dele arched a well-groomed eyebrow. “probably be like this for the rest of the night,” he replied, honestly. with summer dispersing for autumn the weather had declined rapidly and the nightlife was practically inhabitable. he already knew the street would be rampant with fast-filling puddles and broken branches from battered trees. “why? scared to stay over or something?” not that he could taunt her for long. his suggestion had been well-placed and she’d stripped herself of the black hoodie, revealing the crop underneath, and - probably unwarranted - had fully grasped the midfielder’s attention. eye’s dark as he shamelessly canvassed the familiar skin before unzipping his own training jacket to keep her warm.
the central heating was on high, the fire lit, a blanket pulled around them, and he’d already leaned in to grab a slice of vegetarian-friendly pizza. all the makings really of a ‘cosy night-in’. “easy? no.” he chuckled. “had to put a lot of graft in to get the gold, didn’t i?” after his discrepancy in the changing room and over the england group chat, he’d had to do a lot of grovelling to re-gain even a semblance of trust. and to his credit, he hadn’t exactly misbehaved since. give-and-take a few run-ins with michael where he hadn’t exactly sung her praises. “still have a soft spot for me though,” he didn’t fail to point out the obvious, “would you really have let anyone else back in your pants if they’d degraded you in front of your ‘brother’ and his friends?” he licked the tomato sauce off the base while judging her out the corner of his eye. “didn’t think so.” he grinned - the cockiness perceivable from under it. “might as well just admit that i’m a weakness at this point.”
the athlete wasn’t the sentimental type. he didn’t like birthdays ordinarily - even his brother’s went by uncelebrated on his behalf, simply because he wasn’t used to the fuss. they were never a thing in his childhood — if he was lucky his mum would steal him a cupcake out of the local asda and that was all he had to signify that he was a year older. he assumed everyone else was the same until he was adopted by the hickford’s and harry’s fifteenth birthday had constituted to more gifts than dele had ever received on all of his birthday’s as a collective. they were way too extravagant but zendaya was someone he wanted to treat. “welcome to club twenty-three, finally…” he smirked, nudging her playfully. “i haven’t even introduced you to sonny, stop acting like he’s your favourite.” it was obvious that he was nervous now. gaze studied her face with acute permanence to try and catch any indicators that she might not like it. “are you sure?” he rambled bashfully, fingers nervously fighting to thread the catch through the loop. “because i can take it back if it’s not right or if you don’t really like it. it’s not a big deal.”
dele wet his lips with his tongue. he knew it was an avoidance tactic - that there was something she wasn’t telling him. and who was he really? to pry. “i’ve been injured since the season started,” he mumbled, diffusing the weak excuse. jesse was well aware of his situation. “i wasn’t on the england squad with them, i don’t get called up anymore.” as frustrating as it was, the young talent that was slipping through were developed and with his performance getting worse he found himself taking a back-burner to youth. “not funny,” dele grunted, “if he was your boyfriend, you cheated on him a shit load of times…” an expression of pride distinguished on his features that he might have swayed her morals. “you looked cosy.” dele pointed out. “are you saying if you post a picture of us right now he won’t be concerned?” the brit arched an eyebrow. “think i’d quite enjoy causing a ruction in young love. let him know you’re still mine.”
“shit.” she muttered, dropping her head against the back of the couch. “not scared. just wasn’t planning on it, i didn’t even bring any clothes or anything.” and the ones she had on were now all stained by the rain, except for the top that was doing a poor job at covering much skin. “why does it rain so much over here, anyway? i’m starting to understand why the beatles felt the need to make a whole song about the sun showing up. it doesn’t happen often, does it?” zendaya rolled her eyes, though her expression didn’t show any of the annoyance present in her voice. “you got a guest bedroom right?” the other time she had been there she’d only really paid attention to one of the rooms upstairs, and that was the one where she ended up spending the night, covered by a blanket that smelled just like dele while his arm circled around her. but it was a big enough house, and it was easy to guess that there were at least two other rooms she could sleep in that night to avoid using the couch as a bed.
the jacket being held for her brought a smile to her lips, and she accepted it with no questions, quickly putting it on and mumbling a ‘thank you’ under her breath. “i don’t know... i should’ve probably made you work harder, only spent a couple months without talking to you.” or maybe it had been three, but it certainly hadn’t been much. not when her initial plan was to never speak to him again. a puff of air left her lips and zendaya shook her head, looking at the boy on her right with a fake smile plastered on her face. “you love making me sound like an idiot, don’t you?” it was true what he said - had it been anyone else she wasn’t sure she would’ve let anything happen between them anymore. and if that was true, he was probably right altogether. she did have a soft spot for him, and that thought alone made her want to roll her eyes at herself. “you win, i don’t know what the fuck i’m doing here after you done me wrong like that. i must really be a damn fool.”
on another hand there was that other side of dele. the one that always showed when they were alone, and only then. the one that was looking at her right now seeming anxious to know if she’d liked the present he picked out for her. and whether liked to admit it or not, that one could make her heart skip a beat sometimes. “thanks, boo.” she gave him a wink. “he is my favorite, though. you don’t need to introduce us, i’ve seen him on your instagram...” except she didn’t follow him anywhere, so “jesse’s instagram,” she quickly corrected. “he’s definitely the coolest one between all you guys.” once zendaya turned back around and was facing him again, she had to bite her lip to hold back a laugh at how incredibly nervous he looked because of something as small as a necklace. “no, don’t you dare take my present back now.” she chuckled, placing one hand on his cheek and brushing it with her thumb. “i promise i love it, d. thank you.” she leaned forward just enough to press a soft kiss to his lips.
“what did you do?” her eyes immediately searched his body for any evident bruises, but there wasn’t anything other than the usual hint of purple under his eyes that was nothing out of the ordinary when it came to him. “well, you’re gonna be called again when you’re all better, won’t you?” she tried to offer him a smile but looked unsure herself. “he wasn’t, though, and i told you that a million times. i don’t cheat.” the affirmation came out in a more serious tone than she intended and her body tensed a little. it wasn’t like dele was really accusing her, she knew that, however that particular word didn’t sit well with her at all, and that stupid look of pride dancing in his features made everything that much worse. “he’s my friend.” that sentence sounded like a broken record leaving her lips, and even she hated it. “he’s got no reason to care... but why would we take a picture together? i’m not yours either. i’m only mine right now.”
