Truly Madly Deeply

Chapter Sixty

"Have I found you

Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding or lost you, american mouth

Big pill stuck going down"

Zayn Malik swallowed the lump in his throat as he moved the wooden stool to the middle of the stage, facing his previously adjusted microphone and its stand.

Niall smiled at a few people he recognized in the crowd, remembering to blow a kiss to his beautiful girlfriend who sat right in the middle.

Zayn’s eyes drifted to the middle section as he took a seat on the stool.

There she was. She looked even more beautiful if that was even possible.

 She looked surprised but there was a smile playing on her lips. Niall took a seat on an identical looking stool that he had brought as well and turned to Zayn.

The raven haired boy cleared his throat before he spoke into the microphone. His voice was a little shaky but it never failed to send shivers down Isabella’s spine.

“Good evening ladies and gentleman. We're going to sing for you guys tonight and Niall here, one of my best friends, is going to play the guitar. To be perfeclty honest with you, I haven’t performed in what feels like ages but certain events have made me reconsider things. I guess I realized that when you really love someone, you’ll go out of your way to try to make it up to them.”

He paused to smile weakly.

“This song goes out to a special someone here tonight. You know who you are. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, Isabella” he said with a sad smile before he looked down at his feet.

After a beat he turned to Niall and nodded, signifying that he was ready to start singing. Niall smiled and began to strum the intro to Isabella’s song.

When Kathy turned to look at Isabella she noticed that her eyes were already glassy. She wrapped her arm around the beautiful and emotional brunette as they listened to the beautiful melody fill the Assembly Hall.

Zayn lifted his head slowly, his hazel eyes twinkling and his tan skin looking flawless under the spotlight before he opened his mouth:

“Am I alseep, Am I awake or somewhere in between?

I can’t believe that you are here and lying next to me

Or did I dream that we were perfectly intertwined

Like branches on a tree or twigs caught on a vine”

His voice was deep, steady and strong as he belted out the first verse. Everyone was entranced by his beautiful voice and tears were already spilling out of Isabella’s eyes as she listened carefully to the words and let them sink in.

He continued:

“Like all those days and weeks and months I tried to steal a kiss

And all those daydreams where I pictured this

I’m just the underdog who finally got the girl

And I am not ashamed to tell it to the world”

Zayn’s voice was achingly and hauntingly beautiful. It was easy to detect the pure raw emotion behind the raspiness of his voice.

Suddnely, as he went on to sing the chorus, his voice wasn’t the only one sounding over the PA and there were three more figures on stage, each walking to a corner with a microphone in their hands.

Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan joined their best friend Zayn Malik to sing the chorus.

Their voices were equally lovely but they worked together with such harmony to the point where it was surreal.