Half A Heart

Chapter 7

“Zayn,” I whisper, poking his cheek. “Zaaayyynnnn,” I whisper again, this time dragging out him name. “ZAYN!” I snap, him sitting bolt upright. “What?!” He panics, looking around frantically. “You want pancakes?” I give him a lopsided grin, holding out the plate to him. “You seriously woke me up for that? I’m not Niall you know,” He frowns, lying back down.

“I really need to remember these things. So I can bribe and blackmail Niall with food, Liam with spoons... Harry with his curls... What’s Louis again?” I question, stuck on the second last member. I was so close to getting it right. “Louis is a name,” He smirks. “Oh, ha ha, very funny,” I roll my eyes, giggling a little bit.

“Blackmail him with childish things like carrots, disney movies and toy cars,” Zayn snickers, filling in my blank. “And you...?” I ask, lying down next to him and staring up at the ceiling. “Me? Sleep. I can’t get enough of it,” He grins, closing his eyes. “So I’m Ziall...” I state, genuinely confused. “You like food and sleep?” He quizzes. “Yup. My two weak factors,” I put my thumb up in the air before letting my arm collapse on the bed by my side, in between Zayn and me.

“I know one more weak spot I’m ninety nine percent sure you have,” He smirks, winking at me. I stare at him, confused, before I feel a poke at my side and squeal. “Knew it.” In seconds I’m being tickled consistently on my side. He rolls over so he’s on top of me and continues to tickle me. “Z-Za...Zayn!” I manage to shout, laughing madly.

“Stop!” I scream, wriggling around to get free. “I’ll need something in return,” He negotiates, thinking for a bit while still invading my personal space and tickling me. “What?” I ask. “Hm... Who’s your celebrity crush? That includes us, by the way,” He winks, smirking at me. “Luke. Hemmings. From. 5SOS,” I manage to get out between laughs.

“Oh, 5 Seconds Of Summer? We’re touring with them later this year,” Zayn smiles, still tickling me. “I answered your question!” I shout. “Well, I have another one to ask,” He shrugs, not stopping. “Fine, what?” I shriek a little bit as he pokes at my sides.

“Do you like Harry?” He asks. “No!” I snort. “Do you like Louis?” He grins, winking at me. I freeze but immediately begin laughing again because he’s tickling me. Do I like Louis? “No?” I accidentally make it sound like a question and a knowing smirk appears on his features.

“I meant no!” I repeat. He stops tickling me and rolls back so that he’s lying next to me. “Zaynyboo?” I come up with a random nickname. “Yes, Jessieboo?” He imitates. “I’m glad we’re friends,” I whisper, smiling at him. “Me too,” He smiles back.

“So about the pancake offer...” He trails off and I roll my eyes, handing him the plate I had placed on the bed side table. “Do you have syrup?” He asks. We walk to the kitchen and he sits down at the island in the middle, on a stool with the plate of pancakes in front of him.

“No, you are not having syrup,” I sass, grabbing the carton of cookies and cream ice cream out of the freezer and also getting a spoon. “Ice cream?” He raises his eyebrows. “Yup,” I grin, handing it to him.

My sister enters the room, yawning. “Morning, Jess,” She glances at us, clearly still half asleep, “Morning Zayn.” She freezes, looking over at us again with wide eyes. “Zayn,” She gasps. “Mornin’,” He responds. “Did you sleep in the- Woah,” She pauses, only now acknowledging his outfit.

He’s in his boxers and nothing else. Zayn chuckles at her expression and I almost do too. She looks like a fish. “So what I was saying was, I’ll go make the bed in the guest room,” She grins at Zayn. Typical fangirls. “Actually, I didn’t sleep in there,” He smirks.