Flawless // z.m

Fifteen.

Arabelle's POV:

The little bubble of warmth growing in my chest was unfamiliar to me. It wasn't uncomfortable or anything like that, just there, steadily spreading every time I was in Zayn's presence. That was the part that scared me the most. The warmth turned to bright flames whenever he touched me or even looked at me. I was sure that I was the only one feeling it, and I didn't want that to be the case. I had to extinguish the fire before it captured me whole and left me with nothing but a few scars.

Things with Zayn were great. I still couldn't put a label on what we were, but I was happy, most of the time, anyway. Whenever we were together it wasn't hard to get lost in us and completely forget about the outside world, only when we parted did it hit me that this wasn't for real. Zayn would want something from me soon, and I'd give it to him, and then we'd be over. I don't think I could prepare for that.

It was easy for us when we were outside of Malik Inc. but the second I stepped into work every morning, the nerves hit me like a tidal wave. I was so scared that we'd get caught that I couldn't even fetch a cup of coffee without shaky hands. 

This whole "thing" put me on edge, but being able to end the night with him made it worth it.

"Good morning, Arabelle." The voice I had grown familiar to echoed through my room in all of it's raspy, morning glory. I smiled slightly, holding back a content sigh and turned to see Zayn propped up on his elbow beside me. His hair was a disheveled mess on top of his head, a lazy smile forming on his lips.

"Good morning," I breathed, not fully comprehending how I, of all people, got to wake up to this every morning. I wiggled around a bit so I was fully facing him. "How did you sleep?" I spoke in a soft whisper, afraid that if I spoke too loud, I'd break the comfortable aura surrounding us.

"Good," he lifted his hand and raked his fingers through my hair, "you?"

"Good." We lapsed into a comfortable silence after that, both of us tending to our own needs. Zayn sat up on the bed and reached for his phone, whilst I fished around my closet for something to wear. I sighed when my fingers met the familiar black fabric of my pencil skirt, the one I wore every single day. I was in dire need of new clothes but between work, school, and Zayn, I never had the time to go shopping.

Zayn has spent the night a few times now and it was exciting having him around at all times. It took me a while to convince him that it was okay for him to sleep in the same bed with me, and that I trusted him, before he finally gave him. It was obvious to see how much he despised the idea of sleeping on the couch, though he'd never admit it. 

"Dress into something comfortable. I called us out for today." Zayn's voice was much closer now and I turned to see him standing at my closet entrance. He was dressed in his wrinkled white dress shirt, sloppily buttoned and low hanging dress pants. 

"Oh. Uhm, why?" I should've been used to his spontaneous planning by now, but it always took me by surprised. He has been pushing around his schedule a lot lately just to spend some time with me. It was a nice gesture, really, but I was always the one that had to take the angry phone calls from clients when he decided to cancel.

"I don't have any meetings today anyway, plus the shark exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium is only open for a few more weeks." He shrugged. Furrowing my eyebrows, it took everything in me not to smile like a lunatic when Zayn suggested the Shedd Aquarium with nonchalance. I nodded slowly, watching as he gave me a soft smile and backed out of my closet.

"We'll need to stop by my place first, if that's alright." He popped his head back in whilst I switched the pencil skirt out for a pair of jeans.

"Uhm yeah, yeah that's totally fine." I've never actually been to Zayn's house before, so that'll be a nice change. I've seen the outside of it, but he was always hesitant to let me inside.