The Princess of Wales

I should of put jeans on or a nice dress. I should of did my hair or put on some makeup. I should of at least attempted to look presentable before walking into a house full of five of the fittest lads in the whole world. Instead, I looked like a wretched mess. I just dealt with it, giving the boys of One Direction a smile and wave before disappearing into Zayn's bedroom.

I tossed my phone and keys on the nightstand before crawling into Zayn's bed. Inhaling deeply, I smiled, recognizing the familiar scent. His pillow smelled just like him: a mixture of Chanel Allure Homme Sport and very faint cigarette smoke. The two aromas blended perfectly and was sort of intoxicating. Did I really just think that?

Zayn's flat was kind of like my safe haven. When I didn't want to see my family, it was the one place I could go to be alone. The royals knew where all my friends lived, so if they really wanted to find me, they could. Nobody knew where Zayn lived, I could just turn my phone off and escape for a while. It also helped that I really enjoy being around him. I didn't want to think about Harry leaving. I sure as hell didn't want to think about Camilla and the comment she made, it just would of pissed me off all over again. As soon as I shut my eyes, ready to take a nap, the door opened.

"You didn't even say hi to me." Zayn said as he threw himself on the bed, right on top of me.

"I waved. I would of said hi to everyone, but c'mon, I look beastly."

"You don't look beastly." Zayn laughed. "I'm kind of flattered, you're obviously comfortable enough around me to come over in sweats."

"Whatever."

"So what's wrong? What's going on?"

I sighed as Zayn patiently waited on my response, staring at me. "Harry got deployed today so I'm kind of ya know.."

"I'm sorry, Char." Zayn gave me a frown. "Anything I can do to make you feel better?"

I smiled at him, he was being sweet, without any underlying sexual meaning and I kind of liked it. "No, Zayn. It's just something I have to accept, I'll be fine. Thank you, though. By the way, I have to stay away from you."

"What?"

I let out a laugh as I continued to explain. "I got yelled at by my father and grandmother this morning. I'm not allowed to step foot in any clubs and I'm definitely not allowed to see you anymore."

"Oh? So I'm on the queen's shit list?"

"Uh huh." I laughed a little more.

"Well, you're still here."

"Hm. Well, obviously you must be very good at shagging." Zayn gave me a grin and went to say something else. But suddenly, we were startled by Louis' yelling in the other room. From the sound of it, he was swearing at the tele. The next sound I heard, was Niall laughing loudly. "I thought you were watching the match with your mates."

"I am, just wanted to check up on you. Make sure you're alright." He said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. Oh Zayn, please stop…

"Go watch the game, I'll be okay."

"Alright, you can come out if you want, we don't bite." Zayn flashed a cute smile, the one when he presses his tongue against his teeth. I playfully shoved my hand in his face, trying to shake the image from my head. I almost felt like I was swooning, but I was definitely not swooning!

"I think I'm gonna take a little nap first."

"Alright, sleep well, princess." Zayn gave me a quick peck on the lips before joining the lads in the other room.



I tossed and turned in Zayn's bed for over an hour before deciding I couldn't do it much longer. The lads were loud in the next room, yelling and laughing. I figured I might as well go out and join them. I ran my hands through my tangled hair, trying to 'comb' it the best I could before putting it back up.

The five of them were oblivious to me even entering the room, their eyes fixated on the football match in front of them. The coffee table was filled with junk food and beer bottles, because thats what lads do when they watch sports, drink and eat. I watched in the doorway as Zayn and Louis jumped from their seats, screaming at the player on the tele to 'go go go'.

A loud roar filled the flat, courtesy of Zayn. He and Louis exchanged a high five before sitting back down. I walked over and took the empty seat next to Zayn, curling up on the couch next to him. When he wrapped his arm around me and kissed my forehead, I could feel all eyes on us. I ignored everyone, focusing my attention on the tele, though I wasn't interested in the game at all.

"Who's winning?"

"Manchester!" Zayn replied, Louis and Harry smiled widely. Liam didn't seem bothered but Niall was pouting with his arms crossed against his chest.

"You okay, Niall?" I asked

"I hate Manchester." He mumbled.

"He's just mad his team is losing." Louis laughed, teasing the blond boy.

I stayed pretty silent as the game went on, I watched the game with the boys but had no idea what was going on. I felt like the girl who sits and watches her boyfriend and his mates play video games. As soon as Manchester won the game, that's exactly what I was doing. I quietly texted Emma while the lads took turns playing against each other.

"What are we gonna do? Now that I can't go out." I asked Zayn, once he lost his game of Fifa to Niall.

He handed his controller to Liam before wrapping an arm around me. "We can talk." he said quietly, just the for the two of us to hear. I looked at him and smirked. "I know, I know…you're not much for talking. I'm just saying."

"Stop being nice, it's annoying."

"Well then how would you prefer I act?"

"Like this so-called 'bad boy' I keep hearing you are."

"I'm not bad, I'm just misunderstood."

"That's what all the bad boys say." I grinned, getting up and walking into the kitchen. I found Zayn's pack of cigarettes sitting on the table, I grabbed one and opened up the window.

"Could you hand me one of those, princess?" Zayn followed after me. I grabbed another one and handed it to him. "What are you doing the rest of the day?"

"Hm, I'm not sure."

"Well, the lads are getting ready to leave to go out for the night, wanna watch a movie or something?"

I laughed, taking another drag of my cigarette. "You wouldn't rather go out with your mates?"

"Ya know, there's more to me than just drinking and sex, if you'd like to find out more." He smiled, his tongue pressing against his teeth again. I looked away and smiled. I knew where this was going but I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. It was becoming obvious that Zayn possibly likes me, a lot more than we both intended. I was a bit frustrated because maybe I was starting to like him as well.

The thought of the two of us actually liking each other was pointless, really. I know I'll only end up pushing him away if he tries to get too close, it's what I do best. At the first sign of emotion, I'm going to run away as far as possible, just like always. Part of me does want to get to know him a little better, find out what he's really about. Because whether we're shagging or not, I genuinely like Zayn as a person.

"I get to pick the movie, Malik."

"Deal. No chick-flicks, yeah?"

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it."

We returned to the living room as the lads were getting ready to leave, we said goodbye to them and sent them on their way. I grabbed the remote and laid across the couch, searching for a movie to watch.

"Hungry, princess?" Zayn asked as he stood in front of me, blocking the view of the TV.

"Well, that depends. What are you offering?" My eyes traveled down his body until they reached his crotch area. Zayn grinned, realizing just what I was staring at.

"Not what you're thinking, I mean actual food. We're not doing anything sexual tonight."

"What?! What if I want to?"

"That's too bad, princess." he smirked as I crossed my arms over my chest, I didn't like this at all. "I told you, I'm not all about sex. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow."

I nodded my head and appeared to be agreeing with him, but I was far from that. In my head I accepted this as a personal challenge and I knew I was bound to get my way. "Fine, and yes, I'm hungry."

"Chinese takeaway?"

I went back to searching for a movie after Zayn called in our food order. While he was off in the shower, I was thinking of ways to get him to sleep with me. It shouldn't be this hard, I have a vagina! Shouldn't that be enough? I sat the food down in the kitchen after it arrived, then made my way to Zayn's bedroom. He was in there getting dressed, so I just let myself in.

"Damn, I was hoping to catch you naked."

"Sorry to disappoint, what's up?" Zayn said as he pulled his sweatpants up, letting them rest lowly on his hips.

"These sweatpants are making me hot, so I'm grabbing a pair of your shorts." I said, helping myself. I opened up one of his drawers and grabbed a pair of basketball shorts. I pulled my sweatpants off and Zayn's eyes grew a little wide. "See something you like, Zayn?"

"I'm gonna go get the food." He quickly said before leaving me alone in his room, dammit. I joined him once I was fully clothed, he had the food all set out on the coffee table and I took a seat next to him. "21 Jump Street? I love this film."

"One of my favorites, thought it was a safe choice."

We ate and watched the movie together. It was nice, but still hard to believe he'd rather be here than out with his mates. I stopped thinking of ways to get him in bed once we started talking and things got a bit deep. On his part anyway. He told me about growing up in Bradford, his family, and the person he was before all this crazy One Direction business.

"I still haven't gotten used to it, all of the crying fans, crazy news stories. I don't think I ever will be."

"Do you miss your old life?" I asked him

"Yes and no. Being in One Direction comes with a lot of privilege, i get to do things most people only dream of. I do miss my privacy, though." He said. "But without One Direction, I wouldn't have the lads, I don't know the person I'd be without them."

"I can tell the five of you are very close, you're lucky."

"Punk kids from Bradford don't get to meet Princess Charlotte, either. This sort of thing just doesn't happen to people where I'm from."

I put my head down and laughed a little. "You're Zayn Malik, a member of the biggest boyband in the world! I should be the one lucky to meet you!"

"Can I tell you something? You can't judge, either!"

"Go ahead."

"I had a massive crush on you growing up."

"WHAT!" I let out a loud, nervous laugh. "No you didn't!"

"I swear, I did." I could tell he was getting embarrassed. "Everytime I saw you on TV, I was just amazed at how beautiful you looked."

"Zayn, stop it!" now I was getting embarrassed.

"I'm serious!"

"You're embarrassing me!" I yelled as I let my face fall into my hands.

"Charli, you, embarrassed?" Zayn took my hands away and held them. "Well, I definitely never seen this side of you before. Gotta admit, I don't hate it."

"Zayn!" I yelled once more. "Alright, I'm ready for bed."

"Fine. But first, tell me something about yourself. Something I don't already know and something real."

"Well, if you haven't noticed by now, I'm a little fucked in the head."

"Charli-"

"No, really, I am." I stopped him. "Not going into too much detail, I have a lot of issues with myself. I have this massive wall built up around me and its hard to let anyone in. You wanted something real…"

"How can I get past that wall?"

"It's something nobody has ever done before, but you're slowly chipping away at it."

"Come on, let's go to bed." Zayn gave me a smile before taking my hand and leading me to his bedroom. Now that he knows I'm damaged, he definitely won't want me now. It's too much work. I'm okay with it though, because it makes this easier for me. Now I won't have to deal with any feelings I might have for him. "For what its worth, I don't think you're fucked in the head. Far from it."

"Goodnight, Zayn."

He pulled my body closer to his and wrapped an arm around me. "Goodnight, Princess."