slow it down // zayn malik

chapter three // too close.

Linley's pov

I stare down at my wrist, my jaw nearly hitting the floor. Immediately Zayn and I both pull our hands away, causing us both to shout in pain as the cold metal of the handcuffs dig into our skin. 

You've got to be fucking kidding me. Is this some sort of sick joke? This isn't happening...

"Hey!" I scream after Franx, the man that runs this entire festival, absolutely fuming. Zayn starts shouting along with me as we pull one another by the wrist. 

"Stop pulling!" I shout at Zayn as we try to fight our way through the incredibly amused crowd that has formed around us. 

Zayn grumbles back several swear words directed towards me as we shove our way through the sea of people. But by the time we get through the concrete crowd, Franx is nowhere to be seen. My head feels like it's going to explode with all the excited chatter going on by the crowd and the awful human being attached to my left wrist.

"Go on people, there's nothing to see here!" I hear Sable shouting, waving her hands at the crowd of people as if they were a flock of birds in her way. 

Andi helps her try to get rid of everyone as Harry rushes to our side. He gives me an incredibly unenthused glare as he stands by Zayn's side, obviously still a little sore over mine and Sable's little prank.

"Don't worry mate, we'll find someone who can fix this," He promises Zayn as if I were some sort of disease clinging on to him.

I can't help but to scoff and try to fold my arms, only to be yanked by an irritable Zayn. I let out a small whimper, but don't want to give him the satisfaction, so I turn my whimper into a groan of irritation, burning a hole in the side of his head with my glare.

As the crowd starts to evaporate, moving along with the persistence of Sable and Andi, I start searching for Franx, or for anyone that looks like they could help us, for that matter. 

"God dammit," Sable spits as she hurries to my side, giving Zayn the dirtiest look I've ever seen her give anyone; and that's saying a lot, "We've got to perform tomorrow!" She shouts at me as if I were the one that handcuffed us together.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not spending more than two minutes with this attached to me. I'll gnaw off my own arm if I have to," Zayn butts into our conversation. 

Just for that I give the handcuffs a sharp yank, causing him to yelp out in pain. I simply stare at him with a smug smirk, just wishing he'd hit me so I had an excuse to strangle him with these damned handcuffs. 

"Excuse me, sir!" Harry shouts, waving his arms at a man who totes a tool box behind him, appearing to be some sort of mechanic, "Do you have anything that will cut through metal handcuffs? It's an emergency," He asks politely, laying the charm on thick. 

The mechanic furrows his eyebrows in confusion to which Harry gestures back to Zayn and I. Zayn throws our joined hands in the air, making me wince. Unable to help myself, I stomp on his foot as hard as I can with my chunky boots. 

Zayn throws a glare at me, looking so close to slamming me on the ground to try and knock the breath right out of my lungs.

"There's a reason kids aren't supposed to play with those things," The man smirks at us as he goes on his way, whistling an irritatingly cheery tune. 

Harry throws his hands in the air with exasperation as he stomps back to our group. I can practically watch his precious plans for this week just flying out of the window now that this has happened. 

"What the hell happened to the code of happiness here?" He snarls as he kicks the ground with aggression, blowing dust in the air for us to choke on.