Rebuilding Zerrie

About That

KLOE’S P.O.V.

His hands were gentle on my face as he wiped away the tears with his thumbs. “It’s gonna be alright,” Niall whispered. “Why don’t we go out for lunch?” I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t going to be a good idea and that we might get caught but I was so drained even though it was just a bit after one in the afternoon.

I nodded and he held me by my shoulder as he guided me into the elevator. “What restaurant?” He asked me as I watched us slowly plummet to the ground floor. There was a window for us to view what it was like outside. Everything seemed perfectly normal but looks can be deceiving. You can see someone homeless and begging for money but he could be the happiest man on Earth. You can see a girl smiling and having fun but she might as well be breaking inside. You can see a boyband having the time of their lives but, inside, they’re just trying to mask all the pain.

“Army Navy?” I looked at him. We were almost the same height but he was about an inch taller. “I’m in the mood for a good burger.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I didn’t like chicken or that I have never tried Nandos or that there wasn’t a Nando’s here in Las Vegas. He just nodded with no questions asked. I sighed of relief.

Just as the elevator doors opened to the ground floor, Harry Styles was standing right in front of us. A huge smile formed on my face and Niall’s but Harry seemed the least bit happy. “Niall,” Harry said, with a dark look on his face. “Can I talk to you for a sec?” Niall looked at me for reassurance.

“Go ahead,” I told him. “I’ll be waiting by the door.” Niall and Harry walked to a corner. As I walked to the door, I could almost hear what they were saying. Fragments. I didn’t even know if they were a hundred percent accurate. But I could’ve sworn I heard Harry say the words “can’t trust” and “not safe.” I waited next to the doorman for a while before Niall walked away from Harry.

When he walked me to his car, I pretended to be oblivious to Harry’s not trusting me. It wasn’t something I liked to discuss at the time. Maybe sometime after but not at that moment. He drove us to the nearest Army Navy where we dug our faces into huge burgers and their special Libertea. Burgers were the best. If only I could die in the arms of a cheeseless bacon Army Navy burger.

Halfway done with my burger, I rested my chin on the palm of his hand and stared at his mouthful of beef. “Your turn,” I said simply. He nodded as if he’d been expecting me to say that and wiped the meat juice off the side of his lip with the back of his hand. “When somebody’s waking me up in the wee hours of the morning to work,” he said slowly, “Since I don’t really want to get up yet, I imagine the person’s a cat.”

Bewildered, I widened my eyes. “A cat?” I asked. “Why a cat?”

“Because,” he explained, “I like waking up to soft, fluffy cats. Not an angry management.” Made sense. Who doesn’t want to wake up to cats? They hate everything and just want to sleep for all eternity. So, basically, I am a cat. “Your turn,” he told me.

I gave him a side grin before admitting, “I don’t like cheese.” His jaw dropped as I showed him the insides of my burger. Beef patty, veggies, catsup and bacon. No cheese. “Who in their right mind doesn’t like che--” He wasn’t able to finish because of a little girl, probably around ten, approached him with a little notepad and a pink fluffy pen.

“Excuse me,” her voice was tiny and it sounded like she had a cold, “Can you sign this for me?” Niall looked at me as if asking to excuse himself. I nodded with a warm smile on my face. I always loved seeing them with little kids. It made my heart melt.

“Sure thing, babe,” Niall told the little girl who squealed and called her dad to take a picture. Niall held her by her waist and kissed her cheek before she fled off back to her family. He back at me glanced at me. “We should get back.” I nodded in agreement before we both got in his car and drove back to Zayn’s hotel room although I wasn’t sure if Zayn really wanted me back.

ZAYN’S P.O.V.

About five minutes after Niall left me all alone for that girl, Harry arrived at my room, not looking particularly pleased. “We’re dead,” he said even before slamming the door shut, “Modest will burn us alive to death.” What was he talking about? What happened? Harry answered the question that was written all over my face. “Niall took her out,” he said, “To lunch.”

A stream of profanity escaped my mouth. How could Niall have been so idiotic to take out the girl who was already the eye of the paps? I was just surprised they haven’t interviewed her yet unlike the first lady. Harry and I sat down on the couch and discussed this topic more intensely than any other situation we’ve had. I could tell there was something in this girl that brought the worst in him.

“This Kloe girl,” he started, “We can’t trust her. She’s nothing but trouble. I’m glad she left when she did.” He was fiddling with his phone, playing Temple Run 2. We were quiet for a while. Surprisingly, I had nothing to say. Harry broke the silence. “Why did she leave anyway? Surely, she didn’t leave just because.”

I closed my eyes, remembering what had happened. When Jade held on to my shoulder and told me to stay away from Perrie. When the girl squeezed my shoulder for an attempt of comfort. I cringed as I recalled it. “She did something,” I explained, my eyes still shut. “Something that Perrie used to do when I needed some cheering up.” I could tell Harry was confused and was expecting something more, even though my eyes were closed.

“When she left me this morning,” I continued, “I was crushed. I kept waiting for her to squeeze my shoulder and tell me that everything was going to be okay, like what she always did when I was feeling down.” I let in a shaky breath, holding back the tears. “I kept waiting and waiting… But she never came.”

Abruptly, I stood up and paced back and forth on the carpet, around the limited space of the hotel room. We spent the past hour in silence, listening to Karma Lee fall into the water or else get hit by a tree. It was that quiet until Niall barged in with the girl. Harry laughed at the sight of them at the doorstep. “How splendid!” Harry exclaimed, “You brought her!”

She looked embarrassed and backed away but Niall pulled her back. He looked back at Harry then at me. “About that,” he said, “We need to talk.”