Someone Else's Fairytale (Zayn Malik)

Epilogue

Epilogue

Sorry, running late.

Those words flashed on my screen, and I sighed as I took a seat on one of the benches at the airport. If there was one thing that would never change, it was Zayn's poor sense of time. I didn't mind the waiting though. It gave me time to prepare to see him again. It felt weird to think that when I saw his face next, it would be physically in front of mine. I would be able to touch it. He wouldn't just be trapped in some screen.

Zayn and I had seen each other since that day in the airport. He had flown me out to spend two weeks with him before I started school. Granted, he had work to do throughout the day because the boys' vacation with us was long over, but the evenings were all ours. He showed me around London, and I fell in love with the city while I fell deeper in love with Zayn. But, then I had been off to Adams, and Zayn had to hunker down to work. The boys had interviews and photo shoots out the wazoo since they were getting ready to release their latest album soon. But now, we hadn't seen each other since then because my first semester of school had been hectic. So, I had patiently waited for winter break to see him again.

I never once cried over him. He was mine, and I was his. There was nothing worth my tears. I was grateful that I could call him in the morning and hear his voice, knowing that we both felt the same way about each other. To me, that was incredible. Or, whenever we could, we could do video calls and see each other. It wasn't the same as face to face conversation, but it was better than nothing. People loved to say how long distance relationships didn't worked, but I begged to differ. We were living proof that it was possible.

Missing him came in cycles. Like the moon, my aching waxed and waned. Some days, I would wake up and be hit with the force that he wasn't with me. My chest would ache for summer, when we were in the same country, the same state, the same town, the same house. I would long for his laugh and his hugs and his incorrect way of eating Oreos. But, other days, I would gain consciousness, realize he was not with me, and feel okay. It wasn't that I didn't miss him. I was simply used to being alone. In fact, I rarely felt alone, and I had so much to keep me busy.

Life at Adams was a dream come true. It wasn't what I had expected but in a good way. I had tried not to think too much about it all these years, so that I didn't have this exact image in mind. Hell, I wasn't even sure if I would get accepted. I didn't want to be disappointed; I wanted to be surprised. The school lived up to the hype. I was able to learn while making my own designs and trying to build my own career for the future. The future no longer scared me like it did when I was younger. I embraced it, but I didn't wish away the present. It would come when it would, and I would be ready for it.

But, as I sat on the cold metal bench, tapping my foot impatiently, I wanted the future to come faster. When Zayn said that he would be late, he really meant it. My flight had landed over an hour ago, and my phone died a few minutes ago. I couldn't find my headphones, so I was doomed to accept boredom. I was forced to stare out the giant windows that looked like portals to an alternate universe, one of constant night and twinkling stars so very far from us. Nighttime was my friend, and I was glad that the stars followed me across the ocean. It was comforting.

“Dakota,” a voice called but not too loudly; it was only loud enough to grab my attention, and grab it did.

When I saw Zayn coming towards me, it hit me how much I had truly missed him all this time. This time when I ran to him, I didn't fall on my face. Zayn picked me up and spun me around before I had the chance to trip. For a solid minute, we just held onto each other, happy to finally be with each other again. Then, we pulled apart enough to see each other's face. I lifted a shaky hand up to his face slowly. I was worried that he might slip through my fingertips. But my palm fit to the side of his face, and I smiled uncontrollably before bringing my other hand to the other side of his face. This was no trick of the light. He was here with me. Zayn gently rubbed his thumb over my cheek, and that was when I realized that I had spilled some tears.