Yours Truly

The next morning Zayn woke me up with breakfast in bed. I ate it quickly, realizing we had to leave for the radio interview in just over an hour, and hopped into the shower not long after. There was a steady drizzle outside, and I opted to throw on a pair of leopard spotted tights underneath my black skirt. I topped the outfit off with a white tank and leopard blazer, tossing a black fedora on top of my straightened hair. Zayn came out a few moments later and I smiled at his simple outfit of a screen-printed t-shirt and black jeans.

We left not long after and I ended up driving with Bettie to the interview since the boys needed security to get out of the van they were provided. The pair of us chatted about our plans for the rest of the day, and I obnoxiously ‘awed’ when she told me about the couples day at the spa Liam had booked for them.

“Oh hush,” she said, swatting my arm lightly, “He said that he could tell I was stressed lately, and that I needed something like this. Of course I made him go with me as well, because I always find full on spa days alone awkward.”

“That makes it even cuter!” I squealed, finally pulling into the parking lot of the studio, “I think it’s official, you guys have taken the title as most sickeningly adorable couple.”

“Until you tell me about how amazing today was,” she said, a smirk on her lips, “Probably lunch at a nice restaurant, shopping where he’ll carry his bags, as well as yours, and ending it with frozen yogurt. Am I right?”

I shot her a playful glare, knowing her description of my upcoming day wasn’t that far off, and ushered her from the car as I saw Paul exit the back door. He greeted us warmly with a hug, and led us inside towards the studio where the interview was to take place. The boys were already inside, surely recording intros to their singles, allowing Bettie and I to take a seat on the couch outside of the studio. The interview started not long after, and I half listened while I scrolled through my social networks. Once I got bored with that, and realized Bettie had stalked off to take a phone call, I turned my attention to the interview.

“So, let’s get the usual questions out of the way,” the interviewer started, sounding as sick of them as the boys were, “Relationship statuses?”

“Single,” Niall and Harry chorused, cheeky grins on their faces.

“Been with Bettie for nearly a year and a half now,” Liam smiled.

“Still with Eleanor, and we still don’t know our anniversary,” Louis laughed, causing the rest of the boys to laugh.

“I’ve been with my fiancée for nearly four years now,” Zayn said, not even noticing what he said.

As soon as the ‘f’ word left his lips, my heart stopped. He had just accidentally spilled the biggest secret he currently had. Only our immediate families and closest friends knew about the engagement, and I was almost positive that the boys PR Rep hadn’t been told. It took Zayn a moment, but when he saw the interviewers face, he finally realized what he said. He looked over at me, his eyes as wide as mine, and mouthed “I’m sorry”. I simply shrugged, a smile on my face, knowing the secret would come out sooner or later. This seemed to put him at ease, and before I knew it I was being ushered into the studio to join the interview. I stood between Liam and Zayn, sharing the latter’s headphones, and nervously shifted as the interviewer waited to head back on air.

“And we’re back with the lads of One Direction, and the lovely Miss Valerie,” he smiled, letting the boys do a small cheer thing, “So, Valerie, now that the cats out of the bag, I can guarantee the whole world is wondering one thing. How did Zayn propose?”

“Well, he cooked me a lovely dinner to start the night off,” I said after clearing my throat a little, “Then he took me to the balcony for desert, and had cheekily snuck the ring on top of the cupcake he always buys me. You can ask Liam here how the rest went, since him and Bettie spied on us.”

“Betties idea, not mine!” Liam defended, making me laugh, “It was quite romantic though, from what we saw. Candles and everything.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the rest of the boys started aweing at Zayn, and taking the mickey out of him. The tips of his ears turned a violent shade of red, but he just played off their teasing by saying they were jealous. I left a few moments after, retaking my seat on the sofa that Bettie had reoccupied, and gladly accepted the hug she was offering me. I sighed into the hug, and even if I wasn’t estatic about the news being out in the open, it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Bettie could tell I was started to over think things, and brought me back to reality by talking to me about the trip to America in a few weeks. We started talking about things we wanted to do, mainly including eating foods we couldn’t get in the UK, and didn’t even notice the interview end.

The boys came out of the studio, taking a few promotional shots in front of the logo painted on the wall, before wandering over to us. Zayn still had a look of guilt on his face, and I just kissed his cheek telling him it would be okay. The pair of us told the boys and Bettie goodbye, and quickly snuck out the back to my car before the fans could realize. I let Zayn drive, not exactly knowing what he had planned for us, and relaxed into the seat as he drove out of the parking lot. I could tell he was still uneasy about the world knowing about our engagement, so I took it upon myself to serenade him with whatever song happened to pop up onto my iPod. About halfway through ‘Tiny Dancer’ he finally relaxed, and laughed at my attempts to sing, while still joining in.

He eventually pulled into the lot of a Chinese restaurant, and I smiled as I remembered the significance of the place. When Zayn moved to London, I had stayed in Bradford for almost six months so I could finish some classes. When it was finally time for me to move, he had come down to escort me back up, and we ended up stopping here to eat before going to the flat.

“We haven’t been here in forever,” I grinned, taking his hand as we met in front of the car.

“I know, and I remember you talking about how much you wanted sesame chicken the other day,” he said, holding the door open for me with a smile.

“Oh, so you do listen,” I joked, knocking his hip with mine as we waited for the hostess.

He laughed at me, saying he only sometimes did, and let me take the lead towards our table. The waitress we got recognized us immediately, and brought our drink orders out without us having to tell her what we wanted. She placed the kettle of tea in front of us, and told us she’d put our usual orders in after confirmation that it’s what we wanted.

“Are you sure that you’re okay with the whole world knowing?” Zayn asked, reaching across the table to cup my hand.

“You want a completely honest answer?” I asked, tracing the top of my cup with my free hand, “Not entirely. I mean, I’m glad it’s out in the open, I feel like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. But, I’m not exactly sure how your fans, or management for that matter, are going to take the news. Did management know before today?”

“I hadn’t officially told them,” he said, looking down quickly, “I honestly hadn’t planned on telling the world today. It just slipped out, because I’m so used to the term now I guess.”

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about me hiding my ring anymore,” I grinned, watching as his finger ghosted over the diamond, “Now, let’s forgot about everything, and enjoy the food that I can see coming.”

He just laughed at me, and the pair of us dug in as soon as our plates were sat in front of us. We made light conversation, the pair of us never being big on talking throughout shared meals, and even shared a few bites of our meals with each other. I laughed our cheesiness, and wasn’t surprised when we were greeted by paparazzi as we left the restaurant. I kept my head down, ignoring their constant yells about the basis of our engagement, and was grateful that they didn’t completely surround the car as we climbed in. Zayn suggested that we just head home, knowing we wouldn’t get any peace if we stayed in public, and apologized profusely as I drove towards our flat. I told him it was fine, loving the idea of just cuddling together and watching a movie in bed, and was grateful the restaurant was close to our flat.

When we got to our flat, I ditched my current outfit, and replaced them with a pair of short shorts and one of Zayn’s old shirts. The pair of us brushed our teeth quickly, knowing the Chinese food had wrecked our breath, and I chose the movie while he stripped down to his boxers. I popped Pretty In Pink into the player, and snuggled up to Zayn as the opening credits started. As usual, our innocent idea of watching a movie in bed turned into something more, and it was safe to say I was happy that our day out had turned into a day in.