Cool Kids » Z.M. AU [discontinued]

13. I've Got You

"So what's it like?" I asked Zayn, turning to look at him with eyes full of wonder. I tried so hard to stop from looking down at his tanned skin, how it glistened underneath the warm sun. I tried to focus on his hazel eyes or the pink of his lips rather than the dark ink that marked his skin, the slight tone of his shirtless abdomen. But unfortunately for me it was quite hard to.

How could I not get distracted by the sight in front of me? Especially not when Zayn, who was all bits of perfection and everything in between, was sans a shirt, his white boxers peaking underneath the acid washed jeans covering his thighs. I mean, what else was I supposed to do?

It seemed as though Zayn caught on to my admiring him, this sly smirk growing on his face as he twisted his bottom lip between his forefinger and thumb.

"What's what like?" He questioned, his voice full of amusement. I was so embarrassing.

"Skateboarding," I muttered, making sure to look away before Zayn could catch the blush washing over my face. "Don't you, like, get scared riding on it or something?"

"Nah," Zayn chuckled. "Well, at first it's kinda scary because you don't know what you're doing, but like, you get used to it, I guess."

"I have a penny board, but I don't know how to ride it." I said embarrassingly. Honestly, I just bought the thing because it was nice to look at, really.

"I don't find that surprising at all," he laughed.

"Why not? I'm perfectly capable of riding it."

"Does anyone that owns a penny board actually know how to ride it?" Zayn offered with a lift of his brow.

I squinted my eyes a little, "touché." I'd give him that.

"I could, like, show you?" Zayn mumbled nervously. When I looked at him again he was twirling his thumbs around each other, avoiding eye contact with me. "I mean, like, I could teach you how to, like, ride it. I don't know."

My lips curved up a tiny bit and my eyes seemed to sparkle once Zayn's words were set out into the air. First off, a nervous, shy Zayn would always be adorable to me. I found his slightly rosy cheeks and his nervous fingers so cute. I just wanted to hug him so tight and possibly never let go.

"Are you offering me a skateboarding lesson?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Uh, yeah, I s'pose," Zayn shrugged. I bit my lip, letting out a soft chuckle before I spoke again.

"I think I'll take you up on it."

***

"If I die today, I hope you realize it'll be all your fault."

I was exaggerating a little with the death part, of course, but I was a kind of scared to be honest. How could one possibly balance themselves on a board with wheels and nothing to hold onto and not hurt themselves?
Like, skateboards were pretty much like death traps alone made for people who weren't afraid to die. And yeah, it wasn't that serious, it was just a skateboard, but I didn't think I'd ever have the courage (or the patience) to actually learn how to ride one.

And yes, Zayn was supposed to be teaching me right now, but come on. Obviously I wasn't going to continue riding skateboards, and obviously I would never pass up a chance to be close to Zayn, to be around him more. Especially not when his hands were sprawled across my hips and squeezing lightly enough for me to think that I had been dreaming the whole thing.

I needed to breathe. In and out, that's exactly what I needed to do.

"Don't worry, I've got you." Zayn insisted and never in my life had it felt like there were actual, living butterflies flying around in the pit of my stomach until now. Just five simple words dipped in a british accent like chocolate covered strawberries, five words was all it took for my head to spin and my heart to bulge in the middle of my chest.