Stuck in the Middle

Understanding

Chapter Twenty One

I arrived home and saw Zayn waiting patiently by my front door, his headphones in and a snapback covering most of his face as he looked down at the ground.

"Hey." I said as I walked up and hugged him, I was beyond relieved that he wanted to spend time with me even after everything that had happened. He pulled me tightly into his chest and I breathed in the scent of his sweet cologne.

"Your mum's home." He told me as we both pulled back slightly and he took his headphones out.

"Has she seen you?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I saw her go inside so I figured I could stand here until you got back." He shrugged his shoulders and I smiled. I was nervous to ask my mum if he could stay even though I knew that she wouldn't say no.

We walked inside and I could smell dinner being cooked, which immediately seemed to calm me, it smelt delicious.

"Hey mum!" I yelled throughout the house as we walked through the hallway towards the kitchen.

"Hello honey! How was your day?" I heard the familiar response and took a deep breath before walking into the kitchen with Zayn.

"My day was pretty average. Um do you mind if Zayn stays the night?" I asked as she spotted him.

"Oh of course you can, have you had dinner? I'm Kim by the way." She replied and Zayn shook his head before introducing himself.

"You're from that group aren't you? We won't be getting any paparazzi or anything outside of our house will we?" She asked him and you could hear the subtle warning she was giving him.

"No they're all at the hotel anyway." Zayn said looking a bit uneasy, we both knew what my mum was going to ask next.

"Why aren't you staying at the hotel?"

"We have had a bit of a falling out, I'm giving one of the boys a bit of space until we sort things out." Zayn replied looking fairly satisfied with his answer.

My mum gave me a questionable look, almost like she knew what had happened before she nodded and returned to dinner.

"Okay I'll go set up a bed for Zayn." I said and wandered off to my room hoping that she wouldn't ask anymore questions. Zayn followed and you could tell he was slightly relieved that he was away from her too.

"I'll um, set up a bed on the floor." I said to Zayn, knowing that the last thing I wanted was for him to sleep on the floor but he seemed to be okay with it.

We got out an air mattress and I started to use the air pump to inflate it. It got really tiring very soon and I swapped with Zayn. He looked really good, he had on a black shirt and black jeans, I didn't know how he was even wearing jeans because it had been a really hot day. I noticed little beads of sweat starting to cover his body and I quickly swapped back, as much as I liked looking at him, I wanted to help him out as well.

I looked up to see him staring at me as I was almost finished and he looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"What?" I asked as I stood up again.

"Nothing." He replied too quickly. I gave him a look and he laughed before he eventually told me.

"You just look really, really good when you're doing that." He admitted and I blushed as he walked over to me, sliding his warm hand up my arm, making me shiver with anticipation.

He was fuelled on by the effect he had on me and wound a hand around my waist pulling me up against his chest. I raised my eyebrows at him in question and he cupped my chin with his hands before kissing me slowly and softly.