This Camera

Searching

Searching // Zayn Malik

         WAKING up to a peaceful morning was something he had grown fond of over the last few months. he enjoyed every single bit of it, but now that 3/5 of the guys had a girlfriend, it was quite hectic around here. laughter and loud voices rang throughout the pretty large apartment. he’d wake up groaning and moaning trying his hardest to block out the noise with his pillow. it never really worked in his favor, though. eventually he’d give up and roll onto the floor, not finding the energy to actually get up on his legs.        

        today, his throat felt dry that it even hurt to swallow. he rubbed at his eyes – which felt crusty around the edges from booth sleep and dried tears. already such a great beginning to a day, he thought to himself. lifting himself off the floor -- much like a sloth – he went to his bathroom and gave himself a well needed shower. his muscles relaxed under the warm water, giving him relief to stretch. he just stood there for a while, eyes closed, quiet and slow breaths, letting the water fall onto him as he thought about absolutely nothing. he didn’t even realize how long he was standing there carelessly until the water began getting colder. 

          shivering, he turned off the water and stepped out, wrapping himself in a soft grey towel. his movements were slow and tired as he slipped into a pair of underwear, sweats and an old t-shirt. he wasn’t really planning on staying for breakfast, so he placed shoes on his feet, a coat on his upper body, and collected his belongings – including the camera – and walked out of his room.

        “hey, zayn!” liam greeted cheerfully. the other two boys and three girls smiled, each greeting him with a ‘hello’ or ‘morning.’ zayn returned them with a tight smile and a nod of his head.

          “i’m going out,” he mumbled, still pretty tired.

        it was kind of a very gloomy day out. It felt like a bit of snow would be falling soon. zayn sighed, tucking his nose into the collar of his coat. he was headed towards a small coffee shop at the corner down this road. he didn’t really want to deal with anyone today (it’s not like he did any other day, anyways).

         his cold fingers played with the strap of the camera hanging around his neck, the strap feeling worn out from the many times of use. he felt his cheeks lose feeling as the wind nipped at his olive skin. he hated the winter. well, he only hated it now that he didn’t have anyone to keep him warm at very time of the day.

        his almost-frozen-feet led him into the café, a rush of warm air smacking him in the face. he felt his cheeks and hands begin to warm up and walked over to the counter, ordering his usual drink. after seating himself, he quietly drank his beverage, all the while his focus on the black camera in his hands. subconsciously, a smile grew on his face as he scanned through the pictures, which brang back memories. 

         “hey, I’ve been looking for that,” a small, quiet voice said. he looked up, confused.

        “rory? what are you doing here?” he asked, a small flash of pain running through his body. what is she doing here?

        “i was just, uhm, around the area and i’ve been looking for my camera and i thought that maybe i had left it your place a-and i was gonna go ask you, but i wasn’t sure if i should do that a—“

        “uhm, yeah. you left this at my place,” zayn cut off her rambling – which he thought was cute –lifting up the object. she sighed in relief, raising her perfectly sculpted eyebrows as if questioning if she could have it back. zayn nodded, taking it off from around his neck and handing it to her. it hurt him to see the last reminder he had of her leave his hands, but he knew he had to learn to let go.

        “you know,” he started off, a sad smile settling upon his lips. why was he still talking to her? the point of moving on was to forget. to forget about all of this and start fresh and new. but aurora was someone pretty hard to forget.

        “it’s like our happiness was sucked away an swallowed into this camera.”

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idk what he's doing in that gif, but man, hot af.

slightly longer chapter that i hope you all enjoyed. i also hope you all had a very merry christmas! and to those who don't celebrate, i hope you had a wonderful day x