Fake It

Zayn sits behind the cashier's counter as Layne makes her way around the store, yelling out orders to their security. Zayn just smiles, watching Layne skit around the bookstore with a permanent frown on her face. It's adorable, really. She was wearing a blue dress that Zayn said was pretty and naturally, she just had to wear it. He smiled when she tried it on. He thought it was adorable or something. He couldn't quite place whatever this is.
Hana runs up to Zayn, water bottle in hand. "I-is there anything you need, Your Highness?" He barely registers what Hana says, eyes stuck on Layne.

"What?"

Hana laughs softly with a smile, murmuring, "Lady Layne is quite beautiful, isn't she."

"The most."

Hana nods, saying, "Earlier, she told me how excited she was about the bookstore. She rambled on and on about it. I think she loves it."

Zayn spins around in his seat, grins plastered on his face as he asks, "You think?"

"No, I know. On behalf of her happiness, I'd like to thank you. I've never been seen her so ecstatic."

"You really don't have to thank me. I only did it, because..." He trails off, eyes trained on his shoes.

"Because you love her." Hana finishes for him.

He goes to say something but-

"Hana! I need my leather bound invoice book. Not the regular one. It makes me sweat." Layne says with a look of disgust as she looks down at her fingers.

Everyone laughs and Layne looks sheepish. Zayn smiles at the fact that Layne looked nothing like this morning.

--

"You know your eyes look gold in the sunlight?"

"Babe, it’s too early for poetry - "

"No, I'm serious, Zayn, they're gold.”

"Have you been staring at me all this time? I've only been awake for, fuck , two minutes - let’s just go back to bed."

"Zayn. Your eyes. Gold.”

--

He all but giggles at the memory. Layne gives him a look as she drops her invoice journal on the cashier's counter. She flips through it, stopping abruptly.

"Why in the hell do we only have two copies of the entire Harry Potter series?" She yells.

"Maybe, because you didn't order enough." Zayn tells her in a sing song voice.

"Shut it, Ravenclaw."

"You say that as if you're not a ravenclaw." He says, leaning back in his seat.

"I'm not." She retorts, eyes scanning back over the journal.

"Really?"

"Slytherin." She answers, writing down something.

"Figures." He laughs.

"Piss off."

Everyone just watches they're exchange with smiles.

--

Hours later, Prince Niall stops by. Layne initially gets excited with the thought that Kathleen might have came to visit. To much of everyone's surprise, that isn't the case. On his arm, he courts a woman who is probably Layne's age.

"Umm, morning, Prince Niall. Who's this?"

"This is Samantha. She a childhood friend" He says simply. As if it was very, very simple.
Layne gives him a strained smile, trying not to voice her concerns regarding the fact that Samantha is definitely not Niall's so called fiancée.

This "Samantha" waves a little before pulling Niall with her around the store. Niall only laughs saying, "She was really excited to buy a new book."

Layne only nods as she reaches under the counter to find bookmarks to put on display. Zayn comes over a few seconds later, leaning over the counter to kiss Layne's forehead. She looks up at him abruptly with a frown. He tells her he has to go sit meetings. She only nods, rubbing her arms from the air.

"Do you need my jacket?"

"No, it's fine-" Layne says, but he's already placing his suit jacket over her much smaller shoulders.

"It’s a bit big on you, yeah?" he murmured softly, "Sleeves are too long."

"Just a bit," She says quickly, because she's a little afraid that maybe he'd ask for it back, or maybe say that he could get her another one if it did end up being too large on her frame. "Not too much at all. I like it."

Zayn watched her for a few moments. His eyes drifts down towards her mouth and back up to the skin around her nose and the slope of her cheekbones. His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat when he caught her pulling the jacket closer to her body, like the heat that engulfs her came only from his clothing. He is even more enthralled when she ducked her chin down to get a closer smell of the fabric, and a smile formed on his lips when she stammered because he had seen.

She whispers, “You smell nice,” and Zayn simply took a step towards her, the sleeves of his plain white button-up stretching across his muscles when he moved.

"Yeah," he whispers back, but it wasn't a question, nor was it a statement. It was simply a filler for the time being so he could wrap a gentle hand around her jaw and tilt her chin up to him. "The next time I wear it, I'm only going to smell you."

She smiles, saying, "Go do some work, you cheeky fucker." She pushes against his chest to convince him to get a move on. And he does, but not without a kiss. She watches him leave, pulling the jacket tighter around her.

--

Layne spends the rest of the time at the bookstore, chatting with Niall and Samantha. Sam is quite lovely and Niall almost always refers to her a Sammy and she always laughs at him for it. The more they look at and touch each other, the more Layne begins to realize that they're obviously sleeping together. She chuckles softly, doodling smiles into the counter.

Notes