Fall.

"Tell me a story," the little girl murmured, snuggling further into the comforters. Her eyes glittered widely, even under the dark blanket of the night, and they absolutely broke his heart because he had seen those eyes so many times before the young one was even born.
"Okay, love," he mumbled. Taking a seat beside her, his left hand idly pushed hair out of her face. He took in a sharp inhale, keeping his gaze straight ahead as he cleared his throat. "It all began on a stormy afternoon.."

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Escaping from the rain, I entered the quaint coffee shop, involuntarily letting out a gasp. I shook my head, the loose droplets falling to the tiled floor before stepping into line. My eyes scanned the scenery before me from the menu hanging above the counter to the five people that occupied the near empty shop.
"Hi. I'll just have a coffee. Just cream," I said as I pulled my wallet from my back pocket, handing the teenaged girl a ten dollar bill. I gave her a brief shake of my hand before she could even finish counting the change and she smiled thoughtfully.
Taking a step to the side, I loitered by the counter, again my gaze scanning the shop, this time pre-claiming my seat.
"Zayn!" A voice called out. Barely raising my hand, I stepped forward and took the coffee from the worker's hands. My eyes were scrutinizing the cup in my hand as I made my way over to the tables, stopping short of the first empty one. But again, I looked around and this time, something caught my eye. Or rather, someone.
All you need is twenty seconds of insane courage, Zayn. Hadn't you heard that before? It must be true, right? Let's weigh out the pros and cons. If you do approach her, she could end up being your soulmate. It's a long shot, but can you imagine telling everyone the story of how you met? You'd be like a war-hero! So courageous, so brave. But if she denies you, if she shrugs you off and if she gives you a scowl, then you can awkwardly leave the shop and never return - in all likelihood, you'd never have to see her again.
As you can see, it was an obvious decision. So I made my way over to her, my breathing getting caught in my throat as I neared. She sat still with a simple coffee to her right, her hands wrapped around a tattered copy of The Great Gatsby. Good choice.
"Hi," I forced out, her gaze immediately tearing from the book to look at me. She gave me a once-over, my hands fidgeting as I watched her eyes move from my disarrayed black hair to the worn out Converse on my feet.
"Hi," she responded.
"D'you mind if I join you?" I asked, not wanting there to already be an awkward silence between us. Simply, she shrugged her shoulders and I took that as a yes. So I slid into the seat across from her, my index fingers playing with the flap over my coffee lid. "So, do you come here a lot—" I stopped myself when she put the book down, her eyes flicking up to meet mine.
"What are you doing?"
I cocked my head. "Uh.. W-what do you mean?"
Her face was completely innocent and there wasn't a hint of arrogance in her voice. She was simply curious. "Why are you talking to me? People don't normally do this here. They just kind of sit at their own tables and do their own things. What made you come over here?"
"Well you were sitting alone and I.. um.." My lips were still parted as I shrugged my shoulders. Honestly, I didn't even know why. I then glanced around the shop, which was now completely empty aside from the one worker who was wiping the counter.
I then turned my attention back to her, seeing her eyes still glued on me. "That's a good book," I stated, changing the subject. I couldn't leave now or I'd make a total ass of myself.
"Yeah." She breathed out, her shoulders relaxing a bit. "I think this is the fifth time I've read it now? Thank you, junior year English teacher." The corners of her lips twitched a bit, her eyes again landing on the table top as her fingers absentmindedly played with the corner of the book.
"You've got a pretty smile," I murmured before I could stop myself.
Her eyes then widened a bit, her hair falling into her face - which I assumed she was more than thankful for because it curtained more than half of the blush that coated her already rosy cheeks. "Thanks," was all she could mumble.
Since my coffee was now too cold to comfortably drink, I slid the cup back and forth between my two hands. "Listen, I know this was really weird," I began. Twenty seconds, Zayn. That's all you need. Insane courage. Do it. You can't quit now. I cleared my throat, repeating, "I know this is really weird - but do you want to go out sometime?"
"Uh.." Her mouth fell agape. She wasn't even trying to hide the shock that painted over her features. But slowly, her head began to bob. "Yeah," she replied, nodding her head more reassuringly now. "Sure. Why not?"

Fiddling with the zipper of my hoodie, I chewed at my bottom lip. I had never been so nervous for a date in my life and I honestly had no reason to be. She was just another girl. Hell, we probably wouldn't even decide to meet again. What was I thinking? What had I gotten myself into?
And then she came around the corner, her hand tucking hair behind her ear and a sheepish smile spread across her face once she approached me. "Sorry," she breathed out. "I was asleep and—"
I nodded my head knowingly, scooting up to the end of the line.
An apologetic smile was still spread across her lips when she asked, "So, you ever seen him live before?" She made sure that her gaze was kept on her hands, her fingertips twirling the ends of her hair.
I huffed. "Honestly? Never even heard of him before."
Her head turned, her eyes augmented. "What?"
"I've never heard of him before," I repeated, not entirely sure of her astonishment. There were like twenty people in line and doors opened in ten minutes - clearly I wasn't missing out on much.
She shook her head to rid her face of the bewilderment, her left hand moving to press against her lips. "You're crazy." Her words got muffled against her fingers, but I laughed anyway. "He's amazing. And you're going to be thanking me I suggested coming her before the end of the night."

"You lost it there a bit, huh? Proper fan-girl material, yeah?" I teased, nudging her side playfully as we exited the venue.
She smiled. "Yeah," her response came out breathy. Sliding her hands into her coat pockets, she gave her shoulders a lazy shrug as we continued strolling down the street with no honest destination. "You know how sometimes you listen to a song and you're just like, 'Wow, that was basically my entire life story in three minutes'? Or sometimes, it's more like 'Whoa, I'm not the only person that feels that way'?" I nodded my head, my lips kept tight together, waiting for her to continue. "It was kind of like that when I listened to a song of his. And then, bam. I had to listen to them all. And they just got better and better with every new one I found." Again, she shrugged her shoulders. "I guess you could say his music has helped me through a couple things too, so."
I exhaled, my head still nodding along even though she had stopped speaking. "I've always wanted to get into music," I murmured, turning a bit to look at her. "But I don't think anything I could make would ever effect people that much."
"Well, you're good looking, so, that could help you some," she joked.
"Are you implying I'm only wanted for my body?" I questioned. My right hand moved to rest over my heart as my face contorted to that of over-exaggerated pain. "I'm hurt!"
Bumping into me, she reassured, "That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean? Please, clarify before my heart gets broken any further," I begged, clapping my hands together with my head tilted a bit to the side. I had to bite on my lip to stop the smile from spreading across my face.
Her eyebrows knit together. "I just meant.. I'm sure you could make good music and I'm sure people would like you for that. But being good looking isn't a bad thing. It'll help you out, probably. Maybe that'll be what first draws people's attention to you, then they'll listen to your music and fall in love with you even more." She paused for a moment before finishing, "At least that's probably what would happen for me."
My teeth released their grip on my bottom lip then, a smile immediately plastering across my face although I was quick to tilt my head down with my hands shoved in my pant pockets. "Cool," I breathed out.

We ended up meeting again after that date. And again. And again. And again. And before I knew it, two months had passed and I had spent nearly every day with her. But I wasn't complaining. She was absolutely mesmerizing, like no one I had ever met before. There was just something about her that made me keep guessing, keep wanting to know more.
"You are so dumb!" She exclaimed, leaning back with laughter.
"How am I dumb?" I asked, motioning towards the Scrabble board laying between us. "That's a real word! You can't tell me that it's not!"
Simply shaking her head, she assembled her next word on the other side of the board. "You're dumb," she murmured nearly inaudibly under her breath.
Having enough with her banter, I honestly had no idea what came over me, but I pounced over the Scrabble board and tackled her to the ground. She was quick to respond, laughs still leaving her lips as we switched places. We continued spinning for a good minute before it stopped with her straddling my waist, her hands tugging at the collar of my shirt.
We were both panting by then and I made sure to keep my eyes locked with hers, realizing what was going to happen before it even did.
In a split second, she leaned forward, connecting our lips. My hands tangled themselves in her hair, keeping her still. But eventually she had to pull away for a breath, her chest still heavily rising and falling when she leaned forward to kiss me again.
And it all just kind of happened. Eventually we stumbled into my bedroom where she laid with her back against the mattress, me hovering over her. She had her hands around my neck, until she made her lips move to their position, where they then moved down my chest until they slid underneath my shirt. In a few swift motions, all our clothes were shed and I made sure to give her a couple questioning glances, giving her every opportunity to stop. But she simply egged me on, her teeth biting at her bottom lip both in nerves and to suppress any moans as I kissed down her abdomen.

"We didn't use a condom," she blurted out after barging into my apartment. I ran my hand down my face, my tired eyes trying to stay open. It had been about a month since Scrabble night and we hadn't slept together since.
"We didn't use a condom and.." Her voice trailed off, her hands flailing about until she had no choice but to rest them on the kitchen counter. She leaned forward as her body began shaking with sobs.
"Hey," I murmured, placing a hand on the small of her back. "It's okay. It's not like.." I bit at the inside of my cheek, finally grasping it. I was an idiot to not realize sooner. "Okay." I backtracked, nodding my head. My hands curled around her hips, forcing her to turn around and face me. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. You're positive you're.."
She meekly nodded her head.
"Okay," I reiterated. My hands moved to cup her face, my thumbs brushing the tears that were still streaming down her cheeks away. "It's gonna be okay. You can stay here while we figure all of this out." Wrapping my arms around her upper half, I pulled her into my chest as again, her body began shaking with sobs. "Everything's going to be okay," I mumbled into her hair.

Chewing at my finger nails, I paced around the hospital room. This was really happening. This was it. She groaned out in pain from the bed and I was quick to be at her side, my hands curling around her own.
"Are you okay, love?" I murmured.
"No," she snapped. I disregarded her angry tone. Of course she wasn't okay. Her abdomen was stretched out to the width of a watermelon and she was about to pop out an eight pound crying lump of joy.
"Call the doctor, Zayn," she commanded.
"Are you sure? You don't need—"
"Call the damn doctor, Zayn!" She yelled, cutting me off.
I was quick to leave the room then, grabbing the attention of the first nurse I came in contact with. A whole group of them then rushed into her room, most with their eyebrows knit together in focus while a good few had their eyes eagerly widened. This was going to be interesting.
"Push! C'mon, I'm gonna need you to push again! Oh, I see the head!"
Then suddenly, a high pitched cry rang through the room. And everyone around kind of fell silent. She finally released her grip from my hand and I had to wiggle my fingers to get the feeling back into them, but my eyes never once left the crying figure that was cradled in the doctor's arms. This was real. This really happened.
Returning a couple hours later now adorned with an entirely pink attire and matching hat, the nurse slid the newborn into her arms and that signature smile of hers spread across her lips.
She glanced up at me and I leaned to press a kiss on her forehead, my fingers brushing the stray hair out of her face and my gaze never once left the baby. Our baby.

Flash forward two years. It was three in the morning when I opened my front door, my hands originally trying to rub the sleep away from my eyes but they went limp at my sides once I saw it. Flashing red and blue lights.
"Wh.." I started, but my voice trailed off. It was snowing.
"Mr. Malik?" The officer asked, his hands uncomfortably adjusting his hat. I nodded my head, unable to respond audibly. "I.." He had to clear his throat with a cough. "I'm sorry, but—"
I shook my head, the officer's words immediately coming to a halt. "No," I begged, tugging at my hair. "Please. D-don't. I can't.. This isn't.. Just please, don't say it." My bottom lip began quivering - there was only one possibility as to why a police officer would be at my doorstep this early in the morning.
"Daddy?" A small voice asked from behind the sofa.
I had to shake my head, coughing to rid of the lump from my throat. "Love, go back to your room please. I'll be there in a minute, okay?"
The little girl simply nodded before scurrying back to her room.
I knew her working this late was a bad idea, especially during this time of the year. London weather could never be trusted. Her car had skidded off the road on a patch of ice, colliding with a tree. The officer told me she died on impact - so she died quickly. But was that supposed to make me feel better? She was dead. Nothing could bring her back. She was gone.

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Zayn had to shake his head at the last bit, his next words instinctively cracking. "She had to go visit some people that night. And that was it.." He chewed at his bottom lip. "But she's happy now, and that's what matters."
"Did he ever see her again, Daddy?" the little girl murmured, lazily turning so half of her face could dig further into her pillow. Her eyes began drooping and a yawn left her small lips, but she did her best to remain awake.
"Not yet, princess," he whispered, gently patting her head. "But he will someday." Zayn leaned over, pressing a kiss to the little girl's forehead as he concluded, "Someday soon."