brilliant discovery • zauren

13

Zayn: according to your geographical location, it's your birthday now.

Zayn: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Lauren: Gracias! x)

His texts were some of the first she received on the night of her birthday. It's been a while since they chatted, for obvious reasons. He was always flying between LA, London and New York for work and she was busily touring South America.

Lauren didn't even know where he was, but there he goes again, surprising her by being very up-to-date with her whereabouts. The notion was sweet. Made her smile, too.

The last time they spoke was their conversation via FaceTime. All Zayn really did was bug her and want to know what she'd like for her birthday. Of course, she said nothing and continued saying nothing until the very last seconds of the conversation. The call only ended when Lauren excused herself to charge her dying phone.

She had a day off, thankfully. She planned on spending the day exploring the city with her friends which she did and had a blast. She took so many pictures on both her phone and DSLR, she was running low on memory by the end of the day.

For the evening, they were going to a restaurant for a small and private dinner. And maybe a club at the end of the night.

"Why are you eating in my room?" Lauren questioned as she scrolled through her phone for any news to stay updated. Normani was lounging beside her, chowing down on a bowl of cereal. "We have dinner in less than an hour. Won't you be full?"

Normani threw her an incredulous look, clearly stating 'are you kidding me?' "It's as if you don't know me, Lo. I always have room for food!"

"True." The two girls shared a laugh as Lauren continued to surf through apps for something to do pass the time.

Her Twitter was always chaotic, but as soon as she clicked on it, her timeline was flooded with pictures of Zayn.

He had a navy long-sleeve and ripped jeans. His hair was finally growing back, not that he didn't look good bald—when did Zayn Malik ever look bad? But he looked breathtaking.

"Ooo, papi lookin' good," Normani teased, trying to elicit a reaction from her friend. So, when Lauren unknowingly smiled too wide, she felt successful.

But the grin was short-lived.

Zayn wasn't alone in all his pictures.

He was with Gigi.

"Oh no, papi didn't," Normani sassed, not too impressed to see Zayn so chummy with his ex. But it wasn't the pictures that upset her, it was the fall of Lauren's smile that did.

Lauren just stared at her screen, mindlessly scrolling through more and more pictures. Her notification tab was full of them and she couldn't stop looking.

Normani gawked, casting her wide brown eyes from the screen then back to her friend. "Lauren, are you-"

"What? I'm fine," Lauren answered too quickly to sound sincere. She didn't even allow Normani to finish. "Anywho, we should really be getting ready." She got up, walked straight to her luggage and sifted for something nice to wear.

Why wouldn't she be fine? They were just hanging out. They were just pictures. Besides, she wasn't truly dating Zayn. If he wanted to hang out with his ex, he had every right to do so. And Lauren told herself she had no right to feel as she did.

But regardless of what she was training herself to feel, she felt the opposite.

She was still remotely jealous.

He looked so happy and Gigi looked gorgeous as always. They were walking side by side, laughing about something. It must have been extremely funny. Zayn's eyes were creased at the corners as his wide grin pulled his cheeks.

A large part of her wished she could make him smile like that. It disheartened her knowing she probably never could.

After all, she is just the fake girlfriend. What he had with Gigi and Perrie was real. She's already stamped it into her mind that she'd never be up to their standards. Incomparable.

"Lauren, your suitcase is empty."

Her friend's sweet vocals brought her back to the reality she didn't even know she wasn't a citizen of anymore. All her clothes were piled to her right and none remained in her bag.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Normani asked again, kneeling beside her friend.

Lauren mustered up the best smile she could fake. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"C'mon, Lo. Don't lie to me or yourself."

Frustrated with being questioned, Lauren picked up a simple black dress and stood up, walking to the far corner of her room where the body mirror was. "I don't know what you want me to say, Mani!"

"Never mind, I didn't say anything," sighing in defeat, Normani sat back and watched as Lauren distracted herself from her emotions whilst she tried on the dress.

Noticing the worried expression her friend was wearing, Lauren couldn't avoid it any longer and walked back to the bed, sitting on the edge. Her head was hanging low, not wanting to partake in eye contact or else she'll be a mess.

"Do I have the right to feel like this?" Lauren began, gesturing at the ache she felt in her chest. "To feel jealous?" She clarified begrudgingly, she hated to admit her true feelings.

"Baby," Normani cooed sympathetically, arm coiling around Lauren's shoulders to reel her close. "That's normal. I know-"

"But this thing between us isn't even real. I don't know why-"

They took turns cutting each other off.

"Do you really not know why, Lo? You've been crushin' on him for who knows how long!" Normani reminded her.

"That's different!" Lauren countered, gaping. "I just admired him. Th-this is... I don't know what this is!" Annoyed with herself, she collapsed back on the mattress, covering her face with the material of her thin dress.

"You like him or you're at least starting to, why don't you just admit it?"

Tearing the fabric off her face, Lauren sighed exasperatedly. "If I admit it, I'll just get in over my head and continue to like him. And what good will that do me? This is all fake. Hell, I'm sure he's just being nice for the sake of publicity."

"Lauren-"

"Look, I'm fine. This will all end soon enough and I'm sure when this act is over, these feelings will disappear, too."

--

Zayn: Hey, Lo! how was your day? :)

Zayn: did you enjoy Puerto Alegre?

sent at 6:03pm.

Zayn: did you enjoy your dinner?

Zayn: I saw Normani's message :) it was very sweet

sent at 9:17pm.

Zayn: so... You're probably busy

Zayn: but happy birthday again, Lo!

sent at 11:21pm.

--

Anyway, yay for double update! Teehee. I hope y'all enjoy. And thanks again for the tremendous support. I don't even know how to thank you guys even. Seriously. I love you all! 💖💖💖