Up in Smoke (Ziall)

Chapter 4

Civvies Day: A day when you can ditch the ol' school uni and wear "casual clothing".

Chapter 4

(Two Weeks Later)

Niall is stretched out on his bedroom floor a controller in one hand a handful of crisps in the other. He shoves the food in his mouth without his eyes ever leaving the telly. Laughing heartily as he once again beats his friend.

"Mate!" Louis yells through Niall's earpiece, "you're fucking killing me!"

"C'mon Lou you're barely putting up a fight." Niall counters, shoving another handful of crisp in his mouth. "It's like you've never played before!"

Niall chuckles as he hears an indignant grunt from Lou.

"Yeah, well, to be fair it is a little hard to concentrate when your boyfriends hands are travelling everywhere but his own pockets."

Niall hears a bit of a tussle on the other end, an exchange of a few choice words and then a sultry moan.

Niall groans in disgust, "Can't you lads save it...I'm trying to eat here."

This time, when Niall gets a response, it's Harry's voice he hears instead. "Nialler if we had to wait until you weren't eating I'd never get any ass."

Niall nods in agreement and then remembers that he can't be seen. "Yeah, okay." He says evenly, "I got some coursework to do anyway. See you lads tomorrow."

He shuts down the X Box and turns off the telly. A small bitter hole remaining in his stomach as he begrudgingly pulls out his coursework. He imagines Harry and Lou forgoing their studies and cuddling the entirety of the night instead.

Niall looks longingly at his empty bed trying to accept that tonight he will only have his pillows to wrap his arms around. It's then, as he stares at the untidy bed, crowded with a mess of pillows and sheets that he hears it. Buzzing. He reaches for his mobile, hoping its not just Liam reminding him they have Geography revision tomorrow.

Then as he sees the unfamiliar name his heart skips a beat. Surely not, he thinks, unlocking the mobile and scrolling to his messages. But there it is, the small black letters etched into the screen: Zayn Malik.

He had all but forgotten that Zayn had programmed his name into the mobile a few sessions earlier. But now as his heart rate escalates it's all he can remember. His hands become clammy. "Pull yourself together lad." He mutters and wipes his palms on his trousers.

He clicks on Zayn's name and watches with wide eyes as the text box opens.

From: Zayn Malik

Hey ;)

Niall just sits there, in disbelief. He imagines Zayn, in his bedroom probably, lounging lazily on his bed, his coursework untouched. Perhaps his hands are running over the stubble that coats his tanned face. Niall closes his eyes, shakes his head, and successfully rids himself of the image.

He reaches for his mobile again, deciding to stay professional. After all their relationship is purely business.

To: Zayn Malik

Hello, did you have a question about the coursework?

Niall presses send, pretends that he is not second guessing everything he's just done, and reaches for his own books. He opens his maths text and blindly reads through the assignment. His eyes glancing to the mobile every few moments.