Zayn

Taking my painkillers and afternoon pills, I engulfed my black hair into one of my red beanies. Since there were activities this day, I decided to leave my room.

Today's activities consisted out of ball games with the kids, teenagers and young adults who liked to join. The games wouldn't be too wild, as they always had to be a little more careful since we were all sick, but they were tiring enough- for me at least.

I had slept a good full three hours with the nap I took and my energy went up for a bit. It would be down in no time again, talking out of experience, but it didn't matter. I needed to do something to kill some time in the days I had to spend here, and the activities were the perfect opportunity to do so.

They were held outside, where we had our own space to hangout on. It was the hospital's property and it was quite big, so it wouldn't feel like you were outside but still locked like you would've been in prison.

Stepping outside, I pulled my beanie further over my ears to keep them warm. I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my jeans and made my way over to the group of people I saw not too far from me, wondering if they were already joining the activity.

Patients from my age and older were playing some basketball, while the kids were playing a simple game- sitting on the grass and rolling the ball over to one another after yelling their names. Laughter confirmed that they were having fun, and it made me smile.

I slowly made my way over to them and sat down on a very low stone wall, watching them in enjoyment. Suddenly, my eyes fell on Rose, who was playing the games with the kids. A nurse I didn't really know that well was near the patients from my age. That nurse probably didn't have anything else to do as the patients from my age or older could entertain themselves pretty well, but it was whatever.

My attention went back to Rose and I watched her as she was playing with the kids, her own smile brightening the kids' moods. It seemed that she was good with them, and the kids seemed to love her which was a good thing.

Sinking deeper into my jacket as a sudden, cold, breeze hit me, I pressed my lips to the zipper of it. The sun was shining, but despite that- it was still rather chilly to me.

"Hey Zed! Wanna join?" Nathan asked me, who had apparently been here for the whole time, which I didn't notice. His face was flushed red, pants heard from exertion as he jogged over to me.

I shrugged then shook my head, "No, I'm fine watching you all."

He raised his thumb at me and continued with his basketball game, dribbling and scoring quite a few times. I watched him for a while and smiled at an older guy who came to sit down next to me. He didn't say much, but I didn't feel like talking either so it wasn't a problem to me.

The game had stopped so the kids could take a well- needed break. Rose gave the kids, who were free from tube- feeding, something to eat and drink as they sat down on the grass, giggling and laughter still heard. Eventually I noticed Nathan walking over to Rose. He had started a conversation with her, their laughs making me wonder what they were talking about.

It made me feel strange, as if I didn't want them to talk to each other. Staring at them for a long time, I quickly looked down when they split ways and Rose walked my direction. I pretended to look at something else, until her shadow hovered over me.After a while I looked up again and saw her standing near me as she was playing with her fingers and looking around her.

"Oh, hey." I gave her a smile, placing my hand just above my eyebrows to block the sun that shone in my face.

Rose turned her face to me, her long, dark, locks falling over her face. "Hi, Zayn!" She gave me a warm smile and took a step closer to me, closing her eyes as she turned her face to the sun.

"He has a girlfriend." I blurted out, scaring myself with the comment.

Rose frowned. "Who does?"

Biting my lip, I glanced at Nathan, seeing he was busy talking to the other guys which meant I could say it safely. "Nathan. The guy you just talked to." The moment those words left my mouth I realised I basically confirmed I was in fact looking at her, and not at the place I just had pretended to look at.

Rose chuckled, her eyes twinkling playfully. "Okay..? So?"

I shrugged, "Just saying."

Rose raised her eyebrow and a playful smile was playing on her lips. She came to sit down beside me and nudged my shoulder, gaining my attention as I had looked away. "Jealous much?"

"What?" I gulped. "No, why would I be?" My cheeks flushed pink, I had only met her this week, but she surely already had some sort of effect on me. But, how?

"Sounds like it." Rose laughed softly and watched the older patients playing some football, her deep brown eyes moving and following the ball.

I decided not to reply on that and ask something else, "So.. does Rose have a Jack?"

Rose turned her face to me with one of her eyebrows raised, a smile playing on her lips. "You know, it's sad that I don't even have to think about what it means. That's how bad the joke is." She laughed again, crinkles appearing at the corners of her eyes.

Chuckling, I made eye contact with her. "Hey! I thought it was good. I bet you hadn't heard that one before."

"I did. Multiple times." Rose shook her head and another chuckle left her mouth. The sound was melodic, the kind of laugh you wanted to hear all the time, the kind of laugh that made you smile automatically as well.

"What about the other comments?" Now I playfully raised my eyebrow at her.

Rose gulped, "Don't even mention it- please don't say-"

"Draw me like one of your French girls?" I grinned, way too amused about the fact how her cheeks flushed this time.

Rose groaned, "That's it. I'm changing my name." She shook her head but couldn't prevent a smile from creeping on her face, trying to hide it with her long hair that fell over her face again.

"Is it that bad?" I wondered, secretly hoping I was for once original with my jokes.

"Yeah it is." Rose sighed dramatically and ran her fingers through her long hair, a slight pout visible on her face as she glanced at me.

"Aw." I gave her an amused smile. "But you still didn't answer my question."

Rose looked at me and started grinning, it made her look young. "My Jack? That ship has sunk a long time ago."

"Wow." I started clapping my hands and couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, not going to lie, that one was good." She was clever, that, I quite liked.

"Thank you." She answered, "Kinda knew so."

Laughing quietly, it died after a few seconds, a serious question popping up instead. "What happened though? If you don't mind me asking." I knew these were all pretty personal questions, but I was just curious about it and secondly, I needed something to talk about.

Rose shrugged, turning her face away. "He cheated on me."

"He did?" I frowned and observed her expression, not wanting to have hurt her in any way. "What an ass. I cannot understand why people would do that, like?" I sighed.

"Same, but it's whatever I guess. I don't miss him anymore. I don't need someone who doesn't think I'm good enough." Rose shrugged again and played with a silver, thin bracelet that hung rather loosely around her wrist.

I breathed out, "I'm sorry." I wondered why my curiosity had to take over at times, knowing the questions could hurt people.

"Don't worry about it, Zayn." She gave me a warm smile, which seemed genuine and made me feel relieved. "What about you?"

"I don't have a Jack and I'll never get one." I responded, cheekily raising my eyebrows at her.

Rose chuckled and rolled her eyes playfully, "Well do you have a Rose then?"

I laughed, "No I don't. I broke up with her about a year ago."

"Why?" She sounded curious now, which was only fair. My eyes roamed around for a while, falling onto one of the nurses who helped a patient- that apparently wasn't feeling well- sit down. It made me wonder if it was a right thing to join these activities, as it almost happened all the time that one of the patients would become unwell. They had simply said that it was good for us.

Back to Rose's question, I thought about it for a while, "We just didn't fit together I guess." I mentioned quietly, telling the truth. The girl was terribly manipulative. She literally played with my emotions and heart in the most stupid ways she could. But I was too stupid to not notice, because I loved her and was- therefore- blind.

It eventually became so much that I finally started to see it and I decided to break things off. She acted to be really sad about it, but I couldn't care less about that, anymore. The things she had done to me were hurtful, and I was glad that it was finally over.

"That's sad." Rose braided her long, brown locks and I watched her intensely as she did so, wondering how she could do it so neatly.

"Not really. It was better like that." I stared at her hands when she tied her hair and my gaze fell over her face again. When she looked back at me I quickly stared in front of me and played with my fingers, hoping she didn't notice that I was staring at her.

Rose nodded, "I'm glad you think that way. But hey.." She pointed at the kids. "I should go. I'll see you around I guess."

I felt disappointed that she had to go because I enjoyed talking to her and I wasn't going to join those games anyway, but as I saw the kids waiting for her already, I knew it was time. "Okay, Dawson."

Rose stood up and frowned, "Dawson?"

"Yes, Rose Dawson." I laughed softly, her confused expression amusing me.

Rose's frown disappeared and she started laughing, her voice melodic, "Seriously? I bet you, that was not her last name."

"Yeah it is." I gave her a look and she rapidly shook her head, she seemed to be sure about her own words.

"It's not."

I stood up as well and brought my cold fingers into the pockets of my trousers, warming them up. "Then what is it?"

She shrugged, throwing her hands up. "Well I don't know. I'm not as obsessed with the Titanic as you are, obviously." Rose teased, her smile widening.

I just laughed and shook my head in response, "I bet you, it's Dawson."

"Whatever that name is, my last name is West so.. don't call me Dason or whatever that name was." Rose hugged herself as the cold wind started acting up, I felt it too.

"Dawson." I said again.

Rose rolled her eyes, "Whatever, Zayn." She chuckled and waved at the kids as they started waving at her. "Alright, I really gotta go now. Bye, Zayn."

"Bye, Dawson."