Damaged // Zayn Malik

five

There was a knock on the dorm door and I rushed over to it. I opened it to be greeted by Liam.

''Hey'' I smiled. He stood uncomfortably in the doorway. I knew he would still feel really awkward. Liam is always the type of guy that would feel guilty and embarrassed about almost everything he did, even if he didn't need to.

I wasn't sure whether to hug him or not, because this is how we always greeted each other. I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable but I decided to anyway. I wanted him to know he shouldn't feel bad.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he hesitated for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around my waist.

''Do you wanna leave now?'' He asked while looking down at his feet after pulling away from me.

"I'm ready if you are"

"Okay then. Let's go."

*****

I climbed out of Liam's car as he parked on the side of the road. Music was playing, probably on full volume as I could hear it from inside the car. Ava had text Liam telling him the address of where the party was.

"What time do you wanna leave?"

"I'm not sure. It depends on what the party is like" I was unsure of this party. I didn't know anybody.

"Have you heard from Ava?"

"No. She hasn't talked to me since.." I trailed off. I didn't want to make Liam even more uncomfortable.

"Oh. Um... okay" He looked down to his hands that were fidgeting in his lap. "Shall we go in?"

"Hang on a second, Liam" I spoke up as he opened his door to get out of the car.

"Yeah?" His eyes searched my face for a sign of what I was about to say.

"I want to talk about earlier" I added as I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Oh. Okay, I"

"Please don't feel uncomfortable" I sighed. "I don't want you to feel stupid or... or embarrassed. You don't need to feel like that"

Liam let out a big sigh and rubbed his palms against his jeans.

"I just don't want anything to change between us now"

"It won't. I don't want that to happen either. We just have to make sure that it doesn't" I offered him a small smile but he looked away immediately.

"But I'm gonna find it difficult to not feel awkward"

"Please don't. You should know that you don't need to feel like that around me"

"I know. But it's just I really... I don't know"

"Just stop it okay. You don't need to feel like this. Lets just go and have a nice time" I tried to make him feel the most comfortable he could, but I don't think it worked. "While we act completely normal, please?"

"Okay. I'll try" He gave me a small smile.

"Okay. Let's go" I climbed out of the car and readjusted my dress. Liam walked around to my side of the car. He rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Liam, it's fine" I repeated while placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me through hooded eyes.

"I'm sorry"

"It's fine. So let's go have fun" I laughed.

I linked my right arm through his left as we started walking up to the house. We walked in and I was surprised to see that most of the girls had left half of their outfits at home.