Dress Me ||z.m.

The Unexpected Tension

I let off a sigh as I flip over my pencil to erase a poorly written number five and replace it with a poorly written six. I've been sitting on a hard stool and counting the clothes I could see without standing up for half an hour taking inventory slower than usual. I hadn't talked to Zayn since the night on the roof a couple of weeks ago, barely even sat next to him, except when I literally had to for the flight to Australia earlier, but thankfully he didn't try to talk to me when we were beside each other.

Part of me thinks he doesn't even know what to say to try and patch us up, or if he even wants to. I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts and tucked Zayn related ones away, something I've gotten good at doing, but mostly with the aid of the other four. They weren't there, though, in the concrete storage room with me so I had to mange on my own.

The other boys didn't really even comment on what happened between Zayn and I after I sat them down and told them everything. I frowned when I realized it was harder to keep that stuff off my mind for very long. But, honestly I was surprised at their reaction to it all. They all seemed very disappointed in him, Louis especially, who would almost always give him the silent treatment when he would ask him to hand him something or if he wanted to play on the xbox, for a good week. They said they were upset that he didn't tell anyone a thing except for Liam who got hints and went on assumptions.

I didn't expect them to be on my side as much as they were, though I felt the tiniest bit bad for Zayn since they've been his friends for nearly four years and not once have they taken a side that wasn't his or given him the cold shoulder, and I can't imagine how odd it must have been for him to have to actually deal with his own mistakes by himself.

My pencil slipped from my grip as I was flipping it back over to write down the number of belts that never seemed to change, watching it roll behind my chair. I slid off of the seat and knelt down to grab my pencil, staying crouched down for a moment and staring at my feet. Shaking my head, I lifted my head, screaming as soon as I recognized what was in front of me.

I fell back on my butt, scooting away from the spider that was descending on his thin web towards the floor. The boys all rushed in, looking worried as ever, Harry first, who came to a skidding stop when he saw the creature, then Zayn right on his heels. Liam and Niall and Louis all came in at the same time just behind the first two, eyes wide as they stared at the spider that finally dropped to the concrete. That was why I was hesitant to go to Australia, the place is ninety five percent arachnid.

"Kill it!" I shrieked after a moment of them all just looking at the thing inch around on the floor. Zayn was the only one to jump into action when the spider crept closer to my shoes, stomping forward and squashing the life out of it under the heel of his boot.

We all let out a sigh of relief, Niall and Liam stepping all the way into the room to help me up. I thanked them, receiving a kiss on my temple from Niall and a gentle squeeze on my hand from Liam.

The two and Louis filed out leaving Harry and Zayn lingering in the room with me. I gave Harry a smile, but he glanced questioningly between Zayn and I with his arms folded. He probably didn't want to leave until Zayn did, but it was fine, he wasn't saying anything to me, so we were fine, but he gave me a stern stare. I cleared my throat, trying not to cringe as the sound bounced off of the walls in the silence, and Harry took that as his hint to leave. He pursed his lips and finally tore his eyes away from mine on his way out.

I looked down at my pencil still on the floor and bent down to pick it up for the second time. I turned around and tried to ignore Zayn's presence, writing down the usual number eight for the amount of belts, not even bothering to check the rack.

"So, you're not gonna thank me?" It was so silent that I thought he left, my eyes shooting up at the wall in front of me when his voice rang through the room. I decided to keep quiet, pulling my clipboard towards the end of the table and counting the ties. "Okay." He quietly, bitterly, muttered, and I inwardly thanked the stars that he was dropping whatever petty argument he was looking to have.