You Had Me At Hello || z.m.

"It's Written In Your Eyes"

Cooking has never been so difficult. Not only in a few minutes Zayn will be here with his girlfriend, now there's also Harry that's making me crazy. What was that? His mischievous actions destabilize me. I feel confused and his gaze is still burning inside me.

But then, the bell rings, and Alice lets Zayn and Perrie in. At the sight of them holding hands, everything else becomes irrelevant: I feel like someone just stabbed me.

Act normal!

"Hi!" I approach them with a huge smile across my face.

Perrie looks at me without saying a word, while Zayn waves nicely.

"We brought a chocolate cake" he points at the box that Perrie is holding. She hands it to me, still silently.

"So, come over, take a seat!"

We enter the living room.

"How long will it take the dinner to be ready?!" Niall cries, rubbing his tummy.

"Oh c'mon Nialler, you just got a mouthful of chips!" Louis tells him off.

"In a few minutes it will be ready, don't worry!" I assure, before going back to the kitchen. Our flat is quite small, and having all this noisy people around is definitely funny! Harry and Louis are sitting on one of the sofas, chatting with Alice, that's on Louis's lap. Perrie has taken a sit at the table, next to Niall, who's joking with Zayn.

The only one missing is Liam. I hope he will arrive soon; I need to talk to him. Liam's become my cuddly bear, we talk about everything since our walk out of the disco.

"Ok, here we are!" I announce, carrying a pot full of yellow risotto in my hands. Niall rejoices with a loud "Wooh-oh!" while everybody sits around the table, ready to eat. I put some risotto in each one's plate, but when I'm serving Perrie, she stops me lifting her hand. "Just..just a few!" she whispers, an expression of disgust on her face. "Italian food is full of fat!" she explains, gesticulating haughtily.

I stare at her for a while unable to react, when suddenly Alice clears her throat and gives me a glance as saying "act as if nothing has happened, keep calm!". I take a breath and go on. Zayn seems a little embarrassed by her girlfriend, but doesn't say a word.

"Hi, sorry I'm late!" Liam pops up from the front door, I run towards him and hug him "I really need you!" I whisper in his ear trying to show my distress. He gently rubs my back to comfort me and gives me a warm smile.

"Irene your risotto is FABOLOUS!" Niall shouts.

"Yeah, it's really good!" Harry confirms.

"Divine!" Louis claims rapturously.

I smile in satisfaction and meet Zayn's kind eyes. "You're a very good cook!" he praises me. That strange feeling in my tummy is back, and Perrie seems to be suspecting something.

"Liam, sit with them, I'll take a dish for you too."

The rest of our dinner unfolds smoothly. Louis plays the fool as usual, making everybody laugh and almost choke with food; but it's pretty obvious that his only purpose is to amuse Alice: every time her rumbling laugh fills the air, Louis's eyes shine, and you can almost hear his heart speed up.

He is so cute I almost want to cry.

I try to avoid Harry's gaze, and Perrie's too; but one thing I can't abstain from is looking at Zayn and feeling sick. His smile lights up the room, it's radiant.

"Well, Irene, you really spoilt us tonight!" Liam says, gently patting my shoulder. "Thank you very much!"

"What about some cake?" Alice suggests, placing the brown cake Zayn has brought in the middle of the table.

"Jesus, my belly is going to explode if I eat anything else!" Zayn complains. "why don't we get some fresh air before the dessert?"

"I agree!" Alice says. In a few minutes we all get up and head outside. Liam comes up beside me and asks in a low voice. "How are you? I thought Perrie was going to jump on the table in the middle of our dinner and stab you with her fork!"

I open wide my eyes. "I didn't do anything!!"

Liam giggles.

"Irene...believe me: what you feel for Zayn it's written in your eyes!"