Chapter 30 ― Mila

We were on our way home already, Moni was next to me complaining non-stop about why we had to take Harry with us when we could have perfectly taken Zayn. She was such a hard-core shipper. I, on the other hand, was still with a silly smile plastered on my face. One of those stupid grins you have when you have the first real conversation with your crush. In that moment I felt like the protagonist of a YA romance.

I always just assumed Zayn didn’t want something serious and I never thought I wanted something like that either, but after he mentioned and made it clear, I realised I wanted that too. I wanted to be with Zayn. I really liked him, not a simple crush, not just fancy. I really liked him. With butterflies in my belly and everything. And whilst putting in perspective everything that had happened during those days in Harry’s bungalow, I realised I trusted Zayn. The only time that someone had gained my trust that quick had been with Moni, and I always thought she was the only exception. I had a really hard time trusting people, but with Zayn I could open myself up without problem. I even talked about my family problems with him! I trusted him to keep me safe when I was dead scared. I had known him for almost two months and it was really easy to talk to him. I was conscious I didn’t know much about him and that we were really getting to know each other properly now, but I felt like we could spend hours talking about so many things and I felt that even if he didn’t share all my interests, he would respect them anyways. And that was something precious to me.

“I honestly don’t know why you hate me so much,” Harry complained from the back seat breaking through my thoughts and bringing me back to reality.

“You know why,” Moni replied but I stole a glimpse of her for the corner of my eye. Not even I knew why she seemed to hate Harry. Truth be told, I didn’t think she hated him at all.

“I don’t!” He cried out and I giggled. Harry was very confident about what he could do and he was a perfectionist, he wanted to be better. Always. And if Moni hated him for something, he wanted to know why so he could be better. He needed criticism even if it hurt him.

“Because you want to steal Mila from me! Best friend thief,” She snapped turning around to glare at him and I burst out laughing. I knew it was nothing important. “And,” she added dramatically, “You ain’t gonna let me marry your car. That was the opportunity of redemption for you and you didn’t take it! So stop moaning and man up. You and I are never gonna be friends.”

My silly friend.

“Moni, I thought you were gonna marry a Ford Mustang GT. What happened? Are you cheating?” I asked her and the brunette turned to look at me. I saw Harry on the rear mirror and he looked somehow amused yet still confused.

“It’s an Audi Coupe R8, Mila. An R8. Of course I’m cheating. Polygamy all the way!” I laughed again and Harry joined me this time.

“Okay, what if we share Mila and I do another thing for you to forgive me for my car thing. I can’t let you marry it because it’s my baby,” Harry suggested still fighting to hold back his laughter.

“I don’t know what you could do for me to forgive you. It’s hopeless, Harry. Don’t even try,” Moni replied half-ignoring the curly-haired boy and I was still giggling until I remembered something.

“What if Harry introduces you to someone?” I suggested and I saw through the rear mirror Harry opening his eyes in surprise and a bit of fear.

“Someone?” Moni asked with a hopeful tone and Harry groaned.

“I won’t introduce her to someone if she’s gonna suffocate them or something like that,” Harry warned and Moni squealed. I just laughed again.

“Don’t worry. Moni’s very special when she meets someone she admires slash loves. She kinda freezes and acts normal. Weird, I know. So whomever you introduce her to, he’ll be fine.”

Harry sighed but he knew that it was the way to win over my friend. At the end they agreed that Harry was going to introduce Moni to Ed Sheeran, because she loved him to pieces. Tom Fletcher wasn’t an option because if she properly met him, she would cry for weeks. Even though I believed she was going to cry after meeting Ed as well, but that was for a very different reason. Sometimes, I really wished my friend could meet her ‘Tom’.

Maybe she would… someday. Until then, I was going to be next to her.

+ + + + +

The clock hit twelve and everyone in my house started cheering and sharing hugs. I didn’t realise when my dad had me trapped in his arms wishing me the best year ever. He was such a good man and a friend to me. I loved him so much and I wished the best for him, too. I couldn’t see him that much anymore and I missed him terribly, but even if I wanted, I couldn’t stay in that house for too long.

I hugged every member of my family and we shared a toast with champagne. So far, everything was great. Nevertheless, I missed my flat already and my friend, who was probably having a terribly day. Contrary to my family, hers used to behave worse during those holidays and that was the reason why Moni hated New Year’s and Christmas.

Soon, my mobile went off and, magically, I had it in my pocket that night. I took it out of my pocket and saw the caller ID. I expected Moni to be calling me first, as she was texting me a few minutes before that, but it was Zayn instead.

I wasn’t complaining.

With a smile on my face, I walked away to get some privacy before picking up the call. We hadn’t talked since that last day at Harry’s bungalow, though we texted a lot. Almost as much as Harry and I texted each other. I was considering that maybe they had this competition about who could fill my inbox faster.

“Hello?” I said and I wanted to hit myself for sounding so excited.

“Happy New Year!” He cheered with this weird accent he used sometimes that I grew so fond of. “Vas happenin’?” He asked next and I just giggled.

“Happy New Year to you too. Thanks for calling,” I told him. “Everything’s fine. How about you? Are you drunk already?” I teased him and I heard him gasping.

“Whom do you take me for? Of course no,” he defended himself but, to be honest, he didn’t sound sober. Not drunk, but not sober either. “But seriously, is really everything okay?” He asked and my heart melted because I could hear his concern.

“Yes, everything is great so far. What about you? Having fun?”

“I’m glad,” he said and his tone hit something inside of me that made me feel like losing my balance. It was amazing how just the way he said two words could affect me so much. I should be afraid of the power he had over me and how strongly I was falling for him, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t even worried and that was beyond weird. “And yeah! We’re having fun here. I’m going out in a while with a few old friends.”

I laughed as I heard someone saying something to him, but I couldn’t distinguish the words.

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell her. Mila, Mum says hi and that she hopes you have a great year,” he said and my eyes flew open.

“I— um… thanks. I’m— you told your mum about me?” I asked still surprised by the whole conversation. In my mind, I could almost see a very uncomfortable Zayn.

“Yeah, um… I might or might not have asked her for advice,” he confessed and my heart raced. I was embarrassed that he had talked about me with his mum, but also flattered that he cared that much to ask for advice. “She hasn’t met you yet and she adores you,” he added a few seconds later.

“I do!” I heard from the back of the line and I giggled. That had to be his mum.

“Tell her I say thanks, please. She sounds really nice,” I told him with a huge smile on my face. My cheeks were going to hurt after that, I was sure of that.

“Will do. Now I’ll try to walk away so we can have privacy ‘cos my mum is trying to steal my phone so she can talk to you,” he said casually and I just burst into a fit of laughter, imagining the whole scene.

I had only seen pictures of his family when she showed them to me and they all seemed so nice, specially his mum. I felt flattered that she already liked me, even thought she didn’t know me.

“Okay, I lost her. So, tell me, what have you done lately? Some interesting story?” He asked and I decided to sit. I had a feeling that we were going to talk for a while.

And I wasn’t wrong.

We talked for more than twenty minutes and I couldn’t remember quite well about what. The conversation just flowed easily, without a push or anything like that. We had to hang up because his friends were waiting for him and because my family was calling me to join them.

As our friendship grew, so did my feelings for him and it couldn’t stop surprising me that I wasn’t fighting those feelings anymore, that I wasn’t scared and that I was really willing to go on with what we had. I felt like I was doing the right thing by giving all this a chance.

I had just joined my family again when my phone went off again, this time Moni in the ID caller, who yelled at me for not picking up the phone before. She had been trying to call me for the past few fifteen minutes and she wasn’t amused for that reason. And after her, it was Harry. He had been nice, but that was due to his drunken state. And later, many other friends I had missed very much.

It had been a good year for me and I expected this to be as good. I had a good feeling, though. It had started great already and I was really excited to go back to London and start living a marvellous year. I was so enthusiastic for my date with Zayn and just spending more time with him.

If I had to make a wish for this New Year, it was everything to turn out right. Not only with Zayn, but with everything. I really wanted things to be better.

Of course, wishes not always come true.

-:-:-:-

Dedication goes to my lovely Dani because it's her birthday! Enjoy this day, love.

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Bel, xx