Once upon a time there was a little boy and a little girl. The dark haired boy thought that the little girl who sat next to him on the bus everyday had a pretty smile. One day at recess, the dark haired boy watched the little girl with the pretty smile move back and forth on the swings. A bigger kid gripped one of her pigtails with a yank, pulling her off the swing. In a flash of anger the dark haired boy knocked the kid to the ground, sending him running. He stuck out his hand and helped up the girl with tears in her eyes. "Don't cry," he said, "I like it better when you smile." "Thank you for helping me," she said with her shaky voice. They sat down on a bench under a tree. "Don't worry, that's what you do for girls." The little girl nodded at his words. "You're going to be my wife some day," he said with a smile. "Why," she questioned. "That's what happens when the prince saves the princess. They get married. That also happens when my daddy saves my mommy from spiders, she gives him a big kiss." "Oh," she giggled, "So you'll be my husband?" "Mhm," he nods his head, "So you'll marry me?" "Yep," the little girl answered, giving him a pretty smile. From a pretty smile came a friendship. Yet she'd have to wait to have him.
I shift on the couch, trying to avoid the pain from where my feet have fallen asleep. Wishing I could go back to those days on the playground. Back when my world barely expanded past me and him. When I was stupid enough to think we'd live happily ever after. I've been hiding in my apartment for over a week now, only leaving for necessities. Not answering my phone, trying to hide from him. To say I was embarrassed was the understatement of the century. I'm absolutely mortified. I'm not even sure my heart will ever get over this. It all started at my friend (y/f/n)'s birthday party.
*Flashback*
The club was packed with people I didn't know, grinding on each other. I push my way to the designated area, elbowing a few dancers in the process. "Y/n!" I turn towards my name finding (y/f/n) waving at me with a birthday crown on her head. I run over to her crushing her in a hug. "Happy birthday," I squeal at her. She leads me to a group of booths stuffed with people. "(Y/n)!" I look over to see Louis waving at me, surrounded by the rest of his friends. "Hey," I smile, walking over to join them. I give each person a hug, saving my favorite for last. "Hi love," Zayn whispers in my ear, as he crushes me in his arms. "Hey handsome," I respond, placing a kiss to his cheek, "where's the girl?" "Oh you know her, she decided to stay home among the more glamorous." "Ah," I nod, "Getting any better in the romance department?" Zayn shakes his head. "I'm romantic as hell. She doesn't have a romantic bone in her body. The other day she really did try, but it just didn't cut it." Zayn had confided in me with some issues he was having with Perrie. He's a sweet guy, and deep down he's quite the romantic. The guy would go above and beyond, I swear he's the king of romantic gestures. All he wanted was her to be romantic in return. I guess even guys want that. But she couldn't, she seemed to lack in the romance department. If only I had the chance, I could give him what he wanted. He retakes his seat on the velvet couch, leaving me to find a spot of my own. Noticing all the seats are taken, Zayn pulls me down onto his lap. This guy would be the death of me one day, I've always been certain. Our group sang happy birthday to (y/f/n) as I relished in the feeling of being in Zayns arms. All too soon, I was bouncing around on the dance floor, not fully intoxicated. Gas Pedal blasts through the speakers, kicking my excitement into over drive. (Y/f/n) and I began to dance, shaking our asses the best we can. A pair of hands grip my hips, a hard body pulled against my back. "Slow down, grab the wall," Zayn sings in my ear, "Wiggle like you're trying make yo ass fall off." Dancing like this with him was nothing new. It's how we've always been. We finish out the dance, Zayn breathing heavily in my air. "(Y/n), I need some fresh air." We push through the bodies inhabiting the dance floor, reaching an empty hallway. "Quit spinning," Zayn giggles at me. Oh lord. He must've really put em away tonight. I sling his arm over my shoulder, helping him walk, "Alright, come on, Casanova." Slowly, we make our way down the hall towards an exit. Suddenly, my back is pushed against the wall. "Zayn," I say in shock, "What are you doing?" "Shh," he says, pressing a finger to my lips. His head leans in towards me, eyes starting to close. The moment I've dreamed about since I was a kid, is finally about to come true. His hand moves to my back as his lips hit mine, the other hand grasping my butt. My left arm wraps around has back, as my right hand grips his hair. Our mouths move together, his lips tugging at my own. Warm tingly feelings run throughout my entire body. In that moment, my world came together and fell apart all at once. Because you can't crave something you'd never tried. And now that I've experienced a kiss from Zayn, I'm not sure I could go with out it. Kind of like nicotine, or cocaine. Our mouths continue to move together, creating one long kiss. We pull apart, trying to regain our breathing. His forehead rests against mine, his eyes half closed. "Mmm," he moans, "Perrie." *Flashback Over*
A knock at the door gets my attention. I unfold my legs, shakily moving to the door. The heavy wood opens to reveal Zayn. His head shoots up at me, taking me in. He steps inside, uninvited, wrapping me in a hug. "I thought you'd fallen off the face of the earth," he muttered into my hair. "I wish I had," I whisper into his chest. He pulls me over to my couch, plopping onto the cushion. "What are you doing here?" "I came to check on you," he grins. I nod my head, not saying anything. He starts talking and we fall into our old routine. Zayn begins telling me about Perrie's latest attempts to be romantic. I can't help but giggle. "No, she was trying so hard to be romantic and buy me a gift I wanted," he says with tears of laughter in his eyes, "She bought me a watch. Just like the one I've worn on my wrist for two years." He holds up his wrist, pointing at the accessory before bursting into giggles. "Although she's onto a new theory about me being in love you," he laughs, "I told her it was absolutely ridiculous." My laughter dies down as his continues. "Hey," he places his fingers under my chin, pulling my face towards him, "You never told me why you've been ignoring me all week." I shrug my shoulders, not meeting his eyes. "Was it the kiss," he smirks. I look away from him, knowing what's coming. "Oh come on (y/n), that kiss meant nothing," he says with a laugh. I feel like I just got punched in the heart. "No zayn," I whisper, the confidence rising, "That kiss meant nothing, to you, but it meant everything to me!" He leans back to look at me more, his eyebrows wrinkled together. "What?" "Christ Zayn! The things you say, like it meant nothing, or what Perrie said about you being in love with me, you said it was ridiculous. That hurts me so bad, Zayn, because I've been in love with you for a damn long time. I loved you when your eyes were to big for your face and you looked like a scared baby opossum all the time.." "I didn't look like a baby opossum!" "Let me finish otherwise I'll never have the nerve to say this again, and yes you did." He nods his head telling me to continue. "I was in love with you when you thought you were a gangster," I can't help but giggle at the memory. "Mainly, I've loved you when you didn't love me back. Zayn, I've been in love with you since middle school." "(Y/n), that's been.." "Almost eight years," I shrug my shoulders dramatically, the tears coming to my eyes, "I've loved you for eight years." He's looking at me with wide eyes, fear registering. "Zayn," I whisper. "I need to go." He stands up and moves towards the door. I follow close behind, hoping to stop him. "Zayn, I.." "I'll talk to you later," he interrupts. Normally when he leaves, he gives me a hug and a kiss on the head. Not this time. This time all I get, is my own door slammed in my face.
My day has been nothing but dull and awful. After I cried myself to sleep last night, I slept in until noon. I woke up long enough to shower and go to the grocery store. My puffy eyed appearance certainly turned some heads. My thoughts keep going back to yesterday. Why did I say anything? I've been dealing with this since last night. I even thought I was having a heart attack from the pain of pouring my heart to him, and him just slamming the door in my face. All I've done for the past hour is stair at my blank tv. I didn't even notice that it was dark outside. A loud pounding hits my door, sounding through the apartment. I slowly move to get it, knowing last time I answered it didn't go well. A twist of the deadbolt and the door opens. Revealing a dark haired boy, similar to my state. "Zayn," I say in shock, "What are you doing here?" "I need to talk to you," he says, pushing himself into my apartment. He sits down on my couch, waiting for me to join him. I sit down on the opposite end of the couch, putting distance between us. "Perrie and I broke up," he whispers. "What?" "You heard me," he says, looking at his knees. "Wh-why," I stammer. He turns on the couch, sitting cross legged, facing me. "We had been having issues. When I came home yesterday, she could tell something was bothering me. She knew I'd been here. We sat down, and I told her everything. She said the only thing that could ruin a marriage, is being married to someone who doesn't love her. At the end, she told me everyone deserves to marry their best friend. She said we both know she's not my best friend." Tears line my eyes, listening to his words. "Plus, there was no way I could marry her," he admits. I look up at him, curiously. "She wasn't the girl that promised to marry me when we were five," he grins. I can't help but let a large smile spread across my face. Although, it's immediately followed by a yawn. "Tired," Zayn asks. I nod my head, "I didn't realize how late it was." Zayn stands up, holding his hands out to me. "Come on, love, let's go to bed." I take his hands and get up, taking us to my room.
I quickly get ready for bed, coming back to Zayn snooping around my room. "Do you have any of my sweat pants?" "Yeah," I nod, "I think you still have a stash on the shelf of my closet." I flop into my bed, sliding my legs under the covers. He walks into my closet trying to find his pants. and comes back with a box. "What's this," he asks, setting it on the bed. I look at the box nervously. "(Y/n), what is it?" "I've kept things from everything we've ever done, or that you've given me for years, because it reminds me of you and the memories we have together. Man that sounds creepy. Mainly it's a box that reminds me of us. It's us. It's you, Zayn." He opens the decorated lid to look inside. His eyes light up a little bit, looking at the contents. I watch as he pulls out a baggy of ticket stubs from every movie we've gone to together. Next comes every note he wrote me in school, up until he left for the xfactor. Then, a few letters from the xfactor. Next, the stack of postcards he'd sent me from every place the band visited. He pulls out a teddy bear he got me once for valentines day, and the photo album he made me for my fifteenth birthday. The silly photo strips from the booth at the fair. After that comes an envelope of a all our pictures together. "I can't believe you kept all this," he whispers. I look up, my wide eyes meeting his. "How could I not," I whisper back. His eyes turn on the half empty box, staring at it intently. "This is the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me," he whispers again. His hand comes up to wipe his eyes, trying not to let me see. "Keeping all this stuff?" He looks up at me, shimmery tears lining his eyes. "It's not just that," he pauses, "This box shows me how much you love me." The corners of my mouth turn up in a smile. "You want to know a big reason Perrie and I didn't work?" I nod my head. "Other than the fact we just weren't meant for each other, I was constantly going out of my way to be romantic. I tried, y/n, I really did. All I asked was for her to try a little bit. She couldn't be romantic. Not a single bone in her body. The girl I was with for years couldn't show me how much she loved me, and you've managed to do it in one simple act." His voice cracked at the end, tears starting to roll down his face. "I'm sorry, if thats a bad thing," I murmur, looking down at my hands in my lap. A hand rests under my chin, pulling my face up to look at him. "Seeing, feeling, knowing, that the girl you've loved since your were thirteen years old loves you as much as you love them, no baby, it's not bad. It's the best damn feeling in the world!" My body is torn between crying and bursting from happiness. My lip starts to quiver as the tears begin to roll down my cheeks. Zayn wipes his thumb across my cheeks, attempting to make the tears disappear. "Shh, no baby, don't cry. I didn't mean to make you sad." The worry apparent in his beautiful brown eyes. "I'm crying because I'm happy. Oh god, I think my heart might explode." We both laugh at my comment. I take Zayns face between my hands, looking him in the eye. "I've waited eight years to hear you say you love me, Zayn Malik." "I love you," he says, leaning towards me, "I love you, I love you." He presses his lips to mine, needily. The kiss is passionate, yet sweet. He pulls away, leaving our foreheads together. "I love you," he says, looking into my eyes. "I love you," I smile back. His eyes leave mine for a moment, trailing back over to the box. "Oh my gosh," he whispers. "What?" My eyebrow shoots up in curiosity. He reaches in and pulls out two picture frames. Inside of the first one, is a picture of the two of us when we were five. One day, Zayn and I were playing at his house when we decided to get married. We had forced his little sister, a few cousins, and some stuffed animals to be our audience, while Donihya got the joy of marrying us. She had put a dress up veil on my head, telling me my flower printed dress was fancy enough. Zayn had picked me a bouquet of flowers from his neighbors garden, and he'd snagged two ring pops as our wedding bands. His mom had captured the shot from their back porch, unbeknownst to us. Donihya had just deemed as man and wife. Trisha had caught us right as our lips pressed together. "We were so cute," he smiles. "Hey," I nudge him, "Speak for yourself, I'm still cute." He presses a kiss to the side of my head. "I'll agree to that." He sets the other frame on top of the last, looking at the picture. I lean my head on his shoulder, as we stare at the old photograph. It's two kids at the bus stop with their arms around each other. One with a toothy grin, the other missing her two front teeth. Frozen in time, is a happy little dark haired boy and a happy little pigtailed girl with a pretty smile. My eyes tear up at the picture. "I'd like to think things turned out alright for them," I whisper. He presses his lips to mine. "I can guarantee you they did. I love you, y/n, I'm sorry it took me so long to say it." "It's okay," I smile, "I love you, Zayn."
And so, the dark haired man and the woman with the pretty smile, went to bed. The infatuation that started when they were five, finally grew to love. And as they drifted off to sleep, her head over his heart, the first day of their life together was ready to begin.
(Stolen from Tumblr)
