Zayn’s POV
“Hey Zayn, because you love me…” Jamie trailed off, sitting herself on my lap. I sighed, this never ends well.
“What?” I asked with clear annoyance in my voice.
“I was just going to ask if I could borrow your shower, jeez no need to be so rude about it.” She told me, going to stand up.
“Well, you could borrow the shower…” I trailed off. “But there’s one condition.” Her face dropped.
“What?” she asked slowly.
“You have to come with me to see my family for Christmas.” I responded.
“Of course I will, I'm gonna have to meet them eventually, right?” she responded.
“So, your down for over a 3 hour drive?” I asked her next. She sighed.
“God damn it.” She looked like she was arguing with herself. “So if I borrow your shower, I have to go on a long ass drive with you. If I wait until you’ve left tomorrow I can then have a shower without problemos?” she asked.
“Practically.” I responded bluntly.
“Okay, well… I’ll spend Christmas with you. I’ll be nice.” She got off of me as she said it. She then left to go for a shower. “Wait, what time are we leaving?” she came back into the room.
“As early as we possibly can.” I answered.
“Specifically?” she questioned.
“I was thinking at leaving at seven-thirty.” I answered.
“Leaving it a bit late, leaving at night, don't ya think?” she asked, laughing half-heartedly.
“Jamie, it would be seven-thirty in the morning.” I corrected her.
“Well shit.” She responded, leaving the room again.
***
“Jamie.” I whispered in her ear. I had just woken up, and we had to leave in an hour and a half. We didn’t even pack anything last night. “Jamie.” I whispered again. I heard her groan. “Jamie, you need to wake up.” I stated in a normal tone.
“But mum, I don't want to go to school today.” She rolled over and brought the quilt over her head. Wait, what did she just say? Alright, she said that. That’s weird…
“Jamie, its Zayn. And it’s Christmas. We have to go to Bradford.” I told her.
“Mum, just let me sleep for ten more minutes.” She mumbled.
“Jamie.” I shook her shoulder. “Wake up.” I said, burying my face into her neck. I kissed her lightly.
“Anthony, that’s not going to happen.” She rolled away from me, half laughing as she said her sentence. Wait, Anthony is her ex. Was she dreaming about him? If she was, what the hell was he doing in her dreams?!
“Jamie!” I shouted before I overthought this.
“What?! Who died?!” she shouted. I did, on the inside.
“No one died, Jamie.” I said bluntly.
“Oh…” she trailed off, smiling awkwardly. “I knew that.” she added on the end.
“I'm sure you did.” I stated sarcastically.
“I did.” She tried to argue.
“No you didn’t.” I said blankly.
“No, I didn’t.” She agreed with me finally. “What time is it?” she asked.
“It’s six in the morning.” I answered.
“That’s why it’s still dark out. I don't like it when I wake up and its dark outside, it’s not natural.” She responded.
“Well, I would have let you sleep for longer, but we didn’t pack anything up last night, so we have to do that now.” Her half-opened eyes became wide.
“Shit.” Was all she said before she jumped out of the bed. “Double shit!” she shouted, realising it was fairly cold out of the bed.
“It’s cold Jamie.” I stated.
“No f*cken kidding!” she shouted, running around in one of my shirts. Only in one of my shirts and underwear. I got a few glimpses of her tattoo again, only thinking back to Anthony and how she had sub-consciously thought I was him. At about seven we were packed, by some form of a miracle, and were leaving earlier than I had originally planned.
“Zayn it’s way too early in the morning for this.” she said quickly.
“What gives you that idea?” I asked rhetorically.
“I can see stars Zayn. I can see the stars!” she shouted the last part. I started driving, and not even five minutes later, she was already bored.
“Are we there yet?” she asked.
“No.”
“What about now?”
“No.” I answered again. She looked out the window as I put the radio on. Her head then fell forwards, and I could see that her eyes were closed and I heard her breathing slow. She had already fallen asleep.
Jamie’s POV
“Is we there yet?” I asked again, as we were still driving at eleven o’clock. It was still morning and we had been driving for hours, wow.
“What does that sign say?” he returned my question with a question.
“Bradford?” I kind of asked.
“And so…” he trailed off.
“We’d be at Bradford.” I stated, was I supposed to be connecting the pieces here? Because it wasn’t working.
“Where were we heading?” he asked, realising I hadn’t put two and two together.
“Bradford.” I said. “Ooooohhhhh.” I get it now. “So we’re here! Finally!” I shouted. “I'm getting leg cramps.” I stated.
“Well, just hang in there for a few more minutes.” He told me, seeming annoyed.
“I don't know if I can…” I pouted. He turned to face me for a second and raised his eyebrow. “No judging thank you very much.” I pointed at him.
“Well, on a different note, I should probably tell you my family’s names.” He suggested.
“Probably.” I responded.
“Okay, well, my mother’s name is Patricia. That’s probably the easiest one to remember. You could call her ‘Tricia’ though.” Zayn explained.
“Okay, Tricia is your mum.” I repeated so I would remember.
“Alright, so my dad is Yaser.” He stated.
“Could you repeat that, please?” I asked nicely.
“Yaser.” He said again.
“Okay, Yaser. Okay, who’s next?”
“My older sister, Doniya.” He responded.
“Doniya, got it.”
“Okay, now I have two younger sisters. Waliyha and Safaa.” He gave me two names at the same time.
“So Walfaa and Saliyha?” I checked. He laughed.
“Waliyha and Safaa.” He repeated.
“Whoops, okay, Waliyha and Safaa. Got it… I think.” I said thoughtfully.
“Okay, now list them all so I know that you’ve got it.” He instructed.
“Okay, so Doniya, Walfaa and Salihya are your sisters-”
“Waliyha and Safaa.” He was already correcting me.
“From the start. Doniya, Waliyha and Safaa are your sisters. Your father is Yoya-”
“Yaser.” He corrected me again.
“Yaser, that’s what I said.” I lied. “Your father is Yaser and your mum is Patricia, but Tricia for short.” I said. “I got two of the names right!” I had an internal party. “How did I even manage that?”
“I have no clue. But repeat them again.” He told me.
“Doniya, Waliyha and Safaa are your sisters, your dad is Yaser and your mum is Patricia.” When I hadn’t been cut off by him for any corrections, I knew I got them right. “YES! It was almost too simple. But it was the perfect amount of simple that it was still hard for my brain to comprehend properly without outside help-”
“Jamie, I think you should stop.” Zayn cut me off.
“Don't you like the sound of my voice?” I asked him.
“I do, but not when you’re crapping on about random shit.” He responded.
“Oh, I forgot to say merry Christmas this morning.” I remembered. “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” I shouted. I think he swerved a little as I shouted it.
“Merry Christmas to you too.” He responded, sounding a little scared.
“Indeed, this is going to be a very merry Christmas.” I stated.
“Jamie, you know the rest of my family don't celebrate Christmas, right? They’re Islamic.” He just tore my dreams apart.
“What?!” I shouted. “I give up on life.” I threw my arms down in annoyance.
“I only started celebrating Christmas because of the boys and Perrie.” He explained.
“Perrie. Your ex. She’s the reason you started to celebrate Christmas?” I asked him. He didn’t answer my question, only changed the subject.
“Look, we’re here.” He changed the subject.
“Oh, hell no you don't change the subject on me.” I said while pointing very threateningly at him.
“Uh, well… look, there's my mum.” He pointed out, getting out of the car. I followed, ignoring his statement from before.
“Zayn! Don't you dare freaking change the subject and walk out of the room!” I shouted.
“We were in a car, Jamie.” He corrected me.
“Same thing!” I responded.
“Hey Mum.” Zayn said, changing the subject again.
“Zayn, if you dare fu-” I looked at the woman that was standing in front of us. “Hi there, Patricia.” God damn I hope that was the right name…
“Hello dear, you can call me Tricia though.” She responded, apparently not knowing who the hell I was.
“Oh, Mum this is Jamie, Jamie this is Mum.” Zayn introduced us.
“So you’re Jamie, it’s nice to finally meet you.” I smiled awkwardly at Tricia’s statement.
“It’s nice to meet you too…” I trailed off. Well, this is definitely awkward. I felt my body start shaking from the fact it was freaking freezing outside, and we still hadn’t made it into what I hope is a warm bloody house.
“Are you cold?” Zayn asked me.
“Nah.” I said sarcastically, he wrapped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me to his side.
“Okay, well let’s get you inside dear.” Tricia said, walking to the front door.
“That sounds like an excellent plan.” I agreed as I grabbed Zayn’s hand and started dragging him inside. I took a deep breath in through my nose, and all of the smells of food came to me. Damn it smelt good.
“It smells so good.” I said, complimenting Tricia before I even ate any of her food.
“Thank you.” Tricia said in response.
“Okay, do you remember everyone’s names?” Zayn asked.
“Kinda.” I said.
“Well, they’re right here.” He said.
“Hi, Yaser.” I said to the only other guy in the room, suspecting it to be said person.
“Hello…” he trailed off.
“Jamie.” I finished for him.
“Ah yes, Zayn has told me a lot about you.” He responded.
“He has?” I asked, looking at Zayn and giving him a questioning look. A girl that looked older than Zayn walked into the room. “Doniya?” I kind of asked. She nodded.
“You must be Jamie, it’s nice to finally meet you.” She said, shaking my hand and giving Zayn a death glare. “Why hasn’t she come here earlier?” she asked him.
“Well, that… is an excellent question.” He responded. Two other girls walked into the room.
“Walfaa and Soliyha?” I questioned the names. They both started laughing.
“Jamie, it’s Safaa and Waliyha.” Zayn whispered in my ear. I just closed my eyes and tried not to scream.
“Damn it.”

Notes