in the hills • zayn malik

twenty four- solutions

twenty four- solutions

song for this chapter: “under the pressure” by The War on Drugs

>>><<<

Harry cleared his throat, fiddling with the ends of his half unbuttoned shirt, his eyes averting the half naked man in the doorway, cheeks red. “Ah, I’m sorry, is Perrie home, I mean, I’m sorry if we’re interrupting-”

The man had his sharp blue eyes on Zayn, eyes widening in realisation. Zayn shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, knowing at once who he was, the one that caused all this to happen. Perrie’s lover.

“What do you need Perrie for?” He said harshly, not looking away from Zayn.

“We need to talk to her.” Louis said. “It’s important.”

He didn’t look at Louis as he spoke, only looking at Zayn. He looked like he was struggling on whether to slam the door in their faces or let them in, but he sighed and stood aside, mumbling that Perrie was in the kitchen making a late lunch.

The apartment was spacious, though her apartment had only one bedroom. It was plainly decorated, but Perrie was barely home enough to add any permanent personal touches to it. Zayn felt slightly uncomfortable but tried to hide it, knowing that this conversation needed to be had.

Perrie was singing in the kitchen, and Zayn couldn’t help but smile at hearing her voice. She was so talented and great at what she did, which was something that they had in common. Their passions were music, and that still hadn’t changed and that brought a feeling of normalcy back to him.

“Oliver, who was at the-?”

Perrie walked out of the kitchen, a loose t-shirt on, with a wooden spoon in her hand, her hair a mess and with no makeup on. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the four of them standing there, the tension in the room rising.

“What are you doing here Zayn?” She asked, looking worriedly at Oliver, who had his jaw clenched and arms crossed over his chest.

“Nice to see you too.” Zayn said grimly, a little stung at her less than warm welcome. “We need to talk.”

She bit her lip, looking worried. “Where’s Liam?”

“Not here.” Louis said quietly, and Zayn could hear the bitterness in his voice. He realised that Louis hadn’t forgiven Perrie for what had happened, and was holding what had happened and what was happening against Perrie.

“Please.” Harry said, his green eyes wide. “It’s urgent.”

Perrie sighed, looking defeated. “Make yourselves comfortable, I’m just going to finish up.”

Zayn sat down on the couch, Harry and Louis sitting on either side. Oliver stood there awkwardly, before following Perrie back into the kitchen. Zayn put his head in his hands, knowing that she’d never agree to any wedding, even if it was a fake one. He could hear murmurs floating over from the kitchen, the worried and tense tone making Zayn feel even worse.

“How can we ask this of her, of them?” Zayn said quietly. “I know I wouldn’t do this, it’s not fair.”

“We’ll talk about it first, maybe Perrie has some ideas.” Harry said hopefully, voice low. “If there was a different option... If there was anything that I could do to stop Liam being in the midst of this hysteria that the media has created, then I would do it.” He paused, pursing his lips. “But I have no idea how to do it.”