New Life

Noticing

"Holy shit." Kyara's jaw dropped as she looked around the room they would be painting. It was beautiful. That was the only word to describe it. All four walls of the room were covered from top to bottom with designs. They were spray painted works of art. The ground was an almost black wood, and it was almost as pretty as the walls.

Kyara quickly set down the tools they were using to paint and went to get a closer look at what used to be white wall. She ran her fingers over what appeared to be a giant black rose with thorns, reminding her of the tattoo she had wanted when she was younger. Kyara wasn't even aware that someone could make art like this with spray paint. Sure, she knew that Zayn liked to use the material to paint walls before, but she didn't know how important it was to his life.

"I probably should have warned you..." Zayn had walked into the room a moment ago, watching Kyara marvel over a black dog he had painted a couple years ago. "It's a bit of a mess right now."

"This is amazing, Zayn." She turned to look at him with that same wonder-filled expression. It warmed his heart. "Why are we painting over these?"

Kyara looked perplexed, even a little hurt as to why he would want to cover the art. The sheer amount of works was baffling on its own. It must've taken him years to fill the room.

"Because I've started a new chapter in my life. I have photos of each separate thing I've painted, but now it's time for new emotions to cover these walls." Zayn touched a red circle with the 1D logo in it with a sad smile.

"Can I ask what that new chapter is?" The girl was curious as to what could possibly be so important as to cover these memories and feelings.

"That conversation is for another time. Now, grab a brush and get to work." Zayn handed her a roller and two different colors of paint. Black and red. She looked at him, and her whole face looked like a question mark. "Different walls. Different colors for different emotions."

Kyara nodded and went to the wall he appointed as black, the farthest from the door. She was quick to get started, putting her phone in the back of her sweats in the waistband with the music on shuffle. Zayn had disappeared to change into his own painting clothes. The girl was already rolling on the black paint by the time he came back, humming along to Ride by Somo, unconsciously rolling her hips as she painted.

Zayn just looked at her with pursed lips, wondering if he should announce his presence, watch her, or maybe actually paint. He chose a mixture of all three, clearing his throat so she looked over at him and glancing at her every few seconds as he rolled the white paint on the wall.

The two painted in silence for a while, only the music cutting into the quiet of the room. It wasn't awkward, by any sense of the word. Now that she thought about it, she never really did have any awkward silences with Zayn.

"Kyara...?" Zayn broke the silence as the song switched.

"Yes?" She looked over her shoulder to find him standing with his arms crossed and body turned towards her.

"Where did you get this song?" Kyara sat there being confused for a second, and then realized that she was listening to a leaked song that was never actually put on any albums.

"I don't see why you keep doubting the power of your fandom, Zayn." She grinned and went back to work, almost feeling him rolling his eyes at her back.

"Let's talk." Zayn was already starting his second coat of paint, while Kyara was finishing up her first. "Tell me about... Your first kiss."

"Alright. It's a pretty boring story actually." Kyara started her second coat as she talked. "It was the summer between eighth and ninth grade. I'd had a major crush on this one guy for quite a while. One day, I was just running around town, being a weirdo with Jaden and Emma. We saw the guy with a group of his friends, and they started whispering about us. Emma and Jaden wanted to just leave the park, but by this point, I was just pissed at the dude for making me feel so stupid and whispering about us. So I put on my big girl pants and stomped on over to them. At the time, my hair was blue, and I had a nose stud. As soon as I started walking, all of the guys ran except for the one dude. Me being me, I was so prepared to bitch him out, but he just kinda stood there and smiled. I was just about to talk when he just said 'Hey, Kyara! I've been meaning to do this for a while.' And the fucktard straight up kissed me! Emma and Jaden were so confused, but I just went with it. And that's how I got my first real boyfriend."