Beautiful

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Elle's POV

"Zayn?" I whisper. There's an eerie silence hanging in the room. And I'm beginning to feel a bit frightened by it.

"What?" he whispers back.

"I can't sleep." I hear him shift out from under his blanket and his feet shuffling across the floor. He stands at the edge of my bed and leans over me, propping himself up on the mattress.

"Why not?" he says with a hushed tone. His hot breathe hits my face, giving me chills.

"I need you." A grin shows on his face as amusement plays in his eyes. He sighs and gives in to my request. I scoot over and he puts himself under the heavy blankets beside me. His arm gently lies across my lower back as I face him and bury my face in the curve of his neck.

We lie there for a while in the silence, thankful for each other's warm presence.

"Do you think we'll win?" I ask quietly.

"Of course."

I'm at a loss for words. I'm not sure what to say. There's so much I could tell him, but so little time. And not even the right times.

"I'm really sorry..."

"For what?" he asks with a bit of a laugh.

"Everything. You've been through a lot."

"So have you."

"But... It's different with you..."

"No it's not," he says gently.

"Doesn't it hurt sometimes? I mean, don't you just lie in your bed at night and think 'I really miss them,' and then cry because you know you can't have them back no matter how hard you wish you could? Or sometimes you wish there's a way out of this crap?"

"In some ways... But I have you now. You make more forget those things."

I smile. For someone who has such an awful past, he has a different side to him. He's sweet, really, and caring. I like this side to him more though.

I move a little to kiss his soft lips. He smiles as I snuggle back down close to him.

"Goodnight, Elle. I love you."

"I love you too. And Zayn?"

"Yeah?" he asks.

"I just remembered to ask. What was on that slip of paper?" He grins.

"Go to sleep."

I feel a bit disappointed that he wouldn't tell. I suppose it's something only he would personally understand. Or maybe it's for my own good. Who knows? He's got more than just a handful of secrets...

I close my eyes and try to sleep. I have the peaceful rest where everything feels perfect until I wake up to the reality we actually live in.

•••

I wake up early and change into my black uniform and pull my hair up. I begin my morning routine of prepping myself for a game, which includes doctoring of previous injuries, pacing, and a whole lot of psyching out. People say it's weird for a girl to do that, but hey. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Mum and Zayn finally wake up. He watches and she disregards everything I'm doing. She understands. She goes to a separate part of the room as he still watches.

"What?" I ask with a laugh.

"Nothing, nothing," he answers as he stands up. He walks over to me. "Are you ready?" he asks.