in the hills • zayn malik

eight- beginning

eight- beginning

song for this chapter: ‘where you been?’ by Georgia Fair

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Zayn grabbed one of the towels which was hanging on the tree branch, wrapping it around his waist and quietly singing Little Things to himself, grabbing the other towel and tousling his hair, not really attempting to dry it, but really wanting to get rid of the excess water which was dripping down his back.

It had now been the eighth day of staying at Iris’ place, and Zayn was slowly getting used to the lack of meat, his hard bed, and also washing in the river didn’t seem like such a chore. There was still the aching in his chest, but he managed to not think of Perrie as much.

He pulled his clothes back on after a moment of standing in the warm afternoon sun, and headed back to the house, and judging from how light it still was, Iris was probably still out in the fields, meaning he had the house to himself.

The walk itself was quick, and as soon as he got inside he grabbed The Great Gatsby and headed to the sitting room toward the back of the house, which had a window looking out into the back part of the property. He propped himself onto the window seat, and flicked open to where he had last got up to and started to read.

When Zayn looked up from the book and out of the window, he realised that the sun was starting to set, and felt comfortably warm, making a smile tug at his lips. He adored this weather, and was glad for the mountainous backdrop to accompany it.

His ears pricked up as he heard the sound of the back door opening, and  he waited to see if Iris would call for him, like he always called for her.

“Zayn are you here?” Iris called, and he began to grin.

“I think I am.” He yelled back, making himself chuckle at his own lame joke.

“Where are you?” Zayn could hear her walking through the house, even venturing to go upstairs, though he had never gone up there during his stay. It felt to him as if that was a place for Iris, and he felt that he would seriously be invading her privacy.

“In the sitting room, near the back.” He answered, and heard her light pitter-patter of feet. He couldn’t be bothered getting up, and smiled brightly at her as she appeared at the door.

“How was work?” Zayn asked, and she looked at him oddly.

“The same as every other day.” She said, sounding suspicious. “Why do you ask?”

Zayn shrugged and stood up. “You might have had a bad day or something.”

She seemed at a loss for words, and it was funny seeing her so not in control of her emotions. Ever since that time when he had spontaneously held her hand, his words sometimes seemed to unravel her, like her words had unraveled him. How the tables had turned.

“And how was your day?” She asked awkwardly, fiddling with her top.

“I slept, for a while actually, then I went down to the river, and then I came back up here and read.” Zayn gestured to his book. “This really is amazing.”

“I had a feeling that you would like it.” She said, and Zayn expected her to smile, but only her green eyes lit up, making that feeling come back, twisting at his stomach and making his neck burn.

“Did you need help with making dinner?” Zayn asked, trying to ignore his churning stomach.

“I was actually coming to tell you that I hadn’t made anything particularly special, so we’ll have to have sandwiches.”

“That’s fine. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.” Zayn said, smiling at her.

She nodded and walked away in her graceful way, and Zayn looked back out the window, his features softening at the beautiful sunset outside. He sighed contently and walked down to his room, carefully placing his book on the end of his bed, before going back to the kitchen.

Iris had laid out small piles of cabbage, tomato, carrot, cucumber and even a plate of soft looking cheese. He didn’t see Iris, and walked over to the counter, starting to cut the bread. He didn’t turn around as he heard Iris enter.

“You did not have to do that.” Iris said, and Zayn smiled down at the bread as he finished cutting it.

“It was no problem at all.” Zayn said, gathering the slices and putting them on a plate. He could feel Iris’ eyes on him as he put the plate down and started making his sandwich. After a moment she started to make hers too.

The spent most of the dinner in silence, but to Zayn it didn’t seem awkward at all. They didn’t need to speak much and he rather enjoyed their ability to have comfortable silences. He wasn’t a man of many words anyway, and Iris was the same.

After all the food was gone and there was that moment where Zayn wasn’t sure if he was supposed to say something or not, but Iris seemed to want to ask him something.

“I made a bonfire in the back, do you want to join me?” She asked, looking at him over her shoulder as she cleaned the plates.

Zayn felt a smile grow on his face. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

He waited until Iris was finished, and then followed her outside. She had lit the candles in the corridor, and they made Zayn feel sleepy and relaxed. The bonfire had been set towards the side of the house, and in the last light of the setting sun, he could see that Iris had brought out some blankets.

Iris set to work on starting the fire, and Zayn sat down, watching her. Her hair was tied back as usual, and he wished that she would let it loose.  He shook as head, trying to get rid of the thoughts forming in his head.

As he couldn’t deny his love for Perrie, he couldn’t deny that Iris was pretty, despite the way the corners of her lips naturally turned downwards, but even through all of that he almost had to stop himself staring at her.

The fire had been kindled, and Iris looked proudly down at her work. She grabbed a blanket and sat next to Zayn, and even though she wasn’t smiling he thought she even managed to look content. She stared determinedly into the fire, like she was expecting to see something in the burning logs.

He could hear the sound of cows and sheep, but if anything that made the whole atmosphere feel more homely, and, dare he say it, enchanting. He held his hands out towards the fire, and he felt Iris’ eyes on him.

“Can I ask you a question?” Iris asked quietly.

“Shoot.” Zayn said, keeping his eyes on the fire.

“Shoot what?” She asked, sounding confused.

“Sorry, I meant go ahead.” Zayn rectified, cursing himself for his mistake.

“How did you get here?”

The million dollar question, Zayn thought bitterly to himself. Iris had every right to know, and it wasn’t like she could go running to the press and tell them the whole story anyway. But he knew she wouldn’t do that, if she had the choice. He almost thought of Iris as a... friend.

“You might want to get comfortable, it’s a long story.” Zayn said, sighing, finally turning to look at her.

She had laid down, and was looking at him with her almost comforting curiosity. He was glad that she wanted to know, that maybe to some degree she cared what had happened to him.

He lay down too, the grass cushioning his back nicely. The bruises had faded, and the soreness disappeared. He glanced at her, and found she was still staring at him intensely. Zayn looked up at the darkening sky and began.

“I met Perrie a couple of years ago, and when I saw her, it was like love at first sight. I had some inkling that when we started dating, that I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life. But we both led busy lives, as she was in a band herself, and we were content.”

“I suppose at the start what hurt the most for both of us was that people only thought Perrie was dating me so that her group, Little Mix would get more attention. Well I suppose they did, but I knew that she wasn’t dating me for the fame. She wasn’t like that.”

Zayn took a deep breath, knowing that if he continued he would cry. Like a baby. Did he really want Iris to see him like that?

“Zayn, it is alright. I will listen.” She said, her voice calm, and he in turn calmed down slightly, grateful for her presence.

“It was last year that I asked her to marry me. I knew it probably wouldn’t happen for a while, but I didn’t care one bit. I thought that we would be together forever, because I didn’t think I could love somebody more than I love her.”

“Maybe I should have seen it coming. There were lots of little things that I thought were odd but never thought to comment on. She wouldn’t want to go out with me when we were back in London, sometimes when I told her that she could come over to my apartment, she wouldn’t come. I ignored the signs.”

“We finally managed to get a date for our wedding. For me, it felt like finally I could have her as mine, and maybe she’d be happier. We took a break from both of our bands, and my band mates were happy to get a break, and they were happy for me.”

Zayn’s chest started to constrict, and he found some strength in seeing the first star of the night. He put his hands on his stomach and begun again.

“Finally, after so long of waiting, we got to the day before the wedding. Perrie had stayed over at my place, and we were lying in bed. Then she got up, started to pack her things. She left the apartment, and I ran after her, telling her to stop, that I could fix it...” Zayn trailed off, feeling tears well up in his hazel eyes. He gulped and saw the sky go blurry.

“She told me she couldn’t marry me. With no explanation, nothing. She left, and I could only watch her car recede into the distance.”

Some tears had managed to escape, and were gliding down Zayn’s cheeks. He sat up, wiping them away impatiently, but they kept on coming.

He looked at Iris who had sat up as well. She didn’t look worried or scared, but she had a small frown on her face, and it was filled with that calm. He sniffled and tried to wipe away the tears.

“What did I do wrong, Iris?” He whispered, searching her green eyes.

She moved closer to him and to his surprise wrapped her arm around him, pulling him into her. “You did nothing wrong.” She said softly. “Nothing at all.”

How odd we must look Zayn thought, though not caring much. He couldn’t really believe that Iris was doing this, cause he doubted that Perrie would have been as comforting. But he just stayed there, while Iris held him, trying not to sob.

After a while, when Zayn’s tears had begun to stop, Iris let him go, and he gave her a small, but grateful smile.

“Thank you.” He whispered, and chuckled. “I’m a downright mess, aren’t I?”

“Aren’t we all?” Iris said, looking at him thoughtfully.

Zayn didn’t know how to reply and laid back down again, staring at the now completely dark sky. More and more stars were starting to appear, and they were truly breathtaking.

“What did you do next?” Iris asked, and he heard as she lay down again.

“I went back up to my apartment, and I saw a picture of us. I threw it at the wall. Then I saw another one and I threw it at the wall as well. I just stood there, and I knew that I couldn’t stay. So I grabbed my car keys, left my phone on the kitchen bench, got into the car and started driving.”

“I didn’t really have a plan. I just drove out of London and kept going. Then I saw this turn off that didn’t have a sign, and I just thought why not? I could always turn back if I needed to.”

“I drove along that road for a while, and then I saw that there was a road on the left. I turned onto it, and then my car broke down. Then I found you.”

They didn’t speak for a long time, but he felt like something had changed between them, like Zayn telling Iris his story had brought them closer together, if that was possible. That warmth came back at that thought, somewhat filling his chest where his heart had been shattered.

“We should go back inside.” Iris said, and Zayn sat up, nodding. Iris dampened the fire, and they headed in together, Zayn carrying the bundle of blankets in his arms. He put them away, and Iris started to blow out the candles.

They were standing at the foot of the stairs, with one candle lit in the corridor. He looked down at her intently, and without thinking of the consequences, he hugged her.

She wrapped her arms around him quickly, and a content sigh slipped from his lips. Her fingers were gripping onto the back of his top, but he didn’t mind. The warmth came back in force, this time enveloping his whole body. He didn’t want to think about what it meant.

“Thank you.” He whispered. “Thank you so much.”

He let go of her, and watched as she walked up the stairs, sending him fleeting glances over her shoulder. He blew out the last candle and stumbled to his room, unable to get the smile off his face.

That night, he didn’t dream of Perrie.

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Guess what? it's Chloe (lihtan) here, because Sara is too lazy to update her own story. gosh. Kidding, Sara is away and unfortunately does not have her laptop but she didn't want to leave you all hanging so I am putting it up for her :)

Sara has told me that this chapter is dedicated to @NataliaRodrguezSoto, for her lovely comment on the previous chapter and her support. Thankyou!

Now, comment how amazing this was for Sara hehe :))

Byeeee, I'm going to just stalk Sara's account now.