normal girl. [zane hijazi]

04 | an escape

"No fucking way."

"Yeah, you already said that," Alex Ernst murmured.

"Oh my god," Zane continued. 

He'd been in such a state of shock that he still wasn't able to form any other coherent statements besides the two he kept repeating for the past 5 minutes. 

"It's nice to meet you too," Daisy joked. 

Zane let out a breathy chuckle, before standing up slowly. "I'm so sorry, I'm just like shocked right now, I can't believe you're actually here," he had his hands on his head, eyes wide with excitement.

"You can actually thank Liza and David for that," Daisy began, "they called me up earlier and asked me to surprise you." 

"No fucking way," Zane repeated, turning to the couple.

"Yes, fucking way," David replied. 

"Oh my god, it's so nice to meet you," Zane laughed, coming towards her for a hug. Daisy wrapped her arms around him and was engulfed in his warmth. She could smell the sweat on his skin and feel his shaking hands against her waist, but nervousness aside her body seemed to perfectly fit against his as they both laughed. 

"It's nice to meet you too," Daisy repeated, pulling apart and smiling up at him. 

There was a silence as his eyes met hers. He took a shaky breath, unable to believe that he really was this close to Daisy Rhee. This moment was something he had only envisioned in his dreams, a fantasy he never believed could have ever happened. But she was here, and she was very much real.

Most of the group had gone off after Zane's initial reaction, but a few lingered behind, most of whom just wanted a chance to say hi to Daisy. 

And it was in this moment that one of Zane's friends chose to cut in, introducing themselves and asking to get a picture with Daisy. 

She had immediately said yes, but kept glancing back at Zane, who was still smiling but had an almost disappointed look in his eyes as she was whisked away by everyone else. 

He was mentally cursing himself out for getting so tongue tied, and not being able to say anything else besides his exclamations of disbelief. He had dreamt of so many things to ask her about, to be able to know who she was away from the cameras and fame, but he had lost his chance, and he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to get her alone for the rest of the night. 

But by some luck, Daisy had found him again a few minutes later, finally breaking free from the others. Zane had walked off to the kitchen, finding Heath and immediately venting to him about how stupid he felt. In the middle of his speech he hadn't noticed Daisy walking up behind him, until he felt a tapping on his shoulder.

When he turned around, his eyes widened, cheeks flushing as he said, "Oh shit, I didn't see you there."

Daisy only chuckled before replying, "You're fine, I'm sorry I lost you back there, though, everyone wanted to say hi, and I just got lost..." she trailed off.

"No, it's okay," Zane shrugged. Immediately he glanced back at Heath for some quick advice. He didn't know where to take the conversation from there, but Heath immediately gestured towards the back yard. Zane turned back to Daisy, who had stopped to say a few words to Kristen. When Kristen walked away, Zane leaned in a little and murmured, "Hey, do you wanna go somewhere else?" 

Immediately Daisy's eyes looked up at his. She nodded and sighed in relief when Zane began to lead her out to the back yard. She hadn't noticed, but when Zane opened the door for her he turned back to Heath, who gave his friend a thumbs up before trying his best to get everyone as far away from them as possible. Heath may have wanted to say a few more things to Daisy, but he knew how important this was for his friend, so he was going to try his best to get him the time alone that he needed. 

The light from the house poured through the windows, illuminating their path as they walked out to a moonlit sky. 

"Oh, shit, you guys got a hoop here?" Daisy exclaimed, immediately picking up the basketball close by and dribbling. 

"Yeah, I guess they had to have something to keep them distracted while they were editing all day," Zane shrugged, laughing as she went for a layup, scoring easily. 

"You know, when I was a little kid, I wanted to be in the NBA" Daisy grinned, giggling as Zane looked at her with a puzzled expression. 

"Not even the WNBA?" He asked.

"Oh, no, just straight to the NBA, no questions asked," she shrugged, pulling up and banking the next shot. "I wanted to be like Vince Carter, and do a sick ass windmill dunk every game," she laughed.

"With your height?" Zane teased, earning a boisterous laugh from Daisy. 

"I was aiming high back then, okay?" She shot back, but still chuckled. 

And they stayed out side for what felt like hours, laughing and sharing stories of their childhood, reminiscing over what life had been like before everything changed for each other. 

It wasn't until Heath tapped on the glass door, telling Zane that Liza and David were leaving soon, that they realized just how long they'd been together. 

"Shit, I didn't even realize how late it was," Daisy murmured, pulling out her phone to a sea of notifications, reminders of a life that she would never be able to escape, no matter how hard she tried. 

She sighed, and the high of the night seemed to fade as she and Zane stepped back into the house, following Heath back to the main entrance. 

David and Liza stood by the door, motioning for Daisy to follow. 

"Well, it was really nice to talk to you," Zane began, pulling Daisy in for a hug. 

"You too," Daisy smiled, lingering just a little longer in his arms before eventually pulling away. 

When they were all inside the car and driving back to the coffee shop Daisy leaned forward, tapping Liza on the shoulder and asking to see her phone.

Liza easily handed it over, but asked what was up as Daisy began to scroll through her contacts. 

"Just something I need to do real quick," Daisy murmured. When she found what she was looking for, she immediately gave the phone back to Liza, returning to her own and typing up a quick message. 

It wasn't until later, when she was back in her own car and had fully settled down from the night that she looked back at the still unsent message. 

She leaned back in her seat, debating whether or not to hit send. 

Thinking back, she remembered the words he had said to her in the backyard:

"but would you ever trade it? You know, take the fame, the attention and all that, just to get a normal life back?" 

"I don't know. It's become such a big part of me that I'm not sure who I'd be without any of it."

And then he grew silent, looking at her with a hint of something in his eyes that she couldn't quite place. 

"I'm sure you'd still be the same."

"Maybe."

"You just need an escape every now and then. A chance to get away." 

Daisy sighed. Finally, she plucked up the courage, and grabbed her phone, hitting send before she could even pause to doubt herself. 

The message read:

Hey, Zane, its Daisy. About that escape, did you want in?