heartbeat // zayn malik AU

chapter twenty-one

"Hey yeah, don't let 'em know we're coming.

Hey yeah, tiptoe higher."

- Imagine Dragons [Tiptoe]

"I look like a baboon in drag."

My first proclamation upon turning to see myself in the mirror.

Astral, Renee and I were camped out in the hospital bathroom, where the two of them had made it their personal mission to make me look ever so slightly less hideous. Renee brought a bag of dresses with her from her own house, and I'd been trying them on for what feels like hours, though a glance at the clock revealed that it'd only been fifteen minutes.

"You do not look like a baboon. You look stunning," Astral assured me, reaching out to smooth a rebellious lock of my hair that insisted on sticking out. 

"A stunning baboon, then," Renee said with a snort, stepping back to scrutinize my outfit. "You do look lovely, though, Val. Why don't you wear this dress?"

I looked down at it, a flirty little number made out of creamy-gold fabric. The skirt was just short enough to be considered a watered-down form of racy, and the neckline was flattering in a subtle sort of way. Yes, it was incredibly pretty, but it was built for fawn-like, delicate girls like Renee. Not for gawky ones like me.

"I can't pull it off," I confessed, reaching up to run a hand through my hair.

Slapping my fingers away from my locks, Renee snapped, "Don't do that! I just spent ages curling your hair perfectly!"

"Sorry," I said without the slightest trace of apology. Curling your hair had to be one of the most dangerous things in the world; there were a thousand different occasions when I thought my scalp was going to be burned clean off.

Less violent than Renee, Astral gave me a questioning look. "Well, what do you think?" she asked, beaming at me. 

"I guess I'll wear it," I said reluctantly, casting one last despondent gaze towards my reflection.

Both of them high-fived each other like they'd won the lottery. "Yes! You're going to have every angel at the banquet drooling over you," Renee claimed, unplugging the curling wand and stuffing her scarily large arsenal of makeup back into her purse.

I highly doubted that, but I gave her a grin anyway. "I bet Louis is pretty disappointed you aren't coming, then?"

She frowned, and I knew I'd said the wrong thing. "He'll deal with it. I don't want to get caught up in this rebellion stuff. Sooner or later, people are going to get hurt. And we have enough of that going on as it is."

Understandingly, I said, "Well, thank you... for this." I gestured to myself. Even though I did detest every part of dressing up, from my styled hair that reeked of hairspray, to the vicious heels that were already making my feet ache, I truly was grateful to Astral and Renee. After all, they didn't have to spend their time helping me out, in all my ineptness when it came to fashion. "You guys are awesome."

"I know," Renee told me with a grin, while Astral said sweetly, "Not a problem, Val."

In a cheesy, moronic fashion, the three of us linked arms as we walked out of the bathroom; I took the middle, so that if I stumbled and fell because of those darned heels, they'd fall with me(hey, they deserved it, for making me wear them). 

"Where are the boys?" Renee asked impatiently as we paused in the foyer of the hospital. The familiar medical receptionist(who always seemed to be on duty, for some reason) shot us a glare as we loitered; she still wasn't amused at all by the fact that my friends and I were basially freeloading at the hospital, even though Zayn was technically still a registered patient. Also, I think she really didn't like me. Might have had something to do with the fact that earlier today, I'd told Cyphus the receptionist reminded me of my grandmother, and she overheard.