Destiny (Zayn Malik FanFic)

Chapter 35

chapter 35

Ella was already sitting in my car when I followed Zayn out of the house, locking the front door behind me. I couldn’t help but feel like he was angry with me, like he was somehow disappointed. As if reading my mind, he gave me a reassuring smile before plopping down into the driver’s seat. I sighed as I sat down beside him, our doors banging shut simultaneously. As if sensing the tension in the air, Ella recoiled, quietly buckling up her seatbelt in the backseat.

Without a word, Zayn started the engine of the car and began to reverse out of our driveway. I smiled half-heartedly at the neighbors who waved at us as we rolled down the street. I avoided eye contact with both Zayn and Ella, seeing as she was desperately trying to speak to me using her eyes.

We turned on a street, and Zayn broke the awkward silence first.

“That’s quite a house…” He nodded towards a small, red-bricked building that was almost tangled in vines, a tiny bit of rust growing on the stair railing. The door looked almost crooked, the windows ancient, the yard horrifying. Honestly speaking, there wasn’t anything quite interesting about it. He was trying to make conversation.

“Yes… I like the way.. The vines…” I twirled my finger for emphasis, “Grow.”

Ella snorted then and I quickly glanced out my window when I realized Zayn was looking my way.

“What happened?” She asked. “You both are acting like you’ve never met before. Seriously, Eliza, you look like you’ve seen a ghost–”

“Shut up, Ella.” I snapped.

She fell back against her seat, crossed her arms and looked out the window. It felt like we had been driving forever when Ella cleared her throat.

“So, um. I don’t know… What’s going on here.”

I cringed when I noticed Zayn’s knuckles whiten against the wheel. “But, er, I’m moving out.”

I nearly choked on my own spit.

“You’re what?” I asked, craning my neck to finally look at her.

“I’m moving back to granddad’s–”

“Why?” Zayn didn’t look at the both of us. He continued to gaze ahead at the road. “Is my stomach flub really that unbearable?”

“That joke got old years ago.”

“So it’s a joke?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Oh.. So you think I’m good looking?”

“I never said that.”

“Don’t deny it, Ella. I’m incredibly handsome.”

She laughed, “You’re my sister’s boyfriend! Don’t flirt with me!”

“But you’re even more beautiful than her, I can’t control myself.” He said, winking at her through his mirror.

I smiled, turning my head to peek at him. He was extremely nervous about tonight-I could tell by the way he had gotten dressed; his hair was slicked back, there were no earrings on his ears, and he had worn the blackest suit in his wardrobe, ironing it twice for good effect because according to him, “the first impression is the last one.”

I was gazing at him lovingly when he turned my way and grinned, as though he knew that I was staring at him.

My cheeks burned as my gaze returned to the blurring view from my window.

“But really Ella, why are you moving out?”

She hesitated before answering. “I think you guys should be able to have your own space, your privacy.”