Die Alone (A Zayn Malik Fanfiction)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten: The Barn

(Madison’s P.O.V.)

How good it felt to be liking someone and be liked in return by that same person. How nice it was to know that even when all else fails around me I could have somewhere to turn. I wasn’t blind to reality, though, I knew things like this could fall apart in a second, given just one mistake. This was not my concern while I got ready for tonight’s party at Ella’s house. The two of us were in the beginning process of picking out an outfit, for each other. We were going off a dare Noah wanted us to try where we chose the look of the other. His side of the deal was that he had to get crunk as fuck tonight: on the promise that Ella took care of me and I was on my best behavior. As a pre-party event we were getting ready together.

Ella had a large assortment of clothes for me to choose from. They were all pink and preppy,though, her usual attire. Luckily I had brought along my own small selection of clothing to dress her in something a little more me and less her. If we were going to go through with this I might as well give her a night to be someone completely different. I knew she had the same planned for m, but she still looked surprised when she stepped out of the bathroom and saw my pile. 

“It’s so dark!” She gasped. I let out a laugh and pulled up one of the things I’d had in mind. She sent me a devious smile and pulled out a dress from her closet. I pretended to gag before we fell into a fit of giggles and then got down to the real stuff.

Now standing exposed in my bra and underwear next to Ella, I could see clear differences in our body-types. From the outside we appeared the same: same height, same small frames, same skinny bodies. Although now that we were down from our layers of clothes I saw what it was really like. I was more of the bone and skin type of skinny. Some of my bones jutted out in a way that made me look more skeletal than human. I looked shrunken down, weak, and monstrous. Ella, on the other hand, was full where she needed to be. Her body stood tall and her small size made her appear strong, yet graceful. Her stomache and thighs were bigger than she probably wanted them to be, but I was still jealous. Next to me it was easy to see who the beautiful one was. Neither of us was saying anything, but I was sure Ella noticed as well as I. We both had scars running along our skin, different shades and sizes. Some of them deeper than others. Ella let go a small smile and faced me. 

“Let’s get ’em.”

I pulled on the outfit Ella had going for me. It was just a pale pink dress, but the design was more intricate. The shoulders were crossed at the chest and rose up around my neck. There was a thin waist band around my middle, and a small triangle cut out to show off some skin. For once I didn’t look overexposed, but rather classy. Ella was still trying to fit into the outfit I had for her; a long sleeved lace red shirt and black ban do bra underneath. She was having a hard time fitting into the black tights she was to be wearing it with. Once she was in we admired each other. 

“You look adorable,” Ella beamed.

“And you look edgy.” She glanced at herself in the mirror and smiled happily.

“Everyone will be so confused!” 

“They sure will.”

(Zayn’s P.O.V.)

Madison and I were not an official couple. I was trying my best to edge her away from being closed off to me, but she was hard to budge. We were in communication when we could be and that was enough for me for now. We had a show, so afterwards I texted her asking what she was doing tonight. She replied “nothing really. Just hanging out with Ella and Noah.” I wasn’t worried about her too much because she had promised her crazy party days were over. Well, she had promised Harry and then told me about it, but all the same. I didn’t need to worry about her well-being while we weren’t talking. I asked if she wanted me to call, but she said she was just going to spend time with her friends. I was slightly disappointed, but I let it go. Madison was the kind of person that needed distance, and I had to prove that I was willing to give it to her.