EVIE’S POV:

“So, who is this guy exactly?” In a strange turn of events, Aunt Zoey was actually home tonight, and we were celebrating with a lazy night of junk food and movies.
“Zayn Malik. He’s in this band One Direction that’s really popular over here, and at home too. But they’re like, gods in the UK. They’ve been together 3 years and apparently they’re taking a break for the year, I don’t really know why. But yeah, it was sort of a weird start but I guess we’re friends now.”
“You’re FRIENDS with a super hot British boy band member?!”
“I- Well, yeah, I guess. Why, is that bad?” If I said I didn’t think Zayn was insanely gorgeous, I would be lying. If I said I hadn’t sort of cringed when I gave him the whole ‘let’s be friends’ talk, I would also be lying. But from what I could tell all he really needed right now was a friend, nothing too serious to mess him up even more. So I guess I was taking one for the team or whatever.
“No, not bad. Just surprising. I mean, i’m sure he has a list of girls on speed dial. Not that I would ever want you to become one of those, i’m just saying. I admire your willpower. By the way, can I google him?”
“If I said no would that stop you?”
“Probably not.”
“Than go for it.” Zoey grabbed her laptop, pulling it onto her lap. She typed furiously and a second later gasped dramatically.
“OH MY GOD YOU DID NOT TELL ME HE LOOKED LIKE THAT!”
“You’re the one who said ‘super hot’ without even knowing what he looked like!”
“I JUST ASSUMED!”
“Well you assumed right...”
“DAMN RIGHT I DID! Oh my god, Ev, he’s like- perfect. Invite him over. INVITE HIM OVER RIGHT NOW!”
“I’m not inviting him over just so you can drool!” I laughed, swatting her away as she continued to beg.
“How old is he?” She asked, continuing to scroll through more pictures.
“20...” I said tentatively. He was only a little over 2 years older, but I wasn’t sure how she would react.
“Huh...”
“Are you gonna start being Adult Zoey now?” I asked.
“No, I just... Be careful, you know? He’s a 20-year-old celebrity. It’s not like you’re oblivious to what that could mean. So yeah, be smart.”
“Will do.” I nodded, thankful that I didn’t recieve some sort of lecture. I was completely aware that Zayn was older, and more experienced. But this whole ‘friends’ thing sort of made that a non-issue.
“So when are you hanging out? Can I conveniently be home?”
“Um, I think no. And I don’t even know. We haven’t talked in a few days. he’s sort of... weird, in that way. Like, he’s kind of quiet at times, and then has these random outbursts of confidence and shows up at your front door wanting to be your new best friend. I dunno.” I still didn’t know him well enough to be making any assumptions.
“I’m pretty sure if a guy who looks like this shows up at your front door wanting ANYTHING, you’re morally obligated to say yes.”
“Good motto to live by.” I joked. She just shook her head at me.
“You know what I meant...”


ZAYN’S POV:

“But I thought-”
“Yeah, I know, but Niall had to go to uh... a meeting. And he’s really sorry but he promised to call, alright love?” This was getting ridiculous. Somehow in the recent months it’s turned into my job to basically push Niall’s one night stands out the door in the morning because he was too drunk last night to remember their name, but also way too nice to admit that to them in the morning.
“Oh, okay. Well uh, I guess i’ll just go then.” The unnamed redhead said, grabbing her things once she was dressed.
Once she was gone, I heard the bathroom door open and a timid Niall Horan step out into the hall.
“It’s getting kinda old mate I gotta tell you.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I don’t know who I turn into when I drink. You know this isn’t me. But drunk Niall will take home anything that can walk.” He tried to laugh it off, ruffling his hair and smiling, but I could tell it was even starting to get to him.
“Do you actually enjoy all this?” I asked, hoping for an honest answer.
“Not really.”
“Then why do you keep doing it you dumbass?! No one is making you.” He just shrugged.

Sometimes I felt like I was personally responsible for making sure Niall didn’t completely fuck up his life. Which was a difficult job when I had barely managed to do it for myself.
“We need to find you a girlfriend.” I joked, walking back into my room and falling back into bed. It wasn’t even 9 o’clock. Usually it was a miracle if I was up by noon. But I couldn’t manage to fall back asleep so I grabbed my phone from my bedside table, scrolling through tons of texts and twitter mentions, eventually building up the courage to send a text to the person I wasn’t able to stop thinking about.

are you a morning person?

no. why?

then why are you up?

because you texted me.

oh, sorry.

it’s fine, i don’t mind getting up early. i just choose not to.

that’s something we have in common i guess. except i DO mind getting up early. ask my roommate.

you make your roommate wake you up in the morning? are you 5?

5 and a half.

oh, good. so if you hate getting up early so much why the hell are you up at 8:45 on a saturday morning?

my roommate brought a girl home last night and he was drunk so he asked me to help get her to leave. i know, it’s terrible. but he’s actually a really nice one. he’s just shit with girls.

sounds like a charmer.

it sounds mad, be he actually is. wait until you meet him.

looking forward to it.

so what are you doing today?

do i need to reiterate the fact that it’s 8:45 in the morning? i’m lying in bed trying to decide if I should get up to pee or wait it out.

ha! okay well, then i’m assuming you haven’t got any plans for later. care to come over? you could meet my very charming roommate.

sure sounds good.

noon?

perfect. see you soon.


“So remember that girl you never got to meet at that party Isaac had?”
“Uh huh.” Niall wasn’t too much of a morning person either. But oddly, we were both up now.
“Well, she’s coming over. So don’t be a prick and say anything that will make me hate you.”
“What could I ever say to make you hate me?!”
“Anything about me that you question if I would want her to hear. The answer is no.”
“Are you tryin’ to impress her or something? How fit is she?”
“No, we’re friends. I just don’t want her to know too much. Any very, she’s very fit.” Niall chuckled at my response which was something I hoped he wouldn’t repeat to anyone else, especially Evie.
“Also, get all your shit out of the family room!” I yelled, going into the bathroom to shower. “And put some fucking pants on!” I just heard him laugh before the sounds from the TV resumed.


“Jesus Niall, I said straighten up the place not spray it with disinfectant. It smells horrible in here!”
“Don’t you dare complain. You should be happy I even got up from the couch.” I opened a few windows, hoping the strong scent of cleaning spray would leave. That, mixed with the constant smell of cigarettes wasn’t exactly what I was going for.
“She’ll be here any minute.” I mumbled, stuffing some shoes and jackets into the closet.
“Am I supposed to just stay in my room?” Niall asked.
“I mean, I dunno. We’re just friends, this isn’t like a date or anything. You can hang out with us if you want.”
“Huh, okay, ‘just friends’. That’s new.” I didn’t respond, knowing he was going to speak his mind about it no matter what I said. “But you said she was fit right?” He waited for a response that he never got. “So then what’s with this ‘friends’ shit. If you’re putting this much effort into just hanging out you obviously fancy her.” I still said nothing, honestly hoping she would knock on the door so I could get out of this conversation. “Shit, you actually like her!” Niall exclaimed.
“Oh for god’s sake. She’s just a nice girl. Is it not allowed for me to have a friend who’s a girl who just happens to be good looking?” I don’t know why I was defending this so much, it as very unlike me.
“No, I just can’t see this going anywhere but to your bedroom.” He said, laughing hysterically at his own joke.
A moment later I heard a tentative knock at the front door.
“I’LL GET IT!” Niall screamed, lunging for the door. I promptly stuck my foot out, tripping him so he was facedown on the floor, quickly stepping over him and opening the door.
“Hey!”
“Hey, how are you?” Her smile was bright and she looked good, as usual. Her hair was back in a ponytail, with a thick scarf wrapped around her neck a few times. She wore the same leather jacket as the night we went to that party, but this time with a dark green sweater underneath, dark jeans, and white converse. She was wearing less makeup than i’ve ever seen on her and personally I think it suits her much better.
“I’m great, uh- Hi.” She said, her brows knitting together and she looked behind me. I turned around to see Niall standing to my right with a huge grin on his face, waving like a moron.
“Uh, yeah, this is my roommate that I was telling you about. Niall, this is Evie.”
“You were telling her about me?!” He asked excitedly.
“Yeah, all about your latest conquest.” She joked with him, stepping into our flat. Nialls cheeks went bright red and he averted her gaze.
“Oh, I mean, yeah, well-”
“It’s fine, I don’t judge.” This made me smile.
“You want something to drink?” I offered.
“Sure.”
We have beer, or water, or uh... I think we have some protein stuff Niall tried once because he’s the size of a 14 year old boy.”
“Beer’s good.” I was surprised, but I didn’t let her know that. I just grabbed three beers from the fridge, throwing one to Niall and popping the top off of the other one for Evie.
“I’m gonna go.. watch TV in my room.” I heard Niall say. Suddenly, we were left alone, and everything felt about a hundred times more awkward than it had previously.
“So um, do you wanna watch TV in here or something?”
“Sure, sounds good.” She sat down on the couch, and I sat fairly close to her, only leaving a few inches of space. Flipping on the TV, a football game was on. I assumed she wasn’t interested in that so I switched channels until I found an old episode of Friends. It was the one where it was Thanksgiving and Monica ends up putting the turkey on her head to cheer up Chandler.
“I’ve seen every episode of this show a hundred times but it seriously never get’s old.”
“Agreed. One of the best.” She nodded.
“So uh, how have you been? It’s been a couple days since I saw you...”
“Yeah, I was sort of busy. But yeah, good. How about you?”
“I haven’t really been busy at all.” She laughed at herself. “But uh, I’m thinking of getting a job or something. Just so I have something to do while i’m here, instead of sitting around all day.”
“Yeah, I get that. What were you thinking?”
“I dunno, there’s this coffee place near our apartment. So that could be fun...”
This was literally the most awkward conversation of my life. What the hell was wrong with me?
“Zayn?” She suddenly asked, snapping me out of my own head.
“Yeah!?”
“Are you okay? You seem kinda weird and like, twitchy or something.”
“I’m fine i’m just not really used to this.”
“This being what?”
“Just, this. Like, being ‘just friends’ with a girl. It sounds horrible, but it’s the truth.”
“Nothing can really be that horrible if it’s the truth.” She stared at me so intently, with this fixed gaze, I couldn’t break away. I had this huge urge to kiss her. I was dying to just lean in slightly. But I didn’t, I couldn’t. That would ruin everything that we had going on here. It seemed like she sensed the strange serious tone that had settled around us. “- And I mean it’s not like i’m the most social person. You’re like, my only friend here.” She laughed. I’m not sure she understood how nice that was to hear.


EVIE’S POV:

After the mini heart-to-heart we had, everything got really chill and easy with Zayn. Just like we had at my house; we watched a bunch of TV and talked and laughed and ate whatever gross food we could find in their kitchen. The only exception was that this time, we had beer. And after about 3 or 4 (I can’t actually remember how many) I was starting to feel really loose and... happy. I could tell Zayn was even feeling it a little too as he leaned into me on the couch, his face only inches from mine.
“You mind if I smoke?” He asked, his hand resting on my knee.
“Nah, ‘course not.” I said quietly. He stood up, grabbing something from his coat pocket. I had expected him to light a cigarette. But instead he had a bag of something green. When he sat down, he started rolling what I eventually realized was a blunt.
Oh.
He lit it, taking a long drag.
“You want a hit?” He held it between two long fingers, tilting in my direction.
I had smoked once before, last year at a party with a bunch of people from my old high school. I hadn’t felt anything, which is what people told me happened your first time. I didn’t want Zayn to think I was some some lame little girl, so I nodded, taking it from him. Inhaling deeply, I tried my best not to cough. I took another hit, doing a little better the second time.

I turned back to Zayn to hand him the joint and I couldn’t help but notice him watching me. I felt embarrassed for some reason.
“Thanks.” I said quietly, smiling. His fingers touched mine slightly as he took it back, taking deep breaths as he inhaled the smoke, closing his eyes for a second.
I could tell the mix of substances had gone to my head as I leaned into Zayn, resting my chin on his shoulder and bringing one hand up to his face. “You’ve got the longest lashes...” I muttered, tracing the contours of his face. He opened his eyes, looking down at me and smiling.
“You’re stoned.” He chuckled, twisting a loose lock of my hair between his fingers.
“I wouldn’t even know if I were.” I giggled. “But you’re probably right.”
“It’s alright, i’m getting there.” He said simply. I felt goosebumps arise on my skin where his hand grazed as he continued.
“I love it when people play with my hair...” I mumbled, leaning my head back onto the couch. I felt Zayn tug at my hair tie, letting it fall out of it’s loose ponytail. His fingers entwined into my hair, combing through it gently.
“Your hair’s so soft...” I didn’t respond. I just wanted to enjoy the moment. Because I knew this was only okay because we were both night exactly in the right state of mind, and therefore not making the best choices. But I would be completely lying if I said I wasn’t loving every second of this. But in a while, when the beer and smoking would wear off, I would have to pretend like it didn’t happen. I knew this wasn’t what Zayn needed, but I couldn’t help but digress. If only just this once.