Love Notes

-Monday July 9th, 2012
“Christ, Malik. You shouldn’t even be allowed [i]near[/i] a computer..” Iris mumbled, coming out of the boy’s room with a tired expression.

“Oh come on Bloom! It was just a tiny little bug, wasn’t it?” Zayn laughed from his position on the couch, using the nickname he’d come up with within five minutes after they met.

“[b]That[/b]” Iris started, pointing her thumb towards his bedroom. “Was not a little bug. Those were 3 nasty viruses and one particularly stubborn piece of adware. Do you even have antivirus software on your computer? Cause acquiring that many does require definite skill.” She grumbled, sitting down next to him on the couch.

“I don’t know..” he answered. “Do I?”

Iris let out a strangled cry of frustration. “It was a rhetorical question. But yes, you did have antivirus software. Updated last on December 22nd of 2010.” She answered with narrowed eyes. “I tossed it, got you a more efficient program and automatic updates of your virus database. Obviously you’re not to be in charge of something as delicate as the health of your laptop.”

The boy grinned, pressing his lips to her cheek. “[i]Thank you Iris[/i]”

Iris pressed her glasses up her nose. “You’re welcome, bloody pain in the ass.”

Her words made Zayn laugh loudly. After four years in England, it still sounded odd to him whenever she used British slang.

Originally born in the Netherlands, English wasn’t exactly a strange language to Iris. She’d been exposed to it from a young age and soon discovered it often came more easily than her native language, Dutch did. Though her exposure to American films and music and the classic British English she’d learned in school had given her quite the interesting accent, something that had amused Zayn greatly from the start.

They’d met when Zayn was on a school trip to London. Iris had just moved there and had been hopelessly lost. He was showing off for his friends and trying to be funny when he sent her in the wrong direction. His plan fell through when he ran into her again later in the day in the museum of modern art. After she put him in his place about sending her on a wild goose chase, they got to talking and actually hit it off. His friends had pressed fifteen year old Zayn to get her number, seeing a potential hook-up for their friend. They however, both felt nothing more than friendship. Even though Iris was nearly three years older than him, Zayn felt almost like she was his little sister. Iris often suspected this had something to do with her length. 5’2 isn’t exactly gigantic.

“So what are you up to tonight?” She asked Zayn a little later. He’d ordered some pizza for dinner as a thank you to her for looking at his computer. They’d been munching away quietly, watching a simpsons rerun.

“Dunno.” He answered, mouth full of pizza. “Maybe see what the lads are up to, go to a bar or something.” He shrugged. “You?”

Iris shrugged as well. “Working, probably. Deadline coming up.”

Slowly but surely, Zayn saw her sink back into her own world, as she always did when her writing became topic of conversation. It was like she was watching the story unfold in her head, and all she had to do was write it down.

Iris had been writing since long before they met, but only recently got some recognition. A small publishing house had sent her a glowing letter after reading her manuscript. This happened at about the same time Zayn’s rollercoaster ride with One Direction started. After a lot of meetings and late night rewrites, she’d finally did it. One night, when he was touring the UK, Paul pressed a package in his hands. Zayn had been quite confused, not really expecting ‘snail mail’. But, when he saw what fell out of the big padded envelope, he let out a loud whoop.

Bloom’s first book, bound and everything. She did it.

While it didn’t exactly land on the best seller list, Iris quickly became the highest selling author that the publishing house had ever printed. That alone had made Zayn’s chest swell with pride.

Now, working on the second book of the series, he had faith she’d pull it off again.

He’d offered to send a tweet out about her book or have it casually sticking out of his bag when he knew there were paparazzi around, but Iris had quickly squashed that idea.

Actually, she was so offended, she refused to talk to him for two days. She wanted to do things on her own, and he respected that.

Writing hadn’t exactly made her filthy rich yet. (even though Zayn thought it should have by now) So it was necessary for Iris to have a job alongside it.

Having graduated early with a teachers degree, she quickly found a job at a day-care when she moved to London. She worked there four days a week and spent the rest on her writing. She actually much preferred it this way, now she had much less paperwork and no papers to take home and grade.

“You could come with us?” Zayn offered, already knowing the answer.

Iris smiled at him and shook her head. “No, that’s ok. You have fun.” Standing up to gather the pizza box and dirty plates, she ruffled his hair a bit.

Always the same answer, she never came out with him.

Despite it being two years already, she’d never met the other guys, not properly at least. She’d (obviously) seen their pictures and they’d seen one of her on Zayn’s phone, but she always stayed away when it came to real life contact. When he’d ask her about it she always mumbled something vague about two different parts of his life.

Sometimes, some days more than others, that hurt him a bit.

Iris was a fairly reserved girl, shy even, in unknown situations. The idea of the spotlight he lived in was terrifying to her. Zayn understood that, but he also wanted her to meet the other people who were such a big part of his life.

[center]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center]

Later that night, Zayn had met up with his band mates for some drinks and they were making plans to go to a club later on. Even though they’d just got back from their American tour a week ago, he was glad to see his friends. It had been really strange to sleep in his own bed again and not be with the guys every day.

Trying very hard to keep track of Louis’ hands while he was telling a story, Zayn almost didn’t feel the vibration of his phone in his pocket.

[b]Neighbor bought a trumpet. Fleeing to your swanky, silent apartment tonight. –x[/b]

He let out a snort, gaining the attention of the curly haired boy next to him.

Harry raised his eyebrows in question.

Zayn showed him the screen of his phone, making Harry laugh as well.

“Jesus, she really has all the luck, doesn’t she?” He chuckled.

Iris’ knack for attracting bad luck was one of Zayn’s favorite stories to tell to his friends. The girl was like a damn magnet, could trip over air if she put her mind to it.

“She has something, that’s for sure.” Zayn joked. “Just means that we have to be a little quieter when we get back later.”

In his mind being only slightly unfair, Zayn had decided it was time his best friends met even if one of those friends didn’t particularly feel ok with that idea. If Mohammed wouldn’t come to the mountain.. he’d bring the damn mountain to Mohammed.

[center]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center]

They got back to Zayn’s apartment at around 4 that morning. Besides Liam and Zayn, who had remained relatively sober knowing he’d have to explain some things to Iris, the boys had trouble staying on their feet. Louis was giggling like mad at something Harry said in the elevator on the way up. Niall was just bummed he lost sight of a girl he’d been talking with.

“Just be quiet guys, I don’t know if she’s asleep yet!” Zayn hissed, turning his key in the lock. He entered the apartment first, already taking note of the faint glow of a laptop screen.

Who am I kidding, he thought. She’s writing, of course she’s not asleep. Probably didn’t even notice it got dark, let alone that it’s 4 in the morning.

“The famous Eye-rish!” Louis bellowed, spreading his arms wide and looking at the girl in question with a grin. The others had stumbled in by now, gathering in a curious crowd behind him. They’d all taken to the idea of meeting Zayn’s elusive friend, though this wasn’t exactly what they’d expected.

Iris didn’t look up or acknowledge them in any matter, her fingers were flying over the keys at lightning speed. Her behaviour, or rather lack thereof, puzzled the fun loving drunken boys.

“Mate..” Niall asked, tugging on Zayn’s sleeve. “She okay? Not broken or nothing?”

Zayncouldn’t help but bite back a grin. He stepped towards Iris, careful not to scare her. “Bloom?” He asked with a smile, crouching down in front of her. “Babe, eyes on me please..” He urged, pressing her laptop screen down a little. The movement made her eyes flash up to meet his.

“Did I do it again?” She mumbled. Zayn smiled and nodded. “Take a break for now, yeah? That thing will be there after a few hours of sleep.” He gently moved the laptop off her lap.

“I started a new story. God, I know I shouldn’t-” Iris sighed, moving a hand through her hair. “But it sounded so good! I really needed to know what would happen..” She trailed off, finally catching sight of the boys behind him.

“Oh, hello..” Iris mumbled, sliding her glasses back on her nose.

“Bloom, these are the lads, Liam, Niall, Harry and Louis.” Zayn introduced them with a hand flourish. “I know what you said, but it’s important to me that you met them.” He added after seeing her give him a look.

She sighed. “I know, I get it..” She mumbled again, mustering up a shy smile. “Though I must admit I didn’t think I’d meet you in purple plaid pyjama pants and a stretched out tanktop.” She grumbled, suddenly very aware of her relaxed attire. This made Zayn laugh and pushed her forward a bit. “Lads, Iris!”

As if given a signal, they all hurried forward and gave her a hug, not really taking notice of personal space. This probably had something to do with the alcohol they’d drank, Iris figured. Or at least she really hoped it did.

She had to admit, it was hard not to smile around these guys, they all had a sense of humour and joked with each other a lot. This, she figured, was not alcohol induced.

Harry was the last to hug her. “Nice to finally meet you, love.” His speech was impressively cohesive, especially since she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Likewise..” Iris said with a smile, patting his back lightly before letting go.

Harry, though, didn’t quite have the same idea. His hands slid from her shoulders to her waist and squeezed a bit tighter.

“Hey!” Iris objected, jumping out of his grasp. The boys all laughed and Harry shrugged with a sheepish smile. “What? Had a lovely girl in my arms for the first time this evening, why not take a little advantage of that!”

Iris blushed and turned around, gathering up her things.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Zayn asked with a frown.

“Getting my stuff, it’s late and I should go.” She answered, stuffing the power chords in her backpack.

“Bloom!” He protested, grabbing her arm to turn her around. “Seriously!?”

He couldn’t believe she was trying to leave. She said she understood how important this meeting was to him and now, after barely saying her name, she was ready to flee.

“Bull, it’s 4 in the morning and the fun’s nowhere near done!” Louis exclaimed, taking Iris’ backpack from her and tossing it aside. “We are going to get to know each other!” He said happily, pulling her on the couch next to him. “I’ve made it my life’s mission to know at least one thing that I can exploit of every person I know. I have yet to learn yours. Start talking missy!”

His happy go lucky attitude made Iris smile and Zayn was relieved to see her posture relax a little. She was bad with new people or unfamiliar situations, but he hadn’t seen it this bad before.

“’sides” Zayn added. “Did you really think I’d let you go home at this hour? Forget it. We’ll make things work Bloom, I’m sure we’ll all find a place to crash later.”

“I know, I know..” Iris muttered. “Sorry.”

As the others made themselves comfortable, Louis started his questioning.

“Age?”
“21”
“Dog years?”
“97” Iris answered without missing a beat.
“Country of birth?”
“Netherlands” She answered with a smile, knowing he was finding it hard to place her accent.
“Favourite food?”
“Italian” This earned her a high five from Niall.
“Relationship status on facebook?” By now the boy had produced an empty water bottle from behind the couch and was holding it towards her like a microphone.
“Single” She said laughing.
“Do you have a facebook?”
“Yes!” She answered, laughing even harder.
“Do you play any musical instruments?” Liam asked, seeing a chance to jump in.

Louis merely narrowed his eyes at his friend, but allowed her to answer the question seeing as the ‘microphone’ came towards her again.

“No way, about as non musical as they get.” Iris answered him with a scrunch of her nose.
“Did you have a crush on our little Zayn when you first met him?” Harry asked, taking part as well.
“Nahuh, it never was like that.” She answered, getting a smile from Zayn as he walked in from the kitchen with some more drinks.
“Did you really fall into the fountain on Picadilly Circus?” Louis suddenly asked with a laugh.

Iris turned red instantly, whipping her head round to meet Zayn’s eyes. “Oh!” She let out. Zayn held up his hands with a laugh. “Come on Bloom! I had to tell them [b]that[/b]!”

Iris leant back into the couch, letting the boys converse among themselves about how she could’ve managed that. She bit her lip, a nervous habit, and didn’t notice Harry’s gaze on her.

He was quietly amazed at the difference in her behaviour. It took a few reassurances, but even being a smidgen more comfortable than when they walked in, she was already a lot more.. vibrant. At lack of a better word. He had a feeling she was very good at putting herself in the background.

“When and how’d you start writing?” He asked over the loud talking of his friends. They immediately quieted down, wanting to know this answer themselves.

Iris looked at him, a little surprised, and smiled. She had a lovely smile, Harry thought.

“I started out with poems. I don’t know when, exactly. I’ve always written something for as long as I can remember. Eventually, poems became a resort for when I was feeling down. So as long as I’m not writing poems, you know I’m okay.” She laughed. “I started writing stories more and more, mostly penning down the things that played around in my head during the day. I think up stories to keep me busy. I just wanted to know what happened and not forget about it the next day, so I wrote them down. ” She explained, fiddling with the can of Pepsi Zayn had given her.

“You have a strange way of speaking of your stories.. Like your just a spectator or something..” Harry noted.

Iris chuckled. “You picked up on that, huh? That’s because it often feels like that for me. I might think up one of my leads, but usually things just kind of flow from there thanks to things I come across in everyday life. I like to think that’s it’s some kind of gift. I get to experience their story so I write it down for others.”

The room was quiet.

“Sorry, that’s probably kind of lame..” She laughed, feeling very self conscious.

“No!” Liam protested. “I think that’s actually pretty damn awesome..” The other’s nodded in agreement.

“Well then, what about you?” Iris questioned, tucking her legs under her body. “Aside from the superficial things, I don’t know anything about you guys!”

As the boys all told her a little about themselves, Zayn sat back with a satisfied smile. He always knew they’d hit it off.

“So don’t you want to be at home then, Niall? I mean, you just spent months with these guys.. I’d say you had enough of them for a while.” Iris joked, addressing the Irish boy.

Nial grinned. “I was home, but apparently they couldn’t stand to be away from me!” He laughed, elbowing Harry. Liam rolled his eyes with a smile. “That, and we havea meeting about the second album tomorrow, so he kind of had to be here anyway.” He explained.

“Zayn!” Louis suddenly yelled, probably decided he’d been out of the spotlight long enough now. “You’ve been very quiet! Share with us your thoughts!” The microphone made its second appearance of the night, Zayn pushed it away with a laugh. “Sod off, I’m just glad you guys get along, that’s all.” He explained.

A second of silence was followed by a loud “Aww!” From his band mates.

Iris chuckled softly as they all jumped on top of Zayn, creating a dogpile.

The lull in conversation gave her body the chance to register it’s fatigue. A loud yawn escaped her.

“Zayn?” She said, standing up to stretch. “Can I crash on the couch in your room?” The boys all turned to look at her.

“That way two of the guys can take the spare room and the two couches out here.”

“You’ve got it all figured out, huh?” Zayn laughed. “Sure Bloom, that alright fella’s?”

The boys nodded.

“Alright then, I think I’ll turn in then..” Iris smiled. “Sweet dreams!”

They all bid her goodnight.

When they heard the door to Zayn’s room close, they all turned towards the boy in question.

“So that’s Iris, aye?” Niall asked with a grin.

Zayn nodded.

“She’s a bit nerdy, isn’t she?” Louis commented.

Zayn frowned and swung the empty water bottle at him.

“HEY! I meant the good kind of nerdy! The kind you want to squeeze until she fits into your pocket so you can take her everywhere!” He yelped.

The boys just raised their eyebrows at him.

“Go to bed Lou..” Zayn muttered with a laugh.

Notes

This is a repost from my original Mibba account. Now that I'm almost done with it, I was hoping for some recent feedback. Hope you like :)

-Xx