Switched | Zayn Malik AU

The Brightest Star

Stacy's POV

We went up this cool place which I'm pretty sure was restricted. It was on top of a mountain, overlooking California. We sat there while eating pizza and drinking rootbeer. I was just waiting for Zayn to start speaking, but the entire time, he was quiet. After about three slices, he lied down on the grass.

"She was that girl," he said.

"Who?" I said, lying down beside me.

"The girl who approached me when I got lost in Disneyland when I was young. It was her. Mandy. The girl I fell in love with." He explained.

I had a blank look on my face, not knowing what to answer.

"She's always had a crush on me. We were schoolmates back then but I didn't know who she was. When she approached me, she told me about how she sat behind me in every class but I never really noticed. After that, we became the best of friends. She grew up to be a boyish girl, but I loved her nonetheless. After a few years, she became friends with a few girls in our grade, including Perrie, who eventually became her new bestfriend.

I didn't mind that she had a new bestfriend because it only meant one thing: That she could finally be my girlfriend. I bought her flowers, chocolates and gifts. I have been a gentleman for such a long time, but she rejected me several times until one time, I gave up. I got tired. I realized that if she wanted me, she won't reject me.

One time during my birthday, I was in my room playing video games when I saw her in the balcony, covered with some leaves. She climbed up because she wanted to surprise me. I was expecting for a gift but instead, she kissed me and told me that she still likes me, she just wanted to see if I would give up, which I did. But she still accepted me and told me about how I was the only guy who made her feel loved. She was the only girl I kissed on the lips, until there was you.

Anyway, she became my girlfriend, and we were happy, and we became the school's alpha couple when I became a soccer MVP and she was head cheerleader. It could have been more perfect if I was captain, but your brother got the position which got me so pissed.

We were a couple for two years until one day, she came into my house the same way she said yes to me. I was so excited because I thought we were gonna do the dirty, but instead of doing that, she sat down on my bed and cried. Her makeup was running down her face and she told me about how she had to leave. She told me she loved somebody else and that she was happier with him." He said. I remembered the lyrics of the song he sang in his last video and figured out that Mandy was the girl he was singing for and not Perrie.

"I know I was supposed to be angry, that I was supposed to look for the guy and beat the shit out of him. But I realized that he was giving her something I never could, that he was making her happier than she will ever be when she's with me, and I could never be him no matter how I tried. I know her, she was a reasonable person. She has a valid reason and she would always choose what's right for her.

Maybe I haven't been the best guy for her, or maybe she felt forced to become my girlfriend in the first place, so I couldn't blame her. I didn't even know who he was, but I've never felt so defeated in my entire life.

After she left, I sent her letters through e-mail every week and she would always reply until after the fifth letter. That was when Louis became captain and we were on top of everyone else in the school. I was expecting she would come back because we became better guys but she didn't. The last e-mail she sent me was when she told me about how I should continue singing. That was when I decided to put up my youtube account. I was always hoping she would comment, or e-mail me again, but she didn't. But I know that she's always watching because she's always been my biggest fan." He ended his story with a sigh. It was dark, but I could see tears flowing down from his face.

The stars were shining bright in the sky, like they were also listening to his story, like they were made to worship him, the brightest star in my sky.

"Do you.. do you still love her?" I asked. Here I go again, asking stupid questions. I couldn't help but be hurt and feel like I could never be her. That he could only like her and no one else.

"You just asked me to open up a wound and made me pour lemon into it and now you're asking me I'm feeling a burning sensation," He answered. I remembered when he first speaking in metaphors, it was so confusing. But I know he was feeling something extreme.

"But," he continues, "It doesn't burn anymore. Although, I have to admit, it stings a little." He said while putting his fist on his chest, but he was smiling now.

"I could say I have moved on. I was far from that point already." He said.

"Which is why, don't hate me when I say this, which is why you had Perrie, right? Which is why you had her tattooed on your arm?" I asked.

"I was drunk when I got this tattoo," he says while pointing at it. "It was a dare and I wanted to prove that I wasn't a weakling. It came out pretty well, I guess. I just wish I didn't have HER face on me. I was forced into the relationship. Somehow she reminded me of Mandy, so I used her to forget about Mandy. At first, it worked, but I realized that I wasn't getting the same pleasure anymore, that she could never quite make me feel the same way that Mandy did, but I kept her just because. I thought that if Louis could fake a relationship, hey, maybe I could, too."

He was back to his normal mood now, but I can't help but feel the loneliness behind his eyes. I hugged him and he kissed my forehead.

"But you, you're different. You're a new beginning, a clean slate. You remind me of every single thing that I fear, but when I'm with you, everything just keeps falling into place. Like I never have to worry about change because it could never harm me as long as I'm with you. Like your company just makes everything better. You made me feel alive again."

I was glad he said that. I was afraid I would be a rebound girl after he was done playing with Perrie, or another girl he would use to forget about Amanda, but then I could feel the truth in his voice and I could see the sincerity in his eyes.

"After finding myself today, I found something else." He told me shile I was laying down on his arm and he was facing me.

"What?"

"I found you." He said as he kissed me again.

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