Daisy's Daycare 🧸 Zouis {COMPLETED}

CHAPTER 4

"Hi, what can I get for you?" Zayn asks, not really looking up from the counter, not because he was trying to be rude, but because today has been really busy at the diner, and he's feeling really distracted.

"Zayn?"

Zayn glances up at the familiar voice, one he hasn't heard since a couple years ago before he dropped out of school to take care of Niall. "Clara?"

"Hi! It's so good to see you!" Clara says. She smiles at Zayn, and it's actually a little comforting to be met with a friendly face from his not so great hometown. "How long have you been living here for?"

"I moved here a little over a week ago," Zayn informs, smiling at Clara, happy to see an old friend. "What about you? I thought you moved to London with Adam."

Clara's face falls for a second, before brightening again. "Things didn't work out between us, so I moved here about a year ago to get a fresh start," she says. "How have you been? Are Niall and Sophia with you?"

Zayn cringes a little at the use of Niall's mother's name. "Niall is, yeah. Sophia gave me custody and I moved here without her," Zayn tells her. When he sees the sympathetic look, he adds, "It was better for us to be away from her anyway."

"Well how is he?" Clara asks, referring to Niall.

"He's doing good, I think. I signed him up for a daycare center, so that's where he is right now. I'd like to spend more time with him, but I have to work, so..." Zayn says.

A customer walks in and gets in line behind Clara. "Well it looks like I better order, but we should get together sometime and catch up more," she says.

"Of course. What would you like to eat?" Zayn takes Clara's order and she goes to sit down. Then, Zayn takes the next customer's order.

Louis comes up to Zayn when there's a break in customers. "You know her?" he asks, gesturing to Clara. He had seen them talking, Zayn had seemed really happy to see her.

"Yeah, I went to school with her back home. I had no idea she lived here," Zayn says, missing the displeased tone in Louis' voice. "I'm happy she came here though, we're probably going to make plans to meet later."

"Hmm," Louis says, not really knowing how to reply to that. Of course he has no right over who Zayn can and can't talk to, but it was pretty nice being Zayn's only friend here. Now that Clara is here, Zayn will probably be spending less time with Louis.

Louis knows Clara, well, knows of her at least. She's a regular at Terry's and she's pretty popular around town, but Louis doubts she knows who he is.

Once their shift is over, Clara comes up to them. "Hi, Zayn," she says, giving Louis a small smile as a greeting. "I was just checking up on those plans, are you busy today?'

Zayn pauses for a moment. "Well I have to go pick Niall up from daycare, but maybe we could go do something after that."

Louis feels his heart deflating. He forgot. "Weren't Liam and Niall having a playdate today?" Louis asks, trying to keep his voice level and refrain from sounding like a jealous baby.

"Oh, that's right," Zayn agrees. He feels bad when Clara looks disappointed, so he says, "Maybe we could all do something? Louis is really nice, I'm sure you'd love to get to know him."

"That sounds fine to me," Clara says, her and Zayn turning to Louis expectantly.

"Oh, sure," Louis says, trying not to sound upset or disappointed. He understands why Zayn wants to hang out with Clara, they're old friends and he just met Louis.

"Great. Me and Louis have to go pick up Niall and Louis' brother, we can just meet somewhere after that," Zayn suggests. "We could go to that ice cream shop I've been dying to try."

"Sounds good to me," Clara says, and Louis hums in agreement. "I'll see you guys then."

When Zayn and Louis get to the daycare, Liam and Niall are playing together, like usual, and the boys run up to them when they notice them. "Woo!" Niall grabs Louis' hand, and Louis grins when he sees the boy, holding onto his hand.

"Hello, Niall." Zayn looks at Louis and Niall, that same weird feeling that he had at the park making its home in his chest. He pushes it down and walks over to meet Niall.

"You boys want some ice cream?" Louis asks, chuckling when Niall and Liam nod in excitement. "Alright then, let's go."

Clara is there when they arrive at the ice cream shop and Zayn greets her with a hug. Louis feels a spark of envy run through his body, and he tries to ignore it. Clara greets Niall and ruffles his hair, smiling and laughing as she tells Zayn how much he's grown.

Liam looks up at Louis. "Lou, who is that?"

"That's a friend of Zayn's," Louis says. Liam walks up to Clara, looking at her with curiosity.

"Hi there! You must be Louis' brother. Liam, is it?" Clara asks and Liam nods. She smiles sweetly at the boy. "It's nice to meet you. I love your shirt, are you a Star Wars fan?"

"Yeah. Do you like Star Wars?" Liam asks her, excitedly.

"I love Star Wars!" she says. Liam grins at her. "Seems like the two of us are going to be good friends. What do you say Liam? Will you be my friend?"

"Sure!" Liam exclaims. Then he furrowed his eyebrows. "But you're not my best friend. Only Niall and Lou are my best friends."

"That's fine," Clara says kindly and Louis feels bad for being mad at her because she seems like such a nice girl.

They go up to order their ice cream. "I'll have a bubblegum sundae," Louis tells the person at the counter.

"Ohh, bubblegum is my favorite! I'll have the same," Clara says. Then she turns to Louis. "You've got good taste."

"Thanks," Louis mumbles, staring at the floor. Clara frowns.

Once they all have their ice cream, they take a seat at a table, Liam in a booster seat and Niall seated on Louis' lap. Niall laps at his mini vanilla cone, ice cream dripping down his chin. Louis smiles fondly at him and wipes up the ice cream with a napkin.

Clara observes the way Zayn watches Louis closely, something like longing in his eyes. She smiles to herself a little. She's not oblivious, she can tell something is up between the two, she recognizes the jealousy on Louis' face all too well.

"Oh Zayn, I just thought of something! You have to meet my boyfriend Danny sometime," she says, hoping that Louis won't keep glaring at her if he knows she's already seeing someone. "He's really sweet, I think you would like him."

She almost wants to giggle at the face Louis makes. It's a little embarrassed, but mostly relieved.

"Oh I would love to! I'm so happy for you," Zayn says.

The conversation after that is a lot less tense, Louis doesn't seem to resent Clara anymore, which makes her glad. The two actually start talking a lot and Louis seems like a really good person. He'd be good for Zayn.

After Louis leaves, Clara stops Zayn before he heads out. "So Louis, huh?" she asks suggestively, looking at Zayn teasingly.

"What about him?" Zayn asks, not liking the look that Clara is giving him.

"He's... cool. I like him," she says.

"He is cool," Zayn agrees, sighing. "I...
like him too."