The Story of us

Chapter Nine: Party Plights (Continuation)

Continuation of chapter Nine, It was too long to put on the previous one so here it is! :D 

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Arm-in-arm, Ariana and I stepped out to the top of the staircase. A wondering murmur spread throughout the hall as eyes rove towards us. I blushed but smiled shyly as Ariana led the way down the stairs, used to the attention and admiration. She caught my eye and smiled, tilting her head inconspicuously towards the corner.

1D were sitting on the sofas, their heads still in midturn to look at us.

Even though I saw Niall in the corner of my eye, Zayn's expression was still the first I noticed. He simply stared at me with a flattering gleam kindling in his eyes, like he was admiring me against his own will.

I looked away, vexed that I'd looked at him first. I'd only done so because of Ariana's story about his past. It was always much safer, and much more pleasant, to look at Niall Horan.

He'd stood up casually and walked over to the bottom of the staircase, a full smile blooming on his face. My heart skipped a beat when Ariana, giving me a squeeze, left my side. I looked up and met his gaze tentatively.

"You look beautiful," Niall said sincerely, his bright blue eyes warm and sparkling.

Beautiful. He called you beautiful and didn't even bat an eyelash!

The smile dawned on my face at the same time my heart jumped joyfully. I felt giddy and light-hearted as I beamed without effort, flushed pleasantly and suddenly feeling ten times fonder of everyone in the room.

My ethereal mood was dented within seconds when Zayn spoke.

"Who gave you permission to talk to her?"

His voice was hard and unrelenting. All eyes flew to him fearfully as he stood up and locked eyes with Niall.

Niall's reply was cool, "Since when did I need your permission to talk to her?"

Zayn seemed flustered for a moment - his eyes flickered to me and then back to Niall before spluttering, "You know I gave her the red card - she's our enemy, you shouldn't be talking with someone like her!" He eyed me with exaggerated disapproval and I scowled. "Someone without any money or reputation," he scoffed loudly, "Is not worth speaking to."

"Oh, Zayn," sighed Ariana, shaking her head. "You're being too harsh, as usual!" She smiled teasingly and put her arms around my shoulders, facing me to him, "Come on, just admit it. Layla does look very beautiful - "

"This is none of your business, Ariana!" he snapped.

It happened so quickly my eyes missed it - one moment Niall was still standing in front of me, the next he had gone up to Zayn and punched him in the jaw. Gasps broke out as Zayn stumbled backwards and hit a shelf.

"Don't ever speak to her like that again," Niall said coldly, and there was a look of firm resolve on his face as he stood protectively in front of Ariana.

For a split second Zayn was frozen, staring at his friend in shock. Then he was lunging towards him, fist raised in retaliation -

"No!" I said wildly.

And without thinking, I jumped forward and stood in his path, putting my hands on his shoulders and pushing him out of the way for two reasons.

One, because my instinct acted to prevent any violence and to protect Niall.

And two, because the shelf Zayn had hit was wobbling and I was the only one who saw the vase fall off -

Everything slowed down.

Zayn's furious expression changed to one of surprise when he realised I was in his pathway - his fist freed at once and he grabbed me around the waist instead, twisting me around so that I fell on top of him instead of the other way around.

The vase shattered into pieces on the spot where he had been a mere second ago.

But no one paid any attention to that. They were all staring, wide-eyed, at Zayn and me lying on the floor. Our limbs were tangled up and - somehow - our lips were pressed together. Shock had us paralysed so that neither of us moved as we stared into each other's eyes, utterly stunned.

"Well," Louis' voice said above us somewhere, sounding as though he was trying hard not to laugh. "I believe things just got interesting."

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A/N:

Bwahaha, love your comments my dears! And there's your awkward kiss situation. ;) Just to answer any upcoming questions, no, Niall and Ariana aren't a couple - but they are very close. I'll just leave it at that because we'll find out more in the next chapter, which is coming up on Sunday.

The couple of this story will definitely be Zayn and Layla (they're just too perfect together) but we might take some time to get there. ;) Finding one's true love can't be easy, after all!  I just wanted to see what you guys think of the story so far, because the story doesn't have alot of readers and I just wanted to see what you thought.

Anyways, Thank you for reading! Please hit that vote button there! ;)