London Calling

Jen smiled as she closed her Mac and packed it away into its case. It was 4:55 so she decided that she should make her way outside so she didn’t leave Zayn waiting for long, especially if that creepy girl from the morning was around. She didn’t know what to think about the girl. She had shrugged it off this morning, deciding that the girl just had some weird crush on him. The look she gave Jen was one that genuinely hoped Jen would be six feet under soon.

When she walked up to the glass entrance doors, she saw a large group of girls and middle aged men with cameras looking out of place with the girls. There was a legitimate mob in front of the university. The screaming girls could be heard as soon as she set foot in the foyer though they were so loud that Jen tried to ignore it altogether and blocked out what they were yelling. Jen briefly considered just waiting inside for Zayn, but honestly she didn’t know why these people would have a reason to bother her. She would just mosey on out of school and the mob could continue their business. As soon as she walked out of the door, the girls started screaming at her.

“Where’s Zayn!” A redheaded teenager demanded with arms crossed over her chest, obviously trying to look intimidating. Even though Jen knew that she could take the girl if she absolutely had to. She had been around big strong hockey players all her life and rarely felt intimidated by anyone's stature; however, she knew how wrong her ability to size someone up was first hand.

“Are you dating him?” another teenage girl, this one brunette, asked when she dodged the first.

“Oh my God can you introduce me to One Direction?” some crying ten year old asked her beside a man with an expensive looking camera that was busy blinding Jen with flashes. He was literally two feet away from her, why did he need a flash?

The screaming she could handle, the flashes of a billion cameras she could handle. The random people roughly pushing and grabbing her was too much. She wasn’t used to crowds. Granted, she lived in Chicago with a famous brother, but most people knew when to leave them alone. Jen very rarely ever sat in the stands to watch her brother, always opting to watch from the family suite with Patrick Sharp’s wife and daughter. She wasn’t used to this many people in one area and quite frankly in that moment she was genuinely people claustrophobic. She tried to fight her way through the crowd, but they all just seemed to move with her. They wouldn’t let her out of the middle of what can only be described as a mosh pit that only seemed concerned about bouncing her around. She was pushed hard enough by the group trying to each get a piece of her that she found herself falling to the cement sidewalk. She instantly knew that her hands and knees were injured. It was then that she realized that fighting through these people had been a stupid decision and decided to make a retreat. She fought through the crowd back to the university. She needed to call Zayn to help her get out of this mess. One thing was for sure, he had a lot of explaining to do. She had gathered that the chant was for One Direction. Jen was a university student and had enough brains to put two and two together.

She ran as fast as her heels would take her to the ladies bathroom. She shut and locked the door before the crowd that infiltrated the university could come into the bathroom with her. She sat with her back to the door as fists pounded against it and she dug her phone out of the laptop case. She was hoping that Zayn had programmed his number into her phone when he had taken care of her yesterday and she was relieved to see that her intuition was right. Labeled Zayn Malik <3 she hurriedly hit send.

Three rings later Zayn’s voice flowed through the phone. “I know I’m late love. We had to finish a song. I am on my way out of the studio now.”

“Hurry up please!” she demanded, “bring an army! I am trapped in the main entrance bathroom. There’s a bunch of screaming girls and weird dudes with cameras asking me about you. I don’t know what to do! I tried to fight my way out of school, but it didn’t work so now I am stuck and I really don’t want to try that again.”

Zayn’s voice turned urgent, “Just stay put, I’ll be there as fast as I can be.” She then heard him yelling to people, “HARRY, LOUIS, LIAM, NIALL! I need your help at the University! They have her trapped in a bathroom.” He spoke to her again, “We’re coming for you Jen, and I’ll get you out of there.”

“Thank you,” she said before she hung up and tried to drown out the incessant screaming. She put her head between her knees and tried to wait as patiently for Zayn as she could.

After what seemed like forever there was more urgent banging and Zayn’s voice accompanied it, “Jen! Let us in with you!”

She scrambled to her feet and unlocked the door. “It’s open!” she yelled to him. She stepped out of the way as five guys ran into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind them. They all looked as frazzled as she felt. They were breathing heavily and had wide eyes. She felt herself being enveloped in a hug as Zayn demanded, “Are you all right?”

Instead of answering him she yelled, “What the hell was that, attack the foreigner day?”

“When I said I was a musician, I may have left out some details. I’m in One Direction with my mates.”

“I know! I figured that out on my own while I was getting mobbed for being in your presence!” Jen yelled as she waved her arms around like a crazy person, much to the bemusement of the other four members.

“Have you heard of us?” a curly haired guy asked.

“I don’t live under that big of a rock! I mean you would need a pretty damn big rock to have not heard of One Direction.” She smacked Zayn’s arm and sent him a glare, “You didn’t think I might have needed to know this before the mob?”

“I was hoping everyone would leave you alone. I haven’t known you for long; I thought they might give me more time to break it to you,” he said apologetically. She wasn’t angry with him, he didn’t ask for her to be mobbed. She was just a bit frazzled and he was standing in front of her so she felt the right to express her inner freak out to him. No one would ever be prepared for this situation until they were right smack dab in the middle of it. She doubted that dealing with this ever got to a point where a person could get comfortable in this atmosphere, it was just too insane.

“Right,” said the one with the buzz cut, “I’m Liam and if you just stay in the middle of us and we will make sure to get you out safely,” he said with a sympathetic smile.

She took her position in the middle and the boys surrounded her as their body guards surrounded them. Zayn was directly in front of her so she grabbed on to the back of his flannel. He gave her a reassuring smile before opening the door and utter chaos ensued while the body guards, who waited outside of the bathroom, tried to keep the fans at bay. The six of them slowly made progress out of the crowd. The boys even got some quick autographs in. At one point, Jen thought the blond was a goner, so she quickly grabbed his upper arm and pulled him back into the tight circle. He shot her a thankful smile and they finally made it to a range rover. Zayn opened the door and practically threw her into the car before the boys all jumped in as well with the curly haired one driving. He was cautious at first to not run over any fans until he had a clear lane to go and then he drove at full speed.

It was then that Jen was finally able to relax into her seat and to let out a big breath of air. “Please tell me you don’t have to go through that every day.”

“Not every day, just most days,” a brunette with spiked up hair said with a smile. “I’m Louis by the way.”

“Niall,” the blond said with a wave.

“Harry,” the driver informed her.

“I’m Jen and I would say it’s nice to meet you all, but it’s not right now.” At least not until her heart rate slowed down and they got out of the madness fully.

“Are you all right?” Zayn asked her from his position in the seat behind her.

“I’m fine. I just needed to get out of there. I’ve now learned that large amounts of people freak me out and that I’m not a crowd kind of person,” she told him. She thanked her lucky stars that Jon was just a hockey player and not an international celebrity.

“We are going to take you to Zayn’s flat with us. We will order take out and catch a film,” Niall said to Jen, offering her a kind smile.

“Uh no offense but I’d rather not fight through a mob to hang out with you, so I’d rather go to my apart—flat.”

“It’s better to stay with us until the paps calm down for the night,” Liam told her in a knowing tone. It was obvious that he knew what he was talking about and his tone told her that she’d be better off listening to him.

“It’ll be better because then they won’t know where you live,” Niall added.

“Makes sense,” Jen nodded, “and fuck takeout. Zayn do you have food in your house?”

“Last time I checked yes.”

“Then I will cook dinner. It’s the least I can do for getting you guys to come and get me.”
Liam was about to protest, but Niall smacked him on the back of the head, “Don’t you screw up this home cooked meal for me,” he told him with a glare.

“Dude, what if I just decided to cook Mac n’ Cheese?” she asked him when turning to face the group squished into the backseat.

Niall grinned, “It’s all the same to me. Just cook a lot of it.”

Jen nodded with a small grin, “Duly noted.”

While boys were all in the living room playing some sort of video game and Jen took her leave to go to the kitchen to find something edible that she could make for them. Zayn had a pretty nice kitchen. He had white cupboards and stainless steel appliances. It was clean and Jen didn’t know if she should attribute that to tidiness or the fact that he didn’t use it. She opened the door to the frig and peered inside, to see take out boxes scattered about on every shelf. She sighed and then went back to the living room. “I’m going to the grocery store. Okay, bye!”

Before she could get out of the apartment and shut the door Liam had made it outside with her. “I’ll come with you to make sure you’re safe.”

Once again she didn’t feel like she had room to argue with him, so she simply nodded. He held his arm out to her and with a smile she wrapped her arm with his.
They commenced walking to the nearest market, “Do you have an art class with Zayn?” Liam asked her as they crossed a street to the opposite sidewalk of Zayn’s building.

“No I was writing in the art studio. He forgot his sketchpad and we just got to talking. He took pity on the fact that I get lost everywhere I go here. He’s the nicest Londoner I’ve met thus far.”
Liam nodded and opened the door to the market for her, “I’m kind of surprised. Zayn’s usually the quiet one.”

“That makes two of us. He just seemed incredibly easygoing which us Toews' need because we are too Type A.”

“You don’t seem like you’re a control freak,” Liam laughed.

Jen put a jug of vegetable oil in the cart that Liam was pushing, “It’s more obvious if you see my spotless flat and the nerdiness of my school habits. I’m sorry to keep going back to this but seriously you get mobbed like that often?”

“Quite frequently and usually the crowd is more massive, though most of the time we are left alone when we’re home. It’s just when rumors of a romance or something start, so don’t be surprised if you get questioned about going out with Zayn. Our fans just like to keep up on our lives.”
She reached up and got a couple jars of gravy before putting them in the cart. “That’s straight up stupid and takes too much effort. I’m too lazy to even look at a magazine.”

“You’re one of the few. My girlfriend gets annoyed by it as well.”

“Aw, buzz cut boy is in love,” she joked as she stood on her tiptoes to give him a gentle pat on the head.

He chuckled, “I am,” he said solemnly then added, “Since you have no idea who she is and no opinions on the matter, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.”

“Okay!”

“I’m going to propose to her soon.”

Letting out a loud girlish squeal, she gave him a tight hug and took the cart from him to push it herself as she demanded, “That’s so great! Tell me all about her!”

As the pair finished their shopping, Jen listened to the tale of Liam and Danielle’s romance. She didn’t know Liam well, but she couldn’t mistake how happy this Danielle seemed to make him. She was over the moon for him. She was a closet romantic, she may not have found her dream guy, but she loved hearing about those who had found their love. Liam seemed content telling her about his girlfriend and how much she meant to him. Jen knew that she had made another great friend in London. Things had definitely taken a turn for the better again. She was glad Zayn had walked into that art room because he was a good person that surrounded himself by caring people. She was happy that she could see that firsthand because One Direction’s friendships were truly something to behold, she could only imagine what it would be like to have one of their hearts.

They went to the register and paid for her items (she had paid after violently slapping Liam’s credit card away) before walking back to the flat. Before Jen could raise her fist to knock on the door, it flew open and she was enveloped in Zayn’s arms. “Uh…hi?”
“You should have let me come with you, so I knew you were safe!” he exclaimed, his accent becoming even more noticeable. She made a mental note to stress him out again because his voice was even more attractable.

“Dude, nothing happened. I was fine and would have called you if I needed you. Liam was with me anyway. You didn’t notice he was gone?” she rolled her eyes and commented, “Way to go.” She, Liam, and Zayn entered the apartment and Jen immediately set to work on dinner.

“Can I help you?” Zayn asked her while Liam made his way back to the boys after setting the grocery bag on the counter for Jen.

“No just keep me company,” she said while smiling up at him.

They chatted all the while she made the Poutine for the boys. Soon they were back in the living room watching a movie while they ate dinner. Niall had voiced his gratitude for the meal more times than Jen could count and she was glad that she could make him so happy. She had let Zayn clean the dishes because he insisted. Once he returned, she gladly snuggled into his side. When the movie ended, the rest of the boys said their goodbyes and each hugged Jen.
She then turned to Zayn and asked, “What now?”

“Well I can take you to your flat if you want me to, but otherwise we can have a sleepover again,” he said with a smirk.

Jen blushed at the allusion to the first full night she had ever spent in a man’s arms. She wasn’t used to a man just wanting to cuddle with her quite frankly and she didn’t want to admit that she liked it a lot more than she wanted to. He made her feel safe and worth something again and that’s all she wanted. “I think it’s up to you because it’s your house.”

“Well if it’s up to me I’ll get you some sweats and we will call it a night.”

She smiled, “Okay.”

Jen sighed in content as she lied in Zayn’s bed in a pair of his sweat pants and a T-shirt. She was glad he had let her stay only for the fact that she got to inhale his scent for the entire night. Zayn came out of his bathroom freshly showered and smelling fabulous. He climbed into the bed clad in only a pair of pajama pants. She immediately laid her head on his bare chest and smiled when she heard the thump of his heartbeat. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner and you got mobbed,” he told her softly.

“It’s all right. You got me out of there and I was fine. I’m used to keeping my image clean for Jon, so I know how this goes.”

“Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“You can make it up to me,” she suggested while looking up into his eyes.

He smiled and kissed her forehead, “How?”

“Sing me one of your songs. I want to hear you before I hear your band.”

He took her hand in his and interlocked their fingers together. She felt him take a breath before his soft and melodic voice.

"Your hand fits in mine like it's made just for me
But bear this mind it was meant to be
And I'm joining up the dots with the freckles on your cheeks
And it all makes sense to me..."

His voice lulled her into a deep sleep.