Another World

I was almost finished cleaning up the mess Zayn and I made in the living room. The pouring rain ruined our plans of going out since last night so we decided to just dance drink - a lot - in my flat. Kate was coming back to London in two days and I already didn't want Zayn to leave. I was startled when I heard footsteps coming from behind.

"You know this rain shouldn't stop us from going to a club." Zayn slurred in my ear as he ran his hands down my arms. "I want everyone to know you're mine."

His touch never ceased to cause my weak knees to buckle. I stepped away from the empty bottles that were left scattered on the floor and turned to face him. We were pretty drunk already, was this a good idea? But what the hell did I know when all that went on in my unstable mind was the image of his long frame pressed against my own in the middle of the dance floor?

"I'll go get ready." I lowered my voice as his mouth was suddenly inches from mine.

He eyed my body that was hiding under sweatpants and tilted his head with a smirk. "Wear something tight."

Drunk Zayn tended to make me feel flushed more than Sober Zayn, mostly because one was more outspoken than the other. I could feel his stare as I walked away to shower, letting out a chuckle as heat radiated my face. The liquor clearly gave him a major boost in confidence.

*

Looking at the time on the clock, it was still too early to wear my outfit for the night. I unhooked the robe that was behind my bedroom door and put it on, tying the belt around my waist. I could hear Zayn singing a medly of songs in the shower, his talented voice giving me chills every time he hit those high notes. I caught myself humming along to the song he sang as I tidied up the room.

My phone buzzed with a text:

Edward: Are you doing anything tonight?

I rolled my eyes and began to type my response:

Going out to a club. Why?

Another quick buzz:

Edward: Mind if a join ;) x

The door to the bathroom opened which caused my fingers to speed up the process of denying his question. Edward was already on Zayn's bad side and I didn't want this to get worst so I tried my best to keep my friendship with Edward limited. By the time he walked in I just hit send.

He rubbed a small towel on his hair and stopped when he noticed that he wasn't the only one in the room.

"Don't worry, I was just going." I was already half way to the door before he could say anything.

He sucked his teeth as he continued to towel dry his hair. "You don't have to leave, babe."

Eyeing the towel that hung dangerously low on his small waist, I let out a quiet whimper. "I think I do."

After quickly grabbing my phone from the top of the dresser, I headed to the living room while shaking my head. The image of water droplets that made his body glisten stuck in my head like gum on a shoe. His suggestion of me staying was completely innocent but my mind was thinking the total opposite. This was definitely going to be harder than I thought. I could hear Kate's nagging voice if she saw me now.

"What are you so afraid of?!"

I rolled my eyes and flipped through the channels of the tv that was left on.

I was in the middle of a movie when Zayn walked out of my room wearing a dark grey silk shirt, black expensive looking skinny jeans and a black leather jacket. His hair was done perfectly in a quiff and I was left to stare at his flawless beauty. Is he even real? Am I imagining this?

He gestured to my bedroom with a smile. "It's all yours."

I cleared my throat as I looked down at myself, forgetting that I was in a robe. "Thanks, and you look really good by the way." I gave him a kiss before closing the door behind me.

*

Analyzing every angle of myself on the full length mirror, I was finally content with my outfit choice. I decided to put on a soft black cocktail dress. I opened the door and it was Zayn's turn to be in awe. He immediately stood up from the sofa, starting his gaze from my silver shoes straight into my eyes.

"Wow, you look absolutely incredible in that dress."

I looked down at myself and couldn't help but feel incredible. The dress fit me perfectly, hugging all of my curves and Zayn's stare proved that I made a good decision. He announced that we were leaving while I made sure I had everything with me. My hands flew up to my ears and didn't feel anything. I quickly ran back to my room to find my favorite pair of silver hoop earrings that, for some reason, whenever I wore it my day always ended up unforgettable.

"Val, your phone is ringing!" Zayn called out from the living room.

I continued to search for my earrings, growing reckless by the minute. "Just pick it up!" I hissed as the sharp end of an earring found its way to the tip of my index finger.

"This is Valarie's boyfriend, and who is this?" Whoever it was caused his tone to change. His voice turned into a low mumble for the rest of their short conversation which made me nervous of what was to come.

I found the earrings I was looking for but I was more into what was going on in the living room. By the time I left my room and went to Zayn, he was placing my phone on the couch with a huff. While he turned off the TV, I retrieved my phone and looked at the call history. Of course, at the top of the list it was Edward's name.

"Are you going to say something?"

"No, let's just go." He grabbed his jacket from the coat rack and reached for the door knob. "I just thought that if you knew I didn't fancy him, you would stop speaking to him." He was facing me by the end of his sentence.

I hesitated. "It's not that simple."

"And why not?"

"He's a nice guy who was always there for me from day one."

"Are you going to continue seeing him?"

"You're acting as if we're having a fling." I let out a big sigh. Everything I said was going in one ear and out of the other and there wasn't anything I could say to make the situation better. He remained quiet with his eyes fixated on the floor.

"You know we don't have to go anywhere-"

He shook his head in response as he opened the front door. "Come on." He didn't sound too enthusiastic.

The drive to Funky Buddha was silent and if it wasn't for the chauffeur raising the volume to the radio, I would have gone insane. I turned to look at Zayn who kept his attention toward the tinted window. His fake interest in the dark streets of London was beginning to piss me off.

"If you're going to act like this the whole night then I'm just gonna go home." I finally stated.

He rolled his eyes before reaching to my side of the car, forcing a kiss on my cheek. I gave him a sarcastic thank you and switched my gaze to the moist window that fogged up with every frustrated breath I exhaled. I was snapped out of my day dream when Zayn's door opened. I watched him climb out and hold the door for me but instead I pushed open my side of the door and got out through there.

Lights were flashing while the paparazzi demanded Zayn to look their way and put on a smile. A couple of the picture hungry men wanted me to pose with him so he turned around and stretched out his arm. I quietly groaned and stepped into the frame.

"That was very mature." He mumbled through his forced smile.

"Well I learned from the best." I replied in the same way.

We continued to silently bicker while taking pictures until Zayn had enough, said his goodbyes to them and guided me inside of the club. A rush of cold air hit me as we maneuvered our way to his usual spot in the corner. This was the first time coming here with Zayn and I wished we weren't upset with each other to fully enjoy the moment. We arrived and saw Liam sitting alone with a drink in his hand. When he noticed us, he got up to greet Zayn and I with a big smile. He explained that he was with his friend, Andy, enjoying the last days off before things got hectic again. Liam slid over to the edge of the seat for us but Zayn was already gone when I sat down.

Andy abandoned Liam for a girl he met so most of my time spent in the club was with Liam conversing and drinking as Zayn talked to everyone else in the place but me. The only time he acknowledged my presence was when he had to give the employee my coat.

I looked over at Zayn who was sitting at the bar, sipping on a Corona while chatting with people he seemed to know.

"Don't worry, Valarie, after a few drinks he won't be so moody." Liam yelled over the music.

I reverted my attention to Liam and gave him a genuine smile. Even though I was pretty ticked off, somehow Liam's presence was beginning to make everything better. "Why does he have to be such an asshole?"

He shrugged as he chuckled. "Do you want to dance?"

"I'm not in a dancing kind of mood just yet, rain check?"

"No problem, I'll be in the bathroom if you need me, love."

As I watched Zayn be a complete douche from across the room, I questioned why he wanted me to come if he was just going to be an ass the whole time. By the time Liam came back, I was already up and grabbed his arm.

"Let's dance!"

As much as I did enjoy Liam's muscular body, he wasn't the one I wanted to dance with, even if it was to a pop song. I could see Zayn's intense glare at us and I let out an exaggerated laugh just to make sure he heard all the fun I was having without him. When the song was over, Usher's That's What It's Made For came on and I couldn't help but frown as we got out of the dance floor. That was the song we were dancing to in my kitchen and I would've loved to have his body against mine if it wasn't for our stubbornness. The dance floor became a maze as it all of a sudden was crowded by dancing couples. Liam put his arm around my shoulder to keep me from getting lost - which almost happened twice - in the crowd until we finally reached our table.

The club's photographer came up to us and snapped a few photos for the website. It looked like we were a couple but I didn't care, I was too drunk and my boyfriend was busy being an idiot.

We stayed in Funky Buddha until it closed and as we all piled out of the exit, I stumbled and was close to losing my balance if it wasn't for Liam holding me up. I looked up at both of him and smiled.

"Alright, that's enough!" Zayn called out as he pulled me out of Liam's grip. "Get the fuck off of my girl!"

Everyone that was outside stared at us in confusion.

"What are you doing?" I tried to keep my volume low so that our business wasn't being broadcasted but Zayn couldn't care less.

"What am I doing? What are you doing?! I've been watching you and him all night and I don't like what I'm seeing! And you," He pointed an accusing finger at Liam. "I thought we were mates! I thought-"

Liam cut him off by taking him towards the car whilst trying to reason with him. I was left to hang my head low to avoid the stares, impatiently waiting for them to go into the backseat of the vehicle. I began to pray that the paparazzi didn't catch sight of the scene but the worst was yet to come. We were left alone with Zayn, drunk and angry. I looked at Liam, bearing the same worried facial expression I had. The chauffeur dropped him off at his flat and I was left alone with the most unpredictable man on earth. As we were heading home, he didn't say a word throughout the whole car ride until we walked into my flat and I closed the door behind me.

All I did was sneeze and apparently it triggered something inside Zayn.

"Is something going on between you and Liam?!" He slurred as he yelled.

I headed for my bedroom when my arm was aggressively pulled to stop me. I turned and stared at him dead in the eyes. "Don't you ever grab me like that!"

"Is something going on between you and Liam?!"

"NO! Why would you think that?!"

"Maybe because of what I saw!"

"You didn't see anything!"

"When the bloody Usher song came on you seemed to be having a great bloody time with Liam if you ask me!"

"When the song came on we got off the dance floor!" I took a deep breath as I covered my exhausted face. "I don't know where you're getting this bullshit from."

"Does it matter?!"

"You're being so difficult right now."

"I knew there was something going on. From the first day you lot met I knew Liam fancied you, but I chose to ignore it because I trusted you. I didn't think I had anything to worry about, I guess I was wrong, yeah?"

I trying to fight the tears that were threatening to form but all the liquor I had in my system made it difficult for me to stand up straight, let alone control my emotions.

"First Edward now Liam." He mumbled, struggling to maintain his balance as he kicked at the floor.

Even though he was drunk and most likely didn't mean what he said, it still hurt. I tried thinking things through but my clouded mind made it hard for me to stop from saying what came next.

"I don't think we should continue this relationship."

"Best thing you've said all night."