Last Hope (Ziall Horlik) AU

Chapter 20

Zayn's POV

The bell rang loudly, signaling the beginning of class of a horrible Monday morning. Everyone was hyped up, excited to greet all their friends after the two week break. I took out my laptop and begin looking at my lesson plan for today then sat on top of my desk to get everyone's attention.

"What is love?" I asked them loudly, their small roar of noise shutting off at my question. I looked around, my eyes gazing at my blushing boyfriend in the back of the classroom. I got a sheet of paper and begin reading a shocking statement I had found last night to get this conversation going.

"Love is anger, yelling, screaming, fighting and tears. It's pain and hard work. You don't feel it all the time, yet you know it's there. Following you around like a dark cloud. Yet, the dark cloud will move and you will feel it briefly before the pain is back. Love is the most overrated, wonderful thing." I set down the paper and saw my students with their mouths open with shock at the blunt statement. One of the boys raised his hand slowly for me to call on him.

"I agree with that statement because without that stuff you can never appreciate the sweet moments." He said, setting off a few girls saying love shouldn't be anything but happiness. I smiled because my job is too easy sometimes. I sat back in my chair and just watched as the conversation between the two students begin to grow go a huge class discussion. I looked to the back of the classroom and smiled at Niall. He blushed and looked away to his paper he had on his desk.

My classroom door opened to Louis coming in with a big envelope in his hands. He dropped it on my desk and looked over my class. One girl stood up and yelled across the classroom at another boy that the only person that will ever love him is his mum. That made me chuckle, but it made Louis look at me like he didn't understand exactly how my class worked. He shook his head and turned his back to my class so he could talk to me without the rest of the class hearing or seeing. I looked at him and picked up the envelope he brought in. I was confused when I saw it was from one the the best and biggest mental health hospitals here in London.

"I kind of got you a job here. I had called there a few weeks ago just because I wanted to see if they were taking any new psychiatrists or psychologists. They had a waiting list, but I told them what you've done for Niall and what you've done for these kids and they put your name on the top of the list. All you have to do is call then and accept the job." Louis told me quietly. I looked at him in shock and shook my head to him because I hadn't really even thought about this at all.

"I'm fine here, Louis. This is really nice, but I can't leave... them." I said, but a student started yelling that love is dead making me start thinking about this job opportunity.

"Zayn, I know how unhappy you are here. Even if you haven't said anything, I still see it. It's not only for you though. It's for him too. Just think about it, okay?" Louis offered to me before leaving my classroom. I looked at the package and couldn't help but open it. I went through the paper work and saw that it came with a lot of good benefits. I put it in my book bag to look over later then stood up from my chair to try controlling my class.

"Okay guys! Everyone needs to sit down and pulled out a piece of paper. This is your essay for the week. Write about your point of view about what love is to you." I yelled over the roar of my class. They all listened right away and sat down to start writing. Niall gave me a soft smile then got to work.

The bell rang for class to be over soon enough and he class all filed out, setting their papers on my desk. Niall was the last one to put his paper on my desk and smile at me.

"Oh, Niall, come in at lunch to fill out some papers for the University." I told him. He nodded and left my room and I just tried my hardest not to think about making such a big decision. I wanted to leave this school, but I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. I just needed to be sure that it also wouldn't make things difficult for Niall considering I was his sponsor teacher.

By the time lunch came around, I was really close to just making a decision and going with it just so I could forget about it and move on with my life. Niall walked in my room and pulled up a chair to sit next to my desk. I handed him his oatmeal and pulled out the files we needed to fill out together. He begin eating as I read to him what he needed to do.

"What are you planning on studying?" I asked him, realizing I never asked him that before. I guess I'm not the best teacher after all. Or best boyfriend for that matter. Niall's cheeks turned red as he shook his head.

"I'm not smart enough to do it. It's a silly little dream I had when I was homeless. Just something to think about on days off to keep me going, but now that I have everything I need I know it's a pipe dream." Niall said. I shook my head and rest my hand on his thigh.

"You're the smartest kid in this whole school. Not only are you book smart, but you were smart enough to survive on the streets for two years. You could do anything. Tell me, babe." I said back to him, hoping he felt how proud of him I was. He looked down at my hand and huffed.

"I was to be a doctor for cancer patients. Like, I also want to work in a lab too to find the cure so no one has to go through something as terrible as my mum did." Niall told me, making me really realize that his heart was so pure and so good. I squeezed his leg and wrote on the paper that he was going to major in medicine and minor in medical research. We continued to fill out the rest of the paper until there was a knock on my door. It opened to Principal Maxwell.

He looked between Niall and I like he was seeing what we really were. I cleared my throat and stood up from my chair. He walked closer to us and looked at the space that separated me from Niall. It wasn't a lot, but it still wasn't inappropriate.

"Mr.Malik, may I ask why Mr.Horan is in here during his lunch break?" He asked me suspiciously. I pointed at the papers and tried to tell myself I wasn't doing anything wrong that way he wouldn't know I was lieing.

"We're filling out forms for the scholarship. Can I help you with something?" I said quickly, trying to change the subject. He just gave me a blank look but I powered through it and sat back down naturally. Niall's eyes were on the papers in front of him the whole time like he was reading over them really really good.

"I was just checking in on you, but I didn't expect Mr.Horan to be in her with you... alone. Does this happen often?" He asked me. I shook my head and that was when Niall looked up and shook his as well.

"This part of the former required Mr.Malik to know more about me and my plans so we had to fill it out together. We don't have any other time to do it." Niall jumped in to say. Principal Maxwell nodded and started walking back to the door. Niall and I held our breaths as we went back to trying to act natural by filling out our paperwork. The door shut and my decision was made. I was going to accept the job offer. I had no choice.

A/N: I rewrote this chapter and it's been almost a year since it got deleted and stuff! I hope it's okay!!! Comment/Vote!
-Bri ;)