Long Live (Sequel to Payton Swift)

Chapter 16

- Payton -

Tour had become routine. Everyday was the same, making everything blend together and making it kind of difficult to know what day it was. We were at the last stop of the Australian leg of the tour, all of us excited to have three days of pure rest after this.

Currently, I was lying on Zayn's bunk on the bus, waiting for him to get back from a meeting with management. The other boys and Acacia were outside, the boys playing soccer while Acacia played a game where she screamed when the ball came near her. I'm so glad she's leaving after tonight.

"Babe?" Zayn calls, as he walks on to the bus. I peek my head out from his bunk and smile, moving over in the bunk so that he can lay here too. As he does, there's a scream from outside, followed by some angry words and stomping towards the bus. "Why is she so angry?" he asks me and I shrug.

"Who knows," I state, resting my head on him. "She used to do that all the time when we were friends. She's an angry person."

Zayn sighs and places a hand on his forehead as we hear people yelling on the bus.

"I don't know how you or Niall put up with her," he laughs. We go quiet as the yelling increases, with only God knowing why they're screaming their lungs out. Then, they go quiet. There's a squeal of delight and Zayn and I are confused.

"What's happening?" I whisper and Zayn peeks his head out. From his facial expression I know I'm not gonna like this. As the volume of the squeal increases, I feel tears in my eyes. I cover my face with my hands as I hear Niall tell her that it's a promise ring, that he wants to marry her one day.

That he promises to make her his one day.

I can't breathe.

His words roll off his tongue and they bounce off the walls, reaching me and I wish I hadn't heard it. His words feel like he has his hands on my throat, choking me slowly and cutting off my air supply. Zayn, noticing my panic, holds me tightly and whispers sweet nothings in my ear.

"Death sounds good right now," I whisper to him, wiping tears from my cheeks. Zayn gets up from the bunk, helping me off when he's stable on the ground. "Zayn," I pout, crossing my arms over my chest. He laughs at me, grabbing my hand and leading me to the front of the bus. "Zayn, come on."

Zayn stops walking and pulls me close to him, hands on my waist. "You need to get outside," he tells me, kissing me quickly. "You can't stay in the bus forever."

"I could," I mutter, earning another kiss from Zayn. He starts walking again and I follow him, a dumb smile on my face. We walk past the group outside, still playing soccer and Acacia showing off her promise ring to Harry. Poor kid. We walk right into the stadium, no one refusing us because of Zayn. Five minutes later, we're sitting on the catwalk, looking around at the empty seats around us.

"Why are we here?" I ask Zayn and he shrugs.

"You needed a place away from Niall, this is as far away from Niall as we can go without security following us."

I smile at him and rest my chin on his shoulder. I look up at him, studying the features I'm so blessed to see everyday. He's perfect, there's no doubt about it. I cannot find one single flaw on his face, it sounds exaggerated but I really tried and there wasn't one. Isn't that incredible?

"Can I ask you something?"

I look at him, waiting for him to ask the question.

"Why did the promise ring upset you so much? It's been two years..." starts Zayn, trailing off a little as if he's unsure if he should've asked.