baby you're the right kind of wrong.

Ebony helped Zayn get a grip on everything, "no problem. Uh if you don't mind me asking before you go back up to Lindsey and I totally lose all the courage to do this. Why can't we be friends? I mean I thought we'd talked through everything and were at least at a place where we could try and be friends. I mean if it's too hard to be around me or Lindsey doesn't want you hanging around me for whatever reason I'd totally understand and you could've told me in person." She said biting her lip hoping she didn't come off as rude or anything because she wasn't really mad about him not telling her in person and just sending the text. She was more upset than anything really, and confused. Upset and confused.

---

Liam ran his hand over his head and bit his lip. "Uh well what are we? I mean is there an us? I mean do you want there to be an us or are you happy with just friends I guess is what we are right now?" He asked not really sure if he sounded like an idiot or not. "I mean we've been out a couple times and I had a lot of fun but we've never really talked about what it meant or if we were taking the next step and officially becoming a couple or not and I just thought we could figure that all out." He said feeling slightly nervous, he hadn't really had this whole 'do you wanna be my girlfriend' talk in what felt like forever and last time it hadn't really ended the best being he and her broke up and all so it made him nervous to have this conversation with Maisie, but he really liked her and he kind of wanted to know what was coming of it.

"We are friends, Ebony," Zayn said, twisting up his lip as he nearly dropped one of the plates. He steadied himself up and tried to get a better grip on everything. He didn't know why she'd waited until he had his arms full of food to talk, but she had horrible timing. "I don't know what's going on with you and Lindsey, but you're sisters, so that's gotta count for something right? I think Lindsey likes you as much as can be expected." Zayn didn't think Ebony and Lindsey would become BFFs overnight considering Lindsey was his new love interest and Ebony was his ex, but he hoped it would happen over time.

---

"Oh, yeah," Maisie drew out, both nervous and relieved that this trip to his house wasn't to end their friendship. She didn't know about anything else though. She hadn't even realized that Liam had wanted anything serious, considering one of the first things he had told her was that he wasn't ready or interested in anything serious, since it was his senior year and all. "That's a good question," Maisie said, tapping her fingers against the bed nervously. "What do you think it means?" She wasn't trying to be so cryptic, but in all the times of listening to the Kappa girls talk about guys and what not to do, she'd learned to at least try to be mysterious, which she'd done a pretty shit job of doing so far.

Ebony bit her lip sure he timing was probably shitty with him having his hands full and everything, but she tended to have bad timing all the time so that was nothing new. "If we're friends then why do I have a text sitting unanswered in my phone about how it's too hard for you to be around me right now?" She asked him tempted to take the plates from him so he wouldn't drop them, if he did drop them though she'd help clean up the mess since it'd probably her fault for distracting him anyways. "I don't really think being kappa sisters counts for anything seeing as she still hates me." She adding knowing she would've sucked it up and just gotten along with Lindsey if it meant that much to Zayn. She hadn't really had the chance too lately though given she'd been avoiding them both thinking that Zayn didn't want to be around her.

---

"I mean I know forever ago I said I wasn't really looking for anything serious but I don't know I had a lot of fun on our dates and I mean it feels like we're dating aside from the fact that we haven't really talked all week. That was more because I didn't have the time to talk to anyone thanks to school work rather than me not wanting to talk to you." He said hating how he was a senior in college and still got this flustered and confused about what to do when it came to girls. He also really hated how he could tell himself he didn't want to get involved in dating right now yet here he was wanting to date Maisie knowing he'd probably get super jealous if she was with someone else. Half the time even he didn't make sense to himself sometimes.

"Ebony, I don't know what you're talking about. Lindsey doesn't hate you. Sure, you're my ex-girlfriend and everything, and yeah, that sucks, but she doesn't hate you." Zayn sighed, wishing he could just go upstairs and give Lindsey her food before he dropped it or the cheese got cold. "I'm with Lindsey now and you're with whatever guy you're here with. I think it's time for both us to just let go of the past and move forward, don't you?"

---

"I had fun too," Maisie said with a soft nod of her head, which she had. She absolutely loved spending time with Liam, even though they'd gotten off on the wrong foot originally, and she still couldn't believe that he, a senior, was hanging out with her, a freshman, since it probably went against some code that had been created at the same time as the written word. Maisie's heart was pounding in her chest, but she tried to keep her composure as she looked at him. "And I'd really like to keep hanging out with you."

Ebony licked over her lips before speaking again. "Do me a favor please, when you give Lindsey her food meet me back down here I need to show you something. It'll only take a second I promise." She told him planning to prove that someone didn't want them to be around one another, "and I'm here to hang out with Chase as a friend." She added knowing she might've sounded a little desperate and it might've even looked like she had it out for Lindsey but neither of those were the case. Well not entirely anyways. She was kind of desperate to get Zayn to believe that Lindsey at least couldn't stand her, because Ebony knew that was true or had to be to some extent. But she didn't have it out for Lindsey.

---

"Well that's good to hear." Liam said glad she'd had fun too and wanted to keep hanging out with him. "As friends or as more than friends?" He asked her though wondering if they were just friends or more than that. If they were more than friends then he might not feel as weird about wanting to possibly take things to the next step and make out with potential hook ups being as if they were dating that was just kind of part of dating. However if they weren't more than friends he didn't want to end up jeopardizing a friendship with romance couple things in case it got to complex for one of them to handle and ruined the potential of a good relationship.

"Just tell me now." He had his own grilled cheese to eat and didn't particularly like to eat it cold, so having to drop off Lindsey's, come down to talk to Ebony, and then go eat didn't sound particularly appealing. He'd felt like he'd hardly got to see Lindsey all day and was hoping to spend a bit of time with her without interruption.

---

"Well, what would you like?" Maisie asked, biting her lip as she looked at Liam. She knew how she felt about him, but she didn't want to be the one pressuring him or making all of the decisions. She already felt like she'd pushed herself on him too much considering she was the one who had originally ran up and confessed her feelings.

Ebony pulled her phone out of her pocket and went to pull up her text messages before she showed Zayn the message she'd gotten from his number, and when she swiped her finger over it it showed the time and date she'd gotten it. "If you didn't send this then who did?" She asked him pretty sure she had an idea on who sent the message if Zayn really didn't which truthfully it didn't seem like Zayn to send her the message and she wasn't about to be the one to call anyone out and have him get annoyed and give up on her, or at least no more annoyed than he probably already was.

---

"I'd actually like us to be more than friends." Liam told her with a small smile. And that was what he wanted too, he wanted to be more than friends. It meant he could hold her hand and kiss her whenever he felt like it. It would mean she'd have a reason so stay over or vice verse, of course if her roommate was there he probably wouldn't stay with her just because of the whole how awkward she might make things thing. The point was though it'd make sense for them to do couple things because they'd be a couple. And maybe it was time he stopped worrying about age differences, or if things wouldn't work out in the future because he wouldn't know unless he tried.

Zayn quickly took a look at Ebony's phone, reading over the text that said it was sent from his number, though he didn't recognize it. He was still trying to balance everything in his arms and struggling. "I don't know, it wasn't me." He would have shrugged his shoulders if he had that ability.

---

Maisie smiled at him, tucking her hair behind her ears as she met his eyes. "I'd like that too." She didn't know what this meant for them or what she should do now, but she did know that she had little butterflies in her stomach and she felt the happiest she had felt in a long time.

Ebony pursed her lips together, she still had a pretty good idea who sent it if he didn't but she say anything about that. "Yea well I'm glad it wasn't you then and happy to have that cleared up I guess." She said sighing figuring now she should just drop it and let him get back to Lindsey. Even if Lindsey might've been trying to keep her and Zayn apart. Though she supposed she couldn't really prove that and it could've been someone else. All she knew was it was nice to have the conclusion that Zayn hadn't sent the message and still thought they were friends.

---

Liam smiled at her half tempted to lean in and kiss her, but he didn't. He would kiss her eventually though. "Good, I think I'd be kind of upset if you didn't wanna be more than friends." He said, "so how about we watch a movie and just lay around." He said not really up for leaving or doing anything that required leaving, but a movie in his bed cuddling actually sounded like a pretty good idea.

"Right," Zayn said with a nod of his head, wondering how all of this had happened in the first place. Girls were strange creatures that he was never able to fully understand. "I should get back to Lindsey now. I don't want to keep her waiting." The grilled cheese was probably already cold and he'd kept Lindsey waiting long already.

---

"That sounds good to me," Maisie said, giving Liam a soft smile. She was already sitting on his bed while he was still halfway across the room on his chair. He looked so handsome with the little bit of stubble on his chin, probably from not shaving and using the time to study instead.

[ sorry if my replies are kind of slow for the rest of the week. I'm leaving for Florida in the morning. ]

"Yea. Of course." Ebony said smiling softly at Zayn biting her lip again, "and sorry about my awful timing." She said laughing softly pretty sure her timing was always bad. It always seemed to be the worst time to bring something up but that always seemed to be when she actually had the courage to say something but couldn't take it back now. "I should probably get these snacks back to Chase before he like freaks out." She added pretty sure the kid would flip a tit if she didn't get back soon to get back to their lazy night.

---

"Awesome." Liam said glad she was up for not really doing anything really. "Well I'll let you pick if and I can go make us some popcorn and drinks if you want." He said standing up to actually make sure everything was plugged in. "I have like a ton of movies to pick from so you might have your work cut out for you there." He added with a smile.

[Have fun!]

"Yeah, wouldn't want him to go all Hulk on you," Zayn said with a small laugh before he looked back towards the stairs. "I guess I'll see you around." If she was dating Chase and since he was dating Lindsey, they'd probably see a lot more of each other since they'd be at the other's house. He hoped that it wouldn't make things awkward, because the last thing he wanted was to put a wedge in his new relationship.

---

"Don't hate me if I pick a bad one," Maisie said, getting up from the bed to look through his movies. He did have a ton, and she wasn't really sure what kind of movie she was in the mood for, though it seemed like Liam definitely did have a favorite genre based on his selections. She finally decided on Cabin in the Woods and popped it in the DVD player before sitting on the edge of Liam's bed again.

Are you still interested in this??

[ yes! ]

"I think I could take him," Ebony laughed sending Zayn a small smile. "And yeah I guess I'll see you around," she added tucking her hair behind her ear. There was no doubt in her mind that they'd see a lot more of each other with him dating Lindsey and her seeing Chase. Even if she wasn't exactly sure what was going on with her Chase at the moment she did know they were friends and they were hanging out. She just hoped things wouldn't get awkward for them, or for any more tension to end up brewing between herself and Lindsey. Ebony and Lindsey didn't exactly see eye to eye, and if Ebony were being honest she couldn't stand Lindsey at all. But that didn't mean that she was going to purposely try and make Zayn leave her. Because well Ebony wanted him to be happy, even if being happy wasn't with her.

---

"I have faith in you," Liam told Maisie before he headed out of his room and down into the kitchen to make them some snacks for the movie. After all, what kind of person could watch a movie without something to munch on or drink. And while his popcorn wouldn't taste nearly as amazing as the popcorn you got at the movies at least it was something. He did wonder though while he was waiting for the bag to finish popping why movie theater popcorn at the theater always tasted the best. Even if you made it the same way at home using one of old' time poppers it just didn't taste the same. And that was just weird to him.

"So which movie'd you pick?" He asked once he'd finally gotten the popcorn into a bowl, drinks fixed, and of course made it back to his room.

Zayn nodded back to Ebony before heading upstairs, grilled cheese in hand, to give Lindsey her food. Much to his surprise, she was laying in bed, completely covered up and sleeping peacefully. He let out a soft chuckle as he shook his head and laid in bed next to her, sitting up straight and eating the grilled cheese that was meant for her. He didn't much feel like waking her in case she would have rather slept than ate.

---

"Cabin in the Woods" Maisie said as she held up the case to him. "I hope it's a good pick. I've never seen it before." The smell of Liam's buttery popcorn filled the room and she was happy that he'd picked out some good snacks so she didn't have to look like a fat slob or anything if she asked for more. Maisie was almost positive that Lindsay had told her never to eat in front of a boy, but Maisie wasn't sure she'd be able to resist the smell of that delicious popcorn.

Ebony gathered all the snacks for her and Chase then headed back up to her room where he was waiting for her. "Sorry I took so long," she said setting everything down on the floor next to him. Because apparently they were sitting on the floor in her beanbag chairs. Ebony didn't mind though because they were actually pretty comfortable, and she was sure that Chase spent a lot of time sitting on the floor playing video games. "It's fine, I was just setting everything up. I did figure we'd watch a movie though," he said taking her hand and pulling her down to the floor with him. "That sounds great, so what movie are we watching?" She asked him hoping he'd at least picked something good.

---

"That's a good one," Liam told her setting the drinks on the table next to his bed and then handing her popcorn to hold for a second while he put the movie in. "I will admit the end is a little weird and everyone I know who's seen it has a different opinion about it but it's a really good movie," he told her glad they were doing this. Honestly, it'd been a while since he'd had a girlfriend or even a girl he liked enough to want to see more than once aside from the few girls he was friends with so it was nice having Maisie. Even if he was a senior and she was just a freshman he was sure they could figure out something to make everything work out.

It didn't take long for Zayn to get bored of waiting for Lindsay to get up, so he finally left her to lay in his bed and nap while he took a shower and got cleaned up. He knew there was some frat/sorority thing or another that night that Lindsay had been talking about, so he was sure that he'd be helping her get everything ready for that as soon as she woke up.

---

"I hope it's not too scary," Maisie said with a laugh as she watched Liam pop in the movie. She still wasn't sure where she should be sitting so she just stood awkwardly in the center of Liam's room while he got everything set up, rubbing her hand against her elbow as she watched him.

It didn't take long for Zayn to get bored of waiting for Lindsay to get up, so he finally left her to lay in his bed and nap while he took a shower and got cleaned up. He knew there was some frat/sorority thing or another that night that Lindsay had been talking about, so he was sure that he'd be helping her get everything ready for that as soon as she woke up.

---

"I hope it's not too scary," Maisie said with a laugh as she watched Liam pop in the movie. She still wasn't sure where she should be sitting so she just stood awkwardly in the center of Liam's room while he got everything set up, rubbing her hand against her elbow as she watched him.

Ebony honestly really enjoyed Chases company, and it was nice to sit on bean bag chairs on the floor of his room in the alpha house and just enjoy one another's company. She really liked having a friend she could turn to, and honestly Chase felt like the only friend who fit into that category. She wouldn't ever say she didn't have other friends; because she did, but well her other friends didn't quite understand certain things that Chase did. Plus the last time she'd had a movie buddy felt like too long ago. "I'm glad you invited me over for this," she finally said smiling over at him. "Well I'm equally as glad that you agreed," he replied with a smile of his own.

---

Liam wasn't really sure what Maisie considered too scary, but he supposed they'd find out if the movie was too scary for her or not as they watched it. Honestly, he liked it a lot. He'd even gotten over how weird the ending was given the rest of the movie was pretty great. "Okay, so I was thinking we could sit on the bed. It's more comfortable than the floor and well I don't have any bean bag chairs or anything to sit on," he said figuring they could sit how he usually does when he watches movies in bed on the TV and not his laptop.

When Zayn got out of the shower, he found Lindsay awake in his bed, under the blankets. He noticed the way her eyes lingered on his abs, where his white towel was just barely covering his bottom half. That wasn't his intention, but he did know that every girl he'd been with had loved his body. He grabbed some clothes from the dresser, smiling at Lindsay, and went back to the bathroom to change. Having sex with Lindsay at that moment wasn't exactly something he was interested in.

Instead, the two of them spent the day getting ready for what Lindsay had said was her favorite sorority event: Paint Party. Zayn was sure that this was just because Lindsay liked any excuse to wear little clothing and get drunk, but he wasn't going to mention that part.

---

"That sounds perfect," Maisie said with a nod of her head as she walked over to Liam's bed and sat on top of his blanket. It was extremely comfortable and Maisie wondered how he ever managed to get out of bed in the morning. She tried to sit on what could be deemed as 'her side' as she wasn't sure how close Liam wanted to get. She still felt so nervous around him and didn't want to do anything to mess it all up.