The rain pelted down on the London population, splattering against umbrellas and unprepared heads. Joey was one of those heads.

Since her hair was pulled up in a bun, it couldn't stick to her face. That, however, did not stop the rain from soaking her gray tank top and black jean shorts, causing them to cling uncomfortably to her body. Worse, the thick wall of water made it impossible to see five feet in front of her.

She grabbed a cardboard box from her rusty gray car and lifted with all her might. She waddled to the steps of her new apartment complex before her arms gave out and she dropped the box full of photo albums on the ground. She plopped down on the semi-damp ground underneath the slanted panel extending from the building. She had fifteen more boxes to lug up her apartment room and she was exhausted. Never has a Sunday afternoon been this strenuous for her.

“Do you need some help?"

Joey looked up to see Zayn underneath a large black umbrella.

She narrowed her eyes at him with a smirk on her lips. "Are you stalking me, Malik?"

"Can't a guy see a lady struggling with some boxes and feel obligated to help?" he asked.

"I bet you have some busy things to do, Zayn. I have quite a few boxes. It took me an hour to just carry up five of them."

He closed his umbrella and placed it against a stone railing. "It's Sunday, Joey. I have time."

Without being invited to do so, he picked up the box full of albums and carried it inside.
Joey trailed behind him and directed him to the elevator. They went up to the fourth floor before Joey realized that in order for Zayn to help her with her boxes he had to go in her apartment. No one besides her family and two close friends were supposed to know where she moved to. A celebrity was definitely not supposed to know where she lived.

"Uh, just drop the boxes right here." Joey pointed to the middle of the hallway, four doors down from her room.

Zayn raised one dark eyebrow. "I can't just put all the boxes here, Joey. People need to get through."

Joey fiddled with a loose strand of hair and searched frantically for another solution. "Then I've got the rest of the boxes from here. You can go on home. Thanks for the help!"

Just as Joey was about to usher him into the elevator he moved away from her reach with one corner of his mouth pulled upwards. "Woah there! What are you trying to hide from me? Is your home a mess or something?"

"No!" She snapped.
"Porn mags all over the place?"

Heat trickled up Joey's cheeks. She averted her eyes away from him. "I don't buy porn mags. That is what the Internet is for."

Zayn tapped his chin with his index finger. "Do you have a box full of dild--"

Joey covered his mouth with her hands and stared hard at him. "No. Look, I just don't feel comfortable with you knowing where I live."

Zayn grabbed onto her hands and gently removed them from his lips. "Why?"
"
Too long to explain." she said shortly.

Zayn glanced casually at his watch. "I think we have time."

---

During the two hours of him helping her with the boxes Joey explained the stalker behavior Frank had been displaying ever since she broke up with him a month ago. She explained that he slapped her when they were arguing over finances. He expressed how sorry he was and asked for another chance. Joey's father had always taught her that if a man hits you once then you gotta leave him. He even explained the domestic abuse his mother went through back in Jamaica. Despite this, she never told her father about what Frank did and gave him a second chance.

A month later he punched her in the face. He left her with a black eye deep enough to show on her dark skin. She knew then that she had to leave. He begged and pleaded and apologized, but Joey refused to become another domestic abuse sob story. But Frank wouldn't take a hint.
"I've had to change my cellphone number, block him and his friends on Facebook, and now it has gotten to the point where I have to move. He scares me."

Zayn and Joey sat in her bare kitchen at an empty table. He pressed his lips into a thin line with his eyebrows scrunched together. "That sounds terrifying. Why don't you get a restraining order on him?"

Joey laughed humorlessly. "Oh, I tried! I tried to get a temporary one but the judge didn't feel I was in 'immediate danger' and that I would have to do all this paper work and get him to come to court and," she paused to rub her temples. "It was just too much. I have too much on my plate already."

Silence lingered in the air between them. She knew that this was too much information to pour on a guy she just gave a tattoo to. She felt bad and stupid. She didn't even know the guy, he could be a sociopath for all Joey knew.

"Let me get you something to eat. All I have is left over Chinese food. Is that okay?"

Zayn nodded his head solemnly, keeping is sorrowful eyes trained on her. Joey got up from her seat and grabbed the half eaten carton of lo-mein. She popped it in the microwave for a minute and leaned against the oven. She wanted to change the subject.

"So, how did Perrie take the surprise?"

The sorrow in his eyes vanished and was replaced with suspicion. "How'd you know it was a surprise?"

Joey grinned. "Coincidentally, I ran into her at a pub. She told me about it and...got me out of a sticky situation." She decided she was going to leave out her run-in with Frank.

He smiled nervously and ran a hand through his thick dark hair. "She loved it. She started crying and stuff and then she made me dinner, even though it was midnight."

And you guys probably fucked', Joey thought naughtily to herself.

"Oh!" Zayn exclaimed. "Perrie told me that she ran into the girl who gave me the tattoo! I just didn't believe her."

The microwave dinged and Joey handed Zayn the warm box of lo-mein with a fork. "Yep. It was as if fate wanted it to happen."

Zayn took a bite of the lo-mein and swallowed before answering, "Maybe so. I mean, we keep running into each other in 8 million peopled city."

Joey shrugged. She still didn't know how she felt about him knowing where she lived.

"Hey." Zayn called for her attention.

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"I won't tell anyone where you live. You don't have to worry about that."

Joey felt a warmness spreading throughout her chest. Being shown this much kindness from a stranger didn't happen all that often to her. Not even when she lived in the small town during her childhood. It felt nice. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

After a few minutes it started to get dark.

"I think it's time for you to head on home." Joey said.

Zayn looked at his watch. "Yeah, and I need to get up early tomorrow."

"Thanks for helping me with the boxes." she said as she walked him to her door.

"Not a problem. If you ever need anything else, just give me a call. Or a text." Zayn grinned. He pulled out a pen from his pocket and scribbled down his cellphone number on her palm.

"Uh, thanks."

He nodded. "See ya around."

She closed the door behind him. How in the world was this twenty-one year old uni grad able to get the phone number of an international celebrity?