and making fools of themselves--Liam and Harry were competing to see who could fit the most candy into their mouth without gagging, and so far were only succeeding in spitting rainbow-colored saliva into the air--Zayn made his way to a corner, where Renee sat, chin thoughtfully cupped in her hands.
"S'the matter?" he asked, seating himself in the chair beside her. "Did you... did you enjoy yourself?"
She turned to him with a content expression, shooting him a smile that made his insides turn to jelly. "Of course I did, Zayn." Leaning forward, she gave his arm a little squeeze. "You didn't have to do this, you know."
"Of course I did." He gave her a tentative grin, peering up at her from beneath his lashes.
"You really didn't. But--thank you." She scooched a little closer, and Zayn wondered if she could hear his heart threatening to beat right out of his chest.
"You deserve it." And inside, Zayn was thinking, I'd do it all over again, just to see that smile... But of course he couldn't say that, because he already did a good enough job of making himself appear a lovestruck fool.
We've only been on two dates together. Two. That's not long enough for her to begin to care about me. She doesn't know how I've felt about her for an entire year. She can't possibly know any of that, Malik, so stop being a fool and just... accept that she doesn't return how you feel.
"Did you enjoy yourself, Zayn?" Renee asked kindly.
He fumbled with his hands, wondering what it'd be like to hold her hand. "Yeah, I did," he answered honestly. "The highlight was definitely Harry tripping when he was lighting the candles, and nearly setting the house on fire."
"Really? Because I quite liked the part where Louis tipped over the table," she said with a giggle.
Zayn laughed along with her. "They're all bloody fools. Why're we friends with them?"
"Because we love them," she reminded him gently, and he froze at her choice of words.
"I-" he started to say, then bit down on his tongue slightly.
Leaning forward a little, so her soft hair brushed against his shoulder, she whispered, "What, Zayn?"
Without thinking, he bowed his forehead to hers, so that their faces were mere centimeters apart. Their gazes locked and remained that way; Zayn couldn't have torn himself away if he tried. And before he knew it, someone was admitting, "I love you, Renee." And it took him another moment to realize it was him who'd admitted it, and when he did realize it, he just about had a panic attack.
"Oh God, I said that out loud, didn't I? Frick, frick... I said that out loud and oh my God, I--"
"Zayn, it's okay--"
"I'm a bloody idiot and I should never--"
Renee kissed him. It was a short, sweet little kiss; she sort of bounded up against him and brushed her lips to his, and for a moment Zayn was so lost in euphoria that he couldn't even remember his own name, let alone what he'd been talking about seconds before.
Settling back in her chair, Renee gave him an endearing little smirk. "Took you long enough to admit it."
"I- What?" Zayn felt himself flush.
"C'mon, Malik; first you made me wait a year before you asked me out on a date, and it's only now that we've actually kissed. You've got to give a girl more than that to work with." She grinned at him playfully.
"You knew how I felt about you?" he blurted. Had he really been that obvious? How embarrassing--
"No, I didn't..." she admitted softly. "I didn't know that-- did you really mean it? What you just said?" She seemed shy suddenly, hesitant to repeat his words.
And Zayn didn't want her to be shy about it, because it was the one thing in life he was completely certain of.
"Yes. I meant it, Renee. I love you so much, everything about you."
Her eyelids fluttered shut. "I love you too, Zayn."
"I'm going to die. I can't breathe. You just said--"
"Oh, you're such a girl, Zayn," she giggled, and leaned in and kissed him again. The moment was pure perfection, everything Zayn had ever dreamed--
"ZAYN JAVAAD MALIK, HARRY BIT ME! COME TELL HIM IT'S NOT NICE TO BITE PEOPLE--"
Zayn let out a loud groan. "Louis needs to shut the fuck up."
"You'd better go check on 'em."
"Eh. They'll survive." Seeing the disapproving look she gave him, he laughed. "Fine, fine, I will. C'mhere a sec, before I do that."
He pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on her head and holding her close. Renee gave a happy little sigh, and he felt his lips tug into a wistful smile, fondness spreading warmth through his heart.
"ZAYN, I'M FUCKING DYING OVER HERE!"
Ignoring Louis, Zayn pressed his lips tenderly to Renee's forehead. "I love you."
"And I love you." She grinned that half-humorous, half-teasing grin of hers, the one he loved so much.
"Happy birthday, Renee."