The Romantic & the Cynic

Sky made her tired body move and get ready for the day ahead. Today, she would find out just whether or not she had done it. Had she put together the right package of photos that would let her stay. At the beginning of the week, she would have said she didn't care. She didn't share the excitement that Jessica had exuded each night at the thought of staying in the sun and surf and hanging out with music stars.

But something had changed. She had to admit driving a convertible down the perpetually sunny streets of California had been an enjoyable experience. But what had truly surprised her was the relationship she had developed with the band. And how much she now didn't want it to end. They were more than vague rockstars now. They were people she enjoyed being around.

She quickly packed her bags, forcing herself not to open the laptop and review the pictures again. She grabbed a set of clothes to wear to the club that night, knowing that it wasn't as fancy as she would have liked but all she had. A pair of skinny jeans, red tank top with sparkles splashed across it, a cropped leather jacket and black heels were slid into a bag and added to her things. She made her way down to the car and headed out to the sunny drive towards the beach, her sunglasses on and music on the radio.

The drive took about an hour and a half, the beaches calling the weekend warriors to their golden sand. Sky forced herself to enjoy it, letting the beautiful scenery chase away any annoyance she had at the traffic. Eventually, she reached the quieter and more private street the band was staying on and she pulled her car into the long driveway, parking behind the large SUV that shuttled the band around. She grabbed her bags, including her change of clothes, and headed inside.

Everyone was already up for the day, in various stages of alertness. Liam was sitting at the kitchen table, papers scattered in front of him. Niall was at the counter, peanut butter being spread on a piece of toast. Louis was walking lazily around in only a pair of jogging pants, a phone tucked to his ear in conversation with who she assumed to be Danielle. Harry was on the couch with Zayn, game controllers in their hands as they battled each other in some form of combat to the death. She was immediately surprised by the smile on his face, a genuine smile. Not one that said I'm only doing this so that you don't ask if I am okay but one that said I am happy in this moment.

"Come on man, give me some sort of serious challenge here," Zayn said with a laugh in his voice. "I can't beat you for the fifth time in a row."

Sky set her bags down and immediately felt her hand reaching for the camera. She wanted to save this moment not only on film but in her mind. She was about to pull it out when she felt a presence come beside her.

"He's been like this since first thing this morning. Happy, talking, enjoying being with us." Louis was beside her. The cell phone was gone and instead he was holding a bowl of cereal. "I'm not sure what happened but at least it's been an enjoyable morning."

Sky smiled and put the camera up to her face, snapping the picture just as Harry wrapped a still smiling Zayn in a headlock. "It's nice to see," she said as she snapped another one. "I'm glad I got to see it before I had to leave."

"Hey," Louis exclaimed as a line of milk dribbled down his chin. He wiped it away with his forearm. "I told you. Liam is going to love the shots and we are going to head to the club and we are going to have one righteous party. And I will not be denied my party tonight."

"If you say so." Sky put the camera strap around her neck. "But until then, I still have a job to do and that involves taking photos of you." Sky jabbed a finger at his bare chest. "And unless you want old jogging pants, messy hair and milk on your chin to be the highlighted look for the day, I suggest that you get yourself together."

Louis gave her a look of offense but his eyes still twinkled. "I still look pretty damn hot," he said as he winked at her. "But I will acquiesce to your creative suggestion and pretty myself up."
And then he was gone. And Sky entered the fray. Liam immediately came over to her, papers now clutched in his hand.

"Hey Sky," he said as he set them down on the sofa table and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "The guys will be ready to shoot in a few minutes but if you want to start doing solos, we can."

Sky shrugged shoulders. "I was kind of hoping to keep it pretty relaxed. Maybe get you guys on the beach playing a game or hitting the ocean? Nothing too set up. I just need a few minutes to do some sample shots to test the light and then I'll be ready."

Liam smiled, as if she had just passed a silent test she had been unaware she was taking. "Sounds good. Just let us know when you want to start." He started to walk away but Sky tentatively put her hand on his arm. He stopped and turned back to face her with a questioning look on his face. "Yes? Did you need something else?"

"No, no," Sky said as she shook her head. "I just wanted to make sure that there was nothing I need to know about before I start." Liam raised his eyebrow at her and she continued on. "I just mean, I'm surprised by Zayn's mood today and I want to make sure that the shoot won't set it off." She didn't mention the phone call the night before, feeling it was only between her and Zayn.

Liam looked towards Zayn sat with Niall, trying to steal his remnant of toast and back at Sky. "All I know was that he came home in a piss last night and woke up like this today. I don't look a gift horse in the mouth so we're just going with it." And then he left, whistling a soft tune as he did.

Sky grabbed what she needed and headed out to the deck. The sun was beautifully bright and bounced off of the water in front of her. She took a moment to take it in before putting her camera up to her face and starting her job.

It took her only about ten minutes to get satisfied with how she was going to shoot. She called back into the living room when she was ready and the boys spilled from the house, Zayn just as eager as the rest. They had brought a frisbee and it took only a few moments for them to start passing it around, their laughter spilling around her as she snapped photo after photo.

The shots from today were immediately some of her favorite. While she had seen glimpses of the bonds they shared and the fun aspects of their personality, it was like today she was seeing them in their own complete skin for the first time. In the studio, they were passionate and energetic and focused on what they were there to do with outbursts of loud. But they always were there for a job as creative as it was. Today, they ran and jumped and tackled each other with a freedom that was intoxicating to her.

The other reason was Zayn. It was like he had thrown off the harsh coat of sadness that had swallowed him all week. He laughed, he smiled and he interacted with the guys like he had known them all of his life, what she had expected the last five years of their life to have created. She wondered periodically what had changed since their stilted conversation the night before but reminded herself to be in the moment. It was one of the compliments she often got when she worked and so she pushed the thoughts away each time and continued on with her job.

After a couple of hours of shooting that hadn't seemed like shooting, the boys decided to break for lunch. Harry immediately told everyone that he was going to barbecue some burgers and headed back to the house to grab the meat and some sides. Liam followed quickly behind, his face that had been relaxed now back into business mode. Louis and Niall shed the t-shirts and headed into the water. That left Zayn and Sky by themselves for the first time since that awkward morning.

Sky found a spot on the sand, placed a blanket down and started to review the photos on the card. She was happy with the results, the bright feeling coming through the screen and causing a different sensation as she flipped through them. It made her happy and the more she looked at, the better she felt. She was absorbed again and didn't see Zayn come sit beside her.

"That was fun," he said with a light voice. Sky jumped when he spoke before looking beside her and seeing him staring out across the water, a pair of aviator glasses perched on his face. "More fun than I've had in awhile."

"I had fun too." Sky looked through the last of the pictures and turned the camera off, setting it gently on the blanket beside her.
"You guys are definitely a bunch of goofballs when you get together."

"It happens when we need to blow off some steam." He took a drink of a water bottle he was carrying and the two sat companionably silent for a few minutes, neither rushing to fill the silence and only enjoying the scenery and quiet of the space.

Sky heard Zayn clear his throat and she looked over towards him, seeing him look back at her as well. He had removed his sunglasses and his eyes were slightly crinkled from the light but she was happy to see his eyes were clear but there was a remnant of pain lurking in there.

"I just wanted to apologize for Wednesday. And for the past couple of days." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "And last night. Hell, the whole week."

Sky held up her hand, signaling him to stop. "It's okay. I walked in to your life at a crappy time and shoved a camera in your face. Your reaction was hardly unforeseen." Sky patted his bare arm, the heat from the sun having warmed it with it's kiss.

"That doesn't mean that you deserved it." He took another drink and leaned back on his arms, lifting his face to the sun and replacing his sunglasses. "And neither did they." Zayn gestured towards Louis and Niall as they tackled each other in the water.

"Do you mind if I ask why the change?" She hesitated to bring it up but now that she had her work behind her, she couldn't get the abrupt turn around out of her mind. When he didn't answer her, she thought she had stepped over the line but he looked back towards her and she could feel his eyes through the tinted glasses.

"She called again last night." He didn't need to say who, she knew immediately who he was talking about. "She called and asked me to forgive her and I was about to when ..." he paused for second, his eyes hardening for a second. "Let's just say that I have realized that love is for the shitter and I am done with it, permanently, forever, not taking that train again."

The finality of the statement and the permanence in his voice surprised her. His actions since she had met him spoke of someone who believed in love, who hurt when he lost the one he had deep in his heart. His current statement went against that entirely. And went against her own wistful beliefs.

"Really," she asked. "You are telling me that if the perfect girl came along, you would walk away from her because of one crappy one?"

"Absolutely." He turned on his side, his head resting on his fisted hand. "That crappy one just proved to me that no matter how perfect your time together may seem, someone's going to get bored and someone's going to get hurt. It's inevitable." His voice didn't sound angry or bitter as he spoke, just sure about what he said. She also read between the lines that he was also the one who didn't want to get hurt.

"Not everybody gets bored and not everybody gets hurt." Her parents came to her head, happiness with a touch of pain. She followed Zayn's moves and turned herself on her side so they faced each other. "I work everyday in a world where people commit their lives to each other. Their lives for eternity. I have to believe that some of those people have a shot of proving you wrong."

"But that's just it," he said. "'Not to minimize what you do but that world is a fairytale and not reality. The world of happily ever after and knights in shining armour when in reality, sometimes your knight in shining armour is just a retard in tinfoil. A well-meaning, sweet guy but a retard nonetheless."

Sky smiled at his description, even if she didn't quite agree. She was enjoying the conversation, this easy-talking side of the man she had puzzled over for the last week. She just put his recent opinions down to his recent emotional blast.

"While I would debate with you just how real what I do is, T=there is no way that you can tell me that every couple I work with are going to split up. I know that some of them will make it and be happy in fifty years." She took a moment to remember different couples she had photographed and tried to imagine which ones would still be together in ten years. "People want that connection. To say you are giving up on it seems impossible to me."

Zayn smiled. "I never said I was giving up on connecting," he said as he winked at her. "I just said I was giving up on a permanent one."

"What about Louis and Liam? Don't they prove your theory wrong."

"Hell no," he said. "It's only a matter of time before they prove my theory right. And when they do, I'll be right beside them to help them through it just like they were with me. But I will also be thinking in my head that they are finally learning the lesson that I just did."

Sky snagged his water and took a sip. Zayn smirked at her before swiping it back, a playful swat across her hand.

"I'll tell you what, when you come simpering to me that you have found the girl of your dreams, I will remind you of this conversation and how you had decided that you were supposedly off that train."

Zayn laughed and laid on his back, his muscles rippling under his sun-kissed skin. "When we're eighty and I'm the swinging bachelor and you've had your heart busted countless numbers of times, we'll talk."

Sky mirrored him again and laid back. "We certainly will," she said as she slid her sunglasses on. "We certainly will."