Cover | zm [ON HOLD]

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

When Liam's annoying ass has dropped me off in front of Zayn's home, I'm left awe struck. To say his house is beautiful is an understatement. It's two stories, the windows large and spacious. The door is a dark oak, the wood standing out against the clean white brick of the exterior. There's a small garden off to the far left, roses of all colors, colors I didn't think they came in, growing from larger bushes. A dark oak bench sits a few feet in front of the rose garden, the white matching the house. This wasn't a damned apartment but I was simply proven wrong by his conjoined neighbors on either side, both different from each other. There was fence that separated each building down the middle.

A small smile makes its way on to my lips. Climbing the four or five steps up to the porch, I reach out to ring the door bell.

It takes a few seconds before the door is flung open and standing in it is a shirtless Zayn. Without much thought, my eyes dip down his exposed chest, down to the waistband of his sweats that hang low enough that the upper half of his V-line is exposed to anyone looking.

Well shit.

I gulp down the sudden attraction towards him – more so his body – as I meet his amused gaze. His hazel eyes are brighter today, brighter than usual. I send him a half forced smile. "Hey." I'm the first to speak up. To break the silence between us.

Zayn steps to the side, letting me walk in through the threshold. Stopping in the hallway that more than likely leads to the living room and kitchen, I wait for him to rejoin me.

Overall, his house (well apartment..in my honest opinion this was way to nice to be classified as an apartment) is beautiful. Inside and out. When Zayn leads me down the hallway towards the living room, my eyes can't help but wonder over all the family pictures and selfies of people hanging up on the cool grey walls. A small smile tugs at my lips as I continue to stroll down the hallway, eyes scanning each picture.

Just as Zayn rounds the corner, more than likely to be in the actual living room, I spot a picture that has me wondering.

It's a picture of Zayn, he couldn't have been more than twelve in the photo. But what really caught my attention was the smiling black boy standing beside him, curly hair hanging low on his forehead and his dimples on full display. It was Kyle. Choked up, my fingers reach out and swipe slowly across the photo. The both of them are in soccer uniforms, Kyle holding the traditional white and black ball under on arm while the other was slung over Zayn's shoulder. Zayn was smiling brightly, a huge trophy held tightly in his free hand and the other mimicking Kyle's. They looked like brothers in this photo.

"What are you doing?"

The sudden sound of Zayn's slightly raspy voice catches me completely off guard and I jump and knock into the wall opposite the picture I'd been staring at. Hand over my rapidly beating heart, I snapped my eyes up to give Zayn the best glare I can muster up at the moment.  "Dammit, Zayn."

He looked from me to the photo he caught me staring so deeply in thought at and raised an eyebrow.

I sighed. "I didn't know you guys were friends.."

Zayn rolled his eyes, seemingly annoyed that I even said anything about it.

"Were." He emphasized, hazel eyes slightly narrowed with a certain emotion I couldn't quite pinpoint. Discomfort, maybe.

"What happened?" The words slip out of my mouth before I can stop them. Biting my lip, I cross my arms over my chest, watching him to see how he'd react. It was sweet he'd even hung the picture up in his home. Obviously it meant something.

He rolled his eyes again. "High school happened. And puberty....people changed." Zayn turned, motioning for me to follow after him. Instead of pushing him on the subject (he seemed a little hurt if I'm not mistaken), I followed him to the living room. He pointed to a couch and I took a seat quietly, watching as he moved around, grabbing things up and putting stuff back where it belonged.

For him to have just moved in, it was pretty well set up. There weren't any boxes in sight, the living room looked like he'd been here for a while and the kitchen that connected to the living area had food and dishes put up in it.

"Nice place," I voiced my thoughts since it was so quiet. I heard him grunt a thanks. I guess that would have to do. "Why'd you invite me anyways?"

Zayn stood up straight, reaching on the shelf above his tv to grab a CD from the CD rack. He turned the tv on and slipped the disc into the player. Soon after, music began to play softly and I relaxed a little further, leaning back into the chair. This was nice.

"Because, I need to keep an eye on you. I know you were at home alone. Thought you might want some company."

A little shocked, my eyebrows shot up and I stopped my movements of taking off my shoes. For a minute, I thought about thanking him. Because when I was sitting at home all alone, I was slightly afraid someone I didn't want to meet would make an appearance and maybe kidnap me.

But instead of thanking him, I messed with him. "Zayn Malik showing empathy towards others. Now that's something you definitely don't see everyday."

He stopped what he was doing, turning to give me a glare over his shoulder. "Shut up."

-
*a/n

I thought this chapter was cute. Idk why.

Zayn gotta bomb ass house/apartment

Vote. Comment. Bye.

(Finally figured out how to play my gifs on iPhones lol )