Tuning Heartstrings

She shut her books closed and packed away her few belongings into her bag. Carrying herself down different corridors and stretches of campus that bustled with academia, she met up with a new friend of hers from one of her few lectures.

“Billie!” A girl with straight brunette locks, two gleaming hazel orbs, and a cheery smile waved frantically at her with enthusiasm, her native accent shining through that caused a smile to grow on her features.

There wasn't a way for Billie to keep in her lighthearted chuckle and she made her way towards her friend at a faster pace. “Hey, Ashley,” she greeted, giving her a quick hug as they finally met up.

“I'm so glad the day's over!”

“Aren't we all?”

“Yes, but now it's time to go home and study.” Ashley started off towards her home, Billie following suit as they lived in the same direction.

The thought of having to reopen the books she had just put away did dampen Billie's spirits quite a bit, in fact, just knowing that she would be home was enough to slightly put her down in the dumps. Even though she hadn't seen much of her neighbor – Zayn, just knowing that they could bump into one another was distressing. After all, nothing ever good came when the two of them met. It would be in everyone's best interest for them to keep their distance.

When she thought of it, it had been nearly a week and a half since she had seen the male brunette. The only reason she supposed she could tell was because the gauze that was supposed to dress the burn on her forearm for at least seven days was long gone, her skin appearing to be completely fine though still a little tender on occasion.

“Hey Billie, where do you even live anyways? We live in the same direction, but I just realized that I don't know that.”

Her ears perked up when she heard Ashley’s question, the brunette thinking up her response before speaking it as she continued onwards. “You know that large, modern looking apartment complex that's a few blocks down from the strip mall and the theaters? It's that one.”

There was no reply given from Ashley, and after a few seconds, Billie realized her footsteps had stopped completely. Looking back in confusion, she saw Ashley a few feet behind her, brow furrowed together, mouth slightly agape, and eyes somewhat dark and empty as if trying to compute what she had just heard.

An unsettling feeling washed over Billie when a few more seconds went by without any response. “Um, Ash... you're kind of freaking me out. What's wrong?”

“Are you serious?”

“That I live there? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I do.”

“But that means that you live close to him – close to Zayn!”

“You know Zayn?”

Ashley's eyes widened. “Do you know Zayn?”

“Unfortunately.” Billie rolled her eyes. “What's so great about him anyways?”

There was an uncanny silence and Ashley stared at Billie as if the poor girl had an extra head. “Are you kidding around right now or are you actually serious?”

“What are you going to say if I'm being serious?”

“Did you live under a rock for the last few years, Billie?”

“No?”

“Then how do you not know who Zayn Malik is?”

Should I know who he is? Billie questioned herself. Was this really a big deal? Was Zayn really that big of a deal? “I lived in a remote part of Kansas most of my life. My town only had a few hundred people in it so we didn't really keep up with anything that was going on. Internet wasn't the best and most of the time I just wasn't interested in any gossip.”

“So then you don't know who Zayn Malik is...”

“Not really, no.”

“Or One Direction?”

“I'm assuming that's a band?”

“Yes, it is.” Ashley sighed. “The band started off from Britain's X-Factor show and practically took the world by storm. It consisted of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik. One Direction is a really famous boy band... well, I guess now you could say that they were.”

“Were?”

“The band's been broken up for two years now. No one really knows why it happened though. All we know is that Zayn went for a solo career while the rest of the band kept doing their thing, but it all just sort of fell apart. After that the band just kinda... stopped doing music. Sometimes the paparazzi flood town whenever there's some speculation about the band getting back together or when Zayn does something stupid at a club. However, I think that pretty much everyone has given up on the idea of a reunion ever happening.”

For the first time during her stay in Bradford, Billie could actually feel a bit of pity for her neighbor as a heavy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She knew that it had to have taken its toll on the brunette and that was probably why he was always so foul. Nonetheless, she knew it still didn't give him the right to act like such a jerk with her.

An exaggerated sigh brought Billie back from her gloomy thoughts about Zayn and her attention was on Ashley once more. “Well, as you know, this is my street so I'll see you later.”

After exchanging a quick hug and goodbyes, the two young adults went their separate ways. Billie stopped at a nearby corner store once she remembered that she was running low on paper for her notes and headed towards where they kept the stationary. Her eyes scanned the shelves for a notepad that would last her for a while, but instead, her eyes focused in on one in particular and her hands picked it up without a second thought.

Five boys adorned the front of the notebook and were placed throughout the cover in fun stances with bright colors to catch anyone's eye. It was almost eerie how quickly Billie's eyes met a familiar pair of brown ones on the cover, however, while they were familiar, they were also completely different.

This was not the Zayn that Billie James knew and loathed.

This Zayn was bursting with life and energy. His eyes and large smile were enough to convey that. As she stared into his brown pools, she reminisced about the night she had first met him. He was cold and unapproachable, a total douchebag with no consideration for others. His eyes were a dull brown that seemed to verge on the borderline of black, and his smile was non-existent. The more she thought of it, Billie didn't believe she had ever seen her neighbor smile once.

While keeping hold of the one she already had, she picked another notebook at random and went to go pay for both of them. Once she was given back her change, she continued on her way home and stuffed the two items into her bag for safekeeping.

Sooner than later, Billie found herself exiting the elevator and walking out onto the fourth floor of the building, striding over to her flat as the handle of apartment 407 began to jiggle about. Hearing the door swing open and seeing that familiar build of Zayn's stalk out of the room to lock the door behind him, Billie found herself coming to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hallway.

The previous feeling that had been in her stomach since Ashley spilled the beans about Zayn's past grew into something new, and she felt the need to get away at that very moment, to disappear. She felt guilty, though about what, she would never know. There was no reason for her to feel guilty and she knew it, but the feeling only grew stronger.

He doesn't know you know. Get it together. Her logical side concluded, and so as quickly as she could, she took a deep breath in an marched right by her neighbor, never bothering to once look at the brunette who was so curiously looking at her when he noticed she had been standing in the hallway for a few seconds beside herself.

Shaking his head he thought the same thing he had thought of her the last time the two were together. Weird bird...

As she unlocked the door and stepped inside, Zayn hastily strode over and held the door before she could close it, his eyes meeting hers that were now wide with a small flicker of panic shining through them.

“What is it?” Billie's voice was somewhat horse and left her sounding soft-spoken. Clearing her throat, she immediately repeated her question in her more usual tone.

Zayn let go of the door and stood upright in a normal, relaxed state, before asking, “How's the burn?”

“It's fine.”

“Good.” As he went to continue on the conversation, the door closed without warning, Zayn's eyes blinking shut before he was left staring at her door.

His brow furrowed together in frustration. This was happening far too many times. He didn't know why exactly, but this bird was just too good at shutting doors in other people's faces – his especially. “Bloody hell...” he muttered, raising his hand up to knock upon the door.

A few seconds passed and he knocked a second time. Then a third. Then a fourth. As he went to begin pounding upon her door, the barrier hesitantly opened up.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to come with me.”