Beginning. // z.m. au [discontinued]

Chapter 12

Wake Me | Bleachers

There was something I'd noticed over the past couple of days that I hadn't noticed before until now, and now that I was aware of it, it was a thought that I couldn't get out of the back of my mind no matter how hard I tried to ignore it. A thought that was really starting to bother me more than I initially expected. At first, I didn't think much of it, let it slide because it didn't seem like that big of a deal, didn't seem like anything to fuss over. But it was three days later now, and it was still a constant thought in my head, and now I just had to say something about it.

There Zayn was, sat beside me on the sofa we were currently perched upon. His eyes were focused on the figures that danced across the tv screen in front of us at the same time that he was reaching over and picking up the container of food places on the coffee table. It was one of those nights of ours where we lazed around  and ordered our usual meal of Chinese food like we always did every now and then. It was sort of a tradition for us since the beginning, really. We hadn't done it much lately since I'd gotten pregnant and didn't want to eat poorly while I was carrying our child. It's been a while.

And as Zayn reached over for the carton of rice, I noticed again what I'd picked up on just days before. There, on his left hand, was an empty ring finger, his wedding band nowhere to be found. I frowned, confused as to where it could be and why it'd been off for multiple days now. And, who knew? Maybe it'd been even longer than I assumed and I just hadn't noticed beforehand until now.

I wasn't sure why, but the thought of Zayn neglecting to wear his wedding ring was really starting to put me off. It just didn't sit well with me, and I wasn't sure if it was just because my emotions had been extremely weird lately, but it was definitely something.

"Where's your ring?" I questioned Zayn with squinted eyes just as he was about to stuff a forkful of chicken in his mouth. My tone was a bit accusatory, but I refused to beat around the bush any longer. Besides, it was just a simple question anyway.

Zayn sputtered noticeably, almost choking on the fork placed between his lips. They looked really soft today, softer than usual, but—hey, that was beside the point. "Huh?" His eyebrows raised up to the top of his head, but I knew he'd heard what I said, and I knew that he knew I did, too.

I didn't say anything else, just pointed to my own ring while trying to seek nonchalant.

"Oh, yeah," he let out a nervous chuckle, but I didn't understand what he had to be nervous about at all. Unless... unless he was up to something, but I wasn't going to think about that possibility right now. And there was a ton of possible scenarios floating around in this busy head of mine at the moment, trust me, but I attempted to pay them no mind. "I must've forgotten to put it back on washing my hands earlier or something."

I sent him a look, silently telling him that O wasn't buying it, but I said nothing more. I was getting pretty tired anyway, and that was a bummer since the time was barely just about to hit 9:00 PM. I'd been falling asleep a lot earlier than I was used to lately, but I could only blame the baby inside of me for that, really. She'd been a bit restless these days, and I swore ever since she'd been kicking that day, she just wouldn't stop. It was still a weird feeling for me, and although I was complaining, I couldn't help but wonder how long this would last.

"You tired?" Zayn interrupted my thoughts then before raising his hand and using his fingers to comb some of my hair away from my face and behind my ear. No matter what, I always found myself melting into his touch because why not? I just couldn't help myself.