Taking Chances

“That was so much fun,” Louis exclaimed a little too loudly as we got into the elevator to go up to the apartments. “Like, we need to do that a lot more. Because I had so much fun!”

Niall chuckled and nudged him in the side. “Did you get the number of that girl you were dancing with?”

“Nope. I don’t even know her name!” To punctuate his statement, he burst out laughing, the sound echoing through the small space.

The elevator dinged as it stopped on the floor that housed Harry, Louis, Niall, Hanny, and Charlie. “GOODNIGHT!” Charlie exclaimed as she bounded onto the floor, dragging Harry with her. “And Bailey, I hope you had a great time. You looked like you did.” She winked suggestively as the doors pulled closed, and I expected the blush to come, as it always did.

But it didn’t. I just started laughing instead, the sound loud and strange in my ears.

When we got to Zayn’s door, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the key, admitting us inside. “You know,” I voiced, crossing my arms, “I agree with Louis. I wish Liam had come. He would’ve had fun.”

“No, he wouldn’t have,” Zayn assured me. “Plus, he probably spent all night talking to Rebecca.”

“REBECCA!” I exclaimed giddily. “Oh my God, she’s coming in tomorrow. It’s going to be so much fun living with her again. And I ship Rebecca and Liam so hard. They’re so adorable.”

Zayn gave me a funny look. “Can you ship real people?”

“Of course you can,” I told him. “People ship you and me, I bet.”

He came over close to me, his eyes running over my body, as he put his hands on my waist. “I ship us.”

“Do you?” I questioned, my voice getting soft as I looked up at him.

He answered by connecting his lips to mine. They were soft, even though the kiss was much more hurried than any other kisses we had shared. My entire body seemed to set on fire as I hooked my arms around the back of his neck, pulling him down to my level and closer to me.

His hands were roaming up and down my torso, all kinds of hesitance that he usually showed completely gone. Not that I cared. I still wanted him to do more.

His lips parted from mine for a second, and he breathed, “Hold on.”

“What?” I wondered. I was completely disoriented, the alcohol and the feelings of kissing him rattling my brains entirely.

Instead of answering, he just grabbed my hand and pulled me into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

A second later, he was on me again, pushing me back onto the bed and resting on top of me. Our lips and tongues were moving in sync, and I could feel all senses of reason in my head slipping away into hiding places.

His lips moved from my mouth down my neck, his hands following a similar route, going from my waist to my legs. Even in my overwhelmed state, I still found sense to be incredibly relieved that I had shaved.

“You’re so soft,” he mumbled against my neck.

I grabbed his hair in my hands and struggled to keep from making a noise as his lips pressed against the pulse on my neck.

He noticed my reaction and snickered, kissing there again and again, running his tongue along it.

As he did so, his hands went up my legs, were warm on my stomach, journeyed all the way to where the dress started, right over my breasts.

Sitting up briefly, pulling me up with him, he slid the dress over my head, smirking at me and making me crazy.

I connected our mouths again and ran my hands under his shirt, feeling the muscles of his torso and chest. “Your turn,” I whispered, looking up at him with wide eyes as he followed my directions, shedding his shirt and throwing it on the floor next to my discarded dress.

He started kissing me again, starting just under my chin and making his way down my neck. I swallowed as he got to the hollow of my throat, not knowing what to do or how to act.

He didn’t seem to care about my confusion though, as he continued to kiss down my torso, in between my breasts, down the middle of my stomach. My navel. And then just below.

My entire body froze as reality set in what we were doing. I didn’t want his face that close to... there.

“Stop,” I gasped out, sitting up and pushing him away. “Stop.”

He stared at me, his eyes glazed over, his expression hurt. “What?”

“I just…I’m sorry. I…I can’t.” Getting up and wrapping my arms around myself, I disappeared into his closet, shutting the door behind me, and retrieved a pair of baggy pajama pants and a huge, old Batman t-shirt. After throwing my long, unfamiliarly straight hair into a ponytail, I adjusted the strapless bra I had to wear under my dress and walked out.

“Bailey,” Zayn begged, “can we talk? I’m sorry if we went too far.”

Instead of answering him, I just pulled the door shut behind me, struggling not to burst into tears.

* * *

The morning was awkward. Zayn walked around the kitchen quietly, trying to make some coffee, while I sat at the kitchen table, dressed and ready for Rebecca, twiddling my thumbs. The only good part of the day was that I didn’t seem to have many hangover symptoms, just a slight headache that had mostly dissipated once I took some aspirin.

Zayn put a mug down in front of me, the coffee inside just the way I liked it. “Thanks,” I mumbled.

He nodded in response before sitting down across the table from me. “Can we talk now?”

“Talk about what?” I questioned, taking a sip from the cup.

“Last night. Come on, Bailey. I really think we should talk this out instead of pretending it didn’t happen.”

But that was how I liked to deal with things. I liked to try to forget about them. But I sighed and tried to humor him. “I should have known it was going to happen.”

“What was going to happen? Us snogging like that?”

I ignored his use of English terminology and nodded. “Yeah. Because I went outside my comfort zone and got drunk. Well, almost drunk. And I lost all sense of reason. All because I wanted to try to fit in with your friends and get them to like me.”

“My friends?!” he repeated. “I thought Charlie and Hanny were your friends, too. You let them help you get ready for the party and stuff.”

“They’re not my friends,” I argued back. I knew I sounded like a bitch, but the words were pouring out faster than my mind could censor them. “I barely know them, remember? I’ve been here a month. The only reason I let them do anything with me was because you wanted me to.”

“What are you talking about?!”

I got to my feet, my eyes filling with tears, as I burst out, “I just figured that you’d like me more if I was more like Charlie!”

His face contorted with pain and anger as he prepared to shout back at me.