Tis the Season

“It’s so frustrating, mate,” Harry said, as he threw the empty plates onto the counter for the dishwasher to handle. “It’s like she doesn’t care at all what I have to say.”

Rolling his eyes, Zayn let out a laugh. “Clearly she cares what you have to say, or she wouldn’t have called you.”

“She called me because Derek yelled at her.” Harry sighed. “She called me because she didn’t have anyone else to call. She means the world to me, and I’m nothing but a last resort to her.”

Letting out a deep breath, Zayn looked to the floor. He knew what Harry was going through; he went through the same thing with Eve every day. There’s nothing worse than the pain of knowing that you’re a backup plan to someone you’re madly in love with. There’s nothing worse than watching the girl of your dreams sleep with guy after guy, while you wait around for her to notice you.

Zayn’s phone let out a tone from its place within his pocket, signaling that he had a text message. Pulling his phone from the black slacks, Zayn locked his eyes on the screen.

“What’s it say?” Harry asked, attempting to pull the phone from Zayn’s hand.

Zayn quickly pulled it back, glaring at his friend. Eve’s beautiful smile lit up next to her name, in a photo he had taken months before.

Moving his gaze from his phone to Harry, Zayn’s face twisted in confusion. “It’s Eve. She wants to come over when I get off work.”

“I thought you guys were fighting,” Harry said, as he grabbed the pitcher of ice water.

Nodding his head, Zayn spoke. “We were –“ He paused. “I mean, we are.”

Harry’s soft voice was etched with concern as he spoke. “What are you going to do?”

Biting his lip, Zayn looked back down at his phone. Every time he looked at her photo, he was reminded of all the nights she had spent his bed; of the few times he was able to hold her while she slept; of all the times she had used him. Most of all, he was reminded of how much she meant to him, and no matter how bad things were with her, he wasn’t willing to give that up yet.

With a deep sigh, Zayn clicked away at his phone, typing out a short text to the girl. He looked back up at Harry and shrugged. “I guess I’m going to have her over.”



With her hands tucked in her jacket pockets, Eve walked along the pebbled sidewalk towards Zayn’s apartment. Cars blew past her, the wind rushing through her jacket. It was dark, and the sidewalk was lit only by the few lampposts next to it, but the dark wasn’t what had Eve so nervous.

Instead of focusing on the fact that a mugger could jump out at any corner, Eve could only think of Zayn. She’d practiced an apology in the mirror dozens of times, and she could only hope that their conversation went according to plan. If he shot her down immediately, she didn’t have a Plan B.

When Eve’s hand landed on Zayn’s building’s door, her stomach began to turn. She’d never been this nervous to see Zayn, but there had never been so much riding on it before. With one wrong move or one twisted word, Zayn could be out of her life forever.

In what seemed like the longest minute and a half of her life, Eve had reached Zayn’s apartment, and her fist was tapping gently on the wooden surface of his door. The door opened slowly in front of her to reveal Zayn standing in front of her, in a pair of athletic shorts and a Manchester United shirt.

“Hey,” Eve said, almost as though it were a whisper.

Zayn gave her a small, forced smile. “Hey.”

The dark haired boy stepped to the side, motioning for Eve to enter the room. She headed straight for his sofa, pulling her jacket off along the way.

Tucking her feet underneath her, she took her usual place on the sofa, while Zayn sat next to her. They paused for a moment, the silence enveloping the room. They’d never had a moment like that before; an awkward moment where neither knew what to say.

Suddenly all thoughts of Eve’s plan went out the window. She couldn’t remember a single word of what she had rehearsed, and even if she did, the thoughts no longer seemed appropriate.

With a deep breath, Eve turned to Zayn, her gaze locked on his feet. She could feel his eyes locked on her, as he followed her every move. He was clearly waiting for her to speak first, and she hated him for it.

“Listen,” she said, looking up to meet his eyes. “The other night, at the party, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Obviously,” Zayn laughed, rolling his eyes.

She didn’t know what she had expected him to say, but it certainly wasn’t that. The one word response startled her, and it took her a moment to recover from the blow. Her mind raced, as it tried to come up with a proper apology in a limited amount of time. Before she could respond, Zayn spoke again.

“Why do you want so badly for all of these guys to like you?” Zayn asked, locking eyes with Eve. “I mean, you like sex, I get that. You’re grown and you’re free to shag whoever you want, but guys like Jake, guys that call you a slag, why?”

At that point, Eve wished he’d left at just ‘obviously’. That would be a much easier thing to reply to. The truth was that Eve didn’t understand half the things she did, especially when she was drunk. She hadn’t gone home with Jake that night, but she almost did, and that was bad enough. That one she could attribute to the alcohol and lowered inhibitions.

When she was sober, it was a different story entirely. She knew why she slept with all those guys, but she couldn’t tell Zayn. Her reasoning was very solid, at least in her mind. Eve jumped from guy to guy so she could find the one. She’d go on a date, sleep with most of them, and then move on, simply because none of them were what she was looking for.

After one time sleeping with them, she would just know that they weren’t right, that they would never be as good as Zayn. In the end, that was all that she was looking for. She just wanted a guy like Zayn, but she couldn’t tell him that.

With a deep breath, Eve responded. “I don’t know, Zayn. I really don’t. It’s just the alcohol, I guess?”

Zayn twisted his lips, taking in her response. It wasn’t good enough, but it was all he’d be able to get out of her, and he knew that.

Sighing, he leaned forward and pulled Eve into his arms. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, while her head collided with his chest. His breaths were soft and Eve held hers for a moment, so she could match them with his.

His body felt perfect against hers, his chiseled chest pressed against her cheek, but not once did her thoughts lead to sex, as they often did when he held her like this. All her thoughts led to was a silent prayer that he had forgiven her once again.

In her pocket, she felt her phone vibrating, and it was clear Zayn felt it too. He pulled away from her, the corner of his lip turned up.

For a moment, she considered leaving her phone unanswered, so she could continue making things better with Zayn, but her phone continued to buzz. She knew it would be James on the other end, checking to make sure they were still on for their date.

“Who is it?” Zayn asked, giving her a small smirk.

Pulling her phone from her pocket, she looked down at it and verified that it was, in fact, James.

“It’s James,” she said, looking up at him.

Zayn let out a quick laugh, as he stood up from his place on the sofa. He looked down at her from where he stood, with his hands tucked into his pockets.

“I guess it’s better than Jake, right?” He gave her a small smile. “I kind of like James.”

Biting her lip, Eve gave a quick nod. Zayn had given his okay, so Eve had no choice but to answer. Her body was screaming at her to ignore the call, but she felt as though Zayn’s smile was practically begging her to.