Brave || Zerrie AU

Tunnels

The sun danced on Perrie's pale skin as she stood over the ocean in a small cliff that held a beautiful view of the world below her. Green trees surrounded her but there was a clearing filled with flowers that caught her attention as she was walking around. She sat down with her feet dangling off the cliff but there was another edge beneath her that would prevent her from falling.

The air in Sevence smelled fresher than it did in California and the birds sang more beautiful songs that awoke her desire to write new music. But as she stared at the blank pages in her notebook she didn't know what to write. She was feeling so many emotions that she didn't know how she felt.

Her thoughts kept drifting to the boy she left behind in California. Perrie wanted to stop loving him but there was something inside saying that she had to hold on. She felt stupid for loving him when he had rejected her so many times after the breakup and made her look like a complete fool.

"I love you Zayn. Please don't leave me."

"Perrie, you need to leave me alone. You're only hurting yourself."

Those were the exact words he used on the night Perrie went to see him at his apartment despite the rain that wanted to stop her from embarrassing herself. His words had hurt her more than that dumb text he had send her because it made everything more real.

"Please just move on. You're embarrassing yourself. I've moved on and so should you."

Perrie closed her eyes as she cried. Nothing hurt her more than the hole she had in her heart. Zayn used to belong there but he left her. No matter how much she loved him it was time to move on.

Life moves on and this isn't forever and she refused to close her heart to love.

She would move on from Zayn even if it took her all her life.

*************

Even though Perrie had only been in Sevence for three days she had memorized the road to the town plaza and to Ciro's restaurant. Four small tables were outside the door to the restuaranr and inside seven more took up most of the space. People stopped to stare at the new visitor but they didn't stare for long before they went back to their meals. Perrie walked over to the small booth and sat on one of the blue chairs. The restaurant was pretty small but it held this feeling of home with all the photo's around the walls.

Perrie stared at the walls before she saw a familiar pair of green eyes. Ciro walked over to her, from what looked like the kitchen, with a warm smile.

"Hey." They said at the same time and laughed. Ciro moved closer to the booth and Perrie while he held a tray of cups.

"Give me one minute and then I'm on my break." He said.

"Okay." Perrie smiled as she watched Ciro head to the table near the door of the restaurant. The people laughed at something Ciro said and in their eyes they shown love. Everyone seemed to love Ciro because as he walked back to Perrie they all stopped him to say something. When he finally made it back to Perrie he was blushing at something a grandma had said to him.

"Let's go, Edwards. I want to show you my favorite place in Sevence."

Just like he said he would.

******

Perrie and Ciro walked for what seemed was an hour but in reality it was just thirty minutes. Perrie had expected Ciro to take her to the beach but instead he told her there was a place he went to when he needed peace. She was hesitant at first but told herself that she wanted to try new things.

They walked through a small path in the wood behind the town and made small talk. He made corny jokes every once in a while and Perrie found herself laughing more than she wanted to. When they finally made it to a small clearing she realized why Ciro loved this place. In front of her, among the green plants, stood a tall stone building. It was covered in green plants that seemed to hug the worn down building. There was a silence in the air and the only thing Perrie could hear was the sound of running water which might be a river near by.