heartbeat // zayn malik AU

chapter twenty

"It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie.

The moment to live and the moment to die."

- 30 Seconds To Mars [This Is War]

Upon arriving back at Charoum Angel Hospital, the blonde receptionist we'd encountered before--who seemed even less thrilled at our arrival the second time around, as if to say "oh... you're back?"--told us that our friends were in the nurses' lounge. The purse of her lips told us clearly that she had no idea what our ragtag crew was doing in there, where only medical staff belonged.

Trying to hide my smirk, I nodded a quick thank-you to her, grabbed Zayn's hand, and half-dragged him towards the door clearly marked 'HOSPITAL STAFF ONLY'. Taking a deep breath, I paused with my hand on the doorknob. "They probably think we're dead, after seeing Shay Woodley and her Enforcers carrying us out of the hospital room like that."

Impatiently, he said, "Then let's go prove them wrong, eh?"

And, putting an end to my half-hearted attempt at stalling the reunion I was admittedly very nervous for, Zayn shoved the door open and entered the lounge.

My eyes flitted around the white-walled room, taking it in. A coffee machine was pressed against the corner, right next to a hand sanitizer dispenser. The tiles were a plain gray-flecked design; overall, nothing too fancy, and exactly what you'd expect a nurse's lounge to look like--clean, neat, sparse, and orderly.

Finally, my gaze transferred itself to the pair of pale blue sofas that graced the middle of the room, and more importantly, the shocked people that were seated on them.

Though the others all took us in with wide eyes, it was Renee who first spoke; she was at the coffee machine, and when she turned and glimpsed Zayn and I, she screamed and promptly dropped her cup, splattering steaming liquid all over the clean tiled floor. Without sparing a second glance at the lost beverage, she screamed, "Zayn! Valarie!" and rushed forward to envelope me in a bonecrunching hug that effectively got every bruised and aching muscle in my body to scream in protest.

Biting back a swear, I gingerly hugged her back. "Hi," I mumbled.

Letting out a shriek of joy, Astral flew up from where she was gracefully reclining on the sofa, straight into Zayn's arms.

Cyphus and Louis were on their feet by now, and wrapping Zayn in that awkward too-cool-to-properly-hug thing that guys always did. I ignored their attempts to be macho, stepping forward and giving Cyphus a huge hug. "We're alive," I told him happily.

Looking rather abashed, he tried unfruitfully to pry my arms from around his middle. "Um... that's nice." Softening a little, he ruffled my hair, like I was a little girl, when in reality I was about a year younger then him. "I'm glad to hear that."

As he peered at me over Astral's shoulder--she was still clinging to him like they'd never let go of each other--I thought I saw Zayn's eyes darken almost imperceptibly.

Though I was sure I'd imagined it, I couldn't help falter, loosening my embrace on Cyphus and turning back to Renee and Louis.

My raven-haired friend gave me a gentle smile, her eyes still brimming with happiness. "I seriously can't believe you two are alive. How did you escape Shay? We were all so fucking scared when they took you... We've spent the entirety of today trying to come up with plans to save you, unsuccessfully, might I add."

Taking in the tired bags under everyone's eyes, I felt warmth spark in my heart as I realized that they actually cared. They cared if Zayn and I died at Council's hands, and they'd been prepared to risk their lives, trying to save us.