Chapter Text
Zayn got out of the car and went around to open the door for Gigi. She stepped out his 1995 Toyota Camry. It was the best that his parents could afford to send with him, especially since they were all hurting from Doniya's med school bills.
"Thanks, again, for coming out to dinner with me." Zayn smiled at her, striding beside her towards the door of the pizza place. He shoved his hands in his coat pocket, protecting them against the nippy February air.
"Thanks, again, for inviting me." Her cheeks were reddened from the air and Zayn wanted to put his hands over them to keep her warm.
"Of course. I figured I needed a break from my residents and maybe you were feeling the same way."
Gigi laughed. "Are those guys still making turd bombs in the bathroom?"
Zayn rolled his eyes. Two of his residents had made a game out of digging their poop out of the toilets and throwing them over the stall at the other unsuspecting person. After a couple notes left by the custodians, Zayn figured out why shit droplets covered the bathroom floor. He had to call his floor to a meeting; there was no way that he would allow this to continue, especially if they thought the wrong person was in the other stall.
"Thankfully not." Zayn sighed. "I didn't think it would have to take a threat of moving out to get them not to touch their own shit, but..." His voice trailed off as he pulled open the door to Prezzo's, a nice little restaurant a few kilometers off campus. Just inside the door, there was a family of six seated with a buzzer and one other couple along the opposite wall.
Gigi approached the hostess, her voice perky. "We have two."
"All right." The hostess, a smaller girl with dark brown hair pulled back to expose her rounded, pale face. "It'll be about a twenty minute wait. Is that all right?"
Gigi looked back briefly at Zayn, who nodded. Gigi nodded at the hostess. "Yes."
They took the buzzer and stood near the other couple along the wall. They continued their conversation about RA stuff on campus. One of their fellow RAs, Tyler, was trying to organize some sort of sports competition between the buildings on their part of campus, and Zayn wasn't too fond of the idea.
"He just thinks all of his ideas are revolutionary." Zayn slumped against the wall, his light eyes boring a hole into Gigi's face. "Thinking he should get a handshake for every minor contribution an' all that. I just think he's a prick about the whole process."
"I don't know." Gigi drawled before giggling. "Maybe you're just upset because he never involves you in the planning."
"The one time I did offer a contribution, he didn't appreciate it." Zayn smirked. Gigi's eyes had a calming effect on him; being usually nervous, the soft green irises eased the tightness in his stomach. The way she looked at him made his hope that the same could be said for her.
"Well, if I'm remembering correct, didn't you suggest vandalism?" She crossed her arms over her chest but leaned closer.
"I might have offered to supply spray paint to the students, yeah." Zayn ducked his eyes and Gigi let out a big laugh. He looked at her and couldn't help but pull a bashful smile. "But it could have been a good learning opportunity; show the kids how to spray paint under bridges and not get caught."
"I can't believe they let you be an RA." She shook her head, letting out another soft laugh. "I think they just let you in because your good looks could persuade the students to chill the fuck out."
"Well, clearly, they didn't account for the shit-slingers." Zayn smirked as Gigi's laughter grew louder. She had called him good looking. Maybe this could turn out to be more than a coworker-friend meal after all.
The buzzer went off in Gigi's hand.
"Guess we're up." Gigi raised it to his eye level and then led the way to the hostess. The hostess dropped the buzzer behind the counter and then escorted them to a booth towards the back half of the restaurant. They passed a couple booths along the way, but the place was definitely less busy than it tended to run on a Thursday night.
Zayn slid into the side of the booth with its back to the kitchen while Gigi slid into the opposite side, her back to the front door.
The hostess tossed the menus down in the middle of the booth. "Your waiter should be right with you to get your drink order."
Gigi widened her eyes at Zayn, bringing a menu closer to her.
Zayn gave a small laugh and grabbed the other menu. His heart melted a little. Sometimes he felt they were most connected when they didn't have to say a word to convey that someone was a jackass.
"Did you want to share a pizza or just get individual calzones?" Gigi glanced up from the menu, her green eyes glowing under the dim lighting.
"Uh." Zayn's gaze shifted to the menu. "Either way is okay."
Gigi made a small noise, but Zayn focused on the drink portion of the menu. He could go for a pint or something that would wash away easy. Although, maybe he should stay sober just because he the driver. He didn't want her to think that he was being irresponsible or anything like that.
"Welcome to Prezzo's!" The voice made Zayn's ears perk up. He focused on his menu, trying to place how he knew that accent. "My name is Niall and- oh, hey Gigi!"
Zayn looked up at that. Gigi gave the waiter a warm smile. She turned to Zayn and said, "Z, this is my resident, Niall."
Zayn turned to the waiter. It was the blond bloke that he had met with before the winter holidays. His collar got hot. His voice was tight. "Hi, Niall."
"Zayn's the RA over at Dorchester, you know, the building right down the hill." Gigi beamed.
"Nice to meet ya, mate." Niall gave a bright smile, one that Zayn could barely return. "What can I getcha t' drink?"
"Can I just have a coffee- black?" Gigi responded. She turned to Zayn.
"I'll have a Coke then." Zayn looked briefly as Niall wrote down their orders but looked away as soon as his blue eyes landed on him. He wasn't ashamed, exactly, but he was definitely given a phone number that he definitely never texted.
"Great. I'll be back in a jiff with those." Niall turned back to the kitchen.
"I didn't know he worked here." Gigi glanced after him, smiling as she pulled the menu a little closer to her. "He's a sweet kid. He was really homesick the first few weeks of school."
"Oh really?" The corners to Zayn's tugged down. It was hard to concentrate on the small font all of a sudden. "Is he doing okay right now?"
"Yeah." Gigi placed a finger on her menu, trailing across the list of ingredients. "He really likes his roommate; they get along great."
"Harry?" Zayn asked.
"Yeah, how did you know that?" Her forehead scrunched as she looked at him.
"Oh, uh," Zayn stalled for a second. He needed something quick. "I think I remember him from one of the events that we co-hosted? I don't know." Zayn laughed, slightly forced and nervous. "Don't you have like three Harrys on your floor?"
"I mean, I guess. He does have nice green eyes." She shrugged, her gaze drifting back to the menu. "Did you want to split some 'za, Z?"
Zayn's shoulders slumped forward, the anxiety lifted from his shoulders. "Sure, what kind of toppings do you want?"
"Are veggies okay?" She pointed at the menu. "It says that have artichoke hearts and olives. I think that sounds pretty good."
"Yeah, that sounds fine. Do you like chicken?"
"Half okay?"
"You think you'll eat half of the pizza?" He teased.
She challenged him with her gaze. "Is that really a question?"
"Okay." Zayn shruggeded his shoulders. "If I have to take home pizza with me, I just want to make sure it has chicken on it." He stuck his tongue out at her.
Gigi rolled her eyes. "No one wants to see your nasty tongue."
"Don't speak for others." Zayn winked at her and she rolled her eyes again, giving a small laugh.
"Here's your coffee." Niall stood at the head of the table. He placed the white cup to the right of Gigi. "The sugar and half-in-half are by the ketchup." He pointed to the end other end of the table. "And here is your Co-"
"Jesus!" Zayn leaped out of the booth as the Coke spilled over the table, not quick enough to avoid it landing on his lap. Luckily, he was wearing dark jeans, but there was still a little bit of a stain and it made his crotch feel heavy.
"I'm so sorry," Niall picked up the cup. "I'll get some napkins for the table and for your clothes."
"Don't worry about it." Zayn gave Gigi a nod. "I'm just going to dry off for a second in the bathroom."
"Take your time," Gigi said to Zayn. She turned to Niall. "Don't worry about it, I'll just use the napkins that came with our silverware."
Zayn didn't hear Niall's reply as he made his way to the bathroom towards the back of the restaurant. It was beside the kitchen and he had to keep his temper under control so no one could hear him curse out the night. Because of course he had his drink spilled on him and of course his hook-up was his waiter and of course Gigi would try and make the situation better. It was clear when it was just him and Gigi; he could look at her eyes and her soft lips and know what he wanted and who he wanted. But when Niall showed up... green turned into blue and the pale, smooth skin that he had felt that winter afternoon rushing back. Maybe it was an exceptional orgasm, but something about Niall had him all confused.
He stood under the hand dryer, trying to get the wet patch to disappear. The hot air was uncomfortable and did little to lessen the dampness of his clothes. He ran a hand through his hair, annoyance taking over his demeanor.
The door opened and he stepped out of the airway of the dryer. He put his dry hands into the stifling air and glanced at the doorway. Niall stood with his back pressed against the wooden door, a sheepish look on his face.
"Hey, I'm sor-"
"It's fine." Zayn stepped under the air flow again.
"I didn't do it on purpose." Niall remained by the door, his hands wringing the hem of his work shirt.
"I believe you." Zayn tried not to let the irritation permeate his tone.
Niall took a deep breath, but his voice seemed restricted of air. "Is this, uh, a date?"
Zayn closed his eyes. "Not for lack of trying."
"Oh." Niall's voice grew small. His shoes squeaked as his weight shifted on the linoleum tiles. "Is that why you didn't text me?" His voice grew louder as Zayn hit the button for hot air again. "I thought I had given you the wrong number for like two weeks."
"Sorry, 'm just bad at textin'." Zayn focused on the machine in front of him, his eyes focused on the red, bolded warning sign, and not on the boy riddled with caution behind him.
"I don't believe that, but I'll just go." Niall shuffled to pull open the door.
"Wait." Zayn stepped away from the air dryer, the whirring noise still loud as he turned to Niall. The boy looked caught, his blue eyes bulging as Zayn approached him. They stood an arm-length apart, but Niall still had his back pressed on the door. "I'm sorry, Niall. I should have sent you something."
" 's fine, really." Niall gave him a smile; it didn't connect to his eyes.
"Don't lie to me." Zayn shook his head. He took a step closer. "You don't have to forgive me."
"It's fine, Zayn." Niall bumped into the door, startled, his eyes latched onto Zayn's approaching form.
Zayn lifted a hand to cup Niall's cheek, forcing Niall's blue eyes to gaze right into his own. He searched for something, a hint for what he was doing was okay. Niall blinked at him, his eyelids going heavy as he sunk into Zayn's touch. Zayn leaned forward and pressed his lips against Niall's.
It was a quick peck, innocent. Niall let out a small hum as Zayn pulled away.
"You should probably get back to your date." Niall's voice was calm, concealing whatever he actually meant under them.
"Not a date, just friends," Zayn corrected. "And you probably shouldn't be spilling drinks on your customers. You know, they tip you."
"What do you call this then?" Niall raised his eyebrows, his voice soft yet expectant.
Zayn skimmed his thumb over Niall's cheek, his eyes traveling from Niall's eyes to his lips. "I'm not sure." He ran a tongue over his lower lip. "Can't we just see where this goes?"
"It went somewhere in December and then you dropped off." Niall's lips pressed tight, his gaze untrusting. He moved Zayn's hand away. "I have to get back to work."
Zayn latched onto Niall's hand and pulled himself closer to the younger guy. Niall opened his mouth to protest, and Zayn leaned in to kiss him. The two met in a messy middle where Zayn pulled Niall's hips closer to him while Niall's free hand tangled in Zayn's hair. Their teeth clashed as they figured out a rhythm.
Zayn's could feel his heart in his ears; his nose full of lemon and hints of smoke that clung to Niall's uniform shirt. He missed Niall's touch, the rough way Niall pulled on his hair, the easy way their bodies fit together, the way Niall wasted no time before shoving his tongue into Zayn's mouth. He missed his presence; this boisterous kid who was too far from home.
They broke apart, each breathing a little heavier than before.
"Text me." Niall breathed, looking Zayn in the eye.
"I will."
And he would.
Maybe, probably.