married at first sight :: [malik]

eight. flight&patterns

Stevie has always loved Zayn's eyes.

He's got to know that, too. She'd told him so many times when they were together he'd probably gotten sick of her, she thinks.

He's got to still know what those eyes do to her--what his eyes do to her still.

She's thinking of his eyes as the water turns on in the shower.

She's also thinking about him being in the shower.

Without her.

When her phone rings.

The FaceTime caller moves around on her screen, and Stevie smiles excitedly once she sees who it is.

She answers with a, "Hey, you."

"What the fuck's this I hear about you being married, bitch?"

"Heh," she chuckles lightly, "Surprise."

"Mhmm," her cousin replies, lips pursed against the grainy, lagging screen. "We'll fight when I get home. It's fine."

"I'm sorry, J.J.!" She exclaims. "I knew you couldn't--"

"Uh uh," comes the reply. "Don't J.J. me. Only my family and close friends can call me J.J., Stevie."

"Last time I checked, we were family," she scoffs. Joan was so dramatic. "Weirdo."

"Um, not since you got married without telling me! And to Zayn, Stevie?! Of all the random shit that could possibly happen, you surprise-marry Zayn Malik."

"How'd you--?"

"Edie."

And Stevie rolls her eyes. "Of course."

"She's got the biggest mouth, so you should've expected it."

"I should've, but somehow I never do."

"You're a Saint."

"Or just naive."

"Maybe those things are synonymous," Joan laughs, her teeth bright in contrast to her dark skin and the dark walls of her dim dorm room. "Besides, I am truly offended that you didn't tell me. I mean, really, Stevie?"

And she winces, pulling up the sheets to her nose with her free hand.

"How do you withhold something this big?! Your wedding?" She tosses up her hands, and the video freezes momentarily. "Never mind that it was supposed to be to a stranger, for television, but it's your wedding! That's something I'm actually supposed to be a part of, and I had to find out on accident through Edie!"

"Joan, you're a junior. And you're in college. And you're studying for finals! You know school comes first--"

"But, I can't fly out for a day? Not even for my cousin? My...my sister!?"

Stevie chews her lip.

"Yeah," she folds her arms with an eye-roll, and Stevie feels that sting all the way in Miami from Rhode Island. "That's what I thought."