One More Spoon of Cough Syrup [Zayn Malik FanFiction]

Chapter 12

 "Cause I am hanging on every word you say." - 'Breathing' by Lifehouse.

The plan was straightforward: Saniya goes in and comes out with the takeout. As I left, I saw the boys' awed faces - especially Niall - staring up at the restaurant. Even Zayn had opened his eyes to see what had caused our silence.

Something Zayn had written on my hand triggered a thought in my head and a sense of disappointment and loss took over me. I was so caught up in seeing Nando's in Sydney that I had completely forgotten one of my most important life rules.

The place was pretty packed - not that I wasn't surprised, however, the takeout counter was empty. The scents of peri-peri sauce and other spicy foods invaded my nose and the heating system was blissful. "Hey, is the chicken here halal?" I asked.

The lady behind the counter replied "No, sorry."

I looked at the palm of my hand where the boys had written down their orders. "Well, I need some food anyway and I got a lot, so good luck..." I began reciting the orders, my eyes glued to my hand, as I had trouble reading the boys' writing. You'd think that you could write better when in a car, writing on a hand in a pen that barely works, and hardly even awake.

About twenty minutes later, I was walking back to the cab, weighed down by the intoxicating smell of chicken. As soon as I got into the cab, the takeout bags were pulled from my grasp by Niall, Harry and Zayn. Zayn wrapped his arms around his bag and dropped his face in it, probably trying to get back to sleep again, while Harry and Niall simply held theirs to their faces, looking more at peace than they had probably ever been.

We were dropped of not long after (much to Zayn's dismay) on a street in the middle of nowhere. No buildings, people or even homeless dogs. I seemed to be the only one who was confused, as I found myself being turned around at the shoulder by Harry to see a massive sort of cuboid on wheels thing parked at the curb.

I looked closer and saw that it was a black tour bus with tinted windows. "That thing is a bus?" I scoffed, dumbfounded. "Dude, that's like the Empire State Building on it's side, man!"

The boys just laughed, even Zayn seemed wide awake now. "I gotta admit, it's a lot bigger than what we're used to," Liam said, as he lead us to the door. He knocked and it was opened by a girl. She had wavy brown hair with light brown eyes and was wearing denim jeans and a singlet.

First thought that came into my mind - FANGIRL!!! CALL 000!!

But then, Louis pushed forward and threw his arms around her. "ELEANOR!!" He yelled.

"LOUIS!!" She yelled back, laughing.

"I'm guessing she's Eleanor," I said, sarcastically, into Zayn's ear, as we walked inside. I noticed Niall looking sad all of a sudden; I knew what was up. I slid my arm around his shoulder. "Aw, come on Niall," I said, sympathetically. "You know how much this art course means to her."

He sighed and put on a brave smile. "Yeah, I know."

"Hey, I'm Eleanor," the first girl said, oblivious to the fact that I knew her name. She came up and gave me a short, yet friendly hug. I found it a little awkward as I didn't hug people much - if I was going to live with her for a few months, however, I needed to learn.

"Hey, I'm Saniya and I love Call of Duty," I greeted, in the same tone as they had. "Oh, right, and I'm- er - a close friend of Zayn's," I added quickly. I hoped that she wouldn't take that the wrong way and try and set Zayn and I up - that's what usually happens in Lana's chick flicks.

"Is that Nando's?" Eleanor wondered, curiously, with a hopeful glint in her eye, her head following the boys into the kitchen.

"You  like Nando's?" I grinned. She nodded, as we followed the scent into the kitchen. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."