(Zrose is real)

Rose

The next morning we found out that the chemotherapy sadly did affect Zayn and gave him another fever. It didn't surprise me, I had even expected it. He was so sleepy, tired and just not looking a hundred percent well yesterday. He didn't want to give in to it, I knew that but I didn't mind if he had done it. His health was more important.

I was seated at his bed and freshed up his warm face with a cold cloth. He was currently asleep in just his underwear as he was sweating like crazy. His temperature was around the fourty degrees which was quite high and me and Trisha had to watch him carefully to make sure it wouldn't get to the fourty one or two. That'd be concerning.

I didn't know if he was in pain right now, but his face gave the expression that he was somehow not really comfortable even though he was lying in a comfortable position. In his own bed small bed, though it was big enough for him only with white bedding and black music notes on it. I thought it was cute and a small smile appeared on my face.

My eyes roamed all around his room. He still wanted to show it to me, but because he didn't feel well he didn't get the chance to. I allowed myself to observe his room and saw how his walls were dark green. He had posters up from old painters and music artists who had died already.

A guitar was hanging on the wall and I wished he could play it for me. I wanted to know how well he could play the guitar, knowing he could play the piano beautifully.

Zayn dragged me out of my thoughts as he woke up and slowly moved around in his bed. He turned on his left side and his eyes slowly opened as he was facing me.

"Rose," His hoarse voice spoke slowly. I noticed that it took him a lot of energy and I felt bad immediately.

"Hey."

He smiled softly and closed his eyes for a while, not saying anything at all. He licked his dry lips and I took the glass of water from his nightstand, which I had filled before.

"Do you want some water?" I asked quietly, knowing everything sounds ten times harder when you're sick.

Zayn slowly opened his eyes again and a deep yet small sigh left his mouth as he had just awoken, "Yes, please." He tried to sit up but his face showed a painful expression. It made me sad and I quickly pressed my hand to his neck so I could hold him up.

His neck felt sweaty and clammy but I didn't care about it. I brought the glass of water to his lips and he slowly took a few sips.

"Tough right? A bed that cannot move its upper part up." I smiled, trying to enlighten the mood a little.

Zayn laid back down and stared at me with a small smile on his face, "Yes." He waited a few seconds before he got the energy to speak again, "But my bed is more comfortable."

"I can imagine." I still smiled until my gaze fell on his bare upper body. I swallowed when I noticed slight blue and purple colors that belonged to bruises on his skin. I bit my cheek on the inside and quickly moved my eyes away. His sickness couldn't be worse now, could it be? He just had chemotherapy. It would probably fade in a few days.

I suddenly felt Zayn's soft finger brushing my cheek. It startled me, but it also made me blush a little. My eyes met his eyes and for a second I wondered if he wanted to kiss.

But he then spoke up, "You look worried, Rose. Don't be worried.. it's not healthy for you." He looked concerned but gave me a small smile after that.

"I'm okay, Zayn." I assured him, although I wasn't quite convinced about it myself. "Are you.. feeling okay?" Of course he wasn't, but I meant this question much deeper than people would usually ask.

Zayn slowly moved his head away and let go of my cheek as he stared up at the ceiling. He smiled slightly, "Feel fine. You're around."

I smiled but I still didn't really believe that he was speaking the truth. Maybe he didn't want to worry me. "Tell me if you need anything okay? Tell me if you feel.. differently."

"Rosie, of course." He gave me a warm smile and I noticed how his eyes were slowly closing.

"Okay." I whispered softly. I quietly stood up and walked over to his bedroom door.

Zayn opened his eyes and stared at me, "Where are you going? Don't go.."

"I'm going to the shops with your sisters.. they asked me if I wanted to join. Some Christmas shopping. Your mum will watch you, okay? I'll be back soon." I hoped he was okay with it. Trisha told me he wanted someone to be around him because of what had happened that morning. He didn't feel comfortable being all alone anymore. It made me sad.

He slowly nodded his head, "Okay, of course. Have fun. Wish I could join." He mumbled sleepily and when I quietly said 'me too' I saw him falling asleep and Trisha came into his room.

"Thanks, Rose. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to let you work here as well, you finally have holiday and then you still need to be a nurse." Trisha placed her hand on my shoulder. "He just loves your presence, Rose. He likes you so much. It's unbelievable what you do to him.."

I smiled and felt warm from the inside. He was such a sweet guy. "Trisha, please don't worry about it. I do it with love. I want to take care of him. And I.. actually like him too." I blushed when I realised what I had said, but at the same time I didn't care about it. I was sure she knew it anyway.

"Bless the both of you." She mumbled happily and went to sit down on the chair beside Zayn's bed to check his body temperature.

I left his room and made my way downstairs, seeing the girls were already dressed. I quickly put on my shoes and coat. "I'm ready."

"Great, let's go!" Doniya opened the door and as we left the house we stepped inside her car. Me in the front and Waliyha in the back.

We drove to the center of Bradford where a lot of shops were located. The three of us got out of the car and Doniya walked straight over to a shop. "So, Rose, I don't know what you're used to when it comes to Christmas and presents and stuff but we usually just buy one small present for each of our family. So mum, dad, Zayn, Waliyha, Safaa and you in this case." She explained.

"Alright, I get it." I nodded my head.

"Yeah, we give them in the morning because in the afternoon our family will come by. We have a lot of cousins so it'll be way too expensive if we have to buy each person something." Doniya chuckled and I laughed in response.

"I can imagine."

"Well, they're going to give Zayn more presents because he's sick." Waliyha murmured under her breath. Doniya nudged her arm and gave her a warning look.

"You know what mum told you about acting like this." She said sternly.

Waliyha sighed, "Well am I lying though? Ever since he got sick he got all the attention from each and everyone."

"They don't give him more attention than they give us and if they do you can't blame them. We don't know if Zayn is going to survive the sickness." Doniya shook her head at her seventeen years old sister.

Waliyha didn't stop, "I could go to school next week and die on my way. It doesn't make sense."

"Why don't you buy your present for Rose as first? Go over there." She pointed at a different section of the shop and Waliyha reluctantly left the two of us.

"I'm sorry. Waliyha has a tough time. She doesn't really know how to handle Zayn's sickness. She just can't give it a rest. She thinks he's getting all of the attention and love but it's not true. My family isn't like that." Doniya smiled sadly.

I slowly nodded my head, "I understand. It's okay. She'll get used to it, I hope."

"Me too." Doniya smiled sweetly and picked up a small box, "Look at this! Zayn needs these."

I curiously looked at what she was holding and I noticed it were boxer shorts with Marvel printed on it. I chuckled, "Oh yeah, definitely."

"This is great. I'm going to buy them for him. What do you think you'll get him?" She asked me and I thought about it for a while.

"I have no idea actually.." I bit my lip and looked around me for a while but didn't get inspiration.

Doniya smiled cheekily, "It must be a perfect gift, am I right?"

"What do you mean by that?" I quickly looked away and stared down at the underwear of men, wondering why we ended up here in the first place.

"I know you two like each other. It's kinda cute." She teased as she wiggled her eyebrow.

I felt my cheeks heating up and shrugged slowly, "It's not realistic though."

We continued strolling through the shop, "How so? Do you know if he's going to survive or not? You're the nurse after all.." Doniya sounded rather nervous, but I couldn't calm her.

"I don't know, Doniya. I can't say anything about it. Even your brother says; the sickness is really unpredictable. The doctors don't know it either." I sighed sadly and stared at the books as we entered the book section.

"Let's hope for it then." She smiled. "I can't lose my annoying little brother yet." A chuckle left my mouth and I smiled, wondering if both Zayn and Doniya got their positivity from their parents.

I was curious about some things, so I decided to ask. "What was he like when he wasn't sick? What kind of a brother is he?"

Doniya smiled at the question, "Oh he's the regular kind of annoying brother. Teasing, annoying you, mocking you.. but at the same time he's really sweet. He could go from teasing to being serious in one minute if one of us started to cry. He'll always be there for us.. I know so."

"That's sweet." I smiled by myself as my thoughts went to Zayn. The way she described him was the way I knew him from the hospital. He wasn't any different. He was real, he was genuine and loyal. And it was exactly what I needed from a guy.

"Also," She started as she glanced at me, "He's really respectful towards girls. My mum thinks it's because he's grown up with four of them. He's very humble and will always put the girl before him. He's a selfless guy, Rose. It's quite appreciative in my eyes."

"He'd never kiss a girl just for fun. If he kisses someone, he means something with it." Doniya brushed her finger over the fabric of the marvel boxers, "I know him way too well, don't I?" She chuckled.

I smiled. Those words made me feel warm from the inside as they meant everything to me. I kinda knew that he liked me, but the way she said that about the kiss made me feel even more special.

I could only pray that this would bloom into much more beautiful things.

After that, I finally bought Zayn's present. I bought three books. One full of legends in the music industry, the second book was about art, paintings, drawings and artists and the last one was about Marvel. I hoped he'd like it, but I was almost sure he would.

We spent the rest of the time at a restaurant talking about their childhood memories, especially with Zayn included.

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I've been so tired these days but I still managed to finished a chapter. I hope you all like it ❤️