Long Live (Sequel to Payton Swift)

Chapter 24

- Payton -

from: taylor

gigi just told me she has a crush on zayn...

"Are you serious?" I groan, placing my phone angrily down on the kitchen island. Zayn just looks up from his computer screen and raises an eyebrow at me, probably trying to figure out the right thing to say. I stomp over to the freezer and pull out a tub of chocolate ice cream , earning a laugh from Zayn as I start eating right out of the ice cream tub.

"Everything alright babe?"

I roll my eyes at him. "Yeah, everything's fine! I eat ice cream out of the tub for all my meals," I mutter, shoving another spoonful in my face as he walks over and stands beside me, pushing his laptop into my line of sight. He wraps an arm around my waist and then rests his chin on my shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better," he starts, pointing at something on the screen. I squint a little, my heart racing as I see what it says. "We got the apartment," Zayn smiles and I look at him wide-eyed and with a smile on my face. I drop the spoon and jump into his arms, my legs tightly wrapped around him the way his arms are tightly wrapped around me.

"I can't believe this!" I smile, my mood getting better every second. "We're going to be living together babe!"

A huge smile is on Zayn's face, possibly mirroring the one on mine. Zayn moves so that I'm seated on the counter and he's standing between my legs. He then cups my face in his hands and kisses me passionately, pulling me against him. When we pull away, he asks me if I wanna talk about why I was angry beforehand.

"Taylor says that Gigi has a crush on you..." I tell him, my gaze falling to the floor.

"Really?"

I look up at him, cocking my head to the side. I watch him scratch his chin with a smile on his face, and I get angry again.

"Why are you smiling? I can't believe you," I say, shaking my head before pushing him away from me and stomping off. "I'M GUESSING EVERYTHING YOU SAID TO ME AT THE RESTAURANT WAS A LIE, ARE YOUR PANTS GETTING WARM ZAYN? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU RIGHT NOW!" I yell at him, stomping off to the bedroom. Zayn yells "BABE!" and grabs my wrist just as my right foot steps past the door frame. "Let go of me and go be with your new love, Gigi," I scoff at him, trying to release myself from his grip.

"Babygirl..."

"Don't start with me, Zayn! You wanna be with her? Go! Go fuck Gigi and live happily ever after!" I say, stomping my foot in order to channel my anger.

"Why are you so upset? I didn't say I was gonna fuck Gigi, babe," whispers Zayn, pulling me close to him in a tight hug. "You're being dramatic."

"I AM NOT."

"Babe."

"...I am not."

"Then why are you telling me to sleep with someone I have no interest in?" Zayn questions, laughing afterwards.

"Because you're gonna leave me for Gigi, so I might as well give my blessing to the new couple."

Zayn shakes his head before sighing.

"Have you always been like this, Payton? Or is this new?" he asks me and I feel like I'm being interrogated. I look down at the ground for probably the millionth time when he moves the hair out of my eyes, tucking the strands behind my ear. "Can you please talk to me? I just want to help."

I huff but then after a couple minutes of us both pouting, I decide to talk.

"I'm scared you're gonna leave me. Like, you say you're not going to but Niall said that too! We made plans to live together and that's when it all fell apart. I don't want it to happen again, okay? Also, compared to Gigi, I'm average. I'm not anything special, I don't do anything that makes anyone go "wow, look at her". I'm just here. She's not average, most likely above it and that's what you deserve!" I tell him, tearing up so much that everything is blurry.