If Time Stands Still

87- us

Vote goal: 85 votes on this and the previous chapter? I believe in y'all 😋

Fun fact: this book was supposed to end on chapter 90 🥺

———

Zayn's POV

Hours pass by as I lay awake, one arm numb from Aylin sleeping on it all night. I hear birds chirping outside, greeting me as the sky slowly starts opening up, making the room go from pitch black darkness to a more comfortable lighting.

My eyes adjust to my surroundings, but I try not to move my head or anything too much since she's still fast asleep. A contented sigh leaves me as her soft snores fill the room, hand rested on my neck. Right here is where I feel my most relaxed, my safest, and I know for a fact that it's the same for her.

I haven't had a wink of sleep yet, but I'm not tired. We only finished at something to three in the morning, and it's now six. If anything, she's only had a really long nap so far, and I won't disturb that.

I look to my right, smiling as she makes a squeaking sound in her sleep.

I'm surprised she allowed us to have sex without protection, since that was a big deal once upon a time, and one of our first arguments.

We've come a long way since then, but I never thought she'd change her mind about that since I know why it's a big deal for her.

In a way, it makes me feel closer to her. Like she trust me completely, and even with a risk involved, she knows nothing bad will happen when she's with me. That's exactly how I want our entire relationship to be. I thought I'd come here and we'd have loads to patch up, but we didn't start from scratch, we went right into this as if nothing happened.

I press a kiss to her wrist since her hand is right there, carefully pulling my arm out from beneath her head. She groans as she turns over, so I cover her bare body with the sheets and tuck her in.

I make my way to the bathroom and immediately climb into a hot shower to start my day. I stand there, allowing the water to pour over my body while I slowly start brushing my teeth. I'm not tired, but I feel a bit slower. All I need is a good breakfast since every bit of energy was drained from me hours prior, but I can't complain. It was fun, and much needed.

After my shower, I use a mixture of my products and hers, whatever I can find without making too much noise, then I grab a pair of jeans, a clean T-shirt and a hoodie, hoping it doesn't look too creased up.

Thereafter, I grab my beach sandals and look around the apartment for a pen and sticky note. Sure I could leave her a text message, but there's something about the tradition of it all that's worth the effort of looking.

Once I've found both on top of her fridge, I walk into her bedroom again and write her a little note telling her I'm running a quick errand in case she wakes up, with plenty of little hearts at the bottom.

I stick it to her forehead, snap a quick picture, and head out to explore Auckland on my own, by foot.

It's almost seven now, so I'm not sure what shops are open yet, but I continue strolling through the neighborhood, enjoying the crisp sea breeze and the refreshing smell of dawn. I hope she won't be mad at me for leaving without her. I know she's looking forward to showing me around. I've never seen her as excited as she was yesterday.

After walking a few blocks, I pull out my phone and search for the closest pharmacy within my proximity. Lucky for me, that's less than two hundred meters away, so I continue walking with my hands tucked in my pockets, looking down at my feet. My nails look a little blue, probably from the cold air this morning, but I couldn't find my socks and I refuse to put my foot in a sneaker without it.