The Teenaged InnocentA Story by Lydia Another 1D fanfiction 5 Years Ago
She squealed and threw her head back laughing as he chased her down the beach. The wind whipped her wavy blond hair around her beaming face. Her neon yellow bikini stood out among the crowd of people, just like her vibrant smile. Random beachgoers frowned at the teenaged innocent as she fought against the sand, her bare feet sinking farther down with every lunge and leap she took. She stole a quick glance over her shoulder, her cerulean blue eyes glistening like the sun on the ocean, mesmerizing the boy as he reached out to catch her.
Her ruby red lips parted in a shriek as she lost her footing and the boy tackled her to the ground. She landed on her back, and the boy hovered over her, his palms pressed firmly into the sand on either side of her head. They laughed until their stomachs hurt, until they couldn’t breathe. Her chest heaved as she looked into his sparkling brown eyes, framed perfectly by thick, black lashes, so long and curly like none she’d ever seen before in her life.
His tanned face was merely inches from hers and it made her head spin. She’d never been that close to a boy before. She was a teenaged innocent, after all. Not him, though. He’d had lots of girlfriends, in fact, he could have any girl he wanted. At least that’s what she thought. They all seemed to hang on him like he was some sort of possession of theirs, like a toy they’d never dare to share with anyone else.
She saw him smile, how he looked at her with a twinge of admiration. No one had ever looked at her like that before and it made her tingle from her toes to the tip of her head. “Mel, I like you,” he said, his voice low and hushed, slightly muffled by the waves of the ocean crashing onto the shore.
She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip, the corners of her mouth flickering and twitching, contorting into a prize-winning smile, at least in the boy’s eyes. “I like you, too, Zayn,” she whispered softly, as if she were revealing a century-long kept secret. As if anyone else heard, then the seagulls soaring above would fall from the sky, everyone on the beach would suddenly drop dead, and her precious Zayn would crumble into a million pieces right before her eyes. Yes, it was a bit farfetched but it seemed relevant at the moment, at least in her mind it did.
He moved closer, the salty oceanic smell of his wet hair filling up her nostrils until his honey flavored lips met hers in a soft and gentle motion. It was her first kiss, and everything her cheesy romance novels said would happen, happened. Butterflies erupted in her stomach, her heart raced, there were sparks, fireworks, everything. It was perfect. Everything was perfect.
Present
She walked the streets of London, her hood pulled up over her head to shield her from the British rain. She blended in with the crowd, her light much dimmer- less radiant- these days. Life had been a rollercoaster ride between the girl and the boy, both of them completely different people from the young teenagers on the beach. She hadn’t seen him in a year, at least not in person. She’d seen him in her dreams every night, and he lived in her mind all throughout the day. She’d been thinking about him quite a lot lately.
Her family told her that she needed to move on, but they just didn’t understand. It’s hard when someone was your everything for so long, and then suddenly they’re just gone. Completely erased from your life. She saw his face in every crowd, always mistaking someone for him. She saw his face in the puddles of rain in the craters of the sidewalk. When she looked in the mirror he was always standing beside her. Sometimes she’d even think it was really him and when she’d turn to check…he was never there.
Things were messy towards the end, lots of fighting and arguing. But she couldn’t help but linger on how things had been so good for so long. Those moments where everything was right and they were so in love always overshadowed the bad times. Those were the moments that she held onto, the ones that kept her from letting go and just forgetting about him.
One place that held a lot of those memories was a coffee shop in Leicester Square called Mocha Café. She and Zayn used to go there almost everyday. They’d just talk and drink their hot chocolate’s, simply enjoying each other’s company. And that was exactly where she was headed on this particular day. She didn’t really know why she was going; she’d been avoiding the place for months. She supposed that it might do her some good to just sit and reminisce, visit some of the employees she and Zayn had befriended during their many trips there.
She took a deep breath as she reached the café, a flitting of a smile appearing on her face. It looked the exact same as it always did. The ‘o’ in ‘Mocha’ was still crooked, and the remains of a bird’s nest rested in the curve of the ‘c’, just like always. It was comforting for her to be somewhere so familiar; so much had changed in the last year that she was beginning to feel strange and misplaced everywhere she went. But not here. This was like returning home. Her hand hovered over the handle of the door as she peered in, remembering a day in particular that she’d spent there with Zayn.
3 Years Ago
She sat on one of the sofas near the back of the café, her legs tucked underneath her. She was bundled up in one of Zayn’s jumpers, and her gloved hands gripped her container of hot chocolate. Her candy pink lips pursed and lightly blew at the steam seeping from the small hole on the top of the cup. Zayn was sat on the couch, too. A relatively good amount of space between them. His right arm was slung over the back of the couch, his fingertips lightly stroking the wool covering her shoulder. He loved it when she wore his clothes. He thought she looked the best in them.
They watched each other, eyes searching each other’s faces. To be able to be completely comfortable in a shared silence with someone, no words passing between the two, was how she knew that their love was real. She couldn’t do that with anyone else; it would be awkward. But with Zayn, it came easy.
She could see that he was getting ready to say something, could see in his eyes that his mind was working. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he said, leaning his head to the side, taking her in.
Her lips relaxed from their purse, forming into one of her sweet smiles that Zayn could never get enough of. Her porcelain cheeks flushed a rosy pink, she’d always been shy when it came to sentimental things or compliments, but only when they were regarded towards her. “Why do you say that?” she asked, peering at him through her mascara painted lashed.
He shook his head dismissively, running a hand through his perfectly shaped quiff. “I don’t know. I was just thinking out loud, babe.”
She twisted her lips to the side, her fingers tightening around her coffee cup. “I like when you think out loud,” she grinned, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip, “You always say the sweetest things.” He chuckled and she reached out a skinny finger to tap his nose gently, giggling softly when he scrunched it up.
He watched her lovingly as she brought her coffee cup to her lips, taking a long sip. Her eyelids fluttered closed blissfully as the warm liquid coursed over her tongue, sending a warmth throughout her whole body. She could feel his eyes on her so she just barely opened hers to see him gazing at her, wearing a dreamy smile. Finally, she lowered the cup, swallowing the last bit of the chocolate-y goodness. “What are you thinking about now?” she asked him once she noticed that his face had fallen a bit.
He looked down at his lap, slowly cracking his knuckles before answering. “I was just wondering…what do you think about me going on the X-factor tour? I mean, is it okay with you?”
“Well, yeah. I’ll miss you, but you’re following your dreams so I’m happy.”
He sighed, fiddling with the many fan-made bracelets he wore on his wrists. He shifted his big brown eyes up to look at her. “You know, if you don’t want me to go, I won’t.”
She drew her eyebrows together and shook her head fervently, leaning over to set her empty coffee cup on the table in front of them. “Are you crazy? Of course I want you to go. You’ve earned this opportunity, and you can’t let the boys down. Obviously I’ll miss you and I could only hope that you’d miss me, too, but this is your dream, Zayn. I’d never get in the way of that.”
He nodded slowly. He should’ve known she’d want him to do it. She was never the selfish type. That just wasn’t her. He leaned forward, tucking a strand of wavy hair behind her ear, his fingertips tracing her jaw. “You know I’ll be back for you, right? No matter where I go or how long I’m gone for, I’ll always come back to you, Mel,” he said, his eyes staring deep into hers.
She smiled a bittersweet smile, reaching her hand up to cover his, loving the way his skin felt against hers. “Of course I know that, Zayn.”
Present
She shook her head, blinking away the tears that threatened to spill over. No, she wouldn’t cry over him anymore. She’d wasted too much of her time crying over him. Her hand reached down to yank open the door, the familiar ‘ding’ of the welcome bell immediately cheering her up. A few people lifted their heads from laptops and magazines to look at her and then quickly went back to whatever they were doing. No one special.
She drew in a long breath, the scent of mocha and espresso mixed together tickled at her nose. She ran a tongue over her lips as she made her way to the front counter, fishing her wallet out of her jacket pocket. Her eyes widened when she heard someone call out to her. “My Lord, Miss Melody, is that you?”
She looked up to address the petite, older lady who stood behind the counter. That was a voice she could never mistake. Miss Pat was one of the first people she and Zayn had befriended there. She was originally from America, and when the young girl had first met her she’d been quite taken back by the older woman’s thick Georgia accent.
“Miss Pat! Yes, it is me,” she replied, leaning over the counter as the woman pulled her into a tight hug. Miss Pat didn’t look much different than she had a year ago, the last time she saw her. She had a few more gray hairs, yes, and she’d developed some laugh lines, but that didn’t bother the girl. She actually quite fancied laugh lines, it let her know that they’d lived a good life, smiled a lot.
“My goodness girl, I haven’t seen you in forever. How have you been?” The older lady wiped her hands on a rag that was sitting on the counter, looking up at her with those welcoming green eyes that were clouded with age.
She pressed her lips together, pushing Zayn’s name from her mind. “I’ve been…okay,” she answered cryptically.
“How about that boyfriend of yours? How’s he doing?”
There was no getting around that question was there? She should’ve known that she’d have to speak about him if she came here. So she shrugged one shoulder and switched her wallet from hand to hand. “I’d like to know that myself.” She smiled a sad smile, brushing her overgrown bangs from her eyes.
Pat dropped the rag back on the counter. “Oh no, honey. You’re not together anymore?”
She answered with a shake of her head and a frown. “I can’t believe it. Do you mind telling me what happened? But if that’s too personal then you don’t have to say,” Pat said.
“We just grew apart, I guess. We got older and we changed. Life got in the way, you know? It was a nice ride while it lasted, though.”
A few more words and niceties were exchanged, and Pat insisted that her hot chocolate be free. She thanked her and took a seat at one of the tables, her eyes landing on the red leather couch where she once sat with someone she defined as the love of her life.
She stayed there in that spot for almost two hours, watching the rush of people outside the glass front of the café, her chin propped up on her hand. She almost fell asleep once, and when her head jerked up she decided that it might be time for her to go. But just as she started to lift herself off her chair, the door of the café swung open. She looked up, expecting to see another businessmen or woman walk in, cradling a laptop. But the person she saw instead made her heart stop. She had to take a double-take to make sure it wasn’t just her imagination. It was not.
Her head swam and her bum fell back onto the chair, her hands shooting out to grip the table. It was him. She couldn’t believe he was there. He strode in, same black quiff, same tanned skin, same blue and white varsity jacket. Unmistakeable. He looked exactly the same as he did the last time she saw him.
1 Year Ago
Zayn leaned against the doorframe of his kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching him with exhausted eyes. “You know I’m leaving tonight, right?” he asked, glancing up at her carelessly like he wished she wasn’t there, none of the love left in his gaze.
She nodded, hefting her handbag onto her shoulder and grabbing her keys from the back of the couch, not bothering to even look at him. “I know. I’m leaving, too,” she informed him, trying not to let her voice crack.
He raised his eyebrows and shifted his stance. “What do you mean?”
She turned to him, trying to stay strong. “I’m leaving tonight and going back home to Bradford. I’m not coming back.” She pressed her lips together and mimicked his stance, her thin arms crossing over her chest.
“Why?” He really didn’t sound that interested.
She ran a hand across her face, willing her lip to stop quivering. “What’s the point in staying, Zayn? It’s not like you care anymore,” she said.
“Oh,” he replied, his tone less than monotonous. She couldn’t believe it had all came down to this. There used to be an invisible electricity between the two of them, always sparking and burning like a passion. But now there was nothing but a freezing cold. Ever since his band went big and he was traveling all over the world, only home a couple days at a time, he’d changed. His eyes didn’t sparkle like they used to. He was always tired and he never wanted to spend time with her anymore. She’d moved to London to try and make things work, but it was too late. It was like he’d lost all interest in her whatsoever.
“You’re not going to even try and make me stay?” she asked him even though she already knew the answer.
He stared at her for a minute, clasping and unclasping his hands before shaking his head and disappearing into the kitchen. She shook her head and took one last glance around the room before walking out the door, leaving her broken heart splattered on his living room floor. She was just about to step off the last stair when she heard her name. She turned around quickly to see Zayn standing in front of her.
“You left your phone,” he mumbled, not meeting her eyes. She took it from him slowly, bristling when her hand came in contact with his. Once the phone was in her hand, Zayn turned on his heel and walked back into the house without speaking another word. She didn’t know what she expected. Maybe somewhere deep down she thought that he might have been coming out to beg her to stay, but no. He said nothing, no ‘goodbyes’ or ‘I’m sorrys’ or well wishes. Nothing.
After she left that day, she didn’t think about him for awhile. She wouldn’t allow herself to. But since they’d known each other since high school, they had mutual friends so it was almost impossible for her to go the rest of her life without hearing anything about him. And said mutual friends once told her that he’d been asking about her, and that was all it took for her to fall into a never ending vortex of thinking about him nonstop.
She asked them what he wanted to know about her so they told her. Was she doing okay? No, she wasn’t. She was lonely and tired and heartbroken. Was she still in Bradford? No, she wasn’t. She’d moved back to London to pursue a career in fashion. That was about the only thing that had been working out for her lately. Did she have a boyfriend? No. She was still hung up on him, still missed his touch, still missed his smile. She missed the Zayn from the coffee shop and the Zayn from the beach, though, not the Zayn who let her leave without putting up even the smallest of fights.
Present
She braced herself for when he’d turn his head and see her. Just a few more inches to the left and…there we go. When their eyes met, it was like someone had pressed pause on the whole world. The whirring of the coffee machines ceased, coffee cups floated in mid-air, pages of books and magazines stopped in mid-turn, and they were the only two people in the world who were still living and breathing and feeling.
Her breath hitched in her throat and Zayn’s eyes widened considerably. After all those months of not being able to get him off her mind, he was standing merely steps away from her. But she knew that nothing would happen. At least not then. She knew it the minute he walked through the door. She watched helplessly as he nodded his head towards her and she thought that she detected the faintest bit of a smile playing at his lips, the only things that let her know that he even recognized her.
She thought about doing something, stepping in and making something -anything- happen…but she didn’t. She let him walk back out the door and away from her. She leaned her head against the glass wall and watched him as he walked away, his head down and his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, until he was swallowed up by the crowd.
She squeezed her blue eyes shut, barely able to believe what had just happened. She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he had come there for the same reason she had. To sit back and think about the good times that they spent together, the words they shared.
She stayed for a few more minutes before finally gathering her things and walking out the door, going the opposite way than he had. Maybe now just wasn’t their time. Maybe they’d meet again one day and they’re hearts, souls, and minds would connect again and she’d be drawn back into the safety of his arms. Maybe they’d walk hand in hand to the coffee shop and catch up on all the things they’d missed over cups of hot chocolate and their worlds would be right again. For now, though, they were two separate people living two separate lives, strangers really. And for now all they had were memories of the good times they spent together to tide them over until fate plucked them up and placed them where they were meant to be.
Together.
© 2013 LydiaAuthor's Note
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4 Reviews  Last Updated on January 2, 2013 Tags: Zayn Malik, fiction, fanfiction, teenaged, innocent Author
LydiaEnchanting Wonderland of Fantasies, ALAboutHello, people of Writerscafe.org! Here are some random questions to get to know me better: 1. What's your favorite candle scent? Anything that has some kind of baked good in the name. 2. What f.. more..Writing
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