Sorry about that, I don't know what went wrong but hopefully it shows up now? Well here is the next chapter... thank you to all the readers and reviewers (though I'd love more...but I'm happy), RRR (: x
"Well they seemed to be having a nice time, hm?" Zayn chuckles as we watch the rest of our little group walk down the sidewalk in the direction opposite that we are heading to.
"Yeah," I hum a small laugh. We haven't started walking yet; I'm not very sure if he wants me to start or if he would want to initiate the first step, so I just stand there and pretend to go along with it.
"And, are you having a good time? With me, that is?" he asks. He glances down towards my eyes, looking hopefully for a good answer. This innocent question makes my stomach flare up with flutters again, and I am able feel the familiar light blush on my face.
I say back to him, "Yeah, of course I am." Just the thought that he would even wonder about this detail makes it hard enough for me to hold back a smile.
He mumbles a very quiet "Good" and I look towards the ground at my feet which are positioned with my toes pointing towards each other. This always makes me look like such a nerd, but it's a habit and I can't stop the comfort of standing like so.
"So, shall we finish up?" he inquires. I nod and then he starts off in the direction opposite to where Alison and Zoey and the other boys have disappeared off to.
While we're walking, I often catch him craning his neck to look towards me. He notices the small things. For instance, when he takes me through some other short cut path, we snake through a tight alley (though it's not at all an alley like you would normally imagine). It winds up leaving us in a meadow of long grass and brightly colored flowers that are illuminated by the bright moon's light.
It's beautiful. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I look up towards the trees, which are the famous Bradford pear trees, complete with chunky fruits that are hanging from the branches.
"Oh my gosh," I subconsciously say. I hear him laughing at me, for my face must look like I'm in a dazed state. Which I totally am, so.
"I thought you'd like it. I noticed your camera before, and well, this is the most picturesque landscape I've ever experienced, so I thought that you would appreciate it as well."
"Well I totally am. It's beautiful." I pluck one of the purple flowers from the ground, and hold it to my nose. It smells of lavender and springtime. "Actually, do you mind if I take some pictures? I've just never seen anything like this before."
His smile then seems to further brighten the meadow. "Of course not. I've been meaning to see you in action actually," he says. I laugh at this, which causes him to laugh some more, too.
I pull out my camera of the bag that had been resting on my left shoulder like a purse. There are so many things to photograph in this beautiful place, so I start with pointing my lens to the sky and capturing the luscious peach tree branches and leaves with the eerie dark sky behind them.
I turn on a night setting, and I'm able to even get a few shots of the moon, which is in a crescent form and it is shining brighter than usual. Next, I move down to the ground, angling my camera in level of the grasses and flowers. A few amazing shots come from this, too.
I'm so in a state of perplexity of all of this beautiful scenery that I don't even think to notice what Zayn is up to. But when I look around the meadow for him, all I see is a dip in the grass that levels a few feet long. I quietly walk over to the squished grass, only to find a lying god with his left arm behind his head, and his right arm on his torso.
The flowers and grasses surround his entire body, poking out from all crevices that aren't suppressed. His eyes are closed and he looks so peaceful and beautiful that I sneakily turn my flash off and capture a few shots of the beauty of this man on my camera screen.
Then, I turn my camera off with a small beep and put it back in my bag, pronouncing my steps towards Zayn so that he wouldn't be suspicious of how I had gotten so near so quietly.
He opens his eyes at my approaching steps and gives me a small, dreamlike smile. The butterflies in my stomach and I internally sigh.
"All finished, love?" the nickname comes off his accent sounding like "luh-v" and I just about die that it was directed towards me. I begin to wonder if this is all even real, or if it's just another one of those dreams of mine that I'll wake up to, feeling disappointed but also giddy and hopeful – and, well. That sure sent my new best friends called the "butterflies in my stomach" on a freaking whirl around my entire body.
Of course my cheeks flare up with a deep red that must be visible from miles away.
He starts to lean his torso up, sitting with his legs crossed and his arms behind him, hands resting on the top of the ground to keep him angled up.
I stand awkwardly diagonally to him left side. "Yeah, I got some really beautiful pictures actually."
"Hm, brilliant. You'll have to show me your photography sometime." Sometime? Did that mean that he wanted to actually see me again? It can't mean such a thing, and I find myself frowning at the fact that I will most likely never see him again in person because he was seriously just as amazing I had always dreamed and daydreamed and fantasized him to be.
However, I still give him a smile and nod a few times. I sense that he noticed my slight frowning habit because he looks kind of worried. He closes his eyes and inhales through that adorable little nose of his once more before standing up and leading the way out of the beauty of the meadow.
"How did you ever find such an amazing place?" I ask once we're out of the little lane that first brought us into the grasses.
"I was around eleven or twelve I think, and I always used to love to explore around whenever my parents would let me go looking around. So I cleared some peoples' garbage cans out of that little walkway and the next thing I knew, there was an overwhelming smell of flowers and pears." He chuckled to himself at his old experience.
I let out a light laugh as well. Soon enough, we're back on the sidewalk that would eventually end in the entrance and parking lot of the hotel Alison, Zoey and I are staying at. But Zayn seems to want to try to elongate the walk back because he asks me questions to keep up conversation between us both.
"So what made you and your friends coincidentally plan a trip here this weekend?"
"You," I say without thinking. But I soon realize the suddenness of my answer and loudly laugh at myself which proves to be another mistake because he's looking at me like he hasn't looked all night.
"I-I meant because we heard and saw that your band would be playing here, and it's so close to our college that we decided to just come and see you guys. Which is proving to be, uhm, totally worth it actually."
I'm still incredibly embarrassed by my freak-reply but he's smiling now so I stop worrying. It seems like its gotten ten degrees lower than what it felt like in the meadow, and because I stupidly forgot my coat and couldn't be bothered to go back for it when my stomach was making such a fuss about being empty.
Unintentionally done, I shiver and wrap my right arm around the forearm of my left. Another habit.
I confusedly glace towards him as Zayn begins to shrug off his own bomber. But I figure it out as he slips the warm material over my shoulders and I blush at him, mumbling out an embarrassed "thank you." He gives me a smile that would say "you're welcome" and I giggle under my breath at the action because okay now I fucking have his sex covered leather jacket on.
As creepy as it may sound, his jacket smells amazing. A perfect mix of whatever husky cologne he must use, and a scent of soap and something unrecognizable that must just be Zayn. I could literally just smell this for the rest of my life without any other interruptions and be a happy person.
"So you booked a hotel room within minutes and left all your studies just to come see us perform?" He playfully slaps a head on his forehead. "You fans nowadays," he jokes, and I let out a laugh, a real laugh. His amazing chuckle joins in with my giggles and together they are unstoppable.
Wow, someone call the sap-police, please.
But in all seriousness, being with him all this time, I've realized that I feel so much more at ease. He just seems so strong and brave and I think that I wouldn't mind having him around, like, all the time.
I answer him sort of delayed, "Well yeah, pretty much, not gonna lie. But it's really beautiful here, so I've managed to intensely add to my portfolios for school and such."
"Well that's good, wouldn't want you to be disappointed in coming here for whatever reasons anyways," he says.
"I'm not disappointed at all, though," I lightly say through my smile. "this trip has literally proved to be about a million times more than I would have ever expected, and I guarantee that Alison and Zoey would agree, what with meeting their dream guys as well." Once again, I haven't thought before I said what was on my mind, but it's all so true and I feel like Zayn deserves so much the truth.
"Dream boys?" he asks, regardless of my hoping that he wouldn't catch that. At least I know he's joking around with me because he's smiling. Though, he turns around to skillfully walk backwards with his hands in his pants pockets to hear my answer to this. This causes me to further blush as I stroll with my hands clasped on the collar of Zayn's jacket so it doesn't have a chance to fall off. Because that would just be really embarrassing.
But he puts on a silly serious face for me and I find myself forced to answer him. I sigh but answer similarly with a silly but serious tone. "I don't know! You're all just really amazing and sweet and natural and real. And it's like you have no flaws. I guess I'm not to be the one to judge now, since I've actually had the opportunity to meet you. But nevertheless, I still think you're rather perfect." It's a totally dweebish, fan-girl response and I'm feeling sort of dumb for saying it like I did.
He scrunches his lips in the most adorable way as he apparently thinks through this. "Well I wouldn't say I'm perfect; everyone has their flaws."
"I haven't noticed any so far yet," I giggle at him and he playfully rolls his eyes and chuckles in response.
He turns back around to walk by my side, and we continue back towards in silence. It's not awkward at all though, and I find myself extremely comfortable that I'm able to walk with him without having to say something to keep his attention or to do whatever to prove something. It just feels natural and easy and good.
All-too-soon I see the bright, obnoxious sign of the motel that brightly claims its place. As we have to cross the street to get to it, I notice that he adorably looks both ways that no cars are coming past on the road to ensure safety while crossing the totally not busy and not crowded road.
When no cars have come by for at least the past ten seconds, I laugh at him for this protectiveness and he chuckles in return signally it as a mere joke to break the silence, and it has successfully done its original intention.
But then, as we take our steps into the street, he ever-so lightly simply rests his right arm around the middle of my back. And my mind and stomach force any noises that may have come from my mouth to quiet again. I fear that I feel rigid under his arm, so I try to relax into it, but I think he notices my blushing because he drops his arm once we're across the street.
I glance at him only to catch him looking at my face for any answer as to my strange, but really normal reaction to it. I just give him a closed mouth smile and look back towards the ground to the steps in front of me.
We approach the outside lining of rooms and we walk down the aisle until I stop at the door that has the label of 22. I shyly turn around to look at him for whatever sort of good bye awaited us. And I really didn't want to say good bye, so I took a moment or two until I gained the courage to look up and into those eyes that would never look at me in person again.
"So you were really amazing tonight, at the park I mean," I say, referring to the earlier performance that we had originally come to Bradford for. He smiles his thanks on regards for the rest of the band, but doesn't say anything. I look down again, and begin to fidget with my camera bag that rests against my left him from its long black strap.
Rather abruptly, he begins to talk. "About what you said earlier. That this was an opportunity for you to have met me and the other boys. I'm going to have to say that this is really an opportunity for me; we're always so busy, on tour that we don't really get to spend normal time with anyone, nevertheless actually meet anyone new really. And I think that I'm incredibly appreciative to have been able to meet you, because, well. I don't really want to say good bye."
I'm rather taken aback by this. I take a second to almost dizzily gaze into his eyes that hold so many secrets and truths that I never want to look anywhere else. And as amazing as a thing this beautiful boy has just practically commented me on, all I can say is, "I'm just some ordinary girl though. But I don't want to say good bye to you, either."
"I think that you're so much more than just ordinary," he says, "and I really wanna know more." His accent sounds so much more pronounced in person. I feel as if my insides tangle up and melt altogether at his ways of speech.
I can't help from smiling, but only barely showing my teeth. And upon seeing my smile, he smiles a grateful closed mouth smile right back.
"I'm here 'till tomorrow afternoon?" I say in a joking tone, angling my right shoulder up a bit and squint my eyes to express a silly, and hopefully cute, demeanor.
"Well, then I hope to see you tomorrow," he says through his chuckles. I nod at him and suddenly it's time to say good bye, even if it is only just for the night, but I get all nervous and tingly.
But then he leans in. And he wraps his arms around me, over his jacket, being his perfect gentleman self to not invade my personal body space in case I didn't want that. Even though I totally freaking wouldn't have minded at all lol. And that just proves him to be that much more amazing.
"Good night love. Until tomorrow, hm?" and there goes my heart on that love nickname again.
I nod. "Good night." I turn to open the door (which is unsurprising unlocked) and glace back to where he has taken a few steps back. He's still staring at me with those eyes. I give him a small smile before slipping into my room and closing the door.
Despite Alison and Zoey practically screaming at me and demanding their questions, all I do is dazedly lean my back against the door and look up towards the ceiling. I inhale through my nose and – oh shit – I realize I still have his jacket on.
I quickly open the door to find him walking in the middle of the parking lot, with his hands in his pockets and looking towards the ground. I slip my torso out the door and raise my arm to dangle his jacket in my right hand.
I call out, "Zayn!" and he quickly turns around to see where his name was called from, probably expecting some fan that had just recognized him. But soon he sees me and smiles, which typically sends my butterflies on another migration trip from all ends of my stomach.
"I forget to give you back your jacket!" I say, a little bit quieter because it's probably really late and other people at the hotel are most likely sleeping in their own rooms.
"Keep it until tomorrow, beautiful," he says, his voice echoing around the lot. I flash a big smile and throw him a little wave. I close the door again, only to be met once again by Alison and Zoey's hysterical giggles and questions.
I kick my shoes off and leap onto the nearest bed, still holding Zayn's jacket. Choosing to ignore my anxious friends, my mind slips off into the world of haze and dreams called sleep. I'm rather positive that this had all been a cruel dream that my mind had played on me. But it feels almost too real to have just been dreamt, and as I naturally breathe and inhale, the smell of an unfamiliar cologne and brand of soap fills my senses.
I smile into the fabric as I finally drift off.
Next update will be just as soon, I hope. let me know how it's going hm? xx