Until I Find You Again // Book One

Chapter 3

Niall had disappeared. The last time I saw him, he was throwing darts with Michael Buble. The sheer star power in this house right now was staggering, but it barely phased me. I was about 5 rum and Cokes into the night and to say my inhibitions were gone was an understatement. I needed a bathroom. I'd long since broke the seal and was now peeing every 10 minutes. I was making my way across the huge foyer when I felt a hand on my arm.

I looked up into the familiar, sexy, dark eyes of Zayn Malik. My heart did back flips. God, he was so beautiful. How did he look at himself in a mirror without telling himself that every day, I would never know. He flashed me a smile, "You ok, Em?" I nodded and lifted my arm, "Headed to the uh....." The word slipped my drunk mind for a moment, "Bathroom...." I finally finished. He studied me closely for a moment, his smile fading a bit, "You're really drunk. Where's Niall?"

"With that bubble guy."

Zayn pulled his eyebrows together, "Bubble guy?"

"Marcusssss.....Marco......MICHAEL!" I yelled out, finally landing on the right name.

Zayn laughed a bit and nodded, "Michael Buble....got it."

Someone brushed past me just then and I stumbled forward directly into Zayn. He pulled me into his body and slid his arm around my waist,

"Whoa....steady there." I felt my heart in my throat. I definitely wasn't too drunk to know that Zayn's skin was now touching mine and it sent tiny zips of electricity down to my toes. He steadied me on my feet, but kept his arm around my waist, "How bout we find you a bathroom and then find a quiet place we can talk?" My heart skipped about 10 beats at his suggestion of going somewhere quiet with me. I nodded, "Sure." He slid his hand from my waist, over my butt and into my hand and led me down the hallway towards the bathroom.

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I held onto Lucy's hand tightly as we walked out of the tube stop on our way to the park. I wasn't in the mood for driving again after the scenario that happened yesterday and the tube stop for the park was only 3 down from ours. Lucy loved riding it too. She looked up at me as we made our way up the steps to the street. I pulled Lucy into my arms and balanced her on my hip once we made it to the sidewalk. There were far too many people in the area for a Thursday afternoon. She linked her arms around my neck and gently sang to herself. I shook my head, she sure was her father's daughter.

I walked towards the park, making sure to check both ways before I crossed the street. Lucy giggled when I jogged a bit. I looked over at her,

"What are you laughin' at, Little Girl?"

She smiled wide,

"Bouncy..."

I looked around to see if I could find Zayn. Something told me he would be in some weird disguise considering how many people were in the park today. I sighed,

"You see him anywhere, Baby?"

She shook her head,

"Nope."

"Em!" I heard behind me. I turned around to see Zayn approaching us, no disguise in sight. I raised my eyebrows. He must've been in a friendly mood today. Usually Zayn hated being bothered in public. He ran towards us. He leaned down to kiss my cheek and immediately took Lucy from me. He handed me the magazines Perrie had sent him with and then threw Lucy up in the air and caught her as she squealed, "How are you, Diz?" She babbled to him while we walked towards the playground. He set her down and she ran towards the slide immediately. I turned to him,