Love, as I know it

London

I could feel his stare on me, but I continued to pretend like I was reading.
But my thoughts were preoccupied.
I had too many questions in my mind.
The nightmare, when I woke up, for a moment, I still felt like I was with Armaan in the car, and then I saw Zayn.
His eyes. He reminded me of Armaan. But I snapped back to reality.
I didn't want to make conversations with him. So I hid behind my book. Soon enough, I noticed he was asleep. I let out a sigh of relief as I heard the captain call that we will be landing in a few minutes.

As much as I was dreading moving in, I wanted to get out of here. The nightmares were starting to freak me out. And waking up, seeing Zayn Malik next to me, somehow made my anxiety worse. I decided I should take my mind off of this. So, I went on to listen to music. I had a playlist that I found comfort in. One of the songs on it was Armaan. He made a cover of this song for me. And I absolutely loved it.

"I love you, baby
And if it's quite alright
I need you, baby
To warm the lonely night
I love you, baby
Trust in me when I say"

Hearing his voice, it was comfort for me. I missed him so much.

My parents weren't that happy when I told them that I was gonna be living in the apartment he got for us. But I wanted to be there. That apartment was our dream. He'd worked so many months to get it done. He'd been working on perfecting it since we got engaged.

I know, a lot of people thought we were too young to be engaged too. But we knew it was the right time. And we weren't planning on having the wedding until Armaan turned 21. And I'd be 20.

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt someone shifting beside me. I turned around to find Zayn Malik staring at me with concern written all over his face.

"You okay?"

I scrunched my eyebrows.
He reached out and wiped a tear off my face. I was kinda taken aback. I didn't realize I was crying.

I got out a tissue wipes my eyes and turned back to him with a smile.
"I'm alright. Thank you. But.. excuse me. I need to use the bathroom."

I replied, slowly standing up. I grabbed my purse with me.

He looked up at me, confused. But let me go.

I went into the bathroom, and stared at my face. My eyeliner had been smudged. I looked like a raccoon.

Sighing, I took off my hijab, washed my face, wiped it, but decided against wearing any eyeliner again. Instead, I just applied a coat of mascara, and a gloss for my lips. I didn't pin my hijab. Instead just loosely wrapped it around my head, and headed back outside.

When I went back to our seat, I noticed Zayn was busy with his phone. I decided to stop being antisocial. We're landing in a few minutes. I'll probably never see him again. I could have a conversation At least for the rest of the flight.

And so I went over, excused myself as I had to pass him to get to my seat, and sat down.

I turned back to him with a smile.
"Hi. I'm so sorry about earlier. I was just - missing my family" I said.

He looked back at me, and smiled.
"That's fine. I know how it feels"

A - " So... are you going back to London? Or are you still on tour?"

I could see he was taken aback.

Z - "How'd you know we were on tour? I thought you weren't a fan"

I let out a small laugh.
" I'm not. But my sister is. She can never stop talking about you guys. Especially Harry"

He chuckled. "Well, no. We're not on tour yet. We're going back home to work on our new album."

A - "oh that's great! Good luck on your new album"

Just then I heard the captain speak again. We were landing.

Z - "So do you know your way around here? How're you traveling from the airport?"
A - " I have someone picking me up"
Z - "oh alright"

And that was the last of the conversation we had. Once the plane landed, I gathered my stuff, and looked back at him.
"It was nice to meet you Zayn." I smiled.
"Nice to meet you too Anika. I hope I see you again." He replies grinning.

I grinned back at him. And turned towards the exit. I opened my phone, to text my parents that I've reached. And made my way towards the airport. I saw the guys again, they were all together. I felt Zayn's eyes on me. I turned around and waved at him. Funnily enough, one of the guys ran towards me. I saw Zayn's eyes dart toward him, and then me again.

He took off his glasses, and that's when I noticed who it was.

I smiled. "Hi Niall!"
He grinned at me. "Hi Anika! I didn't see you on the plane! But then again, I slept through most of it. Sooo yeah! How was your flight? Are you excited to be here in London?"
He rambled.

I chuckled . He's cute! "My flight experience was good. Although I did sleep through half of it. I met some of your band mates! I was actually seated next to Zayn Malik. And yes! I can't wait to see more of this beautiful country!"
I replied genuinely excited.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted my bags , I ran to grab them, Niall closely behind, he helped me get my bags onto the trolley.

N- "Oh that's great! You've met the lads too! By the way, we are kinda on vacation, and if you like I can show you around some time?"
A - " Thank you Niall, and I'd love that! But I wouldn't want to trouble you..."
N -"Nonsense! You're no trouble. Why don't you give me your number? And I'll call you sometime."
A - "Well, I've not gotten a local number yet, but give me your number? I'll text you once I've got my number set?"
I handed my phone over to Niall, who typed his number in.
N -"Awesome! It's great meeting you Anika, I'll let you leave now"
He gave me a bear hug. Normally, I wouldn't let a stranger hug me, but for some reason, Niall felt like home. So I hugged him back, and said my goodbyes.

Just as Niall was leaving, I got a call. I smiled.
"Hey Kabir! Sorry I'm late aren't I? I just got my bags, I'm coming out"

"Hey Ani! That's fine I just arrived I'm right outside"

And so, I walked towards the exit of the terminal, and towards Kabir.

As I made my way outside, I heard a few screams , and noticed two girls running towards someone behind me.

I turned around and noticed the guys at the exit too. I smiled when I saw the girls hugging Louis, and the other guy that I haven't met yet. I put my attention back towards the crowd, scanning for a familiar face.

"Anika!" I heard someone scream from behind be.

And there he was. Kabir Hussein. Armaan's Younger brother. One of my best friends. He was closer to the guys, who were still standing there talking to the two girls, so he moved away and made his way towards me.

I couldn't stop myself. I ran towards Kabir, and hugged him. It's been almost a year since I've seen him. He'd changed. A lot.

"I missed you" I whispered.

I heard a few aww's and turned to see the whole of 1D staring at me. The girls, Louis, Harry, and the other guy were all smiling.
But I couldn't read Zayn and Niall's expression. Especially coz they still had their glasses on.

I smiled and turned back towards Kabir.
"Let's get you home" he said.

And so, we got my bags, put them into his car, and made our way towards my new home.