Half A Heart

Chapter 6

"Hide!" I gasp, ushering the boys around the house. "Hello!" My mom enters the kitchen just as Zayn slips into the guest room. I have no idea where the others have hidden... Oh well. "Mom! I missed you!" I grin, hugging her tightly. "Aw, I missed you too, munchkin! How have you been?" She smiles back.

"Great, but a few days ago Valerie had a very high temperature so I took her out of school for a bit. She's better now so she's going back tomorrow," I reply, gesturing to Valerie. I hope she doesn't- "Mom, I feel," she fake caughs (realistically though), "bad still. It's okay, I think I'll manage seven hours without passing out... Maybe," She lies, her acting skills showing. She's really good at acting.

"Oh, honey, no! We don't want to risk that. Stay home another few days and rest some more, I don't want it to get worse," Our mom is a sucker for Valerie's lies. "So, you're back two whole weeks early!" I cheer, also acting quite well if I do say so myself. "Yes, yes. But we're off again tomorrow, our flight was cancelled so we had to book a flight to here instead and then from here we'll head to our planned destiniation. So we decided to pop in for one night."

"Okay, well, we're just going to have dinner and then I think I'll call it a night!" I state, bringing the plate of bacon to the living room with Valerie tagging along behind me. My mom and step-dad follow, sitting on the couch with us. My mom turns on the TV, me gaping in horror. "No! Uh, we should talk as a family!" Valerie screeches, grabbing the remote and turning off the TV in the middle of them saying my name.

"Did they say Jessica Hai?" My mom questions. "I think so..." I respond, shrugging. "Wow, what a coincidence!" She laughs, taking a small bite out of the sandwich she had brought with her from the airport lounge. "Yeah. So why not play a board game?" Valerie suggests. We all nod in agreement. She jumps up, jogging over to the cupboard and freezing with it halfway open.

"Are you okay, honey?" My mom asks her. "Yup, fine, there was a... Uh... Curly haired spider," She hints to me, "But I got monopoly!"

~*~

Is that snoring coming from under the couch?" My mom panics, looking down at the floor. "No, no, of course not. So let's go to bed shall we? Good, okay. Goodnight, mom! I love you!" I cover up. My mom and step-dad get up from the couch. My mom walks over to the bathroom. "WAIT, MOM!" Valerie screams, taking us all by surprise. The snoring from under the couch stops.

"I went to the bathroom earlier and," She whispers to me, "There was an irish lad in there!" My eyes widen as my mom reaches for the handle. "NO!" I shout. "What is it with you girls?!" She scolds, confused. I'm about to confess when my awesome sister steps in with an excuse, "We were playing pranks on each other earlier for fun and I put a bucket of water on the door frame. Don't open the door!"

Good save, sis. "Oh, you girls! You have to clean up after yourselves," She laughs, walking over to her door. "I'll just use my bathroom. Goodnight, girls, I love you," She smiles, walking into her room. Phuew! Close one. My mom screams, running back out to the living room. "There is a boy in my room!" She yells. Shit.

"Call the police!" She orders our step-dad. "No! He's my friend," I sigh, Liam trudging out of the room frowning. "Why was he in my room?!" My mom growls. "I told them- I mean him, to hide when you got here and so he ran into a random room..." I admit guiltily. "Them- Wait a second!" She pauses, rushing over the the closet.

"A curly haired spider?" She raises her eyebrows, pulling Harry out of the cupboard. "Sorry, miss," He fiddles with his fingers. "And the snoring coming from the couch?" She stares at the couch as Louis climbs out from under there. "The bathroom," She mutters, pulling the door open and dragging Niall out.

"There are four boys in here that need to leave right now," She glares, pushing them out the door. There's a moment of silence before she comes back into the living room and opens the door to her bedroom. "We'll talk in the morning," She informs us strictly before entering her room with her silent husband. Does he ever speak?

~*~

I'm alone in my bedroom on my laptop when I hear a knock on my door. It's past midnight, who the hell is that?! Pushing my laptop and duvet cover away from me, I get up lazily and stumble towards my door. Swinging it open I'm greeted by a tired looking boy with a quiff. "Zayn! I'm so sorry we forgot about you!" I giggle a little bit, letting him in. "At least this means one day when you introduce us to your mom, she won't glare at me," He jokes.

I lock the door before we flop down on my messy bed, me in my pajamas and him in the same outfit as earlier, jeans and a t-shirt. "Can I climb out of your window?" He asks, walking over to it. "We're on the second floor and below us is poison ivy. Go ahead," I mumble. "Never mind then, I'll just creep out the front door," He smiles genuinely. I smile back, glad we aren't awkward around each other like I expected us to be.

"Okay," I walk towards the door and when I reach for the handle, voices make me freeze. "I'm going to watch the rugby! It's only on at this time!" My step-dad says. "Fine, I'll watch with you but on the flight I'll probably sleep the whole time," My mom agrees. Shiz buckets. "Looks like your luck isn't in your favor," I frown at him. "Then I'll leave in the morning if that's okay with you?" He asks politely. "Sure."

I walk over to my wardrobe, deciding he didn't want to sleep in jeans. "Sorry, I don't have the sort of outfits you'd usually wear," I shrug, looking through my clothes for something that would fit Zayn and not make him look like a transvestite. "Don't worry, I can sleep in my boxers," He tells me, taking off his shirt to reveal his tattoos. I shrug, sitting back down on the bed.

When we were both tucked under the covers, facing each other, he spoke, "Sorry about thinking you were working for the paps and screwing up dinner for everyone." I shrug in response. "Thanks for telling them the truth... At least I think you did..." I thank him. "I did," He chuckles, closing his eyes.

We talk a bit more. Mainly about life. About his fiance Perrie from Little Mix and about Niall's small crush on Valerie. We talked about fame, Eleanor and then we talked about things like pie... We're serious like that, I know. Oreo pie is the best, though.