More Than This

Unfortunately Jake wasn’t able to come see me the next week like he thought, but he was able to visit me within the next month! “So in about four weeks I’ll be able to come see you.” Jake smiled at me over Skype.

“I can’t wait!” I clapped. “How did you get four days off?” I asked and rested my chin on my hand.

“I have to work two weekends when I get back, but it’s worth getting to see you for two days.” I felt blood rush to my cheeks and Zayn past me.

“Hey, what’re you up to, Nora?” Zayn asked.

“I’m talking to Jake on Skype.” I said flatly and turned my attention back to Jake who was searching for something on his desk. Zayn rolled his eyes and huffed off. “Alrighty then.” I sighed and looked back at the computer screen. Jake was holding up a yellow post-it note that said “I love you, Nora!” I smiled and turned another shade of red and wrote with a pen on my hand: “I love you, too, Jake!” Zayn walked back out and looked at me.

“You guys are sickening.” Zayn mumbled and walked off.

“I have to go, baby. I’ll talk to you later.” Jake sighed as his phone went off. “Work’s calling. Love you.” He smiled at me.

“Love you, too.” I smiled back and ended the Skype call. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked Zayn as he sat across the table from me.

“What?” Zayn was oblivious.

“You know what.”

“I meant what I said, you two are sickening. You think you guys are so cute together, but it’s annoying.” I slammed my laptop shut and stood up.

“Just because your love life is nonexistent, doesn’t mean that you can try and corrupt mine.”

“Whatever.”

“Don’t ‘whatever’ me Zayn Javadd Malik!” I could feel the anger boiling up inside of me. “What is the matter with you lately?! Just because you’ve got a stick up your ass doesn’t mean you have to be so rude to me!”

“I just don’t see how you could love him! You two hated each other in secondary school! He spread rumors about you!” Zayn stood up and was right in my face. “I almost got expelled because I fought him to defend you!” Zayn’s face was as red as a tomato. “He called you a whore, Nora! He spread nasty lies about you and it kills me to see my best friend with someone who was so mean to her! You go from mortal enemies to fucking each other!” My jaw dropped.

“We’re not fucking each other, Zayn! We’re dating! It’s possible for two people to date without sex being involved, don’t you know that?! Or are you too busy with your booty calls to realize that?!” Zayn’s whole expression changed, from anger to hurt and I almost instantly regretted saying anything. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.” I grabbed my laptop and ran to the elevator and went to my hotel room.

Ten minutes later after I wiped my face of the black streaks from my running mascara, there was a knock on the door. “I didn’t mean it literally, Zayn!” I sighed and walked over to the door. “When someone says ‘I’ll be in my room if you need me’ that usually means to leave them alone!” I swung the door open to see Niall standing in the doorway. “Oh… hey Ni.” I sighed and let him in. “What’s up?”

“Zayn told me about the fight.” Niall shrugged and sat down on the bed. “He said you looked pretty upset… he asked me to check on you cos he wanted to see if you were okay… but he told me not to tell.” I rolled my eyes and sat next to Niall on the bed.

“Am I really that bad of a person for dating someone I used to hate?” I asked Niall.

“I don’t think so. I think Zayn’s just jealous that you and Jake became so close after hating each other, and Zayn knows you two will never be as close as you once were.”

“Well maybe if he’d stop blowing up on me we could slowly become friends again.” I rolled my eyes and rested my head on his shoulder.

“I know, but he’s got so much built up emotion that he hardly ever lets out, it sometimes just comes out in small explosions.” Niall wrapped his arm around me and hugged me gently.

“Small? If that was small, I can’t wait so see the grand finale.” I said sarcastically and wrapped my arms around Niall. “Thanks for talking to me, but I really need to get to bed, and so should you.” I laughed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, babe.” Niall smiled at me and walked out of the hotel room. I laid down on my back and stared up at the ceiling. This was going to be the longest few months of my life if Zayn kept acting this way.

~*~

The next morning I went down for breakfast and as soon as I saw Zayn I wanted to abort mission and high tail it back to my hotel room. When Zayn saw me, I couldn’t escape, so I got my breakfast and sat down across the round table from him. “Hey.” He said and looked down at his breakfast.

“Hey.” I replied and ate my eggs.

“Wow, you can almost feel the awkward.” Harry said as he took a seat next to me. I rolled my eyes and continued eating my breakfast. Finally, Zayn spoke up.

“Nora?” I looked up at him. “I’m so, so, so sorry about what I said to you yesterday. I didn’t mean a single word of it, and I shouldn’t have assumed things…” Zayn sighed and put his fork down. “I just really want my best friend back.”


“Zayn, it’s going to take a lot more than an apology to get your best friend back.” I sighed and moved my eggs around with my fork. I heard Zayn sigh and start to stand up. “It’s going to be a while before I can trust you again… but eventually, maybe we can be friends again.” I looked up at Zayn and a smile crept its way onto his face.

“See you later, then.” Zayn smiled wider and walked off.

“See you later.” I smiled back.

“Looks like you made someone’s day.” Niall smiled at me before taking a bite of his Frosted Flakes.

“I suppose.” I shrugged and continued eating my breakfast.

“Nora, can I ask you a question without you getting all pissy at me?” I smiled and nodded to let Niall know that I wouldn’t be angry. “Are you dating Jake to make Zayn jealous?” I nearly choked on my eggs.

“No! I… I genuinely love Jake…” I looked down at my plate. “I mean, it started off that way, but then Jake seemed like a pretty standup guy. I love him with everything that I am.”

“But can you see yourself marrying him?” This question took me by surprise. I thought for a minute, and the truth was; I couldn’t see myself marrying Jake, but I did see a future with him. “I didn’t think so.” Niall finished his food and got up from the table leaving me there alone with Harry.

“So…” Harry began, but I stood up before he could finish his sentence. I knew where this was going and I didn’t want a cheeky remark from him. “Oh, come on!” He yelled after me as I walked away.

~*~

“You’re giving that ass another chance?!” Ellie screamed at me through the phone.

“What happened to ‘awe, come on, Nora. Give the guy a break’?” I rolled my eyes.

“I didn’t actually think you’d go through with it! You never take my advice! Why are you listening to me now?!”

“I thought I would be nice to him because we have to work together. Otherwise it would be hell for me these next few months.” I sighed and sat on my bed in the hotel room. “Besides, I never said I would be his best friend again, just that it would take a lot to gain my trust again.” I looked around the room and yawned.

“Nora, you basically gave him the thought that you guys are best buddies again, and now he’s going to do whatever he can to stay that way and then he’ll use his looks to charm you. When he’s done that, you’ll break up with Jake to date Zayn, and then boom! It’ll be like the beginning of junior year all over again.” I shook my head and sighed.

“You’ve been watching your soap operas again, haven’t you?”

“Maybe… but those things don’t lie, Nora! All My Children and Days of Our Lives are accurate programs!”

“I’m hanging up now.” I laughed and said goodbye before putting my phone away. I decided to turn the television on and channel surf, but something caught my eye. Of course, it was a gossip show, but a picture of Zayn and I talking the other day was being displayed behind the woman speaking.

“Who is this new mystery girl that’s suddenly shown up on One Direction’s Up All Night Tour? Is yet another boy taken? Maybe the lads will give us more information on the mystery girl as time passes.”

“Oh no…”

“I don’t know, Jill, from the look on Zayn’s face, it seems to me that Zayn has a thing for this girl. And her body language says she feels the same towards him. I’m thinking that Zayn and this girl have a secret relationship that’s been untold.”

“There is no untold relationship!” I yelled at the TV as if they could hear me.

“From what I’ve been told by fans, this girl is American and she is all over Mr. Malik.” I groaned and threw a pillow at the TV out of frustration. There was a faint knock on my door and I quickly picked up the pillow and tossed it on the bed before opening the door.

“Have you seen what people are saying about us on TV?” I asked as soon as I saw Zayn. “It’s awful. Almost sickening.” I looked to see his reaction. He was obviously confused. “People are saying we’re dating.” I rolled my eyes and stood to the side to let him in the room.

“Well, gee, I didn’t know I was such an awful person to date.” Zayn joked, but I wasn’t amused. “I’m sorry, but people make shit up every day. I’m sorry you have to be pulled into it. I probably should have warned you about this.” Zayn shrugged. “But, I’m sure when James-“

“Jake.”

“Whatever. When he gets here, people will see you two together and they’ll see we’re not together.” Zayn sat on the bed.

“Yeah! That’s perfect! See, I knew we were friends for a reason.” I chuckled and sat down next to him.

“Yeah… friends.”

Zayn’s POV

Abort mission! Abort mission! She just friend-zoned me! Well, there goes my plan to spill my guts. I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. Crumble into a million pieces. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an overreaction, but it hurt like hell. I suppose being in the friend zone was better than nothing. “Well, I’ll see you later, mate.” I smiled and stood up.

“Hey, wait up.” I turned and saw Nora standing on her knees on the bed. “What did you come up here for?”

“No reason. Just wanted to stop by.” I lied and backed out of her room. Well that was a waste of precious time. There was probably no use in lying to her. She knew me too well, but hey, it was worth a shot. I heard Nora’s door shut behind me and I let out a frustrated sigh. I didn’t know it would be this hard to like someone.

“Hey, Zayn we were headed to lunch if-“

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I interrupted Harry as he passed by.

“I was just inviting you to lunch…” Harry said defensively.

“Sorry, man.” I said and made my way to my room.

“What’s the matter with you? Don’t even think about lying.” Harry said and caught up with me.

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” I shrugged and opened my hotel room door.

“Dude, come on, we’re best friends. You can tell me anything.” I stayed silent as I walked in the doorway. “Fine, but when all these bottled up things come out on Nora, don’t come crying to me when she’s pissed off at you again.” I rolled my eyes and shut the door.

Notes