Hidden Beneath Brown Eyes (A Zayn Malik Fanfiction)

Chapter 58 - Secret Identities

Again I found myself sitting on the couch in Zayn's living room, struggling to hide the anxiety that was building inside of me and about ready to explode. It had been five minutes since I left the kitchen and I know I said that I wouldn't rush him, but I honestly thought that Zayn would follow right behind me. When he didn't, I panicked a little.

Jack didn't seem to mind the long wait, but my patience was starting wear thin. I didn't know how much longer I could keep it all in, and I was contemplating whether or not I should just tell Jack without Zayn. Of course I wanted Zayn to be there, but his absence at the moment was starting to really turn me off from the idea.

I was weighing the pros and cons in my head when I caught someone walking into the room in my peripheral vision. Although I was just the vision of impatience, I was actually surprised by his entrance. I stood up, ready to take his hand in mine and face this thing that I'd been running from for so long, together. Only, when I looked up, it wasn't Zayn walking towards me.

My heart sank a few inches and confusion found its way onto my face as I watched Louis stop in front of me.

"Ada?" he uttered my name as a question, motioning with his head towards the other side of the room. He didn't wait for me to reply before turning around and just expecting me to follow him, which I did.

Louis stopped in the very corner of the room, his back literally pressed up against the wall. It looked like he was trying to disappear into it, and for a second I thought that it really might swallow him. Suddenly, I felt his fingers wrap around my wrist and my body being jolted forward as he pulled me into a kind of huddle. With the way he was acting you would think that Jack had supersonic hearing or something.

"Ya know, I don't think we're quite far enough. Maybe China would do?" I couldn't help but laugh while he looked completely unamused by my sarcasm.

"Lighten up Lou. Geez. We're not at a funeral." I said, half jokingly and half serious.

"This is serious. How are you making jokes right now?" he questioned, giving me a stern look. Sometimes I forgot that he was three years older than me.

I suddenly felt very self aware. I really didn't know why I was cracking jokes, because he was right, this was very serious. Thinking back, I always did tend to make jokes or sarcastic comments when I was nervous. I guess it was something that I just never noticed about myself, therefore I never thought about how offensive it might be in certain situations.

"I-I'm sorry." I stuttered in a very timid tone, instinctively lowering my head enough for my hair to fall in front of my eyes.

"It's fine Ada. I didn't mean to crticize you." I felt his hand rest on my shoulder and tenderly squeeze it as if to apologize, but it wasn't his fault that I was so insecure.

"I just wanted to make sure that Jack couldn't hear us."

"Alright then. Where's Zayn?" I asked point blank, deciding that since he went to such lengths to make sure that Jack couldn't hear us, I wouldn't beat around the bush.

"He's waiting just outside of the room." I didn't know why I felt so relieved to hear that, but I was confused and slightly angry.

"Why?" The question came out as if it were in response to the strangest thing I'd ever heard. My eyebrows knitted together as I turned my head to look at the darkened hallway that lead out of the living room.

"Look, he's really nervous. More than he's willing to admit." Louis retorted defensively,crossing his arms over his chest.

"So, what? He doesn't want to do this anymore?" I asked with a little too much hope in my voice, and I could tell that Louis caught it by the slight raise of his eyebrows, but he chose to ignore it.