♡ Odette's POV ♡

Zayn had been acting strange lately.

Like last night, when Zayn had been on the computer looking at something and I had asked him what he was looking at, he got defensive and immediately turned it off after closing out of the window.

That same night, when I had offered to take some of his dirty clothes to the wash, he had practically had a heart attack as I was about to pull the handle to open his closet.

And now this morning, he seemed particularly fidgety as I asked him if we could spend time together, to which he answered a swift no. Apparently, like always, he had something he had to attend to in town. I had practically begged him to just let a servant go run errands so we could spend time together, but he insisted this errand was of the utmost importance.

I understood he had some important things to attend to, but still. This was getting a bit ridiculous.

I fumbled with my fingers as I waited outside his study door, the muffled sound of voices barking back and forth to each other inside echoing outside. Zayn was talking to someone important, though he always was. It was always someone: a general, a soldier, an Elite, a family member, anyone but me.

But this was it. Now I was putting my foot down and talking to him, even if it disregarded royal protocol or whatever.

I let out a choked laugh at the thought. Here I was, telling myself that I was going to be brash and storm into the king's study and demand to speak to him...at least when he was finished speaking with the important person. No matter what pep talk I gave myself, my hand would shake and move away from the door handle, my cursed manners telling myself that I should just wait until he was finished.

My hands couldn't stop moving, now fiddling and twisting the anchor ring on my finger. When I would try to stop, my fingers would move to my sweater sleeves, pulling and bunching up the knitted fabric. I was a hopeless case.

I would wait until he was finished talking to the important person, I decided. The person surely had to be important, Zayn had been talking to them for a long time. I had probably waited her for twenty minutes already, refusing to move.

I could only wait so long, but I would wait an eternity if I had to.

Sighing in exasperation, I bit my lip and turned to make sure no servants were wandering the halls before pressing my ear against the wooden door. I didn't mean to be nosy, but if Zayn and the person were truly having an important lengthy conversation, I could always come back.

I couldn't hear much, but I could make out some words. I could definitely hear Zayn's voice, but the other one was harder to make out. It was a girl's voice.

"You're sure she won't find out, your Majesty?" the girl spoke. Who find out about what?

"Positive. I've hidden all the evidence perfectly. She won't suspect a thing." I could hear Zayn speak confidently. My curiosity was peaked, who wasn't supposed to suspect a thing?

"I dunno...I don't want to lie to her about this whole thing. What if Ms. Carlton asks about what we're up to? What am I supposed to say?" The girl spoke again, and I swear I was leaning into the door so much I thought it was about to break off its hinges.

"Say what you think she would want to hear. Just say you're cleaning or something, then come meet me in my quarters. Odette won't think anything of it."

What? What was going on? Why would this girl meet Zayn in his room? She most definitely didn't sound like Ivy, the only logical person who would be in his room with him other than me.

What was happening?

"Please, I need you to do this for me, it would take all this stress off my shoulders. I need you to do this for me." Zayn was begging her.

"Oh alright, I'll do it. But if Ms. Carlton finds out, you have to promise you will deal with her, not me." The girl strictly told Zayn.

"Deal. I can promise she won't know a thing about us."

Us?

The conversation stopped then, and I realized the girl must have been leaving. I swiftly ran away from the door and down the hall to make it seem less suspicious, peering over the corner to see a young maid with dark hair and eyes cautiously make her way out of his study. She peered over her shoulder both ways before walking down the hallway, as if nothing strange had just happened. As she got closer to my corner, I took a deep breath and turned the corner, walking as if I hadn't heard anything at all. The maid gave me a smile and a quick bow before continuing to walk, and I forced a smile towards her. I still didn't understand why she and Zayn were talking about an 'us', but I tried to ignore it, walking straight into Zayn's study.

He was sat at his desk in a t-shirt and his formal uniform pants, the jacket laid over the top of his chair. His hair was disheveled, like fingers had ran through it many times before trying to smooth over the mess. My mind thought of the stress he had talked about with the maid before clearing again.

"Hey baby." He smiled at me before holding his hands out to me. I hesitantly made my way over to him, intertwining his hands with mine. They were warm, heating my freezing cold ones up instantly. I let him pull me down to his level, allowing his lips to kiss mine before pulling away quickly. My mind was still jumbled over the conversation that had just taken place. I had come here to demand we spend more time together, and now a questionable conversation was making me nervous.

"Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked, my head nodding wordlessly. "It has to be quick, I have a meeting with Ivy in a few minutes."

I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it. I din't know where to start, Zayn's precious smile jumbling my thoughts up even more.

"J-just wanted to ask how your day was going, that's all." I fumbled, forcing him a smile. He didn't seem to think anything about my stumbling, twirling one of my curls around his finger before sighing.

"Tiring, like always." He told me before glancing at the clock. "I better get going, the king himself can't be late now can he?" He joked, standing from his chair and grabbing his uniform jacket as well as some papers from his desktop before giving me a quick kiss on the forehead.

"See you soon, little swan."

***

I had been instructed by a servant that I had mail waiting for me in Zayn's room on my way from his study. I had found that strange, no one usually sent me letters or other mail. I didn't think I had gotten a single one since I had been brought to the Manor.

Nevertheless, it excited me, and I found a genuine smile on my face as I saw the pastel colored envelope waiting for me on the bed sheets. Fancy script had addressed it to myself and Zayn, and when I opened it, I couldn't help but let out a squeal of excitement.

It was Alice's wedding invitation.

On it was a cute snapshot of her and her fiance, along with words telling me to save the date of a Saturday coming up. I placed the invitation on my nightstand as a reminder to tell Zayn, about to get up and go to the kitchen to see if the pastry chefs had prepared any desserts or sweets to snack on, when I noticed it.

A shirt sleeve, sticking out of Zayn's closet. The door had been shut on it, as if he had been in a rush to close it. I sighed before walking over to it. The shirt that was trapped was a nice dress shirt, Zayn shouldn't have tossed it haphazardly into the closet. I felt like a frustrated mother as I opened the closet door, finding a crease in the shirt now that it had been released.

More of Zayn's shirts and pants lay tossed around on the bottom of the closet, my housekeeping instincts making me reach for the shirt that was trapped in the closet first before beginning to clean up the rest to put in the wash. I had several shirts in my arms before a sight on the sleeve of one of them made me freeze. I blinked several times to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

A lipstick stain was smeared on one shoulder of Zayn's starch white dress shirt.

Was it mine? No, I didn't recognize that shade. I didn't have it, my mind puzzled as to why a lipstick I didn't own was smeared on my Chooser's shirt.

I dropped the rest of the shirts back on the closet's floor, the stained shirt still in my now shaking hands. My mind tortured me with the conversation I had overheard in Zayn's study.

"Say what you think she would want to hear. Just say you're cleaning or something, then come meet me in my quarters. Odette won't think anything of it."

"Deal. I can promise she won't know a thing about us."

I immediately dropped the shirt as if it were a white-hot burning iron  in my hands. The thoughts were echoing inside my head, refusing to stop. My hands went to my ears, covering them foolishly as if that would make the torturous thoughts stop. They didn't, however, one in particular making tears fall from my eyes.

Was Zayn cheating on me?

***

That night, I hadn't talked to Zayn much at all, mostly using gestures to communicate. I didn't trust my voice, fearing if I spoke it would come out shaky and weak. I had stashed the shirt in my closet, knowing Zayn wouldn't dare look in there. If he treated his shirts the way his closet showed he did, he wasn't going to miss one measly dress shirt.

I had brushed my teeth, combed through my hair, changed into my nightdress, and slipped into bed without uttering a word to Zayn. I turned away from him, fearing if I looked into his eyes I would fall apart. Zayn had noticed my silence, but hadn't addressed it until he had gotten under the covers with me, his arms moving to wrap around my waist and pull me closer. I had scrunched my eyes shut, praying no tears would fall as I felt a part of my heart shatter with the unanswered question of Zayn's devotion to me. The very thought of Zayn cheating tore me to shreds.

"What's wrong? You haven't said anything all night." Zayn spoke softly, his fingers drawing imaginary shapes and swirls on the fabric of my nightdress in an attempt to try and get me to relax and finally speak.

"Nothing. Just tired is all." I lied, and I knew Zayn hadn't bought it when his hands stopped tracing their swirls onto the silk fabric.

"Don't lie to me, I know something's really bothering you. Tell me, please." Zayn begged, my mind flashing back to when he had begged the servant girl to do something for him in his study. The inferred task I presumed he was talking about then made me nauseous.

"It's nothing, just..." My eyes flickered to the wedding invitation that lay on my nightstand. "I was going to ask if we could RSVP to a friend of mine's wedding, but I knew you would probably be busy, that's all." I half-lied. I really did figure Zayn would be busy and not be able to go with me, but that wasn't all that was troubling me.

"When is the wedding?" I heard Zayn ask quietly.

"Two weeks from now, on a Saturday."

"I don't know, Odette, we have a lot of stuff coming up soon." Zayn sighed, and my eyes shut in disappointment. I knew he was going to say something like that. He always did.

"It's okay, I understand." I whispered, my hands death-gripping my pillow in an effort to hold back my tears. What if Zayn was pretending to be so busy so he and the servant could-

"I'm sorry I've been so busy, I really wish I could go. Take Seamus with you, have a good time." Zayn tried to soothe my hurt inside, but it was too late.

"Alright." I said, but on the inside I was crumbling, anything at all but alright.

A/N: FINALS ARE OVER AMEN and luckily that means more updates should be coming soon :) I hope all of you loyal readers have happy holidays and a great time with loved ones and friends! -M

p.s. Shoutout to @fretboard and @deehoran94 for their lovely words on their recommendation books about Impeccable. They claimed, and I quote:

@fretboard: "love this story it's so unique and different!! (: and your writing is just absolutely flawless!!"

@deehoran94: "Probably one of the best Zayn Malik AU I've ever read."

aw, y'all are making me blush ^_^