Happy Birthday

Zayn Malik used to freak out over little things back then, when he was still an insecure, sixteen-year-old. It was clearly shown during his X-Factor bootcamp days when Simon Cowell had to calm him of his jitters to come back onto the stage to dance. He thought that his journey to stardom had been cut short because he simply refuse to make himself silly by dancing, something which he loathed doing.

Nowadays, Zayn was no longer that insecure, young chap who panicked easily. His life had taken a complete three hundred and sixty degrees turn eversince he became a member of One Direction, the most popular and sought-after boyband in the world. He had gained confidence and he couldn't care less of what people thought of his dancing. He was not afraid to make a fool out of himself sometimes, or being papped in his most unglorious moments (think of 'hobo Zayn').

It was different this time, however. Zayn blamed it on the timezones entirely but if Louis could keep up with it (no matter how much the older boy messed with the time format on his iPad and mobile so that his crops would grow faster), he couldn't see why he was having trouble.

One of the reasons could be the fact that he was in Asia for their 2013 World Tour. Being in Asia was taking a toll on all of them because of the unbearably hot weather there. Weather aside, Zayn and the other lads did enjoy themselves with a whole different culture and the hospitality the Asian fans gave them.

Another reason was that he probably enjoyed himself too much at Universal Studios Singapore, until he was dead beat upon reaching his hotel room and had completely slipped his mind to make that one, important phonecall.

And boy, did he panicked after realising that.



Zayn was rudely awaken by a bright ray of sunlight on his face. "Wha? Who?" he slurred, voice still heavy with sleep. He grabbed the nearest pillow and covered his head with it.

"Wake up, Zayn. We have a long day today." Liam shook the tanned lad roughly. After getting no response from Zayn, he sighed and made his way to the bathroom.

Zayn groaned and buried himself further underneath the sheets. He was about to doze off again when Liam's iPhone alarm went off suddenly, startling him.

'Reach for the skyyy!'

Typical of Liam to set his alarm tone to that of Woody's catchphrase, Zayn thought.

When the incessant "Reach for the sky!" kept replaying, Zayn threw his pillow at the bedside table, knocking the hotel's stationery and some of Liam's accessories onto the floor. The mobile however, remained on the table, unharmed.

Zayn practically jumped out of bed and grabbed Liam's phone, silencing the alarm. He squinted at the time which stated that it was 7:30 in the morning. His gaze travelled at the tiny day and date underneath the big numbers: Thursday, 11 July. Zayn stared at the date for what seemed like an eternity. At the back of his mind, he knew that the number was of importance to him, but he couldn't decipher what it was.

And then it hit him. Zayn's eyes widened, all traces of sleep vanishing instantly. He chucked Liam's mobile on the bed and scurried around the hotel room, desperately searching for his own phone.

He found it lying on top of the television table, underneath a couple of Universal Studio flyers. Zayn hurriedly punched in the speed dial to Perrie's number.

"Pick it up, pick it up..."

The frantic lad was met with Perrie's voicemail after hanging on the phone for nearly three minutes.

"Damm it!" he cried, frustrated. He ended the call and pressed the speed dial again. After a total try of six times, Perrie finally answered her phone.

"Hello, babe? Pear?" Zayn said breathlessly into the mouthpiece. "Why didn't you answer my calls?" Before his girlfriend could utter a single word, Zayn rushed to say what was on his mind.

"I know that you're mad at me for forgetting the most important day of your life, and I'm so to blame for this. I'm really, really sorry and I promise I would make it up to you. I know it's kinda late, but happy birthday, Perrie," Zayn exhaled loudly and pursed his lips. He ran a hand through his bed-hair and prepared himself for the oncoming rant.

However, Zayn was met with peals of laughter, rather than angry fits from the other end of the line. He was shocked to say the least. "Pear? Babe?" he asked cautiously.

"Oh Zee, you're hi-hilarious," Perrie said inbetween her laughter.

"What? I don't understand," Zayn replied, scratching at the back of his neck. "You're supposed to be angry at me."

"And why would I be?" Perrie countered.

"Because I forgot to wish my sweetheart a happy birthday. I was late! Your birthday was yesterday. Which boyfriend forgets about his bird's birthday?"

Perrie had to smile at that. "Zee baby, I understand your situation. It's not your fault. Sometimes, little things tend to slip our minds. It's alright."

"But it's your big day. It's not just some other ordinary days," Zayn remarked. He couldn't believe that Perrie was so forgiving. Not that he wasn't thankful for her being considerate, but he had seen too many times in which a girl would throw a tantrum for having her birthday disregarded.

"Zayn, where are you now exactly? Which country?" questioned Perrie.

"In my hotel room in Singapore." He didn't know what the question had to do with anything.

"And what time is it over there?"

"Uh, it's five to eight in the morning."

"It's five minutes to midnight over here in London. So..." Perrie trailed off, hinting something to Zayn which he had no clue about.

When Zayn remained silent, Perrie answered for him. "It's technically still the tenth of July over here, Zee. That means, you're not late in wishing me!"

Zayn's mind was slowly processing in the details. "It's already the eleventh here," he replied slowly. He felt like an idiot suddenly.

Perrie laughed again. "Where did you go yesterday to have your mind being scrambled this much? There's an eight hour difference in the timezones, Zee. Go figure."

The tanned lad felt a grin creeping up at the corner of his lips. How could he be such a nitwit? And to think he was panicking about this just moments ago.

"Screw the timezones, Pear. I've missed you."

"And I miss you too."