You Had Me At Hello || z.m.

After "That Night"

It's raining very hard today. I'm walking towards Zayn's house, with my k-way on. The sky is grey, the street is full of puddles. Mrs Malik has reduced my hours of work, because the house is almost fixed. So this is the first time I come here after...that night.

Yeah, that night... gosh. I can't stop thinking about it. And also, I can't stop thinking about who I saw laying next to me, when I woke up....

My head was aching, and the light was painfully hitting my eyes. I barely opened them, while slowly lifting my head from the pillow. I turn around and noticed Harry sleeping next to me. Naked.

"Oh my god..." I mumbled in disbelief.

Seeing that he was still deeply asleep, I got up from bed and tip-toed to the living room. I found Alice lying on the couch, absent-mindedly looking at her laptop. When she saw me, a sad smile appeared on her face.

"Good morning, chick. How are you?" She looked like she already knew my answer.

"I slept with Harry" I said, probably trying to convince myself of that, more than Alice.

"Well, I've understood that when I came home and I had to sleep on the sofa because he was sleeping in our bed..."

I gulped and looked at my friend as to say "help, and I don't know I to manage all this mess"

She got up and came to give me an hug. "Irene, don't be sad." She whispered gently rubbing my arm. Then she pushed away and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Do you like him? or was it just something like "he's hot, I'm sad, I need something to distract me"? or maybe just something like "I'm drunk, don't know what I'm doing"?"

I laughed at her question and then took some time to think.

"Alice, maybe I like him... but..."

She softly smiling, knowing the rest of my sentence.

"...he's not Zayn." She concluded for me.

"Yeah." I sighed, then quickly turned around when I noticed Alice's change of expression. I saw Harry coming from the bedroom, a tired look on his face.

"Good morning, girls". His voice was even deeper in the morning.

"Hi Harry..." I said, a little embarrassed. He immediately understood the situation, and came closer to me, kissing me on the cheek.

"Babe, you don't need to say anything." He whispered in my ear, giving me a hug. "I gotta go now." And left, in order to avoid awkward moments.

God, just a few time ago my life was so much easier. I wasn't in love with one of my friends, I hadn't confessed him what I feel in front of tons of people, and I hadn't slept with another one of my friends.

I'm approaching the Maliks' house, checking if anybody's home. I see Mrs. Malik and her younger daughters in the living room, but I can't see if Zayn is there too. My heart starts racing by the time I get in the house.

"Hi!" I say when I meet the three smiling faces standing by the sofa.

"Hi Irene!" Mrs. Malik is really kind and sweet as usual. "How are you?"

"Fine, quite f-" I feel like I've been punched in my stomach: Zayn has appeared from behind his sisters.

"Hi" he says.

I'm not able to hide my anxiety, everybody is noticing it, so I quickly decide to leave the room.

"I-I'd better get to work now!" I mumble, walking towards the stairs.

Out of the corner of my eyes I see Zayn making a sudden move, and rising his hand, as to stop me or follow me, but immediately getting back, maybe because of the presence of his family.

What the hell did he have to tell me?

After I've done my job, I say goodbye and leave. The only one I see, getting out of the house, is Mrs. Malik, Zayn and his sisters aren't there anymore. I walk on the street, and wait for the bus. I have to reach the centre of the town, because I have to meet up with Liam. It's been a while since we last spent some time alone, and after that night Alice is the only one I got the chance to talk to. And I'm really not over it yet, so some beers and a talk with my best friend is definitely what I need now.

"Hi cupcake!" I say hugging my friend, right before taking a seat next to him.