Just By Being You || z.m.

Chasing Dreams

A year later

*Present time*

After the nightmare I wasn’t able to get much sleep. It’s been a crazy year with Zayn and me both graduating college and work and just getting used to life now that things are different. I was back to normal but the memories of what took place that night haunted me. I never wanted to be without Zayn because he fixed me when I was broken and changed my heart to love the world again. I never ever thought after losing my brother I would ever be able to sit here and say that I'm truly happy. However, the nightmare did put a temporary hold on my happy mood and my sleep. Zayn had tossed and turned most of the night too so I decided to get up and go for an early morning run to clear my mind. It was nice to feel the cool morning air on my face as I ran through the park near our house. I returned home at about 7 o’clock to find our dog, Boris, waiting patiently for his breakfast.

“Awe Bori is dad not awake to feed my baby?” I asked the shar Pei as I scooped some kibble into his bowl.

“Daddy needs his beauty sleep.” Zayn’s morning voice sliced through the silent kitchen.

“And mommy doesn’t?” I asked sarcastically.

“Nope because you are already beautiful enough.” He said placing a kiss on my cheek.

“Wow kissing ass so early in the morning huh Malik?” I teased.

“It’s because your ass is my favorite to kiss.” He said with a wink.

I giggled as I grabbed two mugs out of the cabinet and made two cups of tea and Zayn made eggs and toast for breakfast. That was a plus to having Zayn as a boyfriend is he is an incredible cook. He sat a plate in front of me and I thanked him with a kiss before he took his seat at the table.

“So the nightmares are back yeah?” he asked concerned.

“Yeah I guess so. I hope it was just a once in a while kind of thing.” I said playing with the eggs on my plate.

“Me too but you can always go back to the therapist if you need to.” He stated.

“I think I will be okay.” I said with a smile.

We cleaned up breakfast and got ready for work. I still worked at the same clinic but Zayn had taken a job at a record company working with music producers. It was right up his ally and I couldn’t be happier for him.

Today at work took forever but when I arrived home Zayn had dinner nearly ready. He kissed my forehead and we made small talk as we ate but I could tell something was up with him.

“Okay babe, what’s on your mind?” I finally asked.

“Well I was talking to a friend of mine at work today and he said there is some new show starting up in the UK and they are holding auditions in Bradford.” He explained.

“What kind of show?” I questioned.

“A singing competition show. It’s called X-Factor. Like you guys have American Idol here they have that show. Any way they think I have a shot but it means going back to Bradford and possibly moving there.” He spoke quickly mostly out of nerves.

“Zayn that’s incredible! When do we leave?” I exclaimed.

This was great news and going to England was always a dream of mine and seeing Zayn follow his dream was an added bonus.

“We would leave next week. Are you serious? You would go across the world so I can chase some pipe dream of being famous?” he asked.

“Yes of course I would Zayn. You are an amazing singer and I think if you have a dream you should always follow it.” I gushed.

“Well babe then let’s go to Bradford.” He said crashing our lips together.

We both immediately called our mothers and explained the situation and Zayn called to arrange flights. It was settled that we would be staying at Zayn’s mom’s house. I was excited to finally meet his family and see where Zayn grew up.

A week later we were in a cab on our way to Zayn’s childhood home. I had been nervous since we departed from the US and probably would be nervous until I knew for sure Zayn’s mom liked me. Zayn must have sensed that I was nervous because he reached for my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze and didn’t let go until we had reached the door of his old home.

“Don’t be nervous mum already loves you as much as I do.” He reassured me with a kiss to my cheek.

A young girl answered the door with a high pitch scream and she grabbed Zayn’s leg.

“Zaynie!” the little girl yelled.

He kissed her head and hugged her and then a woman appeared at the door wearing a ‘kiss the cook’ apron. She wrapped Zayn in a hug and a kiss before turning to face me with a large smile on her face,

“You must be Ava. I'm Zayn’s mom Patricia that was Zayn’s sister Safaa. It’s so nice to finally meet you.” She said in a sweet voice.

“It’s nice to meet you all too.” I replied.

She pulled me into a bone crushing hug and held me for what seemed like ages. It felt nice to have such a warm welcome.

“Well you kids come in and get settled I was just making dinner.” She said before returning to the kitchen.

Zayn kissed my cheek and led me into the house. I knew I was accepted immediately into Zayn’s family and I couldn’t be happier.