A/N Hi everyone. Over two weeks since an update again...I am so sorry. It took me a while to finally come up with how I wanted this chapter to go. But here's an update for it now.

Hey, and it's finally summer up here! Now we're actually in the time of this story, finally! Not only has school actually ended, but the weather actually feels like it's summer up here. It wasn't like this in spring, when we had a snowstorm in April!

But the sad part is that although it's summer, I still won't be able to update frequently. Also, this week I'll be at camp for a few days, then I'm driving down to Kansas with my mom for a quick meeting over the weekend. And at the end of that week, I'll be going on another trip that'll lead up to some fun things (including the 1D concert!) But because of that, I won't be able to get onto a laptop very often to update. I'm not even sure if I'll have WiFi in Kansas, or on the other trip. So if you see me on, I'll probably not be on for long, or I found time to update. But again, it's going to be a long wait for the next chapter. Again, I apologize.

I'm getting off topic. Anyway, let's just start the story. Hopefully it'll make up for the wait. Here's Chapter 25! Enjoy!

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Kelly’s POV

What are you supposed to do when boredom takes you over, and all you want to do is to possibly make a date with that one guy you like, but you don’t want to make the first move?

No answer? That’s exactly what I thought. How exactly was I supposed to make a date with Zayn if I was acting like too big of a chicken to even call him? I sighed, and flopped down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Lizzie and Louis were out doing a Twitcam last time I checked, and the rest of the guys were at a fitting, or doing some other band stuff. Lucy and Simone had piano lessons, Courtney was teaching a dance class, and Ana was at skating practice. So I was pretty much the only one left. I had been working on a new portrait of my parents to give them for their wedding anniversary.

I then had a thought. Zayn could possibly be done by now, right? I grabbed my phone and dialed his number. My finger hovered over the talk button, trying to decide whether I should call or not.

Thankfully, I didn’t even have to press the button. Someone was calling me. It was Zayn.

I quickly answered the phone, smiling. “Hey, Zayn,” I said, trying not to sound as bored as I was, or as happy as I was that he was calling.

“Hey, Kelly,” Zayn said into the phone.

“Vas happenin’?” I asked, adopting his phrase as I talked to him. I laughed a tiny bit, and so did he.

“Nothing much, I just finished the fitting. I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out later; or something like that, maybe?” Zayn offered. His voice sounded as if he were smiling.

“That sounds great. What time should we meet up? And where?” I asked him.

Zayn paused for a second. “Um...how about I pick you up at six for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory?” He asked me.

I froze. Did he just ask me out?

“Yes, I did,” Zayn said. Darn it, I said that out loud, didn’t I? “And yes, you did.” He laughed a bit. “So, what do you say?”

I bit my lip to keep from embarrassing myself. “Sure, Zayn; that sounds great,” I said calmly; impressing myself with how calm I sounded.

“Great! I’ll pick you up in a couple of hours,” Zayn said.

“Alright, I’ll see you then, Zayn,” I smiled.

“Bye, Kelly,” he said before hanging up. As soon as I heard the click, I jumped up off my bed. This was surreal! Maybe all those days trying to figure out what he thought about me were actually worth it!

I checked the clock next to my bed and groaned. It was three o’clock. I had to wait for three more hours in order to get the date. I guess that was kind of a good thing. I now had a bit of time to get ready. I walked over to my closet and searched through the hangers of clothes in order to find something cute to wear.

I pulled out a dress from my closet and held it up in front of me. It was a nice shade of light blue, and had a bit of a flower pattern on it in black. It looked great, in my opinion. I added a pair of white stud earrings, a pendant that matched the earrings, and grabbed my cream heels. Courtney had taught me a thing or two about fashion, and she had informed me that this outfit looked great. She also pointed out that it looked like an outfit Ariana Grande wore. That made me like it even more.

I walked to the bathroom and grabbed my favorite shade of lipstick. I put it on and checked it in the mirror to make sure I hadn’t made myself look like a clown or something. When I confirmed that I did, in fact, look fine, I applied a bit of mascara and decided I looked okay. Hopefully Zayn would like it. I then pulled my hair back into a fishtail braid, checking my appearance for the third time in the few minutes. Courtney had been right. If I dyed my hair red, I think I would have ended up looking like Ariana!

After doing all that, I strolled back into my room and took a seat on my bed, iPod in hand. I turned on one of my playlists and listened for the sound of the doorbell over the music.

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Ding dong.

At six on the dot, that was the sound that I heard over End Up Here by Cher Lloyd. I quickly shut off the music and ran down the stairs to the door, clutching my purse in my hands tightly. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I found Zayn was there, talking with my dad.

I waited for a second, drumming my fingers on the wooden handrail. Zayn picked up on this first, and smiled at me, giving me a wave. He looked really happy now, which made me feel much better about what we were doing.

Dad must have noticed where Zayn’s attention turned, so he looked at me. “Oh, there you are, Kelly,” he said with a smile. “I’ve met your date.”

“I noticed, Daddy,” I said, giving him a peck on the cheek. Turning to Zayn, I asked, “He didn’t scare you off now, did he?”

Zayn shook his head with a smile. “No, of course not,” he said with a laugh. “Ready to go, Kelly?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I smiled, walking over to him and standing in the doorway with him. “I’ll see you later, Dad,” I said to him, waving.

“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Gonzalez,” Zayn smiled at my Dad.

“Have her home by ten,” Dad chided, smiling.

“I will,” Zayn smiled at him before leading me out to the car. He opened the back door for me with a smile.

“Thank you, Zayn,” I smiled, getting into the car. I crossed my ankles and placed my purse on my lap, smiling at him. Then I looked to see who was driving the car. I saw Liam there in the front seat. I waved, and he waved right back to me.

Zayn smiled back at me. “You’re welcome,” he said, going to his side of the car and getting in on the driver’s side, but in the back next to me. “Liam is going to be our chauffeur,” he told me as we both buckled in.

“That’s nice,” I said. I turned to Liam. “Thank you, Liam,” I said with a smile. I guess that he had recruited him, since Louis and Lizzie were probably off doing something fun, and the rest of the guys had probably not even finished their fittings, or they had something they had to do.

“You’re welcome,” Liam told me with a smile, starting up the car and driving off.

Zayn smiled at me. “You look beautiful tonight, Kelly,” he complimented me.

I blushed a tiny bit. “Thank you, Zayn. You look great tonight too,” I said.

He smiled. “Thanks, Kelly.”

“You’re welcome, Zayn,” I said sweetly, before the two of us both faced the front, waiting until we arrived.

Zayn turned to me when we were near the restaurant. “You know, I’m really glad we’re doing this,” he told me, smiling.

I was a bit shocked, myself. I tucked a stray strand of hair, one that didn’t make it into my braid, behind my ear. “I am too,” I admitted.

Zayn’s smile still remained, and grew. “Really, you are?” he asked.

“I really am. I’m surprised that you are,” I told him.

“Well, why wouldn’t I be?” Zayn asked as Liam pulled up at the restaurant. We had arrived at the Cheesecake Factory. Zayn got out of the car quickly and opened my door for me.

“Thanks, Zayn,” I smiled, getting out and clutching my purse in my hand. I looked up at the building and smiled. This would be a great night…right?

“You’re welcome, Kelly,” Zayn smiled at me, and took my hand into his, leading me into the building. He walked to the hostess’s spot and whispered, “Table for two, please."

The hostess nodded. “Of course; right this way,” she said with a kind smile, leading us to an area in the back of the restaurant. When we reached the table, the hostess placed our menus on the table. “Your server will be here shortly,” the hostess said as Zayn pulled my chair out for me to sit.

“Thanks, Zayn,” I smiled, sitting down in the chair.

He pushed my chair in and smiled back at me. “You’re welcome, Kelly,” he said.

The two of us then entered a quick conversation about the place. He then said, “Did I tell you that you look beautiful tonight?”

“Yes, you did, in the car ride here,” I told him. “But thank you again,” I said.

He didn’t get a chance to respond, since that was when the waitress came along. She strolled over to the table like she owned the place. Her midnight curls were pulled back into a side ponytail and resting on her shoulder and the sleeve of her white shirt, which wasn’t buttoned all the way it should have been. She looked about college age, in my opinion.

She arrived at the table and smiled at us, but I noticed that her brown eyes were trained on my date. “Hello, and welcome to the Cheesecake Factory. My name is Kelsi, and I’ll be your server today. Can I start you off with something to drink?” She pulled out her notepad and pursed her lips, waiting for us. “I have lemonades, Coke products, milkshakes, water…”

“Um, I’ll have a Diet Coke, then,” Zayn said. Kelsi nodded, and turned to walk away, as if she didn’t notice me. “Kelsi, you didn’t get my date’s drink order,” he added.

Kelsi came over and blushed a tiny bit, probably trying to look cute. “Sorry,” she said, now acknowledging my presence. “And what would you like?”

“Just a glass of water, please,” I answered, giving her a kind smile.

Kelsi smiled. “I’ll bring those back for you two right away,” she said, before strolling away, leaving me and Zayn alone again.

I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat, and Zayn noticed. “Are you okay?” He asked me, looking at me straight in my eyes. Oh God.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” I said softly. “Let’s just…” I paused, trying to catch my train of thought again, but failing. “Never mind.”

“Let’s just talk again, alright?” Zayn suggested. I just nodded silently. “So, how was your day?” He asked, picking the universal I-have-no-idea-what-to-talk-about question.

“It was fine. I was able to work on a few projects,” I said, thinking about what I had been doing. The portrait was almost done; it just needed a few more details to be added before it would be ready to give them.

“Oh, what were you working on?” Zayn asked; curiosity in his eyes.

“Just a portrait of my parents. Their wedding anniversary’s coming up, so I wanted to give them something that they would appreciate.” And beat out my sister.

I guess it’s time to explain my sister. Her name is Janine. She’s a few years older than me, and next fall, she should be in her fourth year of college. But, you see, she hasn’t made all the right decisions. She ran away from home a lot when we were younger, actually. She also was Mom’s favorite. Mom never had said anything to her to make her feel bad. In fact, she treated her like a princess.

This was why I mainly associated myself with my Dad. He still appreciated me, thankfully. But, Janine still thinks that she can worm her way into Mom’s heart again, and sends absolutely wonderful presents to win them over, even when I put all my heart and soul into the ones I give.

Janine’s a drama queen, so I never talk about her. That’s the main thing.

“That’s nice,” Zayn smiled, bringing me back from my thoughts. “I bet they’ll love it,” he told me.

“I hope so. I worked really hard on it, so it would be wonderful if they loved it,” I shrugged.

“I know they will. Kelly, as long as you made it yourself, your parents will love it and appreciate it, I just know it,” Zayn assured me.

I smiled and nodded. “Thanks Zayn. That means a lot,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” he said. “So, what do you think you’d like to order?”

We chatted about what we were going to order, deciding between choices. As soon as we finished, like she knew, Kelsi came back with our drinks. “Here you go. Are you two ready to order?” she asked.

Zayn nodded and ordered for both of us, smiling.

“I’ll get that in for you. It’ll be out as soon as possible,” Kelsi smiled at Zayn and shot me a tiny glare before strutting away.

Zayn smiled at me. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “I’ll be right back,” I said, getting up from the table. I walked off towards the bathroom, passing by Kelsi as she strolled over to a different table to get their orders.

I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, wanting to check my appearance. Kelsi had been giving me those looks, and I wanted to make sure I hadn’t ended up actually looking like a clown.

I sighed in relief. I was okay. I washed my hands quickly before walking back towards the table.

I passed by Kelsi as she took orders from another table, one filled with college guys that looked as if they were Kelsi’s age. I accidentally overheard their conversation.

One of the guys, an okay looking blonde that kind of reminded me of the guy from Letters to Juliet, said to Kelsi, “So, how are you doing with flirting with the guy? Gotten him interested yet?"

“I think it’s possible, but he seems to be really into the girl he’s with. But, I’ll get him. Trust me Shane, I never lose a bet,” Kelsi smirked.

The guy, Shane, smirked back. “Right, but if he asks you out, girl, remember you’ve got a boyfriend here.” He pointed at himself, giving her a look that to me, it didn’t look all that attractive.

Kelsi, on the other hand, found it amazing. She looked longingly at him, but then answered him. “I know, I know,” Kelsi smiled. “Everything will go great, trust me.” Then she spoke a bit louder. “Now, what can I get you boys?"

I rolled my eyes, walking away. She was flirting with Zayn on a bet? That was just sick, especially considering one of the guys was her boyfriend!

As I sat down, Zayn looked at me with an expression of concern. “Everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine,” I said softly, scooting my chair into the chair ever so gracefully. “So…” I began. We ended up in a wonderful conversation about how his day went as the meal cooked

Finally, when the meal arrived, I noticed a tiny slip of white paper peeking out from underneath Zayn’s plate. All I saw were a few numbers.

Oh you must be joking. She actually snuck her phone number to the table as part of the bet? That’s low.

I sighed, and began eating my meal, hoping Zayn wouldn’t notice. Instead, he saw it. He slowly pulled it out and slipped it in his pocket. He actually took her number? Are you kidding me?

What the heck is wrong with people?

I ate in silence, not looking up at him again except when he spoke to me. But even then I didn’t speak

“Kelly, are you alright?” I gave him a nod to say yes and sipped my water. “Isn’t this food good?” I gave him another nod. “Are you sure you’re alright? You’re not talking much.” I nodded a third time.

As the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake that Zayn ordered for us, knowing I loved chocolate, arrived, Zayn spoke up for real. “Kelly, this is what I mean. You haven’t talked with me at all since our meals arrived. Are you sure you’re alright?”

I sighed, and spoke up. “I would feel better if I hadn’t seen you take Kelsi’s number and put it in your pocket,” I said.

“Is that what this is about? Kelly, I-,” he began, but I cut him off.

“Save it, Zayn. I saw it. It doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done.” I looked down at the cheesecake. “Can we just get this in a To Go box and go? I’d like to get home now,” I added

Zayn nodded, his face falling. “Sure,” he said, putting down his fork. “Let’s just get the check and we can go.”

I nodded, and looked away, rubbing my bare arms. I heard Kelsi’s heels click on the ground as she walked over.

“Can we get two To Go boxes, and the check, please?” Zayn asked her.

“Sure,” Kelsi said sweetly before walking away, her heels getting quieter as she moved.

I was silent the whole rest of the time. Zayn put our cheesecake in the To Go boxes and paid for our meals before leading me out of the restaurant and to the car. Liam was waiting there, leaning against the window and on the phone, probably with Courtney. As soon as he saw us, Liam said, “Oh, I gotta go. Zayn and Kelly need a ride home. Talk to you soon, Courtney.” He then hung up and got in the car.

I got in on my side and sat silently as Zayn got in next to me. Liam sensed a bit of tension, I could just see it. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything more, and drove me home with Zayn.

When I got home, I took my cheesecake from Zayn with a small, “Goodbye,” and a, “Thank you” to Liam. I headed up to the door silently, not waiting for responses. I opened it, slipped inside, and put my cheesecake into the fridge as quickly as I could. I sighed, wishing it hadn’t happened this way.

Dad was sitting on the couch. When he heard the fridge door open, he asked, “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Just peachy,” I mumbled, walking up to my room and slamming the door. I flopped down on my bed and covered my face with the pillow. This day couldn’t have gotten any worse. I ruined my chances.

I, Kelly Emily Gonzalez, would never truly be with Zayn Javaad Malik.

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A/N So? What did you think? Did you enjoy it? I really feel bad writing it. It took me forever to come up with everything I needed to include to make this chapter perfect to me.

Video of the Chapter: One Direction - Wonderwall (cover)

Picture of the Chapter: Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake

How do you think Zayn will remedy their friendship, and possible romance? Post it in the comments below. Also, I think I'm going to start asking you guys some questions at the end of each chapter. I'll go back and add some to earlier chapters, but in the meantime, here's one:

What is your favorite One Direction song at the moment?

Mine is Irresistible, at the moment, but I also am in love with the cover they all did of Wonderwall a few years ago. I have that video on all the time at home! It was after they filmed the music video of What Makes You Beautiful, so they're all on the beach while they sing it...

And I've started to ramble again.

Please vote and comment! I love you all so much! See you next update!