"Niall! You almost ready?" I hear Zayn call from the living room.
"Yeah! I'll be down in a minute!" I shout as I put the last few things in my bag, zip it up, and barrel down the stairs.
"Good, now remember; don't let the lads know we're leaving. I know how hard it is for you to keep a secret," he states, opening the door and heading for the car.
Oh, if he only knew how well I could keep secrets...
I follow him, thinking about how he proposed this idea last night. I was the last one to go to bed, like always. I had turned off the the TV and tiptoed to my room, trying not to wake the other boys who were sleeping. Well, I thought so anyway. Zayn was sitting on my bed, messing with his phone. I don't know how long he'd been waiting for me, or why he didn't just come down to the living room, but I didn't have much time to think about it. When he saw me, all he said was, "Run away with me?"
He told me why he wants me to go with him. Apparently, it's because I'm fun and I wouldn't talk about how irresponsible the idea was.
How could I say no to that? I've been waiting to be alone with Zayn for as long as I can remember. The tight schedule we have has kept Liam, Louis, and Harry around every second of every day.
And now here we are, getting into our car and driving to who knows where while the other three lads are at the signing. Zayn and I are 'sick.' Don't ask me why they fell for that, we must be better actors than Harry gives us credit for.
"So where are we going?"
"My house," he answer vaguely.
"Wait, so that's what this is all about? Seeing your family?" I ask, a little disappointed. I know it was stupid, but I was sort of hoping we'd just escape for a day or so. Alone. Go on a romantic date at the amusement park a couple hours away. I don't know what I was thinking.
"Yep. I miss them... so here we go!" he said excitedly, turning the keys in the ignition and driving away from the house the lads and I share.
I was quiet the whole way. How could I think we'd go on a romantic trip? Zayn doesn't like me like that! I'm his best friend...
His best friend. I laugh at the idea. How can I be his best friend if I've kept a secret from him for the past two years. Best friends don't keep secrets. But I want to be Zayn's best friend. That's why I have to tell him. I have to. Today.
"We're almost out of gas. There's a rest stop about a mile up. I'll stop then," he explains.
I grunt in response.
And sure enough, he pulls over in just a couple minutes.
The British boy gets out of the car and begins to fill the tank, leaning against my window in the process. Does he really have to put his bum in my face? I look straight ahead, but eventually give in to the temptation and take a glance at it. Okay, maybe more than a glance...
A minute later, he pulls the hose out of the tank and walks back over to the car after paying.
"Ready?" he says, smiling.
I don't say anything.
"Niall, what's wrong? You've been ignoring me this whole ride. I didn't even do anything! The last thing I said to you was about us going to visit my family! Do you not want to see my family? Do you not like them? You've never even spent time with them! How can you not like them?!" Zayn remarks, getting angrier and angrier by the second.
"I'm not mad at you! And I'm not mad at your family! I love your family! They're just like you! You want to know why I'm mad?! Because I didn't expect visiting your family! For some reason, I thought we would go on some romantic adventure! I WANT to go on a romantic adventure with you! I thought we were going to have one, ever since you asked ME OF ALL PEOPLE to go with you! And you know why?! Because I love you Zayn! I've loved you ever since I first met you! And I don't care if you don't feel the same way because it's nice to get it off my chest! You can go home and laugh to all the boys about how I HAVE HAD A CRUSH ON YOU SINCE THE X-FACTOR DAYS AND I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE I KNOW YOU WON'T LOVE ME BA-"
