Stumbling Upon This Thing Called Love

{Chapter 22} ~Annabelle~

It's only twenty minutes until Zayn was coming to pick me up and I was still in my under wear. I took my time to exfoliate and do my nails and crap and now time was closing in. Lasy was over to help with my makeup. I hurridely slip inot my clothes and sit in front of my dresser to let Lasy work her magic.

We don;t soeak, there's no need to. Lasy already know how nervous I am about this, so there's no need to talk about it. She already gave me pointers on equiette yesterday, so i was ready--I hope.

Just as we're finishing up with the eye shadow, the doorbell rings. i jump, startled, but compose myself enough to open the door. Zayn stands there, dressed in a casual dress jacket and loose dress pants, hair--as always--styled to perfection.

"Hey," I grin widely.

"Hey," He says, mirroring my facial expression.

"I'll be home by curfew!" I call as I leave the house. i don't stay back to hear Daddy's reply. I try to keep my hands from shaking by keeping them busy for the entire ride. We there much too quickly for my liking, and soon, it's going to be time to meet the parents.

"You ready?" He asks me.

 I sigh. "As ready as I'll ever be," 

"Hello Zayn," His mum greets him with a hug at the door. She had a plump little body and I could see where Zayn got hsie eyes from. "This must be Annabelle," She says, finally noticing me. Her eyes quickly scan my outfit, so when she goes in for a hug, I know i made the right choice.

"Zayn's back! And he brought his girlfriend," Taunts a adolescant girl when we enter. She looks just like her mum, in mini form. Another girl starts chanting.

"Zayn's got a girlfriend, Zayn's got a girlfriend," she chants, joining in on the fun. Zayn rolls his eyes, but hugs her anyway.

"Don't worry, I’ll grace you with my presence," says the older one right before she gives him a hug. Nothing like a guy hugging his sisters to make a girl love him even more.

"Hey Zayn," says another girl, this one looks even older than Zayn. "Don't crush my ribs with a hug this time," She warns, narrowing her eyes. I laugh inside, wondering what that's about.

 Her eyes land on me. "So, this is mystery girl," she muses.

"I forgot all about you Belle," Zyan says. He grabs my hand and brings me to where they're standing.

"Annabelle, this is my older sister. Doniya, and my two younger sisters, Safaa and Wahilya," He points to each Doniya is the oldest one, and Safaa is obviously the youngest. Wahilya is like the middle child. "Doniya, Safaa, and Wahilya, i would like you to meet my girlfriend, Annabelle," A warmth of happiness comes over me when I hear how proudly he said girlfriend.

"She's pretty," Safaa is the first one to speak. She grins at me before skipping away somehwre.

Wahilya stands there, scrutinizing me for a minute, before smiling. "I like her," She says.

"Me too," agrees Doniya. "She must really like Zayn to be willing to have dinner with us tonight," She adds with a light chuckle.

i start to relax, thinking, they aren't so bad--then, his father comes down the stairs. 

His father wasn't exactly tall, but his there was pwerful air to him. He has sharp eyes and a weathered face that showed years of hard work and dedication.

"Good evening Zayn, this must be that girl you were talking about," He says, also looking me over. I seem to have met his standards and we shake hands. Zayn shakes hands with him also and greets him.

"Well, let's not keep your mother waiting," says his father, "she spent all day making this food," 

Wahilya drags Safaa away from what ever she was doing and to the dining room where a feast is set up. There are plates of Arabic cuisine lined up and down the eight seating table. My stomach growls quitely at all the deliscious scents and sights before me.

His mum and dad sit at the head of the table. Doniya and Wahilya sits on either side of my mum and Safaa sit in the seat just before his father's seat. Zayn and I sit beside Doniya, with me in the middle.

We start passing out food first before the interrogation begins.

"So, Annabelle, what do you do?" His mum asks.

"Nothing yet, I’m still in high school, I’ll be graduating in just two months," i reply. 

"What do you plan to do once you graduate?" His dad asks now.

"I don't know yet. Considering that the cancer doesn't kill me off first, I’ll probably go into journalism," i say this lightly, but Zayn must've not told the rest of his family because the practically choke on their food.

"You have cancer?" Wahilya gasps, eyes wide as if I were a rare specimen. "What kind?"

"Breast," I state simply.

"Whoa. When'd you get it?" The conversation now goes from a questioning about me to a questioning about cancer, which i'm totally ine with answering. It takes the heat off of me and all have to do is state facts from my past.

"Wow, that must've been tough to deal with," His mum says sympathetically when she hears the bit about the gene.

"It was. I lived most of my life in fear that I would get it and I did. It even ruined a relationship for me," I say.

"Thank you for the lovely dinner, Mrs. Malik, your cooking was wonderful," i say when I've eaten a modest amount of food. enough to fill me up and compliment her cooking. "I'm afraid I have to leave now since I still live under my father's roof, I still have to obey curfew,"

"Of course. You stop by any time," She says, huggiong me goodbye.

When Zayn gets in the car, his face seems like it might split from the wide grin of joy on it.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Zayn and I say simultaneously when we enter the car. We laugh at the coincidence.

'You thought it was going to be bad, too?" he asks.

"Yeah," i reply, "meeting the parents are always nerve racking, stress inducing, and interrogating,"

"Hmm. Well, mine are even worse. Luckily, the topic of your cancer managed to veer them off course," He says.

I laugh at that. "At least it's good for something besides getting out of school,"

He turns to look  at me.

"What?" i ask.

"It amazes how you can joke about this all the time," He says.

"Me too," i say wistfully. I watch the cars whiz by on the road, all going to different homes, different situations. They have no clue what just haooened to Zayn and I and I have no clue what just happened to them. Just strangers passing by.

I didn't even know I'd fallen asleep until Zay is shaking me awake. I jerk awake and try to get a sense of my surroundings. We were home already.

On the orch, I turn to afce him, smiling. "I had a great time," I say. Ugh, so corny, I think.

"Me too. Now that you've met the family, I should probably confirm with the media that we're dating," He says.

"I'd like that," i says. We embrace and kiss, our tongues playing a game a of tonsil hockey.  A sharp rap on the window interrupts us. We look up to see myfather's angry face.

"Oh. my god,"i can barely control  my laughter. I bury my face into Zayn's toned chest until I can get emotions under control.

"I guess I better go," He says, also trying to calm down.

"Yeah, before he sends a hit man for you or something," I add. We hug one last time before he gets back in his car to drive home. It isn't until I'm going to bed that i realize soemthing.

Neither of us remembered to return our underwear.