Nobody Compares [l. tomlinson]

c h a p t e r t w e n t y o n e

Florence looks out at the window while slowly stroking a section of hair in circles around her index finger. She hums along random notes whilst waiting for Zayn to finish making lunch. She takes out her phone and started scrolling down on countless Instagram photos and videos.

"Babe! It's ready", he calls out and she sighs before pushing herself up from the couch and make her way to the kitchen.

"Wow, how'd you know I love carbonara and garlic toasts?", she asks as she takes in the aroma of the freshly cooked foods.

He chuckles and takes a seat at one of the tall stools by the kitchen bar with her following. They both started consuming their food in a comfortable silence until she chose to break it.

"So, how's your weekend been?", she asks.

"Hmmm... Good", he nods as he bites on the toast. "You?"

"Pretty great. Got my monthly cash from my dad. I always email him to stop sending me money because I earn a lot from modelling but it seems he chooses to ignore my emails", she laughs in which he joined in.

"I was thinking of going back to Bradford, y'know? Like where I really came from...", he says and she can't help but choke. He swiftly gets a glass of water and handed it to her in which she hurriedly gulped on it.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm thinking of going back to Bradford"

"But, New York is much more better. I mean, you have full access on everything in here... and everything seems much more easier"

"Yeah, I know that", he mumbles. "I was just thinking of taking a break and spending it there", he continues.

"What about me?", she playfully pouts.

"You can come with me", he smiles while looking down at his plate and twirls the pasta around the fork.

"No, thank you. You know how I've always hated U.K.", she pouts.

"But, we're going to Bradford, not the damn Manchester", he says and she can feel her cheeks burning with rage.

Yes, she did lie about her being from Manchester, not Cheshire just for the sake of her vengeance.

She had it all planned out.

"I'm not going with you. That's the end of it", she says as she finishes off her food and puts her dishes to the sink, leaving a sighing Zayn behind.

* * * * *

Zayn slowly turns the knob to Florence's room and found her sitting by the edge of the bed, staring absentmindedly at the colourful wallpaper of her room.

"Hey", he says approaching her.

"Hi", she mutters as she watches him sit beside her.

"I'm sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have pushed you to come with me", he mutters while looking down at his fingers which are now fumbling.

She leans her head on to his arm. "No, I should be the one apologising for over reacting and leaving you there. I mean, it's your hometown and yeah, I know you might have wanted to visit it so I'm sorry for the way I reacted", she gives a small smile while looking up at him and he looks down at her, giving a smile back.

She stands up and crawls to the bed and laying on it while patting the other side. "Come", she mutters at him in which he gladly oblige.

"Let's talk about something, I'm bored...", she mutters and he nods.

"21 questions, yeah?"

"We've played that before since we first met", she pouts and he smiles.

"You remember that?"

"Yeah, of course I do. Well fine, let's play it then"

"Just like the good ole days. Pretend that we still don't know each other", he chuckles and she laughs.

"Sure."

"So, hi there", he says, tilting his head to face her.

"Hey", she smiles.

"I'm Zayn Malik, and you are?"

"Florence Scolinski", she mutters. "Melissa West"

"So, Florence... Wanna play 21 questions?", he asks.

"Sure Zayn", she smiles.

"Okay, where are you from?", he asks.

"I'm from Manchester but I moved here in New York a few years ago", she states. "I'm from Cheshire"

"So are you here from New York, too? Judging from your accent, you clearly aren't from here", she said and he shakes his head slightly.

"I'm from Bradford", he states and she nods.

"What's your favourite colour?", he asks.

"Lime green. Yours?"

"Navy blue", he answers.

"What's your most embarrassing moment?", she asks.

"Probably when I was about to startle this friend of mine infront of everybody but it turns out I was the one startled from his presence back at senior year.", he laughs at the memory in which she joined because she was there too, without him knowing.

They continued asking the most random questions until the end of the day until the last question in which seemed a little bit touchy for the both of them.

"What is that one thing you've done before that you wished to have take back?", Zayn asks and she can feel a lump going on her throat. She slowly swallows it, hoping she won't choke and pass out anytime soon.

"Well, there's this guy who practically just pulled out a joke on me and I was too blind to see it. The thing was, I fell for it. But the worst is, I became deeply inlove with him", she whispers under her breath too low that she isn't even sure if he had heard it or not.

"I'm sorry...", Zayn mumbles and reaches closer to her, giving a small peck on her forehead.

"My last question would be the same", she smiles, assuring him she's okay.

But the thing is, she was never okay.

"Hmm... well, there's this girl named 'Melissa West' back at my senior year...", he trails off and she can feel herself throwing up but instead, she stayed calm in her place, nodding to let him continue.

"Well, she's like one of the most prettiest girl I've ever laid eyes on back then. I used to have a crush on her, in which my little gang labeled as a 'very pathetic obsession'", he shakes his head slightly and continues.

"Anyways, when she started hanging out with one of my friends, Louis, that same guy you met at the club a few weeks ago, well I started getting a bit jealous over the two of them. And the next thing I knew, I started hating them, not that much for Melissa atleast. I just hated them when they're together... It feels like as if they're making me jealous even though they're not."

"So, yeah, this two crazy friends I have... Niall and Harry, told me to have this poor girl I used to have crush to play with. At first, I was all like 'Heck no. Not happening.'. But as time passes, I needed a little booze or something so I took that pathetic game. I played with her, made her think like we were dating and basically took her innocence", he states while looking away, disgusted by his actions back at the past.

"My conscience always hit me so hard when I see her eyes gleam whenever we were together. I mean, how could I play with such a naïve girl I used to be in love with? But she had done something wrong too...", he trails off.

"What?", she timidly asks.

"She fell in love with me", Zayn responds, looking straight into Florence's eyes.

[A/N : Sorryyyy for making you guys wait for the update even though I only made you wait for like 4 days. Anyways, school is coming next week so I might not be updating always like I used to, but I assure you I will update at least once every week.

You guys are seriously the best cupcakes ever xoxo

I'm weird.]