Escapade » z.m

53. I Get My Face Smashed In The Cake

"Are you for real?" Zayn breathed, holding Louis at arm's length. His eyes raked Louis like he had seen an alien, and he was trying to take in everything before Louis disappeared into another dimension.

"Well, I better be right?" Louis said, crossing his arms, his lips curling into a smirk. "Or all these people are just staring at you holding thin air." He said pointedly.

Zayn dropped his arms and took a quick look around. He had yelped, had darted across the till with frenzied steps when it dawned on him that Louis was really here, it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. Zayn did, however, felt like he himself wasn't real. This moment, probably this entire day wasn't real.

"Why are you here?" He blurted out. His mind was still stuck on that one thought. So much happiness in one day, how was he to fathom that all, swallow it all in and not question it. "Why—how come are you here?"

"Why," Louis arched his brows, "Should I go?" He asked in his ever present teasing cadence and made a turn to the door. Zayn let out an impatient noise. He tugged at Louis' sleeve to stop him before he could take any step further.

"I swear to god, Lou." He hissed, "If you don't start narrating a novel worth of explanation right now, I'm going to end you, imaginary or not." He said threateningly, fixing him with a glare.

He couldn't pin point anything at the moment. Louis was here, Barbara— out of all people— had been the first one to wish him, his hands were tied and they were still stinging, and above all, he still hadn't counted the cents correctly. He still felt detached, like it wasn't happening.

"Jeez." Louis made a face. It was all too familiar for it to be a piece of his imagination. His heart jumped at the revelation that he might not just be dreaming. "I just arrived here and this is how you welcome me. Is this a coffee house or a butcher's place?"

Zayn blinked at Louis, "It's called a slaughterhouse, not a butcher's place." He said then, quietly, like he didn't understand why he was saying it, but Louis' comment had been so ridiculous he just couldn't help himself.

"Oh god, you don't change, do you?" Louis said, and he sounded so amused that Zayn wanted to laugh at himself, but he didn't, for Louis quietened too, and his eyes searched Zayn's face briefly.

Zayn's eyebrows were pulled together, the chocolate of his eyes were glistening against his will.

He looked more mature than the last time Louis had seen him, and the last time Louis had seen Zayn wasn't the best time for either of them. There had been high pitched yelling from Louis' side, and a deafening silence from Zayn's, except a couple of words he had spoken in his defence.

His hair were longer now, tied and pushed out of the eyes with a headband. He had some stubble growing, but he didn't look half as tired as he had at Louis' home last year. Granted, there was a tangible serenity visible on his face, even with his eyes so wide as he stared.

"You—" Zayn paused, looking like he was struggling to find words, and that he was, but he wasn't going to let Louis have an upper hand at all times. Louis wasn't just going to barge in unannounced, and then outsmart Zayn when he was so disoriented. "You shut up." He said at last.

"Wow, aren't you the winner of all arguments."

Zayn huffed and turned away from Louis. "Shut up," He said, almost distractedly as his eyes fell on Gemma and Lucas. They were approaching them, with Gemma trying to catch Zayn's eyes, her face saying something. "I'm mad at you." He told Louis, tearing his gaze away from Gemma.

"What, why?" He asked, appalled.

"I asked first," Zayn said stiffly, glancing at Gemma and Lucas now that they stood next to them. "How come are you here?"