Soft Spot (Zayn Malik)

XXIX

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Talk

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"What's wrong with him?" Zayn frowned when Tom brushed past him on his way out of the class.

"He-.." I inhaled sharply, shaking my head. "He's stressing over Amber, don't worry about it."

"Oh." Zayn nodded, taking my hand and smiling at me. "You okay?"

"Just fine." I smiled assuringly.

It was a lie. I'm everything but fine. Why does Tom care so much if I'm with Zayn or not? Or better: why do I care so much if Tom wants to keep his freaking baby or not? Nothing between me and Tom ever made sense because...well, because we just don't know each other. Even though we were "best friends" back in fifth grade, it all clearly changed. He changed, I changed. Nothing will ever work out between us.

"Tell me the truth." Zayn looked at me seriously, squeezing my hands.

"I'm fine, Zay-"

"Your eye twitched." He frowned. "Your left eye twitches whenever you're lying."

"How did you-"

"Aeanne." He smiled sheepishly. "I've been..um.."

"You've been talking to her?" I couldn't help but laugh at how adorable it was; he's been getting advices from my best friend.

"Well, yeah, but.." He shrugged awkwardly, rubbing the side of his neck. "I-it's...not really a big deal."

 "It definitely is." I grinned. "You talked to her. You guys don't get along, but you talked to her."

"So?" He frowned, still tensed.

"So?" I chuckled. "Zayn, you're talking to her for me! That's adorable."

"Yeah?" Suddenly, he grinned and pulled me close.

"Yeah." I nodded, my time to be awkward.

All around us, students were passing and some administrators were yelling at kids to get to their next class before the tardy bell rings. I stared at Zayn, admiring his beauty - his personality was sprinkled with perfect amounts of confidence, with a tiny bit of awkward. The way his eyes crinkle when he smiles and laughs is literally enough to make my day. Those beautiful brown eyes that could swoon any girls off their feet and his tipped up nose and styled quiff, all going along with his broad shoulders and ebbed up ego that's probably too much for Aeanne. This guy, how is he mine?

"Do I have something on my face?" He frowned.

"No." I shook my head, giggling. I stared up at him again and he stared down to look into my eyes, smiling like an idiot. I smiled back, pulling away from him and tugging at his wrist. "Let's go."

"Where's my kiss first?" He stayed where he was, tugging at my belt loop once, making my heart jump for no reason at all. I looked at him with a hint of playful annoyance, but he just tilted his head to the side before winking at me.

"What kiss?" I joked, grinning at him playfully. He tugged at my belt loop again, hard enough to cause me to crash onto his chest. "Ow!" I frowned, raising my hand to hit him, but he quickly caught my wrist.

"Do you want a kiss to make it feel better?" He teased, grinning cheekily at me.

"No." I stuck my tongue out and pulled away from him. He just laughed and shook his head at me, rolling his eyes. "No kisses for you," I said, "you're in a Kiss Time Out."

"There's no such thing as-"

"In my world, there is." I cut him off, sticking my tongue out.

"Well, how long am I going to be in a Kiss Time Out?" He laughed.