"H-hello?"

"Rory? Ror..." Asmaa blinks as the FaceTime image clears and Rory's face becomes visible on screen. She frowns since she's looking for Rory's pastel sheets and grey padded headboard and overhead lights and sees all dark sheets and not their home.

"Hey, uh..." she clears her throat, thick with sleep, "can I call you back...?"

Asmaa almost screams from Zayn's kitchen. "Where the heck are you?"

____

Asmaa had never been to a sleepover.

Like, actually.

Sure, her mother and father let her go away to camp in America when she was younger, but she was barely a teen and she and her sister stayed in cabins like, in the woods, just outside of the metropolitan DC area.

So, that didn't count.

And neither did spending the night at her grandmother's house, or other the homes of other family members. Outside of her own home, Asmaa had never been allowed to sleep over with friends, and for a long time when she was little, it used to make her sad. Her friends at school were able to bond and she was always just outside of that bonding.

Until now.

Because she slept over at Zayn's so often now she had clothes at his and makeup on his bathroom counter and fragrant soap in his shower that he'd even started using.

And she was really effing with that shit.

Yes, girl. Yes to bae!

And she loved when Kezie and Desirée came over to her and Rory's because it made her feel like her girls were really a family and look at her go, adulting in London at twenty-three and this close to becoming a lawyer.

And sometimes, Asmaa even had to admit, she felt a little bad when she spent so much time with Zayn because it took away time with her friends, and yes, while they were very good at catching her up on all the tea, she felt like she wanted Zayn to really get to know her friends so they could all be friends and they could all hang out and then they could all make memories together.

Like, wouldn't that be fun?

Asmaa thought so.

And she'd never mentioned this to Ayat, but she was jealous as hell when she found out that Lira was in Paris, because coming from a girl who came to London with absolutely no friends, these newfound friendships meant more to her than anyone could imagine.

"Yell my shit to the world, why don't you?"

"Okay, fine," Asmaa replies smartly, and she actually does yell now. "Where the freak are you, Rory?"

"Fuck you, you know I didn't mean that shit literally, Asmaa--!"

"Asmaa!" Zayn jogs into the kitchen now, because Asmaa really did just scream. He's staring around wildly, expecting to see a fire or a burglar or some shit—definitely not Asmaa smiling at her phone, "The fuck? Babe—!?"

"Zayn!" She looks up, smiling a huge smile that makes Zayn's frustration dissipate and his confusion more evident.

She holds up her phone, "Rory's at Harry's house!"

"Asmaa..." Zayn blinks, "What?"

Asmaa is holding up her phone and beaming and Zayn is blinking confusedly until he sees the figure moving on FaceTime and hears the, "Shut the fuck up Asmaa you are not getting Zayn!"

"Oh, you better believe I am, bitch!"

Now, he realizes.

Now, he recognizes her roommate, Rory.

Now, he starts laughing.

"Wow," he grins, playing along. "Someone looks like the morning after."

"Oh my god, Asmaa! Asmaa, come get your—"

"She..." Asmaa is laughing that throaty laugh, "She does look like the morning after, doesn't she?"

"She looks like she took some big d--"

"Oh my god, I hate you guys!"

Asmaa is cackling. She loved Rory to pieces and she knew how she felt about her man. They never failed to amuse her, and the two of them together?

She was living in this moment.

"Harry!?" Zayn calls, leaning into view, "Harry, where are you, mate?"

"Harry!" Calls Asmaa. "Harreehhhhh!"

"Jokes on y'all because he's not here right now," Rory sticks out her tongue. "So, ha."

"He making you breakfast, Ror?"

"Asmaa, I never thought I'd hang up on my baby but today might be the day."

"No!"

"Try me!"

"Haz!" Zayn keeps yelling, "Where are you?Why've you left your girl, mate?"

Harry misses this FaceTime call only because he's on the phone with Calum.

He'd woken up that morning and rolled into the brown-skinned girl beside him in his bed and kissed her naked shoulder and watched her stir and felt his heart thud heavily and he'd whispered, "Good morning, sunshine."

Rory blinks tiredly, her hands raising slowly to her eyes as she stretched beneath his sheets. "Sunshine?"

Her gaze flickered to the cloudy, grey, December skies outside. "It's cold as hell out there, so sunshine?"

"That's actually you," he chuckles. "You're the sunshine."

"Me?"

"That's your pet name, now."

"Pet names," she wrinkled her nose, "Ew."

"Yes," he tapped her nose, "Get used to it."

"I didn't think we were at pet names yet, stranger."

"Mhm," he hummed, "that's mine, then," he tapped her again. "Stranger."

She laughed as he did.

"I can hear you call me, now," and he threw his head back and mimicked her voice, "Yaaasss, stranger! Slap my ass again, stranger...!"

"Oh my god," Rory shoved him in his chest, "The fuck outta here, Harry!"

He laughed that hard laugh of his that somehow always ended up rather high-pitched. "Oh, man," he wiped at his eyes, "Fuck, I'm funny."

"First of all, you're not."

"Hm," he chuckled, "Lying doesn't look good on you, love."

"I make everything look good," Rory quipped, and she wrinkled her nose again, "And second, I've got to say, I rarely hear you cuss."

"I know," he nodded. "I typically don't..." and he grinned, falling back on top of her.

"Shit, Harry..." she laughed, his weight upon her.

"...It's your fault. I've been spending too much time with you, I suppose."

"You definitely don't."

"Yet," he had replied, those hands of his gripping her naked body beneath his sheets, "because I've already promised you I'd change that."

And that's when Calum called.

The phone rang on Harry's bedside table and he'd stared at the name flashing across the screen and wondered what in the hell his mate could really really want at a time like this.

"You didn't tell me you had bitches."

Harry snorted, "Ha ha," he replied, fumbling for his phone as Rory grinned. "S'just my mate."

"Go'on then," Rory had replied. "Talk to your mans."

Harry had grinned at this, his teeth grazing his lip to contain that smile threatening to expose just how enamored he was with this woman.

But, knowing Rory, she probably already knew, already.

Also knowing Rory, maybe she truly didn't.

"Don't go anywhere," he'd said to her. "Be right back, okay?"

She had rolled her eyes, fighting her own grin. "Won't go anywhere, okay?"

"Good," he'd replied, shoving her playfully into the pillows.

And Rory's laugh rang out in his room as he lifted his phone to his ear and debated calling his friend back later because he didn't quite want to leave the girl in his bed.

But, he'd stepped quietly into the hall.

Right as Asmaa dialed Rory from Zayn's.

"Hullo?"

"Haz, we need to talk."

"Uh," Harry blinked, "Uh, can it wait a bit, mate...?"

"Not when my girlfriend is gonna be working at Louis' bachelor party!"

"G-girlfriend?" Harry exclaimed, "What?"

"Kez," Calum groaned. "She's gonna be...what I just fucking said! She's working the night we're supposed to go out for Lou's."

"She's popular," Harry shrugged, figuring Rory ought to be working, too. Asmaa, as well...shit.

And Harry shook his head, "Hold on? Girlfriend? Kez? Yours? I think you're mistaken, mate. You mean my girl? Because I know she couldn't have possibly said yes to you."

"Ha ha, prick."

"Don't deny what we have."

"I don't think the new bird you've been fucking would appreciate that too much, Haz."

And Harry is actually rendered pretty damn speechless...

Calum laughed aloud.

"Right," he nodded. "S'pretty much what I thought."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Cal."

"Oh, c'mon, mate, don't be shy, now. What's her name? Y'already fold me! She's Kez's friend...Uh...Rachel? Raven? Rory!"

"Shh, shh, shh!" He exclaimed, hissing as he damn near jogged from outside his bedroom, farther away, praying Rory heard none of that outside his door despite the fact that his phone was pressed fully to his ear. "Fuck're you trying to do? Tell the neighbors? Get the fuckin' queen involved?"

"Cussin' again, huh?" Calum grinned. "I take it you're with her now," Calum's voice is so smug and damn it, so is the expression Harry can't see, "Aren't you?"

"Since when are you this invested in my love life, eh?"

"Ha--! Sounds like I've got my answer."

Harry is still walking away from the room, "I haven't given an answer, mate."

"Wow! Since when are you embarrassed by any girl you've ever slept with? What is this? What's going on in this moment, Harry?"

"Nothing's going on, Cal," he tutted, "Where's Kez?"

Calum ignored this. "Tell me, then. What's the problem, eh? She bad in bed, or something?"

"Of course not," Harry scoffed on impulse. "I just..." He ran his free hand through his hair, taking a seat at his kitchen counter. "It's new, s'all. We're just..."

And Harry didn't exactly want to say this, but he was enjoying him and Rory sneaking around without input from their friends. He was enjoying them doing whatever the fuck they were doing without the peanut gallery pressuring him to explain their relationship or their lack of one at this point.

Harry was still trying to decide how he felt about this woman, wasn't he?

Well, maybe he knew how he felt.

Maybe.

"Look, say no more," Calum had replied. "I won't question what you've got going on if you reschedule Lou's bachelor party at a different fucking club than the one my girl works at. Great talk. Thanks, mate."

And Harry had laughed, grateful for the change in conversation. "I'm not the best man, remember?" He fell back against his seat, as Calum cursed aloud.

"You're full of shit, Harry."

"What? If you want a change, I'm not the one, mate. Zayn's the one planning."

"Like I'm really gonna believe you've got no say in this Hazza?"

Calum's claim was right, but Harry didn't feel like dealing with this, now.

Everything he wanted to do was still in his bed. Besides, he felt like Phoenix would be a great way to introduce his...his friendship with Rory to Lou.

"I'm not saying that," he replied. "Just..." Harry threw a look backwards towards his bedroom and the woman he hoped was still exactly where he'd left her. "Look, just talk to Zayn."

"I literally can't stand you guys, goodbye."

"Wait, wait!" Asmaa screams, her laugh still ringing with Zayn's. "Wait..."

"For what, Asmaa?"

And there's a loud click as Asmaa screenshots their chat.

"Oh my god, I hate you, bye."

And Asmaa falls into Zayn, still laughing, as Rory hangs up the FaceTime call.

She's still giggling against him as she sends that screenshot to her group chat.

"Wow," Zayn watches over her shoulder, "Savage."

"What?" Asmaa's hazel eyes grow wide. "This is a pivotal moment, Zayn. It must be shared."

"Is this a 'girl-thing?'" He asks, as she types to Rory and Kezie and Desirée, "'Cause guys don't do this."

"Somehow," Asmaa peers up at him, "I don't believe that."

"Believe it."

"Your friends, though? Sorry, still can't."

"Believe it," he replies, and he starts walking her backward, into his counters. Zayn is smiling, his eyes on her lips. "Good morning."

Now, her heart is thudding because bae.

She grins, "Good morning."

"Hi."

"Hi, Zayn."

"Hi, Asmaa."

She laughs as her back hits the cabinets and his hands grip the counter on either side of her and she wonders why everything always goes down in the kitchen.

"I didn't get a kiss this morning," he pouts, poking out his lip. "And I want one."

"Oh, you do?"

He nods, fighting a grin.

"Because, I didn't get a kiss either," she shrugs. "So, it's funny how we both want the same things."

"Okay, so..." Zayn smiles, his long eyelashes covering the hooded eyelids since that gaze is still on her lips. "I'm gonna do something about that, yeah? 'Cause we can't both want the same thing and not get it."

Asmaa hums, "That argument might hold in court."

"Ooh," he grins, pressing his lips to hers, "Talk legal to me."

"No," Asmaa laughs, "just kiss me again."

He does, but his hands are no longer on the counter because they're on her waist for this kiss, and he's feeling beneath the thin fabric of her pajamas.

And Asmaa isn't complaining.

She's pressed against him, her arms over his shoulders now as her phone buzzes in her hand because her group chat is blowing up because of her.

But all her thoughts now, revolve around Zayn.

She loves his kisses like this, because these kisses let her taste his tongue and bite his lip and turn him completely on.

She loves that lidded stare through dilated pupils. She loves his eyes when they're wide and brown and lust-filled. She loves that she's the one to elicit that response from him.

And he's pushed her legs apart with his knee—that's new—his hands gripping her waist and lifting her onto the counter.

"Can..." he inhales deeply, his tongue wetting his lips, "Can I try something?"

"If you promise not to do this when we visit your parents," she laughs breathily.

"Can't promise that," he chuckles, and his hands are running up the inside of her tights.

"Zayn," she grins. "I'm not about to get caught doing this in your family's home."

"They're gonna take up our whole day," he sighs. "At night I wanna have you all to myself."

Wet.

That immediately makes Asmaa wet.

He chuckles as her legs trap his hands between her thighs.

"You gonna let me try something, or—?"

"Yes," she breathes, scooting forward on the counter, excited to see where this would go. "What are we gonna try?"

Zayn's hands go to the elastic waistband of her tights.

"This," he whispers.

When his phone rings.

"The fuck...?"

Asmaa jumps, startled by the suddenness of the sound, completely jerking her from this cloudy, lusty haze in which she'd been completely captured.

"...Fuck."

Zayn is watching Calum's name flash across his screen and he's wondering if he's about to ignore this shit like he wants to.

"What's wrong?" Asmaa frowns at the sight of his frown.

"S'just my mate," Zayn rolls his eyes.

He silences his phone. "I'll call him back."

Harry walks back into his bedroom to find Rory laughing at her phone because of:

As - GUESS WHERE RORY IS BC IT ISN'T OUR FLATTTTTTT

This text sets Rory's groupchat on fire.

Literally.

And the picture accompanying it, of her trying to hide her nakedness in Harry's bed, doesn't help.

"Something funny?"

"No," she replies, looking up from the stream of texts between her and Kezie and Des and Asmaa.

"Sure?" Harry grins, sliding back into bed. "You're laughing."

"I hate my friends, that's all."

"Is this a girl-thing?" Luke asks, headphones in as he takes a call at an empty table in the lunch room. "Because I think it's a girl-thing."

"Gossip?" Desi's voice is full of laughter over the line. She'd been re-telling the events of the morning since now he was free and on his lunch break and he needed to be filled in about Rory and Harry and how all of their friends were sleeping together, apparently. "Don't lie to me, Luke. You know you gossip, too."

"Um, excuse me?" He scoffs. "I do not!"

"You're hilarious," Desirée laughs. "You so do! We gossip all the time."

"Okay, I don't gossip, we just happen to have a lot of things to discuss, and stop laughing at me!"

"Okay, okay," she giggles, and seriously, Luke gets off on her playfulness and her laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"You're not."

"You're right," she chokes. "Because you gossip and it's okay. It's okay, papi."

"Okay, I gossip—"

"Mhm, tell me something I don't know."

"—but only with you, 'cause you're my girlfriend and if we can't talk shit to each other, who can we talk shit to?"

"I can't argue with that," she smiles. "How's work?"

"It's Friday," he chuckles. "So, there's that."

"Too bad I work tonight, we should do something."

"Um, yes!" Luke exclaims, way louder and way more excited than intended, but Des suggesting they go out was like, fucking huge.

He lowers his voice as she laughs again. "Fuck yes, what'd you want to do? We can go Sunday. When you don't work."

"Let's go dancing," she replies.

"Dancing?"

"Like, Salsa. I haven't gone in so long and I found this club not far from Shoreditch," she pauses. "Would you be down?"

"I mean, yeah. Yeah," he replies softly. "I've like, never been, though, so I don't want you to be embarrassed..."

"Aw, Luke," she coos. "You're not gonna embarrass me."

"Ha—" He laughs, because she hadn't ever seen him dance before for good reason. "Promise?"

"Promise."

"Okay," he breathes a sigh of relief...just as Minuyara walks over to his empty table. She sits in a chair beside him.

"Hi, friend."

He waves silently, watching her take out her lunch and listening as Desi continues, giggling again at the thought of the text Asmaa had sent.

"I can't wait to see Rory."

And in this moment, Luke is suddenly reminded of something.

"Hey," he begins, because maybe it's Yara who's jogged his memory since she'd been the one to mention it, "I think she applied here."

"Here?"

"Like, Google," he replies. "Saw her name on an applicant list. She made it to the next round of interviews. So did your other friend, Asmaa."

And there's a pause.

"They didn't tell you?"

"No," Desirée replies. "They didn't."

She lifts her phone, putting it on speaker so she can type: ¿¿¿¿YALL BITCHES REALLY OUT HERE APPLYING TO GOOGLE????

______

Comment and vote my loves
Hehe I'm excited for these next few chapters hehehehehe