Torment (One Direction Fan Fiction)

Maybe?

“Sorry, it’s a bit of a mess. Haven’t gotten around to cleaning.” Zayn bit his lip, trying to block her view of the extremely messy kitchen.

“Don’t you guys all live in the same flat?” Zayn glanced at her as she spoke.

“No, no. We live in separate flats. Well…Louis and Harry shared a flat previously, but when Callie and Indigo came into the picture, moving into separate ones seemed good.”

Joey furrowed her brow. “But I read in a magazine-”

“Don’t believe magazines.” He led her to her room on the ground floor. The other one was upstairs. Joey frowned. “You didn’t let me finish.” She mumbled. He nodded, waiting for her to carry on.

“I read that Indigo and Louis didn’t live together. Wasn't she starting a bakery or something?” Zayn shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“But you’re his best friend.”

“Indigo doesn’t like me all that much. She thinks I’m…stupid? Yeah, stupid. Honestly, she thinks we all are. I have no idea how she ended up with Louis.” He pushed the door open and Joey’s jaw dropped. Big. Bigger than the portion of her room she slept in. It looked comfortable and spacious. There were a bit too many pillows on the bed for comfort, but Joey could get used to that.

“Oh…wow…uhm, thanks? This is…really nice…” Zayn smiled at her but she saw none of it. She dragged her bag into the room with her and Zayn stuffed his hands into his back pockets. “Well, I’m glad you like it.” He swung his foot in and out of the room. “I’ll give you a minute.” He murmured. She nodded, dumbfound.

Zayn stepped into the kitchen and glanced around. His mess was…well, messy. He wasn't a crazy neat freak, but he appreciated order. “Hey Zayn, how does your- oh, wow.”

She stared at the pile of dishes and Zayn looked over at her. “The boys were over for dinner, what can I say?” Joey laughed. “Not an excuse for such a big mess.” Zayn shrugged.

“What did you want to know?” He kicked off his shoes and pulled off his denim jacket, dumping them both onto the floor. Rolling up his sleeves he turned to face her. She stared at him in silence for a moment, her mouth parted before she closed her mouth and blinked. He grinned at her and she smiled slowly. “How does the shower work?”

“Want me to show you?” He grinned, putting a wink in there as well. Joey laughed.

“You’re learning.”

*

Rey lay in the same position he had been yesterday, and the day before, his eyes closed and his grey lips parted to fit the two thick pipes they had shoved down his throat. The steady ‘beep’ of his heart monitor acted as the music to her visit and she sighed. “How are you feeling Rey?” She brushed a limp strand of brown hair, a few shades darker than her own, out of his face.

“I’ve been okay. I try not to think about you too much…” She frowned and looked away. “It’s a bit difficult though.” She pulled her hand away from his face and reached for his own hand, clutching the huge calloused fingers that raised her in her tiny, bony pianists grip. “It was Hemp, wasn't it? You didn’t resolve anything with him. They say that the fire was started with your stove…” She bit her lip. “You let him in.” She lifted her eyes from him to look out of the hospital window, two beds down, to stare angrily at the grey sky.  

“I miss you Rey.” She sighed and looked back at him.

“The piano’s gone, everything is messed up, it’s going to cost a fortune.” His eyelids twitched in response and she sunk slowly into herself, letting a single tear fall. “Joey?” there was a soft knock on the ICU door and Joey whipped around. Zayn stood there, all wrapped up from head to toe.

He wore heavy looking mustard coloured hiking boot things, grey jeans and a black coat, the collar turned up to protect him from the biting cold outside, and the crazy fans inside. The weather had taken a turn for the worst in less than two days, and heavy snowfall was predicted. Earlier than normal as well. It was nearing the end of November.

“Come on, I don’t like the thought of you sitting here sobbing on your own. Want to go grab some ice cream?” Joey raised an eyebrow, rubbing a tear from her cheek. “Ice cream? But…it’s like…three degrees outside.” Zayn grinned at her. “That makes the ice cream better.”

Joey liked Zayn.

*

“-and some Jelly Tots please.” She looked away from the trays of different sweets to smile at the lady serving her. She chewed her gum, disinterested as she dumped the various toppings on Joey’s ice cream. “That…is a lot of stuff.” Zayn stared at her tiny ice cream now over flowing with chocolate this, sugar coated that and now Jelly Tots. “Yes, well, you decided to try what is probably the weirdest flavour ever-”

“Hey! I like pumpkin.”

“-so I’ll have myself some random toppings.” He pouted but said nothing otherwise.

“Here.” The lady shoved the ice cream at Joey. No-one looked twice at the unfriendly looking man (Zayn) that stood behind Joey, wearing a beanie and sunglasses with leather gloves, the whole lot. He licked at his pale orange ice cream and Joey grabbed a Jelly Tot between her teeth. “That’ll be £8, £2 extra for the toppings please.” The cashier gave Zayn the up and down when he gently pushed me aside to hand her the money. She gave him a smile that looked more like a grimace and both of them left the shop licking their ice creams.

“What now?” Joey said softly, not looking at him as she tilted her head to take a tentative lick at a dribble of her ice cream that was running down the cone, kidnapping a chocolate chip in the process. He watched her carefully, shaking his head when she licked the ice cream again. “We eat our ice cream. Let’s go find somewhere to sit and enjoy ‘em.” She looked at him and raised an eyebrow, licking off all of the toppings in one go.

They walked side by side in the busier part of London, licking their ice creams happily. When they reached a fountain, they settled down on the edge of it, still going at their ice creams. Zayn watched Joey, amused at how messy she was. She was trying to be neat, she honestly was, but her chin and nose had ice cream all over it. Zayn snorted. “You must be a terrible kisser.” He said, wiping at his mouth with a serviette. She turned to look at him slowly, paused mid-lick.

She retracted her tongue, narrowing her eyes. Her mouth slowly turned up into a smile as she licked her lip. “Oh yeah?” She grinned at him. “You wanna test that theory?”

He rolled his eyes and stood up to dump his serviette in a bin. “Now we have to get to City Hall.” He had his phone in his hand and winced as he scrolled down. “And Helene isn’t in a very good mood. Apparently she had a little bit of a fall out with Nigel and now they’re being a bit grouchy. So…we need to be top of the top, very well behaved. Looks like it’s the full blown thing. Costume, makeup, everything.”

Joey was chewing the nib of her ice cream by now, watching him intently. She stood up when she was done, wadding her serviette up and tossing it into the trash as well, her eyes never leaving Zayn as he scrolled through his phone, going through his twitter feed as well.

“Thank you.” She said softly, smiling at him. He lifted his head and met her eyes with a matching smile. “For what?”

She smiled coyly. “For being completely indifferent…and for taking me in. Some of my closest friends wouldn’t do what you’re doing for me now.” Zayn flushed a little. “Yeah, sure.” He licked his lips and Joey smiled wider.

“Oh shit! We have to rush!”