Unchanged - A Zarry fanfic

Chapter 2

The restaurant was packed. Thank goodness Liam had the sense to make a reservation; there would never have been enough space for such a large group. Even on a normal day, a posse of nine people was still a lot.

It was great seeing Helen. She hadn’t changed much – still as notice-me as ever. Except being around cultivated students had made her more outspoken as opposed to just loud. She was still wild; she was just more into political debates than before. However, on this day, debates weren’t her main focus.

“LOUIS!!”

He was the first person she acknowledged after being received at the flat door by Liam and myself.

“HELEN!!” Louis mimicked her tone. She ran and threw her arms around his neck, planting a sloppy kiss on his cheek. He laughed and hugged her back.

“Wow, you have definitely grown-” Louis smirked, “-into quite the fittie, haven’t you?”

Helen laughed. Liam cleared his throat loudly and I groaned.

“Louis,” Liam whined, “can you please not?”

“What?” Louis feigned innocence. “She’s legal now.” He winked at Helen, who giggled in reply. She then turned her attention to Zayn.

“Zayn! It’s been so long!”

She hugged him as well. He kissed her lightly on the cheek. I felt a pang of jealousy. I hadn’t gotten a kiss from him.

When she released him she turned to Wendy and Liz,

“My girls!” she squealed as she pulled both into a group hug.

“We have so much to catch up on!” Wendy cried.

“And so much to do!” Liz added suggestively, eying up Zayn and Louis who had now moved to stand by Liam. Helen laughed, knowing exactly what her friend meant. Then she went over to my blonde best friend.

“And of course the gang wouldn’t be complete without you, Nialler.” He laughed and received his own hug. Then Helen turned to Diana.

“And who’s this bombshell?”

“Ooh, aren’t you just charming!” Diana said, laughing.

“This is my girlfriend, Diana” Zayn introduced, glowing with pride. Helen turned to him, placed a hand on her hip and sighed in mock exasperation,

“Zayn, do you ever not have a girlfriend?”

Everyone laughed, including Zayn, who shrugged and said,

“Not really. Except when I have a boyfriend.”

The room fell quiet.

“You’re gay?” Diana asked.

“No, I’m bi.”

She stared at him dumfounded.

“And you never thought to tell me this?”

Zayn frowned.

“Why would I? It doesn’t change anything.”

“It fucking changes everything! You can’t just-”

“Look can we talk about this later? Can we just go out and have a nice dinner to celebrate Liam’s sister’s return?” Zayn implored frustratedly, the embarrassment audible in his voice. Diana pursed her lips but said nothing more. Liam cleared his throat.

“Shall we be off then? Unless you wanna freshen up, Helen..” – Helen shook her head – “right, then. Off we go?”

Everyone quietly picked up their coats and made their way out of the flat. The atmosphere was brimming with tension but I didn’t care – Zayn was bisexual.