The Romantic & the Cynic

Zayn didn't know how long they remained like that. It could have been a few seconds, it could have been an hour, it could have been a year. He only knew that it was a comforting time and no more words needed to be spoken between the two of them.

But the quiet was shattered at some point by outside sounds crashing in on them. Louis and Niall came running up the stairs to the deck, their boisterous voices coming clearly through the open screen door off of the living room. Zayn inwardly cursed at the intrusion as he felt Sky's hand slowly withdraw from his. The loss of contact felt harsh and he immediately wished for it back. He watched as Sky stood straight again and began to get the frying pan she had used for the bacon ready for the scrambled eggs she was also going to make for breakfast. As Zayn heard Louis and Niall come across the wooden deck, he wanted to scream for them to stay away, to return to the moment of sharing with th ewoman in front of him. But it was clearly gone. When he heard the door slide open and Louis tumble in, he took one last look at Sky before turning to face his friends.

"Hey guys," he said as Niall closely followed Louis into the house. Both boys wore shorts, tank tops, sunglasses and bare feet and the skin that was starting to be kissed by the sun made them look like they might actually belong on the beach they had just left. "How was the walk?"

Both buys seemed surprised by Zayn's greeting. Heck, they were probably surpised he was even seeing the light of day yet. Louis took in the site of Zayn and Sky and it seemed like he could see the shadow of their contact on their faces. He stopped for a second but then Niall bumped into him and the moment was broken. And then they both seemed to shrug their shoulders and came to join Zayn and Sky, each of them grabbing a barstool and sitting down.

"Walk was great," Niall said as he eyed the food being prepared as if it was only for him. "I must say that a wake-up like that might just convince me that I need to move here. Have Sky cook breakfast for me and there is nothing else this lad needs."

Sky smiled as she she pulled out the cinammon buns before beginning to mix the icing. "Like I told Zayn, breakfast is my thing."

"Good think food is mine." Niall smiled as he snuck a piece of bacon. "How long until Harry and Liam are back?"

Sky was about to answer when they heard the slamming of doors out front and the question was answered for her. A few seconds afterwards the front door opened and Liam and Harry came through with Paul following closely behind. Harry was carrying the drinks and a bag with juice in it. He walked towards the kitchen, set the bags and coffees on the table and wrapped Sky in a tight hug.

"This smells amazing," he said as he let her go and looked at the spread being created. "I knew we needed to keep you around."

"Thanks Harry," she said as plucked the plate of bacon away from the snacking hands around her and placed it on the back counter before anyone could take anymore. "Now all of you shoo so I can finish your breakfast."

Aftera few moans of protest, all of them left the kitchen and left Sky to finish. All except Louis. He remained seated where he was and watched them all leave, making sure they were out of earshot before he leaned forward and leaned his chin on peaked fingers.

"So, you have to tell me what happened when you guys got back here last night." His eyes were mischevious and it was obvious to Sky that he was going to needle her just to see if he could get anything from her. The boys had popped their heads into Zayn's room when they had returned an hour after she had but she had feigned sleep, not wanting them to see her too awake gaze. "That looked like a pretty sweet moment we walked in on."

She turned away from him, doing a quick mental check to make sure that she had all the item she now needed. That and she needed to steel herself from Louis' simple question that opened up much too many emotions. The first ones were of the heat that had simmered between her and Zayn as they had moved on the dance floor. His hands on her hips, his lips a breath from hers, it had felt hypnotic and still warmed her in the light of day as they had been in the kitchen. She was still embarassed about how she had acted even though she had brushed it off with Zayn with the we were both drinking excuse.

But that wasn't the most difficult part of the night to face. It was the one that Louis knew nothing about. After the pain filled words Zayn had spoken to her, she had watched his face all night as he had slept, the shadows of the moon moving across it and accentuating it's planes. She had watched as it had gone from pained to peaceful to scared and back to peaceful. She felt like she had to use physical force on herself to stop from getting up and stroking the soft skin and smoothing the lines in his forehead that never quite left it. And when the sun finally started to rise and she had not been able to sleep for a moment, she had pushed her cramped body off of the seat and left the slumbering man. She had changed from her pyjamas and slipped her bathing suit on that she had packed in hope so that she could take a dip in the cool ocean water laid out before her. As she had made her way in, she felt like she was not only refreshing her skin but her mind.

The words that Zayn had spoken to her as he had fallen asleep hung on her like deep claw marks to her heart. She had known he probably wouldn't remember, and from their interaction that morning she figured he didn't, but she did. And she understood the words even more than he knew. She had been alone since she was eighteen. When she had woken up one morning and her world had changed completely. She had blamed herself at the time, telling herself that her selfish attitude meant that she couldn't be with the people she loved. It had been her own fault that she was alone. The words he had spoken were ones that she too had said with tears pouring down her young face but she had spoken them to an empty room instead.

It took several years for her to be able to move past that and frame her family back in the happy memories that they deserved. And she was proud of herself for being able to do it. She had done it with help from people like Jake and Jessica and she would always be grateful to them but she also knew that it was a choice that she had made.

She heard a scrape of the stool behind her and felt Louis come to her side, his hand resting gently on her shoulder. She turned her face to him and saw that the mischevious glint had left his eye and had been replaced by a look of concern.

"I'm sorry," he said as he squeezed her shoulder and tilted his head. "That was uncalled for. We all appreciated your help last night and the way that you took care of Zayn. You've become a part of the family in a short period of time."

Sky liked the sound of that. Part of the family. She liked it because she felt the same way. It had been only a week but these were her brothers. Except for one maybe. She still didn't know what to call Zayn yet.

"Thank you," she said before turning her attention back to the breakfast she was making. "I was glad I could help."

Louis paused, wanting to ask something she thought, but he stood for a second more before returning to the stool. He was surprisingly quiet for the chatty boy, his eyes following her as she moved. He seemed ready to ask at various times but stayed silent instead. It made Sky uncomfortable in his presence for the first time but she didn't want to rehash the night before so she ignored it. Finally, it was Liam who came and sat beside him, his arrival breaking some of the tension.

"How close are we to breakfast," he asked as he drank his coffee. "I think Niall might just eat a seat cushion if he doesn't get something soon."

"Just another minute," Sky said as she removed the now perfecly warm cinammon buns from the pan and put them on a plate. "I just have to finish the eggs and ice these and then it will be ready to go."

Niall must have heard the words because he snapped to her side, his hands rubbing together in anticipation of the food. "I think I am in love," he said as Sky scooped the eggs on to the plates along with toast and the warmed up bacon. Sky chuckled before popping a bun on the nearest plate and placing it in his eager hands.

"Here you go." Niall took the plate and began digging in to the food. Sky portioned out the rest of the food and put the plates on the counter in front of her. "Dig in guys."

Sky watched as the men in front of her ate the food she had prepared. It made her happy to see them enjoying it, even though it was questionable whether they were tasting it or not considering the rate at which it was ingested. For what had taken her so long to prepare, it took only moments for it to be gone. But by the sounds of disappointment that came when they were told there were no more buns, she could tell they had enjoyed the meal.

Zayn ate his food a little more slowly, the combination of his stomach not being able to take it in too quickly and of him wanting to enjoy the moment. He had felt so disconnected from his friends since they had arrived that this morning felt special. He had vague memories of the fight between him and Liam at the club and hated that he had allowed his frustrations to boil over but he would talk to him about it later. And as he looked across the counter where Sky sat talking with Niall, he was pretty sure that she was a part of the reason for the calm around him. She seemed to sense his gaze and looked up. He smiled at her and she returned it before returning to her conversation. He was about to get up and talk to her when he felt an elbow from Louis beside him. And a look that told him to stay exactly where he was.

The group remained chatting at the counter for another hour. Finally, it was Liam who marshalled the boys to help clean up the kitchen despite their very noisy protests. But like it was so often, they gave in with relatively little fight and the kitchen was clean and sparkling in a few minutes minus the twenty minute water fight between Zayn and Harry.

And then it was time for Sky to go. Zayn watched as she gave each of them a quick hug, Louis a bit of a longer one before coming to him. He stood with his hands in his pockets and his face down as she approached. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug and he felt himself returning it. It felt wrong with everyone around watching since most of their intimate moments happened when they were alone but if that was what he was going to get than that was what he would take. After a few moments, he felt her pulling back and he let her. And then she was out the door and in her car and on her way back to the city.

The boys split up then, each of them grabbing a couch or chair and pulling out their phones. Liam was calling Danielle and Niall was on the phone with that bird in Ireland. Harry was calling up one of the girls he must have met last night and Louis was sitting silently still at the counter, his phone in his hand as he seemed to be flipping through Twitter or something. Zayn decided that the spot for him was to be out on the deck, letting the sun and some sleep shake off the last of the remnants from the night before that the food hadn't. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and headed out on to the sun coated deck.

He was just settling into one of the sun loungers when he felt a shadow cross his body and someone grab the one beside him. He turned his head and opened his eyes just wide enough to see that it was Louis who had joined him. He was looking out on to the water but Zayn knew that he wanted to talk to him about something.

"What is it," he asked as hetook a sip of the water. "What am I about to get a lecture about, although I am pretty sure I already know."

Louis looked at him and shrugged. "No lecture. That's Liam's job. Just wanted to ask what you remember about last night."

"That I had a great dinner, lost it a bit at the club, acted stupid with Sky for which I already apologized to her for, got in a pissing match with Liam for which I still have to apologize for and that's about it. Anything else you want to fill in?" He watched as Louis remained silent, his eyes still on Zayn. He seemed to be thinking about something, as if he was trying to figure out a mystery with some of the pieces missing. "Come on man, what is bugging you?"

"I don't know, just ..." Louis stopped and looked back towards the ocean. "I just feel like we walked in on something between you and Sky, a moment. And I'm sorry but I don't know if I'm okay with that, especially after last night. I mean, I like her and she fits in amazingly well but she does work for us and Perrie just broke up with you. I don't want it to get strained and hard for anybody. And I don't want Liam to have any reason to change his mind about her being here. She's too good."

Zayn knew that Louis was right. He had walked in on something but Zayn wasn't ready to talk about it. It was too special to him. And he could only shudder if he thought about what Liam's reaction would have been if he had been the one taking a walk along the beach and had arrived back first. Whatever was going on between him and Sky had to stop. He would treasure the moments he had, knowing they had pulled him out of the darkness he felt had consumed him but there could be no more. The attraction, the heating of the blood when she was around, the intimate conversations that they seemed to fall into, they had to end. He looked at Louis and slipped a pair of shades over his eyes.

"Don't worry about it man," he said as he felt his heart shut down just a little.