That Pretty Fake Smile

|26|-I love you

Third Person's POV
He got off the car and made his way towards the door. Zayn didn't pick up his calls the whole day. This made him so worried. Whole drive he couldn't stop imagining the worst case scenario. He rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds. Not receiving any response, made him more anxious and worried.

"Zayn" he called out and banged on the door

Again only silence. He gets restless and thought of breaking the door. Zayn is still not fully recovered and he suspects that something bad must have happened. He continuously rang the doorbell and still didn't receive any response, he tried calling Zayn again. He impatiently called him again and again with biting his nails. Zayn picked up the call after 25 missed calls total.

"Where the hell are you? Are you okay? Why didn't you pick up your call? Do you have any idea how worried I was? No, you don't because you don't care about me! You-" his rant was cut off by a sniff on another side of call

"Zayn? I-i am sorry. Are you okay?" he asked softly, realizing that he shouldn't have yelled

"Yeah, I am perfectly fine. Sorry to worry you" Zayn said in fake happy tone

"Where are you?" the older asked sternly

"I am home" The younger replied

"Don't lie. I have been ringing your doorbell for the last 10 minutes"

"Ohh, sorry. I am on the terrace and I was wearing headphones too" Zayn lied, he was trying to avoid him

"It's okay. Open the door now"

"O-okay" Zayn said and cut the call

Cyrus impatiently waited for him to open the door. It took Zayn 5 minutes to open the door which even more pissed off Cyrus.

"What took you so long?" the older guy yelled

"Sorry. Come in" the younger said, stepping aside to let him come in

Cyrus went inside, stomping his feet. He frowned when he was a very handsome guy standing at the end of the stairs.

"Who are you?" Cyrus asked

"Isn't your concern" E.J said coldly

"It's E.J. my childhood friend" Zayn introduced

"I should go now" E.J's tone is cold like always

He is a gangster. He has to be cold. He is only soft in front of two people. Zayn and his little sister. For everyone else, he is a cold hearted psycho killer.

"But you were staying up for dinner" Zayn said

"You have company over there. I can't stay" E.J replied

"And you won't die if you stay in the same room as me" Cyrus said, glaring at him

He doesn't like E.J at the first glace but he doesn't want him to leave because Zayn wants him to stay.

"Cyrus!" Zayn said

"What Cyrus?"

"Don't be so rude. He is my friend" Zayn said

That made him hate E.J even more. Zayn has never taken anyone else's side. Zayn always chooses him but now, he took E.J side, which kinda shocked Cyrus. He started getting ideas about what if Zayn likes E.J or E.J likes Zayn.

"Don't forget about the meeting tomorrow" E.J said and open his arms for hug

Zayn smiled and hugged his friend, while Cyrus get jealous. They broke the hug and Zayn see off E.J to the door. When Zayn came back, he noticed Cyrus's bitter expression.

"Let's go on the terrace" Zayn said suddenly

"Why?" Cyrus asked

"Let's go" Zayn grab his hand and made his way to upstairs while Cyrus's whole focus was on their intertwined hands

They sit down on floor, cross-legged with their backs resting on wall. Zayn was still holding his hand tightly. Cyrus felt sparkling inside him. Like fireworks were going on from just holding hands. Zayn put his head on Cyrus's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"What happened? Why is your mood off?" Zayn asked

"Who is E.J to you? Do you like him?" Cyrus asked but he was afraid to hear Zayn's answer

"He is my really good friend. I have known him since middle school" Zayn replied

"Really?"

"Really"

Cyrus was still restless, insecure and stressed. He just wants to confess his feelings to Zayn. It's now or never.

"Let's play a game" Cyrus said

"Which game?"

"Turn around" he said as he pushed away Zayn's head

"Why?" Zayn whined

"Come on. Turn around quickly" Cyrus said, pushing his shoulder, urging him to turn around. Zayn sighed and turned around with his back facing Cyrus.

"I am going to write something. Guess what this is. Three words total" Cyrus said

"Okay, draw"

Cyrus hesitated. He was nervous and scared. He took a deep breath and told himself it's now or never. He sighed and drew the first word and then the second and then the third. He removed his finger from Zayn's back and let his hand fall on his lap. They fall into uncomfortable silence. Cyrus was anxiously waiting for Zayn's answer. Zayn gets what he wrote but he can't say it.

It's a bad idea. He will only hurt Cyrus. Once he know about the sinful things Zayn did, he will hate him. He will leave Zayn alone like everyone else did. Zayn doesn't want that to happen. Zayn doesn't want to be hurt again. Zayn always thought that it's only him who is in love so there will be no problems and no one will be hurt but this relationship will only hurt both of them in the end.

At least that's what Zayn thinks.

"Umm... Did you get it?" Cyrus asked nervously

"No. I didn't" Zayn said with a fake smile on his face. He turned around and sat backs like before

"I love you" Cyrus blurt out the words. He bit his lips and holds his breath and waited for Zayn's answer. Zayn was shocked. He didn't expect Cyrus to just confess like that. He loves Cyrus. There's no doubt about it but this relationship will only hurt them. He doesn't care about himself but he doesn't want to hurt Cyrus.

"ohh that's what you wrote. It is easy. I could have guessed" he smiled sheepishly "By the way, Lucas has a girlfriend. He finally proposed to his crush" he added in attempt to change the topic

Cyrus was disappointed to hear that. He knows that Zayn understood what he meant and is trying to change the topic. He huffed his cheek and build up the courage. He gets up and sits down on Zayn's lap with his legs either side, strangling him. He cupped Zayn's cheek, making his lips pout.

"I love you. It's not part of the game. I love you. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. I am not good at expressing myself so I will say asshole instead of I love you too sometimes. I know I am annoying as fuck but I know you don't mind and like every side of me. I can be romantic too. I can call you baby instead of bastard if you want" Zayn was too stunned to say anything

His mind was saying no but it was too cruel on his heart. His mind was a mess and he couldn't think straight. He just sat there frozen and look in Cyrus's determined eyes with his own wide ones.

***

Guys should I show Zayn's past in detail flashbacks like Cyrus's or let Zayn narrate in short.

If I show in flashback, it will be in 3-4 long chapters. I will upload them in two days. But if you want short narration, that will just take few paragraphs, not even a whole chapter. Which one do you want?