Little Baby Steps (Zayn Malik)

Chapter 14 {Ex}

“Dylan” Claire breathed out, her blue eyes dilated in shock as she stared up at the strapping figure of the green eyed man “Dylan what are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly as her heart beat sped in her chest. She hadn’t seen him in three years, not since he and his family had moved out of the city in favor of a more rural life on the coast. The green eyed man smiled widely at her, his brilliant grass-coloured eyes shining with a sense of happiness as he took in her frame. “Wow” he breathed, his London accent had faded slightly and become addled with an accent that Claire couldn’t quite place “The picture in the paper doesn’t do you justice” he complimented. Claire’s pale cheeks flamed red at the mere mention of the picture. “So you know then?” she mumbled.

Dylan was Claire’s first love. The boy with the brilliant green eyes had stolen her heart when she was only sixteen, holding it until the day his family had moved away, breaking her heart. He was a tall boy with sandy blonde hair that swept across his eyes perfectly, causing the brilliant green orbs to shine even more in the shadow that it created. He was tall too, surpassing Claire’s meager stature with ease. Dylan was a picture to look at.

“I know” he smiled sweetly “That’s why I am here, I had to find out if it was true or not” he sighed. Claire pulled her hand back through her dark hair and sighed. “How did you know where I would be?” she asked, she hadn’t spoke to Dylan since he had left, therefore making it impossible for her to have given him the details of her place of work. Dylan sighed at her attempt to switch the subject, but complied with a response nonetheless. “I’m one of Alex’s Facebook friends. When I saw the article about you, I asked her for your address, I had to come and find out for myself whether or not it is true” he explained. Claire nodded her head silently. “Well?” he asked, it was clear from the look on his face that he was becoming slightly irked at her dismissal of his only question “Is it true?” he asked once more.

Luck appeared to be on the side of the young girl. out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the familiar dark car of heir boyfriend pull slowly towards the curb. Smiling softly, she turned to face him “Zayn” she breathed “What are you doing here?” she questioned, her face lit clearly with relief. The smaller guy  grinned at his girlfriend’s chipper welcome and greeted her with a small kiss on the cheek “You know” he gushed, his arms wrapping warmly around her slightly swollen tummy “I love being with you and all. Training’s done for the day and I thought maybe I could treat you to some lunch” he giggled. Claire smiled softly and nodded her head softly against his chest, relishing the feel of his shirt on her skin.

So caught up in being with him, she completely forgot that Dylan was stood ahead of her, that was at least until he cleared his throat, capturing not only the small girl’s attention, but that of the man who had his arms around her. Zayn smiled warmly at the blonde haired man, his kind demeanor gleaming “Hey” he gushed “I’m Zayn” he said, one of his hands deserting Claire’s waist and extending across to Dylan. The blonde man was slightly taken aback by the chipper mood of the young man, but accepted it quickly and shook his hand, smiling sweetly. “I’m Dylan” he greeted, his green eyes tracing the figure of the girl that stood ahead of him “An old friend of Claire’s”. She smiled sweetly at him “Well, if you are an old friend of hers, why don’t you join us? I’ve not met all that many of her friends” Zayn smiled thoughtfully.

Dylan was impressed by Zayn’s sweet demeanor and nodded his head “That sounds nice” he smiled. Claire eyed him wearily, she couldn’t but be nervous about Dylan and Zayn becoming close, but she followed her boyfriend to the car nonetheless, confident that after lunch, Dylan and Zayn would probably never speak again.

The small café that Zayn chose to dine at was hidden in the shadows of the north London skyscrapers. It was a French style café, one that had pale yellow walls and light wooden furnishings. Claire thought it was awfully cute as the three of them made their way inside. Zayn smiled softly as he took her hand, resting their interlocked fingers on the table. “Are you ok?” he mumbled as he placed his cheek to hers “You seem a little edgy” he commented. Claire allowed her blue eyes to stare at Dylan as he watched them. It was clear from the look that the blonde was shooting towards the couple, that he was less than impressed by their intimacy and that he was becoming slightly angered by it. Claire cleared her throat and nodded her head pulling back slightly from their embrace.

“So” Dylan began, his eyes never once leaving their interlocked fingers “How long have you two known each other?” he asked. Claire could feel Zayn grin as he began to play with her fingers joyfully; if there was one thing that Zayn loved to talk about, it was Claire and their relationship. “Almost four months now” he beamed excitedly as he turned to gaze at her lovingly. She returned it sweetly “And you’ve been dating for all of that time?” he pushed. Zayn nodded his head excitedly “How could I pass up the opportunity to be with someone as amazing as Clairy here? She’s the best thing to ever happen to me” he beamed. Claire  rewarded his sweet compliment with a kiss on the cheek. As much as she didn’t want to push Dylan, she absolutely adored listening to Zayn gush about their relationship; it reassured her that he truly did love her and that he truly was happy with her. Dylan nodded his head “And the story in the paper? You know, about the baby…” He drifted off slowly as his green eyes met Claire ’s blue ones. It was clear that he was hurt by the mere motion of the girl he loved having a child with a relative stranger, but she couldn’t help that. It wasn’t her fault that they had broken up; they were still practically children when he had moved and, as much as they protested they were in love, their relationship was nothing more than a teenaged fantasy. Zayn seemed oblivious to the pain in the blonde man’s eyes and grinned widely as he placed a warm hand on Marisol’s tummy “Yeah, we are having a baby, Clairy here is four months gone” he sighed softly in content. She giggled slightly and gifted Zayn a soft kiss on his lips in reward for his cuteness.

The rest of the lunch, no matter how awkward things were between Dylan and Claire, seemed to flow on quite well. Zayn and Dylan seemed to get on rather well, sharing similar interests and giggling as they swapped embarrassing stories about the girl in the middle. Soon it was at an end and the couple was ready to part. “Well it was nice meeting you Dylan”

Zayn smiled as he extended his hand once more. Dylan smiled at the gesture and shook his hand “And you too Zayn, it was good seeing you Claire, I hope to see you soon” she smiled softly but remained silent, as glad as she was that the two loves of her young life had gotten on, she had no intentions of seeing Dylan again, weary that he feelings for him may not have faded. “Oh you will see us both,” Zayn chuckled.

If only he could have foreseen the trouble his innocent words would bring upon his own relationship…