Rebuilding Zerrie

Pride and Prejudice

KLOE’S P.O.V.

“You go next,” I hit Niall’s hand lightly against mine. We were both lying down on Zayn’s carpet because of a joke that didn’t even make sense. We laughed immensely and decided to stay on the ground and talk. I stared at the ceiling as he told me something that I needed to know about him.

He dug his nails into the carpeting. “I sort of have OCD,” he admitted boldly and turned his head to look at me. I followed suit, accidentally brushing my nose on his. “I just like my wardrobe in order unlike this.” I knew it was rude and I knew we had agreed not to, but I laughed anyway. Not because I found it silly but because I was exactly like that as well.

“Oh my gosh, Niall.” The grin on my face was hurting my cheeks and I was pretty sure I had abs like Liam’s after all that laughing. “I think,” my voice was so high-pitched, it hurt my ears, “You could be my long-lost Irish brother.”

“Maybe we were related in another life,” he shrugged playfully.

My eyes widened as my smile broadened. “Or maybe,” I jolted up and sat up straight, “We were one but because of the bending of time and our pre-post-apocalyptic era--”

“It caused our cells to multiply and split into two separate bodies,” he finished for me before laughing like two drunks. How weird were we? To be honest, it wasn’t even the least bit funny. “Your turn,” he told me, leaning on the couch behind him.

I scrunched up my nose and thought of what I would tell him. “I’m in love with all things European,” I confessed with a shrug. “I’ve never actually been to Europe but I can dream,” I went on.

He asked, “When you say ‘all things European’ you mean--?”

“I mean all things,” I answered with confidence, “YouTubers like Jacksgap and Zoella. Music like Nena and you guys. Celebrities like Isabelle Hupert and Damian McGinty. Books like Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice--”

A laugh he let out caused me not to go on with my endless list of European preferences. “Why are you laughing?” I hit him on the shoulder. That shut him up. He cleared his throat before impersonating Kiera Knightly, “Do you deny it, Mr. Darcy?” My jaw dropped as he went on. “That you separated a young couple who loved each other, exposing your friend to the censure world of caprice and my sister to derision and disappointed hopes, involving them both in acute misery of the worst kind and--?”

“I do not deny it,” I replied before we both burst in laughter. “I can’t believe you memorize that part!” I said in between gasps for breath. “That’s one of my most favourite parts!”

“It might sound crazy but, uhm,” he licked his lips, “I think of myself as Elizabeth sometimes.”

“You’re kidding,” I scoffed. He shook his head. “Same here!” I exclaimed as I lay my head down on Niall’s lap. Why haven’t I met him sooner? A guy friend who really gets me. No drama, no PMS-ing, nothing. Just fooling around and having fun like how I’ve always wanted in a best friend. I closed my eyes and realized that I lack sleep.

It was not even six in the morning when the people with cameras and voice recorders started tapping on the windows and knocking on our door and throwing pebbles at my house. While I tried to catch up on my sleep, I felt a delicate touch on my forehead. It traced down to the tip of my nose and lower to the curve of my lips. It followed the edges of my mouth before I no longer felt it.

Niall abruptly stood up, causing me fall on the floor back-first with a thump. I groaned in pain. “What was that for?” I hit him on his ankle because it was the only part of him I could reach. “I’m starved,” he said simply before walking to the kitchen without an apology. I pursed my lips and followed him as he rummaged through every single one of the wooden cabinets in the hotel room.

“How can he survive with this kind of kitchen?” Niall complained after seeing several cabinets filled with nothing but utensils and a nearly empty fridge. “There’s absolutely nothing to eat!”

“We could try room service,” I suggested but he shook his head saying that I would be wrong to order food without Zayn’s consent. It was, after all, the hotel he stayed in. Zayn specifically chose this hotel with Perrie which was why he wasn’t in the same hotel as his other bandmates. Where Perrie was staying after she fled, none of us knew.

Luckily, not long after, Zayn arrived looking not at all hungry. He walked lifelessly to the edge of his bed and flopped. His movements were very animated and zombie-like. Niall and I exchanged looks before rushing to Zayn’s aid. “What happened?” I asked him as I stroked his arm for comfort.

“Maybe eating will make you feel better, mate,” Niall suggested. I shot him a look that meant “that’s not how you comfort your best friend!” He shrugged as an apology.

Zayn looked at Niall. “Perrie will make me feel better,” he told him, not unkindly but rather depressingly. He then looked at me. “Jade told me never to be in contact with her. Ever.” I gasped, not meaning to make the situation sound graver than it really was.

“You can’t possibly listen to what she says,” Niall rolled his eyes just thinking of it. How could someone be able to tell anyone something as mean as that? It was unbearable to hear. If it hurt for me, I wondered how Zayn felt. Out of impulse, I squeezed his shoulder for comfort but he pushed my hand away. I wished he couldn’t see the hurt of my face.

“I think it’s best if you leave,” he said, not even looking at me. What did I do wrong? I was just trying to help. Maybe it was really supposed to end like this. I give it my all and, in the end, it was Zayn who gives up on me, not the other way around. I must have been delusional to think otherwise. I was already on the verge of tears but I needed to act strong, like it was no big deal.

I nodded, looking up to hold back the tears. “Okay.” My voice was already hoarse. “This idea was stupid anyway.” I ran out without even saying goodbye to either of them. I sprinted to the elevator and pushed the down button over and over but it still took forever to get to this floor. Just before I was about to get inside, I felt a tug on my wrist. I turned around.

It was Niall.