End Up Here (Ziam AU)

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Twenty Nine – Zayn

Zayn groans as he hops on one foot in an effort to pull his shoe on, he's already late, and Louis is nowhere to be found, so he's going to be even later by the time he walks to work. Zayn's just thankful his sisters, (including his oldest, Doniya, who he hasn't seen in awhile) appeared out of nowhere and took Bella for the day, otherwise he has no clue what he would have done. He narrowly misses, falling face first into the coffee table, by the time he actually gets the shoe on his foot, and is grabbing his keys, wallet, and phone, stuffing them in his pockets as he sprints out of the apartment and towards the elevator. He impatiently presses the elevator buttons repeatedly, until the doors open into the lobby, then he's running up the streets, in an effort not to be much later than he already is. He's thirty minutes late for his shift by the time Zayn slides through the doors and into the kitchen, Talia giggles at him from where she's preparing some pizzas, "you're late" she sings, when he glares at her. Zayn rolls his eyes and sees he's already been punched in, "yeah and you covered for me like always. Thank you" he grins. Talia shrugs, "I like having you around, but why were you late today?" she asks, cocking her head to the side, as Josh pushes past them into the kitchen, carrying some dishes and grumbling under his breath. Zayn shrugs, "lost track of time, and my shoes, and Louis' nowhere to be found so I had to walk" he explains. Talia laughs, turning back to her pizzas, "sounds like you" she giggles.

Zayn's three hours into his shift when his phone starts vibrating in his pocket, he's in the middle of taking an older couple's order so he ignores it, and continues on with work. He's over punching the order into the computer when it starts to ring again, he finishes punching in the order and moves into the kitchen, before it starts again. Groaning Zayn pulls it from his pocket to see his sister is calling him, "Dee, now isn't the best time" he says in lieu of a greeting. Doniya releases a breath, "ha-ha I know you're at work but quick question" she says, and that's when Zayn hears the nervousness in her voice, like she's done something that's going to upset him. "What did you do?" Zayn asks, shaking his head at Talia when she looks at him curiously, "so you know how, we took Bella shopping?" Doniya asks. "Yes. What did you do?" Zayn repeats, "well, Safaa said you'd be okay with it, even though Waliyha said you wouldn't and well long story short, we may have gotten Arabella's ears pierced" Doniya explains quickly. Zayn growls and runs a hand through his hair, "okay, so did it ever occur to you that I didn't want my two year old's ears pierced right now?" he asks, chewing his lip. Doniya sighs, "that's what Waliyha said, but to be fair I never get to see my niece, and c'mon little brother she looks so cute, don't be mad at us" she pleads. Zayn groans, "we'll talk about this after I get off work, just please no more holes in my daughter's head?" he asks. Doniya laughs "alright, fair enough" she giggles "uhuh, and tell Wali she's my favourite" Zayn deadpans, before hanging up his phone and shaking his head.

Of course it starts raining halfway through Zayn's walk home after work and he groans as he shakes out his wet hair once he steps into the elevator. Once he's inside Louis walks around the corner from the kitchen, "you could have called" he says and Zayn glares at him, "I did, check your phone" he grumbles. Zayn's just pulling a dry shirt over his head, when Louis walks into his room "I'm sorry, Mum needed my help with something, I've only been home for like twenty minutes" Louis apologizes, nuzzling into Zayn's side. Zayn laughs, pushing his best friend off of him, "it's fine, not your fault it's raining" he grins. Louis nods "I still feel bad, also the girls all say hello" he says. Zayn smiles, he misses Louis' family, "I miss them" he mumbles and Louis laughs, "Mum also says if you and Arabella aren't with me next time, I'm not allowed in the house" he explains, and Zayn can't help it he lets out a loud laugh at that. "Where is the little one anyways?" Louis asks, looking around the room, Zayn sighs and heads towards the living room again, "out with my sisters, who by the way are all dead to me" he explains. Louis makes a strange noise as he sits beside Zayn on the couch, "I'm guessing Doniya's around, and what did they do?" he asks. Zayn ignores him in favour of finding something to watch on the TV, "Zee?" Louis asks, and Zayn sighs "they pierced her ears" he grumbles. Louis laughs and shakes his head, "if it helps Doris has her ears pierced and she's younger than Bella" he tries. Zayn sighs "it's not even that I'm upset they did it, it's that they did it without checking first, what if she gets hurt or something" he mumbles. Louis' arms are suddenly around him, "ah protective Papa Bear. It'll be okay Zee, and I bet she looks bloody adorable" he soothes.