[Zayn]
Given that he was stuck between staying in the car and going to wherever with his father and Niall, he couldn't help but choose to go out and keep distance from Niall. The day was already pretty boring, so in order to maintain his sanity he may lose if he stayed in his room, he just decided to leave. Zayn wasn't so sure if he would enjoy, but then again he had been in his room for the past five days or so.
"So," Niall perked up and began singing that annoying Dora song. "Where are we going?"
Zayn cringed as Niall did the three claps. "Jesus, Niall. What are you, six?"
"Zayn," Yaser gave his son a stern look. "Let's take a little drive, maybe we'll know it when we see it."
Much to Zayn's dismay, the 'little drive' had lasted for fifty-two minutes. All they had done was drive around the city to see where to go, but Niall and Zayn could not agree on a single place. The stepbrothers constantly argued, but this time their argument must have been the pettiest they had.
"Hey, it's Central Park! I wanna walk around," Niall pointed out.
"Are you kidding me, Niall? It just rained so the it's all mucky and slippery, absolutely not," Zayn groaned.
"Let's go to the Disney store, then."
"We're teenagers. Not toddlers."
"The American Girl place?"
"Do you even hear what you're suggesting?"
Yaser sighed and looked at the two boys through the rear-view mirror. He didn't let either of them sit in the passenger's seat because they would also fight about how it was 'unfair.'
"I give up. We're going to the mall."
Zayn let out a deep breath. "At least it's better than anything Niall suggested."
"Quiet, Zayn."
-
The three men got to the mall, and for some reason, Zayn felt at ease. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like it was the right decision to go there and sort of hang with his family. It wasn't something extravagant like a resort or anything, but it felt relaxing.
Zayn was always fascinated with the fact that strangers, although unknown to him, have their own individual lives. All people have problems, they have their own dreams and ambitions. It was amazing how it never showed when you didn't know the person, you'd think that they're simply other people that seem perfectly fine, you'd never know what their lives were like. He didn't like telling people about this, as usual. It made him feel a bit dorky, but that was what went through his head.
"I'm hungry," Niall blurted out, still not to Zayn's surprise.
Zayn rolled his eyes. "Since when are you not?"
Yet again, Niall ignored his stepbrother's attitude and went straight for the hot dog place across from where they had been standing. Niall bought three hot dogs, but they weren't for sharing. As much as he was a friendly guy, when it came to food, it seemed that he was a whole different person.
Zayn shook his head and thought, hot dogs. What a New Yorker.
"Hey dad, isn't that Joey and Mr. Lee?" Niall spoke, his mouth full of what he had been eating.
"Niall, don't talk when your mouth is full. You're eighteen," Mr. Malik scolded. "Oh, it is them. Let's say hi, yeah?"
"Jared!" he called out, getting a "Yaser!" in return from his friend.
After that had happened, the three teenagers had the smallest possible talk, which resulted in yet another argument between Niall and Zayn. It was normal for the two of them, and it didn't seem to affect people since Niall had pretty much become immune to Zayn's snark and Zayn had become, well, almost immune to Niall's.. personality. But for some reason, their small and frequent fights had made Joey run away from their small gathering.
