Who Do You Think You Are

Ch 16 - And I need you here with me now

Zayn’s P.O.V.

"Hey babe."

"Zayn?"

"Yeah, it's me. How are you?"

"Zayn, I'm a little stressed out."

Stacy, stressed out? She's one of the most chilled people I know. She never stressed out about anything. Unless ofcourse it had somthin t do with someone she cared about.

"What's up, Stace?"

"No one wants to speak to me." I laughed a little at that, but she seemed quiet serious.

"I tried calling Niall like a thousand times, but he won't pick up. Then I tried Liam, but as he answered his phone died. So I tried Harry, and he just seems to be blowing me off right now so..."

That was the first time I'd heard Stacy sound so panicked and it got me a bit worried.

"Well you got through to me, didn't you?" I tried to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I guess so," she didn't sound too good.

"So, what's up?"

"I just needed to speak to someone, ya know."

"Hmhm. D'ya want me to come over or something?" I offered. I'd never heard Stacy like this before. If she was this upset something must be wrong, and that's what worried me.

Stacy’s P.O.V.

My intentions were just to get answers, to get an external perspective on the situation so that we could resolve this. But when Zayn held me I just fell apart. I was shaking in his arms and the tears soaked into his t-shirt. He rubbed my back gently, still holding me. 'When had I become such a mess?' "I'm so sorry, Zayn," I began apologizing. "You didn't come here for this." "Shhh, you don't have t apologize. I came because a friend needs meh."

"Then, thank you." I managed a smile. I took a deep breath and gathered my strength, wiping my tears and pulling myself together. I went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of juice. Handing one to Zayn, I lead the way out to the garden.

I'd never been the type of girl to tell a person everything. I guess you could say that I was always very reserved and private about things. That changed after I had become friends with the guys. They were so light-hearted and yet I knew I could trust them with anything. They were so open and honest that I guess it caused me to drop my guard and learn to trust. Now as I sat in the garden with Zayn I told him everything. I know it was hard for him to hear it since it involved two of his closest mates, but I had to get it off my chest. He listened carefully as I spoke.

"So Niall still isn' taking your calls?"

"Uhuh." I shook my head.

"And...have you decided what you're goin t do about Harreh?"

"Well I though we could talk about it, work things out, but no such luck."

He nodded and thought about it for a moment.

"Hey, do you wanna try callin 'em from my phone?" he offered, his hand immediately going to his jeans pocket.

“Thanks Zayn, but I don’t think I should.” He looked me with a confused expression.

“Maybe they just need time…and maybe I should respect them and grant them that much.”

“Hhmmm. Maybe.” he seemed contemplative. “But you’re not wrong, you know. It isn’t your fault.”

I smiled pleasantly. That’s what I wanted to believe, but it was hard not to feel guilty. He gave my shoulder a little squeeze, as if he knew what I was thinking. “It’ll work out, you’ll see.”

“Thanks Zayn,” I looked up at him, “for everything.”

“That’s what friends are for, right,” he smiled.

“You are so cheesy,” I teased, bumping his shoulder.

I rose from the swing-bench, taking Zayn’s now-empty glass. He stayed till I had finished washing the glasses – I guess he just wanted to make sure I was okay before he left.

***

          Zayn took Stacy’s face in his hands and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Take care, okeh.”

She smiled up at him, grateful for his support and said goodbye. After he’d left, she curled up on the couch with a novel and lost herself in the story.