Babe, even though I only see you on the TV screen

With all those boys and your toys and your pleasured scream

I'll easy spend up all ths loving for my dream girl

I don't want to share.

- "These Girls" || Sticky Fingers

__________

"Find your own secluded spot on campus-should preferably be high enough for you to see something. Grab a packet, your partner, and get outta here. Find a nice spot and get me your labs by next Wednesday. Get on, then."

It's Lab Day.

___________

"So...what do you see?"

"Fucking nothing," squints Anais. They've been standing on the top of the math building for fifteen minutes and the temperature is starting to drop.

Anais is regretting not packing a heavier sweater.

"Jesus, this is pointless."

Zayn watches as she rubs her eyes.

Zayn watches as she stands closer and closer to the edge of the building.

"God, like-Like, where the fuck does Cowell think we are, California? Did he take us to the Rockies? Am I in fucking, Maine right now and there's no light pollution or no air pollution or, or no airplanes all of a sudden? How the hell's this even supposed to work?"

Zayn pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes squinted closed. It's nearly an hour into class and they haven't seen a single one of the stars they need to see for their lab.

"This's the fifth building we've stood on the top of," she continues, voice raising as she paces back and forth. "What, am I supposed to taxi to the Empire State Building? Is that the only way I'm gonna see anything for this shit lab?"

Zayn pats his pockets. He's looking for his cigarettes.

"God, why the fuck did I take this stupid class?"

Zayn snorts-he's hungry and getting cold and he sure as hell needs a smoke since he's heard Anais go on for nearly an hour straight with complaints, now. He finds his lighter and his last cigarette. "Should've taken Psych, s'what my mate told me."

Anais turns and stares at him with her large eyes. "God," she shakes her head. "Why didn't I take Psych?"

Soo took Psych with Jourdan and Cara last semester. She should've done it. She should've totally done that with them, because 'this,' she'd exclaimed only moments earlier, 'is sure as hell not working.'

Anais rubs her eyes tiredly and groans so loudly that anyone in night classes in the math building could probably hear her. "This is pointless..."

"Well, complaining's not going to do anything about it, is it?" Zayn snaps, because not only did he come to class in a bad mood but he's hungry now and he has literally seen one star that was more than likely an airplane.

Anais whips her head around to face him. "Ah, twice in a row?" She exclaims with rolled eyes and hands on her hips, "He speaks!"

He narrows his eyes, taking a long drag on his cigarette.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, today?"

Anais watches the smoke curl around his jaw.

"I speak."

"Minimally."

"So? Doesn't matter how much."

"Fine," she chokes. "To who, then?"

"Yeah-I've got friends, thanks," he snaps.

"Oh, well that's good, then," Anais replied, words laced with sarcasm. "That's good, then. At least you speak to your friends."

"What's wrong with you?" He demands, stepping towards her.

Anais waves her hand in front of her face, peering over the edge of the building with a wrinkled nose and sour expression. "The fact that you obviously want me to get cancer, too."

Zayn grimaces, flicking his cigarette over the side of the building.

He turns to her, cocks his head and widens his eyes in a way that all screams, 'Happy?'

He takes another step towards her.

She steps back towards the ledge.

"What's your problem?" He demands, and he stares down into her eyes and realizes at once that she's not as tall as he thought she was.

"What's yours?"

Everything about Anais makes her seem bigger.

"I asked you first, didn't I?" Zayn prods. She's typically laughing-she's always laughing-whenever he sees her. She doesn't seem like the one to complain. She's the girl who finds the solution.

Or so he thought.

She rolls her eyes, arms still folded across her chest. "Does the order of the question-asking mean anything? It shouldn't."

He keeps walking towards her, and Anais keeps taking steps backwards.

"Anais, wait."

She snorts. "Zayn, why?"

"Fuck! Anais-"

She lets out a quick yelp as her foot slips on the edge of the steel ledge, and her life flashes before her eyes as Zayn reaches out and grabs her arm, yanking her towards him.

"What the fu-!"

She can barely get the words out. She's flush against Zayn's chest and she stares at him with a mixture of emotions that he can't read.

"Uh..."

He releases her roughly, stepping backwards, rubbing the back of his neck again, ducking his head so she can't see the warmth up his neck and rising to his cheeks.

His hair is hiding the majority of his embarrassment, "Just," he points sheepishly to the edge of the building. "God, just be careful."

"I'm always careful," she replies, breathing heavily.

What she means is, 'Thank you-Jesus, thank you for actually just saving my life.'

Anais does not say that, though.

"You almost fucking died," he exclaims angrily. "You almost fell right off the edge of the building and died, y'know. Fuck--what the hell's wrong with you today?"

"Don't act like you know me," she retorts defensively.

Zayn opens his mouth and closes it. How does he respond to that? "M'not," he begins, because he's glaring at Anais. She's being super fucking ungrateful and she doesn't even know that he does know her. He knows her well enough to know that she's never this careless; she's never...she's not usually like this.

"I'm not sayin' I do, s'just--"

Zayn shakes his head. "Like," he begins again, taking a breath, "look, m'not trying to fight with you, Anais," he says, because he truly is not trying to fight with her. He wanted her to be his lab partner for a billion reasons that didn't include her hating him.

"I've had a shit day, too," he adds. "If it means anything to you."

"It does."

Zayn rolls his eyes. "Right. Don't do me any favors."

"Don't roll your eyes at me. I'm really not shitting you. I've had a fucked up day and-"

"I can tell," Zayn grins and Anais looks away, groaning, "Great."

"So, what's wrong with you, then?"

"Ugh," she sighs, turning her back to him with folded arms. "This..." She starts.

Anais shakes her head and sighs and lets out a sharp laugh into the air. "This guy I was practically, practically in love with just recently introduced me to his girlfriend," she says, feeling a bit better to say it, again. She's been in her head about Lucky this and Lucky that, so it's kind of a relief to get that shit off her chest to someone who isn't gonna suggest the cure-all remedy for a 'what-if' that'll never happen.

She purses her lips, "That's what's wrong with me."

Zayn stares at her.

She catches his eye and snorts. "Didn't think I'd tell you, huh?"

He shakes his head. "Actually, no...But m'gl-"

"I don't believe in bottling emotions," she says at once. "So, can we fucking find a place to finish this," she holds up a packet of paper; their lab, "because I'd really like to be home with some ice cream and Trey Songz and my blanket right about now."

Zayn sighs, staring up at the bright sky.

He blows out a breath and can see it--it's really getting cold, now.

"C'mon then," is what he says.

"What?"

"You're freezing," he notes, watching as she rubs her hands against her arms. "Let's get out of here, yeah?"

Anais laughs without humor. "Class isn't over, yet," she says because it's not even 6:30 and class is over at eight. "And we still haven't finished our lab."

Zayn shrugs, shoving his hands into his pockets. "We've like," there's a pause, "we've got until Wednesday, right? To turn it in?"

Anais raises a brow. "Right..."

"So we meet somewhere and do it before then. C'mon Anais," he says, running a hand through his hair. "I know you wanna get outta here," he lifts his brows, "and off this bloody roof."

She sniffs, the corner of her lip tilting in a tiny smile. "Yeah. I totally do."

And Zayn looks to Anais. There's a very clear smirk on his face and his eyes are bright and in that moment, he realizes that he hasn't given a single solitary thought to Perrie the entire time he's been arguing with Anais.

But, it's nicer not arguing.

He prefers just talking.

"What?"

Her voice shakes him from his thoughts.

"What's got you smiling?"

Zayn bites on his lip.

He shakes his head, shrugging cooly. "Nothing."

She places her hands on her hips. "Why the hell're you laughing, then?"

He chokes on a little chuckle, running his fingers through his hair. "Let's like..." He motions towards the stairs. "Let's get down from here, yeah? I fuckin' hate heights."

Anais shakes her head. "God...Que dois-je faire avec vous?"

It's his turn to frown. It's the French. "What?" He asks, walking after her.

"You're a mystery to me, Malik."

He holds open the door to the stairway. He meets her gaze, and his nose crinkles and his lips are poked in a small pout. "How?"

"Because," she shrugs, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. "Jesus, boy -- It was your idea to come to the roof."

-~*~-

***OKAY GUYS. Pyper America is (in real life) Lucky B. Smith's sister so I totally went back and changedPyper to Alli Simpson, okay? Yeah...we can't have that so no more Pyper as the gf... Even the pic in chapter v is changed to an actual one of Lucky and Alli so yeah. Just a heads up. ^-^

Also don't worry chapters are going to get progressively longer I promise, but how's that for a real first interraction, huh? Yay for Lab Day!

Okay so I've decided to include a song for every chapter so this is gonna be fun.

Song for this chapter : 'These Girls,' by Sticky Fingers. (Don't worry, it's attached).

Vote and comment! xx