Chapter 23

Perrie POV

“Liam?” I say as I answer the phone.

“Hi Perrie,” Liam says, his voice seems sad.

“Are you ok?” I ask.

“No not really. Zayn’s auntie has passed away,” he tells me.

“Oh my god. Tell him I’m sorry,” I say.

“I need you to go to the airport.”

“What?”

“Zayn is flying home now. He should be landing in an hour.”

“I don’t think he’d be happy to see me.”

“He needs a friend and you’re the only person who is in London.”

“Ok, I’ll go. What airport?” I ask.

“Heathrow.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you Perrie. I know it’s hard,” he says.

“No problem. Thanks for calling,” I say.

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

I put the phone down and make my way downstairs. “Jade, I’m going out,” I say as I rush around to find my car keys. “What where?” she asks. “I’ll tell you later. I’m in a rush,” I say as I finally find my keys and run out of the door and into the car. The airport is about 45 minutes away so I should be fine but I don’t want to be late so I drive fast.

As I wait in the airport I get myself a coffee. It’s weird how there are no fans here, they usually flood the place but I guess it is late at night and they don’t know that Zayn is coming.

“Zayn!” I call as I see him walk out of the double doors. I run over to him and hug him tight.

“What are you doing here Perrie?” he asks as he doesn’t hug me back.

“I’m here as a friend and someone needs to drive you to Bradford,” I tell him.

“Just drive me home and I can drive myself,” he protests.

“Nope. I’m driving,” I order, “Come on.”

I turn and start walking out of the airport as he follows behind me. Seeing him was harder than I thought it would be. He doesn’t want me to be here but Liam woke me up so he’ll have to put up with me. We get in the car and I start driving.

“How are you?” I ask, breaking the silence.

“Fine. How are you?” he says numbly.

“Been better.”

“How did you know I was gonna be here?”

“Liam called me,” I say and I see a confused look on his face.

“So what made you come?” he asks.

“Liam told me to. You need a friend,” I tell him.

“So we’re friends now?” he asks aggressively.

“Please stop,” I say as my eyes start to well up. Why was he being like this? I won’t fight with him. I know he is hurting more than I am. “How was America?” I ask, trying to change the subject.

“Let’s just stop making small talk, okay?” he says.

“Ok,” I say and wipe the single tear that has found its way out of my eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’m just going through a lot,” he says, noticing my tear.

“I know. It’s okay,” I say, reluctant to try and make conversation again.

“How come you’ve got glitter on your face?” he asks, chuckling.

“I did the tour tonight. It was the last night.”

“Yeah? How was your knee?” he asks.

“Sore and it still is. You were right, I shouldn’t have done it,” I tell him, smiling.

“Does it hurt now?” he asks, concerned.

“Yep a bit but I’ll be fine.”

We sit in silence for a bit but it is surprisingly not awkward. I think Zayn may have fallen asleep.

“Hey Perrie?” he says, sitting more upright.

“Yep?”

“Do you mind staying in the car when we get to my mums house?” he asks, “I just don’t want my parents to meet you for the first time like this.”

“Meeting your parents for the first time doesn’t matter if we’re just friends,” I say.

“You’re right. Come in then,” he says.

“I won’t if you don’t want me to,” I say.

“I do.”

We sit quietly for the rest of the conversation, making a little conversation but not much. I’m trying to be careful, I don’t want him to start crying about his auntie because I won’t know what to do. Normally I’d kiss him or stroke his arm when he gets upset, but I can’t do that anymore.

We pull up at Zayn’s house but Zayn doesn’t get out. “You alright?” I ask.

“I can’t do it Perrie,” he says and puts his head in his hands.

“Hey hey,” I say rubbing his back, “Can’t do what?”

“I can’t be strong for them. All this great stuff is happening at the same time as all this bad stuff and I don’t know what to do,” he says, starting to cry lightly.

“Zayn, you don’t need to be strong for anyone. They just need you to be there, not to be strong,” I tell him, “Come on, and lets go.” I get out of the car and go round the car to stand next to him. He grabs hold of my hand and leads me up to the front door and knocks on the door. Zayn’s mum opens the door and as soon as Zayn see’s her he wraps his arms around her crying body.

“Mum, this is Perrie,” Zayn says when he lets go of his mum.

“I’m really sorry Mrs Malik,” I say. She brings me into a tight hug and I feel the wetness of her t-shirt from all the tears.

“It’s Trisha,” she says as she lets go of me, “Come in.” We walk into Zayn’s house and into the lounge where Zayn’s sisters were sitting. Zayn introduces me as he hugs them all tightly and we sit down together.

“Can I get you a cup of tea?” Trisha asks us. I decline but Zayn accepts the offer and Trisha goes into the kitchen.

“Are you two girlfriend and boyfriend?” Zayn’s youngest sister, Safaa, asks.

“No, just friends,” Zayn says and I nod in agreement.

“Really?” Zayn’s younger sister, Waliyha, asks.

“Well we were but now we’re not,” Zayn says and an awkward silence fills the room.

“Perrie, do you want to come and look at my Club Penguin?” Safaa asks. I look at Zayn and he nods.

“Yes I’d love to,” I say and I let her lead me by the hand to her bedroom. There are pictures of Zayn and the boys all over the house and pictures of Zayn when he was younger. Safaa shows me her Club Penguin for about half an hour before Zayn walks in and puts his hands on my shoulders from behind.

“Hey,” I say, looking up at him.

“Hey,” he says, removing his hands.

“You ok?” I ask.

“Yep,” he says, “Do you wanna drive back tonight or tomorrow?”

“I don’t mind. We can stay as long as you want, I’m not in any hurry,” I say.

“Ok, we’ll stay,” he says.

“Yay! Perrie you can stay in my room with me,” Safaa says.

“That sounds fun,” I say.

“Ok. Safaa you get ready for bed I’m gonna get some of Doniya’s stuff for Perrie,” Zayn says and I follow him out of the room.

“Hey Perrie, I know I was being a dick before but thank you. I know it’s hard with the break up and everything but thank you,” Zayn says as he looks for some pajamas in Doniya’s drawers.

“Well you’ve always been there for me and even though we’ve broken up, I want to be here for you,” I say.

Zayn gets up off the floor with some pajamas and passes them to me. “And thanks for being so great with Safaa,” he says as we walk down the corridor. We get outside Safaa’s room and he turns to me. “Goodnight Perrie,” he says and he leans down to kiss my lips.

“Woah, I can’t do this,” I say as I step back away from him, “You’re going back to America and we’re in a good place as friends. Let’s not ruin it.”

“Sorry,” he says and he turns around to walk back downstairs.

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