She's Sneaky Like That

Dree had been having a crappy day she knew she didn’t really need to pick a fight with the man standing next to the diner she worked at, smoking a cigarette. Obviously he was just minding his own business and standing off to the side. He wasn’t even bothering anyone, except Dree, who was only irritated with her own boring life.

Work, school, home, computer. It was routine and she didn’t even like her job. Her co-workers were dumb and annoying and when she got online, she couldn’t even write anything as of late. She was just having one of those days and picking a fight seemed like a better option than going home and doing nothing like usual.

“Don’t you know smoking is bad for you?” Dree asked, trying to act nonchalant as she sauntered up to him. He glanced over at her, then went back to staring at pure nothingness with a bit of smirk. Up close, Dree actually noticed he wasn’t bad looking, he was actually pretty- okay, really- attractive. But the moment he opened his mouth and replied with, “You’re not my mother,” she didn’t even care anymore than she did before walking over to him.

His response was so calm, cool and collected, it irked her and she tried again with, “Second-hand smoking is one of the leading causes of death today.”

Whether or not that was true, Dree didn’t actually know. She wasn’t exactly a statistics person, but really, why the heck not? It sounded legit to her.

“Nobody asked you to stand here, love, so you can shimmy that way if it bothers you,” He told her, still not looking as her besides that first, initial glance. He still sounded so relaxed, Dree suddenly didn’t think anything could get this man into a rage, or at least upset enough to argue with her.

She was finding this conversation was going nowhere, really fast, so instead of trying to argue with him, she turned to go. He wasn’t the slightest bit perplexed, it seemed, that some random girl had walked up to him to talk to him about his smoking. He was minding his own business and everything and he was just so chill that some girl just felt the need to tell him about his smoking habits.

It would be a lie that Dree didn’t feel kind of upset that she couldn’t rile him up.

“If that was your attempt at hitting on me, it was awful. Try again.” Dree paused where she was at, and for a second or so, she smiled to herself at how amused he seemed to be by this whole scenario. Turning back, she stepped just a bit closer to him, trying- and failing- to hide a smirk.

“Who says I'm trying to hit on you?” Dree shot back, and he began to grin at her.

“Who says I'm not trying to hit on you?” Dree opened her mouth to retaliate, only to find whatever she had planned to say, died on her lips. She wasn’t even sure what just happened all of the sudden, because he seemed incredibly smug at that moment and it was so fast, she wasn’t sure what to say.

“I- what?” Dree asked, finding it almost funny that now she was the one perplexed. He let out a laugh, stubbing out his cigarette and smiling at her.

“You're a beautiful girl and you're not afraid to speak your mind. I like that. Maybe we could go get coffee or something?” Dree looked taken aback, then he leaned in, lowering his voice while challenging, “If you can handle it, that is.”

Dree narrowed her eyes at him, smirking a bit, then replied easily with, “I don't know if you'll be able to handle me.”

“Well then, let's go find out, shall we?”Dree’s whole mind went a little blank, and she wasn’t sure how they even got to the point where this guy, this guy she didn’t even know, was asking her out to coffee after a two minute or so conversation.

“Wait, how did you just - did you just get me to agree on going on a date with you without realising?”

“I'll let you figure that one out. Come on, I know a cool place down the road," He said, gently taking her hand. Dree stared at him for a moment before following him, reluctantly letting him hold her hand.

“I still don’t know your name,” Dree mentioned, looking over at him. He smiled a bit to himself, squeezing her hand gently.

“Let’s see how this date goes.” Dree sighed, looking at him from the corner of her eye, just a bit amused.

…

“...What made you choose mummy to be in love with, anyway?” Dree paused outside the door to Tia’s bedroom, their little girl asking him a curious question and Dree couldn’t wait to hear what his response was.

“I didn't choose, she just sort of crept up on me when I wasn't looking until suddenly, I couldn't live without her. Your mama is sneaky like that.” Dree stifled a giggle with her hand and snuck away, smiling to herself until Zayn came into their bedroom a little later while Dree was writing on her laptop, running his fingers through his hair. “Hey, baby.”

“Hey.” Dree set her laptop to the side, and got up, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing gentle kisses against his lips. “I’m sneaky, huh?” She asked between kissing him. Zayn chuckled, his arms coiling around her waist.

“You heard that?” Dree hummed a confirmation and Zayn glanced down to her floor, smiling a bit. “You did sneak up on me, a sudden and random conversation outside a diner with terrible food and only one competent employee.”

“Really?” Zayn nodded, reaching up to brush a stray piece of hair from in front of her eye. “And... who was that employee again, I just can’t remember her name...” Zayn smirked at her, pressing his lips to hers.

“I’m just drawing a blank. Addison... Andy... something like that.” Dree smiled at him, giggling a little. “I can’t imagine a life without you anymore, Dree. You and Tia and... this life we have together. It’s perfect, for us.” Dree nodded.

“Good, because if it isn’t clear, you’ll have to kill me to get rid of me.” Zayn laughed, leaning in and reconnecting their lips, pulling her body flush against his. Groaning, he pulled back a little when he felt a hand slide up the back of his thigh.

“Speaking of sneaky...” Dree winked at him, smiling. “Try being sneaky now.” Zayn grabbing her around the waist, picking her up and throwing her on the bed, Dree yelping as he began to tickle her incessantly.