33. Annie
Annie
“Is there anything I should know about your sister before we go in?” Zayn looks over at me in the car. We parked a moment ago, and Cassie and Emmett should be here any minute.
“She’s like me? But older? I don’t know. Don’t you know her?”
“Very helpful.” Zayn rolls his eyes. His hands tighten on the steering wheel. “Yes, I’ve met her before, but we don’t cross paths a lot.”
“Zayn, are you nervous?” I tease, pushing at his shoulder.
He tries to give me his best side-eye but ends up smiling anyway. “Stop looking at me like that.”
“You’re the hot actor, you shouldn’t be nervous to talk with someone you likely see more than me.”
“You think I’m hot?” Zayn’s head dips to the right, and damn, the way he’s looking at me takes my breath away.
“I think you’re very hot, is that not obvious?” I lean closer to him, my arms resting on the center console.
“For the record, I think you’re very hot, too.” He grabs my chin and pulls me all the way to him before pressing his lips against mine.
My head turns to the left to deepen the kiss, bringing us closer together, but a bang on my window causes me to snap back into my seat. My hand goes to my chest as my heart rate climbs.
“Fuck, what was that?” I see something out of the corner of my eye.
Cassie. And Emmett. I shake my head while they stand outside the car laughing.
Zayn opens his car door to get out and join them.
“Have fun without me! I’m going to stay here so I don’t die from embarrassment.” I sink into my seat as my door opens.
“Oh, I was just having some fun. Taking advantage of your back being turned, you know.” Cassie grins, proud of herself for catching me off guard.
Growing up, we would take turns jumping out of dark bedrooms or hiding in closets, just to scare one another.
It first started by accident. Since I’m five years younger than Cassie, I didn’t realize how creepy it would be to sit in a dark room waiting for her.
From that moment, she got me back, and then we would do whatever we could to scare one another.
I learned to keep the lights on and my chest to the door ever since.
“C’mon, Princess.” Zayn’s in front of me, holding out his hand, waiting for me to grab it.
Cassie catches my attention, her eyes wide, which I can only assume is because of the nickname. The one that’s meant to be private, for us. Ugh. I can’t even hide the fact that it makes me blush every time.
I press my hand into his palm, and he wraps his fingers around mine and tugs, pulling me out of the car and into his chest. He presses a kiss on my head. I’m officially sure that Zayn’s love language is physical touch.
Either that, or he just genuinely enjoys it.
“Annie, Zayn, you brought friends!” Liam calls when we enter the shop.
I know Liam is a huge fan of Emmett from the few times he’s worn shirts with sayings from his movies.
And I know what that's like because of how celebrity obsessed I was at a young age.
If Emmett was in it, I not only watched it, but I purchased it, found merch, memorized lines, made collages, made friends in message boards, and bothered Cassie a billion times when she first started working at January Studios.
“We did,” Zayn says before I get the chance.
When we first started coming here, he wouldn’t say anything. He’d just sulk and be his grumpy self. But piece by piece, he’s started opening up and acting more full of life. And Liam especially loves when Zayn talks to him.
“We heard you have the best ice cream.” Emmett walks up to the counter to inspect the buckets of ice cream.
“We do, sir, would you like to sample one? Or two? Or five? Well, maybe not more than five, because that is basically one scoop.” Liam rambles, out of breath from trying to impress Emmett.
“Call me Emmett, and I don’t need samples.” He turns to Cassie and says, “Want to split a cup of Summer Bliss? Apparently that’s their flavor.” His eyes flicker to us and his eyebrows raise, before he looks back at Cassie.
She nods.
“Alright, Liam, two scoops of Summer Bliss, please.”
“Same for us, Liam. Thanks man,” Zayn chimes in.
Liam smiles to himself as he scoops our cups. After we pay, I look around for a seat. It’s packed in here, like normal, but we find a booth to sit in.
“Is it always this busy? I wouldn’t think an ice cream shop would be this busy at the end of October,” Cassie says.
Zayn just chuckles. “Pretty much. All because of Annie.”
“It was not just me, it was a team effort.” I beam at him, and he smiles back before plopping a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.
I turn back to Cassie and Emmett. “They were going to shut this place down, but when we started coming here and bringing the press, everyone else started coming here. They had to enforce the capacity of the building in the heat of the summer. That’s how busy it got.”
“Wow, seems like you two make a great team. Saved the ice cream shop, pulling in tons of donations for the Young Actors Association, who knew?” Emmett comments.
“Yeah, who knew.” I don’t have to look at Zayn to know he’s smiling at me. I can feel the heat of his gaze as I take another bite of the ice cream.
“What projects do you two have next?” I ask, switching to a subject that takes me out of the spotlight.
“We, um, are taking a break.” Cassie smiles at Emmett. He gives her a nod, signaling something silent.
“You two never take breaks,” I say.
The most time they’ve taken off is a month, and I thought Cassie was going to go crazy from not working.
“We will have our hands full in a few months.” Cassie’s expression changes. Her cheeks turn red, her eyes soften, and Emmett’s hand moves to her belly.
“Are you serious?” I ask.
“Serious.”
“Oh my god, Cass. Em.” I reach to wipe a tear from my eye.
“Congratulations. You two are going to make amazing parents.”
“Thanks, sis. We are excited.”
“Well, look at me. I’m a mess. These photographers are going to wonder what’s wrong because I’m a crying mess,” I say, frantically wiping my tears with a napkin.
“A beautiful mess,” Zayn says, barely a whisper.