Escapade » z.m

60. The Little Girl Doesn't Take My Veg Roll

He feels a sharp sting, the water splashes his face again, cold and burning. He barely flinches, staring wide eyed at his reflection. The water trickles down his neck, and the front of his shirt is wet. He’s forgotten it’s not his own shirt, but Mr. Hudson’s. When Zayn will realise it, his heart might do a somersault in his chest. Right now, he only stares at himself, only half here in the bathroom.

In a matter of few hours, his reflection has changed so much. He gives himself a lopsided smile, because under the flickering light, he realises it’s not just his reflection that has changed.

He dabs at his face, light and easy where the cuts sting the most and listens to the chaos ensuing outside. The bathroom door is slightly ajar, and Gemma’s shrilly call for Louis floats inside. Its apparent Louis has managed to do something wrong in the last moments of his stay at Gemma’s house.

Outside, Gemma looks at Louis with a frown, hands at her hips and shaking her head. "I told you not to pack so soon, Louis." Gemma chides him, unzipping his backpack, "Now I’ll have to ruin all your hard work."

"Its no big deal, Gem." He flashes her a smile, and puts his arms out as Gemma takes out all his belongings outside his bag and puts them there one by one. There’s not much, only some shirts and jeans, and more than needed sweats.

"We have all the time in the world." He chimes, "I could unpack and pack my bag a thousand times more. Its not like Zayn is taking forever in there." He says, flicking a glance at the bathroom. "Wonder what he’s doing in there for so long." He feigns a sigh. "Have you kept some nice smelling bathtub bombs in there? He’d love a bath in the rose ones, I’m sure." He says, just as a towel comes flying at his face. "Oi, that was rude." He directs at Zayn, who comes out as if on cue. "I was just telling Gemma some of your preferences here, isn’t it Gem?"

Gemma hides her smile when Zayn comes to sit in the dining chair, where Gemma and Louis are both huddled, arranging Louis’ bag. "There’s cookies in this box." Gemma picks up a rounded tin box from the dining table. "You can recycle the box, of course, as you should." She says, putting it deep in his bag like it’s bound to get stolen. "And please, don’t eat them all together, your stomach will be upset for ages. You’re travelling and we don’t want that."

"Right." Louis perks, passing Zayn an amused smile, his clothes still nestled in his hands.

"There’s veg roll in it." She picks up another tin box, and goes on to handing it to Louis. "Oh, oh sorry. You can keep your clothes on the table." She chuckles, and puts the box on the table. "You should eat it on the train, they’d still be hot by then, you must be hungry. I’m so sorry we couldn’t have dinner together." She says, looking at both of them with apologetic eyes. "I’m sorry about everything, really." She says lastly, shaking her head. "Let’s keep your clothes back then." She picks his clothes one by one and folds them. Louis takes them and arranges them inside his bag, putting the box with veg roll at last and zipping it.

"Louis, please don’t forget to eat it, alright? There’s enough in it. You shouldn’t have to buy something from outside, it’s all unhealthy. And while travelling." She shakes her head, as if tormented by a memory of a holiday gone wrong.

"Why are you sitting idle?" She asks Zayn, who widens his eyes at the sudden attention he receives and drops the face he was making to mock at Gemma. Louis suppresses a loud laugh, while Zayn straightens from his previous relaxed position.

"Did you put the ointment or not?" She asks fervently, and Zayn nods. "Oh, then should have told me sooner! I would have put the new band aids on them. We don’t want it infected." She goes to the table by the fireplace and comes back with some new funky looking band aids. She bends down to examine them, hesitating before putting the band aid again. "We definitely can’t do much about your lip and that bruise. Is it darker than some time ago? I remember it being lighter than that."