Something Great (Ziam AU)

Chapter Five

Chapter Five – Zayn

Zayn drums his fingers on the top of the bar as he waits for Cher to mix him the drink for his last table, his three days off had flown by, and he really just wanted to be back at the apartment and check his email. Today was the day that the finalists for the contest were going to be emailed with their link, and he was stuck at work until later. Niall stuck his head out of the kitchen “Zee can you come in here?” he asks, his accent thick, Zayn glances at Cher who waves him away, indicating she will deliver the drink for him. Zayn runs into the kitchen and instantly his feet are soaking wet and he is standing in a puddle, he looks up incredulously at Niall who shrugs and points to where Tristan is furiously trying to get the dishwasher to quit. The machine is spewing water and soap all over the kitchen despite Tristan’s best efforts, Zayn shakes his head, walking over to the machine and yanks the plug from the wall. Tristan looks relieved as it stops spraying him in the face and offers Zayn a small smile, “thanks Zayn” he mumbles but Zayn waves it away, “you’re lucky Mr. Jackson has already left” Zayn chuckles and Tristan pales, “I-I-I didn’t mean to” he stutters. Zayn chuckles “Tris, I know, this thing is stupid, it’s been broken since Harry and I started working here” he mumbles and Tristan’s eyes widen. Zayn laughs at his expression, let me just go check on my table and I’ll help you guys cleanup” he says, already exiting the kitchen.

Harry comes out of the bathroom just as Zayn comes out of the kitchen, their shift was almost over and it was Harry’s night to clean the bathrooms, “did the dishwasher blow up again?” Harry asks slowly, taking in Zayn’s soaking shoes and pants, and Zayn nods making Harry shake his head. Zayn glances at his table to see them gesturing him over, after a quick stop at the computer to print off their bill he makes his way to the table to drop it off, the man thanks him, before glancing at the bill and pulling out his wallet, he drops a few bills onto the table (including a measly three pounds for Zayn) and helps his wife up before leaving the restaurant. Zayn growls at the minimal tip, and gestures at Cher who dives over the bar to lock the door behind the couple, before Zayn disappears to the supply cupboard and pulls out some towels and the mop and makes his way back into the kitchen to help clean up that mess. “Niall, what are you doing?” Zayn asks as he enters, causing the blond to jump from where he was piling soap bubbles onto Tristan’s head, Niall grins sheepishly, and turns to face Zayn “we’re having fun Zee” he chuckles. Zayn rolls his eyes and hands a few towels to Niall and the mop to Tristan and the three set to work cleaning up. Surprisingly it only takes them about twenty minutes to clean up all the water and soap, and the group of them are standing outside as Zayn locks up only ten minutes later than usual. Niall offers Tristan a ride home and disappears to his car, as Cher hops into Craig’s car, leaving just Zayn and Harry.

Zayn follows Harry into their apartment and immediately rushes to his laptop, turning it on, waiting impatiently for it to start up, Harry rolls his eyes “will you calm down Zee” he chuckles and Zayn sticks his tongue out at him. “I can’t calm down Haz. I’m about to find out if I could possibly be meeting Liam Payne. This is huge” Zayn exclaims jumping up off the couch for emphasis. Harry chuckles at him and sits on the couch pulling Zayn down beside him “just don’t be too disappointed if you don’t get it Zayn, there were a lot of people entering, you deserve to meet him. But please don’t get all depressed on me if you don’t alright?” Harry asks quietly. Zayn smiles as he snuggles into Harry, typing in his password on his laptop as he does, “I know Haz, and if I don’t get it I’ll find another way to meet him, in like fifty years” Zayn sighs, as he opens his email. Harry chuckles and nips at Zayn’s neck, “Oi Styles” Zayn growls pushing him off, making Harry laugh loudly. “Zee, look” Harry mumbles pointing at the screen where an email from Liam’s management is sitting in Zayn’s inbox, “I-I-I’m a finalist” Zayn stutters, as Harry nods, “open it Zee” Harry exclaims shaking Zayn’s arm. Zayn nods, and clicks on the email to open it, reading out loud;
Dear Zayn.
Thank you for entering, it is our great pleasure to inform you that you have been chosen as one of our ten finalists, enclosed you will find your link, share it on any and all social media sites you may have. You have five days, until we will total up the number of votes, and the contestant with the most votes will be contacted with further information.
Good Luck ,
Eleanor Calder
Underneath that is a link which Zayn wastes no time copying and pasting into a new tweet, “@ZaynMalik alright guys as discussed, here’s my link. It would mean everything to me if you clicked on it” he presses tweet and leans into Harry’s side.

Harry smiles at Zayn, “mum and Gemma say good luck, and they’re clicking as many times as they can” he says quietly and Zayn smiles gratefully at his best friend, “thanks Haz” he mumbles snuggling into his side. Harry just wraps his arms around Zayn, as he turns on the TV and the PlayStation, finding Netflix and putting on Sherlock. They’re only ten minutes into an episode when Niall barges into their living room, “I saw your tweet Zayn, congrats” he cheers and Zayn smiles at him, from where his head is resting in Harry’s lap “thanks Nialler” Zayn sighs turning his attention back to the TV. Niall exchanges a look with Harry, before turning back to his phone and clicking on twitter, Niall’s eyes widen and he almost falls off the arm of the couch where he perched himself when he came in, “what is it, you fool?” Harry asks, making Niall snap back into reality, “Liam just tweeted” he mumbles and Zayn furrows his eyebrows at him, “and, Niall, Liam tweets all the time” he says confused. Niall shakes his head “I know but, he tweeted a link with no explanation, and I clicked on it, and it leads to the same place as your link leads to. Zayn, Liam Payne just tweeted your contest link” he says, causing Zayn to roll off of the couch onto the floor, scrambling for his laptop. Sure enough when he pulls up Liam’s twitter he sees a tweet with nothing but a link in it, when Zayn clicks on it he is taken to his contest page and his mouth drops. Zayn shakes his head this can’t be real, “he has to be tweeting everyone’s links, right?” he asks turning to look at Harry who shrugs, “has he tweeted anymore?” he asks, pulling out his own phone, and logging onto twitter as well. Zayn’s eyes search the rest of Liam’s page, but there’s no other links, except for one to a YouTube video he likes, Zayn then quickly types in Louis’ twitter and sees he too has tweeted his link.

Zayn looks at his two best friends in confusion, “Louis tweeted it too” he mumbles, and Harry’s eyes go wide, “you don’t think, they read the entries do you?” he asks slowly, thumb never stopping as he scrolls through twitter. Zayn shrugs, because he really has no idea, “there’s no way, Liam’s been in America until a day ago, and there was probably thousands of entries” he mumbles, as he clicks on Josh Devine’s (Liam’s drummer) twitter, and sees his link posted again, when he sees it again as he clicks to Sandy’s twitter his head starts to spin, This has to be a joke, or a dream, there is no way that Liam Payne and his entourage know that Zayn exists, there is no way that they are all tweeting out his link, as if they want him to win, this just isn’t possible. He whirls around to where his friends are sitting, “which one of you did this?” he growls, and Niall’s eyes widen as Harry narrows his, “don’t be insane Zee, neither Niall or I are computer hackers. There’s no way either one of us could have accessed all their accounts and tweeted your link” Harry spits, and Zayn sighs. “I know, I’m sorry. This just can’t be real” Zayn mumbles, avoiding both of their eyes, Harry slips to the floor beside him and wraps him in a hug, “I know Zee, but it is real, someone wants you to meet Liam Payne” he mumbles into his hair, and Zayn smiles, as Niall joins the hug as well.

They sit in their little pile for a few minutes before Zayn struggles free jumping to his feet, “what am I going to wear if I do win?” he asks suddenly, Harry shrugs thinking and Niall burst out laughing, “when you win you’ll have to go shopping” he all but cackles. Zayn gives him an incredulous look “I can’t afford to go shopping Niall, I’ve been wearing the same pair of shoes for three years” he grumbles. Niall doesn’t look phased by the look or the words and rolls his eyes, “Harry, is he for real?” he asks turning to the curly haired boy beside him, who shrugs in response, “obviously Zayn when you win, you won’t need all the money you’ve been saving for tickets, as you’ll be given some, and you can use it to buy yourself something to wear” Niall says as if it should have been obvious. Zayn starts to laugh and launches himself at Niall kissing him sloppily on the cheek, “you’re a genius, anyone ever tell you that?” Zayn crows kissing Niall again.  Harry laughs and Niall scrunches up his nose, shaking his head and pushing Zayn off him, “I know I’m brilliant, but gross Malik” he teases, making Zayn lunge at him to kiss him again.