"Shut up!" Jen exclaimed, clapping her hands together as I told her the news.

"I can't! I don't even know what to do!" I was giggling like a maniac, and couldn't control myself.

"Did he ask you to be his girlfriend?"

"No... we haven't talked since last night. Has Harry said anything?"

"Not a thing. Speaking of the boys, how is Louis doing? I do feel quite bad about running off with Harry." she frowned a bit as she wiped down the counter.

"He's doing well. He was acting down for a little while... but you know him. Mr. Positive." I shrugged.

"Yeah, he's a good guy. Really is."

Before I could answer, I heard a call for help back in the kitchen. I took it upon myself to come to the rescue, but immediately regretted it as I saw the infamous clumsy Liam.

"Boss put me in charge of washing the dishes too... I don't know how to work this." he looked nervous, gesturing towards the dish-washing monster. It took all I had not to slap him silly, as this contraption was probably the easiest thing to work with.

"You load the dishes in like this... and then wait for them to come out on that end. When they do, take them out and stack them up so they can be used. Don't forget about them, though. Then they'll fall off if another load goes through... and no guarantees that I'll be there to save your butt."

"Where do I stack them?"

"On the counter right beside it. Don't move them, because the floor back here is crowded when the guys are cooking. They'll come over and get it themselves. Just do what I told you and everything will be fine."

"Ok." he nodded, getting to work. I went back to my own job, and I hadn't taken two orders before I heard my name being called. I hurried back to the kitchen, wondering what the issue was.

"Miss Em, do you have an explanation for this?" the boss lady fumed, pointing to the stack of dishes that had just come out of the washer, I guessed.

"No... I'm not in charge of dishes."

"Liam here told me you were the one that explained the work to him?"

"I did."

"Why did you fail to tell him how to add the detergent?" she put her hands on her hips, glaring at me. I knew it would be wrong to say what I wanted to, so I kept my mouth shut.

"I didn't know that needed an explanation." I mumbled, grabbing the stack and placing them back on the machine belt before grabbing a detergent cube and popping it in the slot.

"I'm marking you down for lack of responsibility. Get your act together, Parks." she walked off, back into her office (which I had convinced both myself and Jen that she does absolutely nothing productive inside). I sighed, knowing that I can't risk any more tiny mistakes, as I always get written down for the dumbest things. I'm sure with only a few more strikes, I would be out for good.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know she was going to call you out." Liam came up beside me, helping me stack more dishes for the next loads.

"Not your fault. She's out to get me, I'm sure."

"I'll try to calm her down."

"Ha. Good luck with that one." I laughed sarcastically. Who did this kid think he was?

"Really, she listens to me. Considering I'm her nephew."

"You're what."

"I'm her nephew. She only hired me because of that. Let's not avoid it here, we all know I'm the crappiest coworker there is. She knows it too. I'm a huge screw-up. But I needed the money, and for some reason she likes me, so she let me work here for minimum wage."

"You're kidding me."

"I'm not."

"Well then, I'd appreciate anything you could do to save me one of my jobs, but it still looks doubtful. I'm really not a favorite of hers."

"How many jobs do you work?"

"Well, three, but my old job fired me because they had an overage of employees, so I'm still getting an unemployment check. I work at a department store at the centre, but they only call me in for floorsets, and my paycheck is lower than our chances of seeing a unicorn. This is my main job, which also pays minimum wage, but it's my main income."

"Why do you work so much?"

"Long story. I pay a lot of bills."

"Oh. Well you obviously need it, so I'll try my best to lighten her up. Just don't tell the other employees... I know she's hard on everyone and the last thing I want is everyone begging for a good word."

"You bet." I gave him a thumbs up before walking out, returning to my original job. Maybe this kid wasn't as annoying as I thought.

The day was pretty routine, with the exception of the fact that it was Saturday. On the weekends, the days were obviously busy, and the nights were even busier. I usually didn't get out too early, but it kept me occupied, so I didn't mind.

It was around 8:30, an hour before we closed, and the place was barely dying down. I was taking something like 5 orders back to the kitchen. While I placed them in their designated spots, I saw Jen peek around the corner.

"You have a visitor." she grinned, winking ever so slightly.

Hoping it was who I thought it was, I quickly hung up the other orders before scurrying after Jen and behind the counter. Sitting on one of the barstools was Zayn, smiling back at me.

"Hey Em." he grinned wider as I walked towards him.

"Hi Zayn. How are you?"

"Great. How's your day been?"

"Had some ups and downs, nothing too unusual. What brings you by?" I leaned forward to hear him better over the tables of customers.

"Well, I was thinking, I had such a great time last night. I was having so much fun, I forgot to ask you something."

"Oh?" I smiled, containing my giggles of excitement, even though I already knew what he may or may not ask.

"Yeah. Is this a good time? Because I can wait for your shift to be over if that would work better for you." he teased.

"Don't worry, I got her covered." Jen slipped by, casually butting in the conversation.

"My decision has been made. Ask away."

"Em, how would you feel about being my girlfriend?"

My stomach must have turned inside out, or just disappeared, because I felt much lighter. Bubbling with happiness, I tried my best not to squeal and make an idiot of myself.

"I... would definitely be ok with that." I smiled brightly.

"Just ok? You wouldn't be as excited as I am?"

"Yes yes yes, I would be as excited as you are!" I started to laugh. He did too, suddenly grasping my hands in his.

"I wish I could stay, but I really have to go. I'm late for dinner with my parents. I couldn't wait any longer to ask, though."

"Go, go on. I'd hate to have your parents waiting."

"Alright. Have a good night, don't let any other guys steal you away from me."

"Never. At least, not this quick." I joked, squeezing his hands.

"Bye Em." he kissed my hands before letting go, waving as he exited the diner. I was too amazed to even function correctly, did an incredible deam of mine just come true?

"So, what was that about? I mean, I already know, I've been listening, but I know you're dying to tell me." Jen popped back up out of nowhere, smirking slyly.

"Jen! He asked me to be his girlfriend!" my voice squeaked.

"I know! You go girl!" she laughed, hugging me tight.

"This calls for celebration, you're spending the night at my place and I'm making celebration cookies!" she ordered, cutting me off before I could say otherwise.

"Only like, an hour left before our shift ends. Can you wait that long?" she called before setting off to take another order.

Dear God, how did Zayn expect me to just carry on when I was jumping for joy?

~~

The next morning, I woke up on Jen's couch, looking over at the clock. It was 9:30, still somewhat early. I scanned the room, seeing Jen still fast asleep on the opposite couch. I got up and tiptoed to the bathroom, getting changed into my clothes I had packed before we came here last night. When I was all finished, I woke up Jen, telling her I needed to get home before my grandparents got there.

"Oh, oh right. Give me ten minutes, I'll drive you back."

She did as she promised, and I thanked her for a good night before getting out and back into the house. I cleaned up a bit, and started up the coffee maker for my grandparents, who would be over within the next half hour. That was when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Good morning. Someone's up early." Zayn's voice rang back through the receiver

"It's 10 in the morning... only a couple hours until noon."

"Early enough for me. How did you sleep?"

"Just great. Spent the night at Jen's. You?"

"Not too bad. Are you busy today?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. My grandparents come over every weekend and we catch up and eat together. Why?"

"The boys and I were gonna see it you wanted to do something, we're all bored out of our minds."

"Sorry, wish I could. Speaking of them, have you told them about us yet?"

"I was about to ask you." he chuckled.

"I have a feeling Lou will ask you before you get to tell him."

"You're probably right. Is it bad that I already miss you?"

"It's not bad... but it's probably not normal, either."

"Right. Well I do miss you. Ever since Friday, I realized how much I needed someone so awesome to keep me company."

"Oh, stop it."

"I'm serious. We need to get together again, and soon."

"Alright... I'll see when my schedule is clear." I giggled.

"If there's no time, then make time."

"Demanding much?"

"Only a little. I'll talk to you soon."

"You too."

We said our goodbyes, and not long after, my grandparents showed up at the door. We went through our usual conversation, ask how the week was, get our food all ready to eat, then sit down and continue the conversation. Before I knew it, my grandpa already started hinting at his usual questions.

"So... how many boys asked out my favorite granddaughter this week?"

Funny thing is, this time, I had an unexpected answer for him.