The Catch | Zayn Malik

The Catch ; Chapter 14.

14.

Once again, Blythe was not only covered from head to toe in flour, but the sticky batter of cupcakes were strung along her hair. Her clothes were dabbed with bits of flour as well as her trousers, and only the brightness of her eyes were shown through the thick layer of flour on her face. Blythe brought up her hand, which was neatly covered in sweet batter, and rubbed it wearily on her forehead. As it was only four thirty in the afternoon, Blythe was working in the kitchens as Papa Armando took the day off to spend the day with his sick mother, helping her needs in her home. As Mama Cathalina had to take care of the youngins, she put Blythe to the job as Blythe knew much more about baking than she did. With the hired employee working part-time at the cashier, Blythe was hovered away on the baking for hours.

A small chime was heard throughout the kitchen walls, only meaning that the scones were finished baking. Lightly dropping the bag of coconut shavings, Blythe quickly shuffled over to the oven to retrieve the goods. Blythe held her breath as this was her first attempt making the scones, and that she hoped that they turned out well as she followed the recipe exactly. Opening the oven, a cloud of thick, grey smoke came pouring out the oven and directly in Blythe's face. Blythe stepped back from the oven, her arms flailing wildly in her face as she started to hack immensely.

"Oh, for fuck sakes!" Blythe shouted loudly, slamming the oven door shut with anger. At this point, Blythe didn't have an care if anyone heard her or not, as she were too angry to deal with anyone or anything.

Blythe buried her face in her hands and jumped up onto the large granite island. Sitting with her legs dangling along the edge,she started to pull her face down with her fingers, tired as ever.

"Miss Blythe?" She heard a soft voice come from the entrance. Taking her hands away from her face, she jumped off from the countertop and averted her attention towards the door, where she saw Shannon, the employee standing innocently at the doorway.

"Hm?" Blythe groaned in response, to fatigue to do anything. As now, she wished she could be back home, lying in her bed and sleeping for days, flour and smoke free.

"I heard commotion back here, and- are you alright?" Shannon asked worriedly as she finally took in the hovering smoke and the messy Blythe. Blythe sighed and gave a cheerful smile. Somehow, it was the only thing that could keep her going.

"What time is it?" Blythe asked randomly, tilting her head to the side as her eyebrows furrowed in curiousity. Taken aback by her response and question, Shannon hurriedly walked up to Blythe and slapped the back of her hand onto Blythe's forehead.

"Are you feeling alright?" Shannon mumbled as she took her hand off of Blythe's forehead. Wiping the excess flour on the back of her white jeans, Shannon looked up once more to see a smiling Blythe.

"It's thirty after, you don't get off until five." Shannon replied to her question, looking at Blythe with confusion as of her mood change.

"Thirty after?" Blythe exclaimed, her eyebrows flaring up as her jaw dropped. "What're you still doing here?" She shouted as she was surprised by Shannon's work habits.

"Well, I didn't want to leave you all alone here!" Shannon replied quietly, her feet molding the loose flour littered on the ground. With her face awkwardly facing towards the ground, Blythe slapped her cheek playfully so that she'd get her attention. Shannon's face shot up as her hand gently sore cheek.

"Go have fun with Drew." Blythe ordered, a cute smile playing on her lips. Shannon's face broke out into a wide grin as she threw her arms around Blythe's thin neck, indulging her into a massive hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Shannon squealed as she grabbed her bag and coat from the small coat stand standing beside the door. As Blythe watched Shannon fled the shop happily, she ran a dirty hand through her disgusting hair and sighed. Secretly, she envied Shannon's and Drew's relationship. Whenever she saw him enter the shop, her eyes flashed towards Shannon as her face lit up with pure happiness. And that one time when Drew came in, holding a bouquet of yellow roses for no reason, but just for love. Why can't I have that? Blythe repeatedly asked herself as she wiped her face with a wet washcloth and slouched tiredly over the cash register.

As the slow minutes ticked on, Blythe felt her eyes get droopier by the second. Each time she heard the deafening noise of the clock tick on, her eyelids dropped a bar down a little lower than the last, until finally her eyes were shut entirely. Slouching lazily over the counter of the shop, her rolled her head onto her hand which was propped up by her elbow. As fast as a second on the clock, Blythe was out like a light.

*

"Should we wake her?" Louis asked in a hush whisper, as all five lads stood on the other side of the counter, looking confusingly at the sleeping Blythe. Zayn slapped a hand over his mouth to refrain him from waking Blythe, as his snickers echoed throughout the shop. Harry glanced at him, mentally asking as to why Zayn was giggling like a little school girl.

"I say we get the cakes and run!" Niall playfully suggested as he was admiring the cakes in the glass showcase with hungered eyes. Harry rolled his eyes and scoffed at Niall's childness.

"Of course not, I say we be gentlemen and simply carry her to her bed!" Harry explained, continuing to stare at blissful, sleeping Blythe. With clouds of flour smeared on her nose and shoulders, Louis whipped out his phone and quickly snapped a picture.

"What was that for?" Harry scolded him, swatting him hard on the shoulder. Louis jolted in pain and gently rubbed his right shoulder from Harry's impact. "Remember to send that to me!" Zayn leaned into Louis and mumbled through snickers.

"We're obviously not going to carry her Harry, she's 'gonna wake up and probably smack us all if she found out she was carried." Liam maturely explained which gave Harry doubt in his suggestion. Shrugging his shoulders, he stubbornly agreed to Liam's accusation.

"Oh look, she has some flour on her face!" Niall thought out loud as he made his way over to her and began to slowly wipe away the ingredient smudged on her nose. Before any of the lads protested in Niall's actions, Blythe wiggled her nose numerous times, slowly stirring in her sleep. Then, when Niall very slowly moved his finger away, Blythe's nose began to wiggle again more furiously. A loud, high-pitched sneeze bombed the room, making all the lads jump in fright.

As Blythe sneezed, her hand lost contact of her chin and fell limply on the granite counter, which left Blythe's head unstable. Slamming her forehead hard on the counter, Blythe immediately woke and groaned loudly in pain. She slid down to the ground in great pain, clutching her forehead in a tight grip.

"Blythe!" Niall shouted as he dropped down beside her, taking her face in his small hands as he inspected her forehead. Liam and Louis rushed around the counter, quickly followed by Harry and Zayn. With Harry, Niall, Liam, and Louis all in great worry, Zay was bursting out laughing, clutching his sides for help.

"Are you alright there Blythe?" Louis asked, crouching beside Liam and Niall as they both stared at Blythe, their thick eyebrows furrowed together. Blythe cleared her throat and took her hands away from her forehead, with Niall's hands still gripping her face.

"Why are you all here?" She hissed in a hoarse voice, glancing at all four of them. Meanwhile, Zayn's dying laughter was heard in the background, yet no one paid much attention.

"Your twitter." Harry answered with a playful grin. The corners of Blythe's lips tugged upwards for a split second before dropping back down. She groaned louder and swatted away Niall's hands, dipping her head down low into her lap.

"Come on doll, let's get you back home now shall we?" Louis spoke, jumping up from the floor and pulling Blythe up too. As Blythe was on her feet, Louis let go of her grip, knowing that she would be fine. Blythe wobbled dangerously on her feet before Liam dove for her and grabbed her arm protectively.

"Niall get a cab, and Harry, knock some sense into Zayn, please. Lou, help me here with Blythe." Liam instructed everyone while still holding onto Blythe. Niall nodded as he ran out of the bakery and headed towards the street, while Harry walked over to Zayn and started to hit him repeatedly.

"No, please-" Blythe started to protest, but Louis gently slapped a hand over her mouth to indicate silence.

"Stop talking." Louis instructed Blythe as she nodded, her eyes flickering every now and then to stop her from sleeping. As Harry finally got Zayn to stop, Niall came in and motioned everyone to come outside, where they all got into the large cab. With Blythe's eyes blinking quickly, the quiet car ride became more longer to Blythe, which made her dizzy and nauseous. Finally shutting her eyes, her head accidentally rolled onto Zayn's shoulder in where he sighed tiredly and crossed his arms. Yet, not wanting to disturb Blythe, he let her sleep peacefully on his shoulder. With Harry and Louis glancing at eachother and at Blythe and Zayn, they gave eachother silly smiles and remained silent the whole ride.