If Time Stands Still

22- bittersweet

Zayn's POV

"You sure have a lot of crap, Zayn." Aunt Zileh complains as she assists me with boxing up my belongings.

I smile slightly as I empty out my second last closet. Every few seconds, I find myself glancing over at my aunt who I've been living with for nearly ten years now. As excited as I am to finally have my own space and do as I please, the fact that she hasn't smiled once since she's stepped in my room causes a lump to form in my throat. It's like moving out of London all over again, even though we'll only be fifteen minutes away. Aunt Zileh is a second mother to me and I can never thank her enough for all that she's done for me throughout these crucial years.

Swallowing hard, I neatly place my sneakers in the box before walking over to her and crouching down so that we're eye-level, "Thank you."

"Well, you can't do this yourself, now can you?" She answers while avoiding eye contact with me. I've always admired how she'd put on a brave face as long as I've lived with her, all to prevent me from worrying. As much as I appreciated her thoughtfulness, I could always tell when she was upset anyway.

"Not just for this." I take the Xbox controller from her hand, finally getting her to look at me. As expected, there's tears in her eyes which crushes me, "For everything you've done for me. I'll visit as much as I can."

She smiles, "Please let me breathe, Zayn."

I find myself chuckling, "I'll give you your space. I'm gonna miss dinner."

"You won't be far away."

"So why are you crying then?" I laugh, which makes her laugh as well. We both stand up and embrace each other in a tight hug.

She sniffs, "It's happy tears. I can finally do everything I wanted to do now."

"Like what?"

"None of your business."

I smile as I pat her back before letting go, "Well, at least you can spend some time with Shak without him worrying about me."

She scoffs, "He's not intimidated by you, Zayn. He's just shy."

"He's such a big guy, yet he looks like he might soil himself whenever he steps foot in here."

"He's just trying not to step on your toes." She defends him, "He knows you're like a son to me."

I smile and nod, "You gonna tell the fam about..."

She sucks in a sharp breath, "What time will they be here?"

"Mum said they'll land at around 10 tomorrow morning."

"You tell Aylin they're coming yet?" She questions me with folded arms.

With a heavy sigh, I shake my head. Aylin has mentioned that she's feeling a lot better after a visit to the doctor. However, she is still sick and knowing how easily she gets stressed out, I decided not to tell her just yet. I wouldn't want to do anything which would hinder her recovery progress.

"Nope, not yet." I sit down on my bed. I just hope that she won't be mad at me for this. I'm aware that meeting the parents is made out to be a big deal for some people, and I guess Aylin is one of them since she freaked out when I met hers so soon. However, it's not every day where my family is in Chicago, so here's to hoping that she likes surprises.

"Are you going to tell her tomorrow? People don't like to be surprised when it comes to that. Especially girls." She warns, "A lot of thought goes into it and I'm sure she'd want to prepare. Otherwise she'll just feel like you've put her on the spot and it'll turn into a silly argument later."