Live While We're Young

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Charlie had obviously heard the whole conversation, because he was struggling to stifle a chuckle. Zayn glared jokingly at him from the backseat.

“Hey, mate, how much longer?” Zayn asked.

“Look below you,” Charlie answered through the microphone.

The couple looked down at the city. Buildings and cars were slowly getting larger as the helicopter descended. Charlie instructed the two to turn off their headsets and make sure their seat belts were fastened.

Soon, they had landed on the roof of a building, and Charlie was waving goodbye as they ducked under the spinning blades.

After the helicopter lifted off and he could hear again, Zayn grabbed Charlotte by the hand. “C’mon.”

Zayn led her through the roof exit and down a flight of stairs. Then another. And another.

“I so do not have the calves for this. Are we almost thereeeeeee?”

“Yes.” Instead of turning left to start the next descent, Zayn went right and opened a door labeled ‘FOURTH FLOOR.’

“Can I have a hint?”

“We’re here,” Zayn said, stopping in front of an inconspicuous door. He dropped her hand to pull a set of keys out of his pocket. On the third try, the door creaked open and he waved Charlotte in, following her and switching on the lights.

The first room was a combined living room/kitchen, both of which were sparse. Charlotte looked to Zayn for explanation. “This feels like the beginning of a horror movie.”

“This is my apartment. Well, I don’t live here, exactly, it’s just for my hobbies. My mom wouldn’t let me do it in her house.”

“Yeah, that makes it better.”

“Hush.” Zayn walked down a connecting hallway, and Charlotte reluctantly followed, out of curiosity. “This,” he said dramatically as he swung the door open, “is Zayn Jawaad Malik.”

Floor to ceiling the walls were covered in impressive caricatures and extraordinarily bright colors and it was Zayn’s beautiful and unique way of letting her into his brain. It was incredible, and she told him as much. “You did this all yourself?” He nodded, letting her soak it in. “It’s beautiful,” she said, in awe. She began to walk the perimeter of the room, running her hand along the spray paint. She inquired in what some of the images were as she saw them, leaving others alone, understanding that maybe they weren’t anything. She eased down onto the sole piece of furniture in the room, a brown leather couch, tilting her head back to see the pictures nearer to the ceiling. “Wait. What’s that white space up there?” she pointed to a blank area to the right of the door frame.

Zayn craned his neck to look at it, even though he already knew it was there. “What, that?” Charlotte nodded. “Well, I figured I’d save it for a beautiful girl, if I ever found one I wanted to draw.”

Charlotte blushed. “Nothing too Titanic-esque, okay?”

Zayn crossed the room to the closet door and pulled out a box. He began to lay out plastic, cans, markers, and handed Charlotte a mask. He put one on himself. “Any suggestions? Requests?”

“Do what you want,” she smiled, quoting her speech from the heli. He smiled back and uncapped a marker, began sketching her onto the wall. She relaxed into the couch and just watched as she started to appear on the wall.

Almost an hour later, he took a step back and removed his mask, satisfied with his work. He looked to Charlotte, who whispered, “I love it. I love it and I love you.” She stood up, removing her mask and dropping it to the floor. “What we have is crazy, but I love it, and I want to stay this way with you, and I hope the offer for me to join you on tour is still open,” she hoped, putting her arms around his shoulders.

“Always,” he promised, his voice cracking as he pulled her in for a kiss. “Always.”