I follow Liam to the stadium, I decided earlier to drive on my own so I could leave when I wanted without disrupting Liam and Danielle's night. I park my car in the spot next to Liam and text Zayn to tell him that I have arrived. He tells me to meet him at the far left corner of the field.

"Zayn is going to meet us in the back." I tell Liam as him and Danielle walk up.

"Sounds good." Liam says, he seems less than thrilled.

"Who's Zayn?" Danielle asks.

"He's my.. friend. " He is just my friend.

"You dating Max right?" She asks. I look over at her. She doesn't seem to be implying anything, she just seems confused.

"No babe, neither of them are dating her." Liam laughs.

"It's not as bad as it sounds." I laugh too. The school band begins to play and the field becomes more and more crowded, I am relieved when I spot Zayn leaving against the fence.

"Oh." Danielle squeaks. I can't tell if she surprised by his tattoos and piercings or his good looks, maybe both.

"Hey beautiful." Zayn beams and hugs me. I smile at him, returning the hug.

"I'm Zayn, it's nice to meet you both." He nods towards Liam and Danielle. I know he has met Liam before but he is just trying to be polite.

"Have you been here long?" I ask him.

"Only about ten minutes, there are a lot more people here than I expected." he tells me. Liam leads the way to a less crowded area by the enormous mound of wood and we sit on the ground. Danielle sits between Liam's legs and leans back against his chest. The sun is going down and the breeze is picking up, I should have worn long sleeves.

"Yea, have you been to one before?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"No, this isn't my typical scene" he laughs. "but I am glad to be here tonight." he adds.

I smile at his compliment and someone begins to speak into a microphone talking about lighting the fire. Less than a minute later, the fire ignites and swallows the mound of wood fiercely. It's actually quite beautiful being this close to the flames.

"So how long are you here?' Zayn asks Danielle.

"Only the weekend, I wish I could be here for the wedding next weekend." she frowns.

"What wedding?" Zayn asks. I look at Liam and he answers.

"My mother's wedding." He tells him.

"Oh.." he seems to be thinking about something.

"What?" I ask him.

"Nothing, I'm just trying to remember who else is going to a wedding next weekend. Oh yea, Max I think. She was asking us what she should wear to a wedding." he says. My heart stops. "It's probably a different wedding though, right?" He asks. Max hasn't told any of her friends that her father is the chancellor or that he is marrying Liam's mother.

"No, they are.." Danielle begins.

"I'm sure it's a different wedding" I interrupt her and Liam says something in her ear. Max was actually considering going to the wedding? Why else would she ask her friends what she should wear to a wedding?

"I can't imagine Max at anyone's wedding anyway." Zayn laughs.

"Why not?" My tone is a little harsher than I meant it to be.

"I don't know, because she is Max. The only way to get her to go to a wedding would be if she knew she could have sex with all the bridesmaids." He says and rolls his eyes.

"I thought you and Max are friends?" I say.

"We are I am not saying anything bad about her, that's just how Max is. She has sex with a different girl every weekend, sometimes more than one." he informs me. My ears are buzzing and the fire feels too hot on my skin. I stand up before I realize what I am doing.

"Where are you going? What's wrong?" Zayn asks.

"Nothing, I just.. I need some air. Some fresh air." I mumble. I know how stupid that sounds but I don't care. "I will be right back, I just need a second." I walk away quickly before any of them can follow me. What is wrong with me? Zayn is sweet and he actually likes me, he enjoys my company and I can't stop thinking about Max. I take a few deep breathes and walk back over to them.

"Sorry, the fire was just.. to hot." I lie and sit back down. Zayn has his phone out and turns the screen away from me as he slides it back into his pocket.

Zayn tells me it's fine and we make small talk with Liam and Danielle for the next hour.

'I'm getting sort of tired, I had an early flight." Danielle tells Liam and he nods.

"Yea, I am tired too. We are going to get going." Liam stands up and helps Danielle to her feet.

"Do you want to go too?" Zayn asks me.

"No, I am okay. Unless you want to go?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"Cool." he smiles. We say goodbye to Liam and Danielle and watch as the disappear into the crowd.

"So what is the reason behind the bonfire?" I ask Zayn, I am unsure if he will know but I am curious.

"I think it's like to celebrate the end of the football season." he tells me. I look around and notice a lot of people are wearing jerseys. He must be right.

"Oh." I say and look over at Zayn. "I see it now." I laugh.

"Is that Max?" He says and I snap my head in the direction that he is looking. Sure enough, Max is walking towards us with a short brunette wearing a skirt.

I scoot closer to Zayn. This is exactly why I didn't listen to Max on the porch, she has already found some girl to bring here just to spite me.

"Hey Zayn." The girl says in a high pitched voice.

"Hey Emma." Zayn says and hooks his arm around my shoulder. Max glares at him and takes a seat.

I know I am being rude by not introducing myself to this girl, but I can't help but dislike her already.

"How's the bonfire so far?" Max asks.

"It's almost over I think." Zayn replies. There is tension between the two of them, I can feel it. I don't know why there would be, Max made it clear to her friends that she doesn't give a shit about me.

"Do they have food here?" The girls voice is annoying.

"Yea, they have a consession stand." I tell her.

"Maxxy, come with me to get some food." She demands and she rolls eyes but stands up.

"Bring me back a pretzel, yea?" Zayn smiles and Max clenches her jaw. What is up with them?

As soon as Max and Emma disappear I turn to Zayn. "Can we go? I don't really want to hang out with Max, we sort of hate each other in case you forgot." I tell him. I try to laugh but it doesn't happen.

"Yea, sure we can go." He says. We both stand up and he reaches for my hand. We hold hands as we walk, I find myself looking around for Max and hoping she won't see.

"Do you want to go to the party?" He asks as we reach the parking lot.

'No, I don't really want to go there either." That is the last place that I want to go.

"Okay, well we can just hang out another.." he begins.

"No, I still want to hang out. I just don't want to be here or that frat house." I say quickly. He looks surprised as his eyes meet mine.

"Okay.. well we can go to my place? If you want, if not we can go somewhere else? I don't really know where else to go." he laughs and I join him.

"Your place is fine. I will follow you there." I tell him.

During the drive I can't help but picture Max's face as she returned and we were gone. She brought a girl there with her so she has no right to be upset. Zayn's apartment is right off campus and it is small but clean. He offers me a drink when I get inside, but I decline since I plan on driving back to my room tonight.

"You can have the remote, I don't know what you like to watch." he laughs and hands me the remote.

"Do you live alone?" I ask him and he nods. I feel a little nervous as he sits next to me and puts his arm around my waist but I hide my nervousness with a smile. Zayn's phone buzzes in his pocket and he stand up to answer it, holding a finger up to tell me he will be back.

"We left." I hear him say from his small kitchen area.

"So.." "Fair." "Too bad." Are a few of the snippets of his conversation that I catch. None of it makes sense to me. Except 'we left' Is that Max on the phone? I stand up and walk towards the kitchen as he hangs up on who ever it was.

"Who was that?" I ask.

"No one important." He assures me and leads me back to the couch. "I am really glad we are getting to know each other, you're different from the rest of the girls here." he says sweetly.

"Me too." I tell him. "Do you know Emma?" I can't help but ask.

"Yea, her girlfriend is Sam's cousin." He tells me.

"Girlfriend?"

"Yea, they have been together a while. Emma is pretty cool." He says. So Max wasn't there with her, not in that way at least. Maybe she actually came there to try to talk to me again instead of hurting me by bringing another girl.

I look over to Zayn and he leans in to kiss me. His lips are cool from his drink and taste like vodka. I know he isn't drunk, its his first drink. His hands are careful and smooth against my arms then my waist. Max's heartbroken face from earlier pops into my mind, the way she begged for one more chance and I didn't believe her, the way she watched me drive away, the outburst in class about Catherine and Heathcliff, the way she always shows up when I don't want her to, the way she never tells her mother that she loves her, the way she said she loved me in front of everyone, the hurtful way she took it back, the way she breaks things when she is angry, the way she came to her father's house tonight even though she hates it there, and the way she asked her friends what to wear to the wedding, it all makes perfect sense but no sense at the same time. She loves me. In her own damaged way, she does love me. The realization of this hits me like a truck.

"What?" Zayn says and pulls away from the kiss.

"What?" I repeat his words.

"You just said Maxxy."

"No I didn't." I defend.

"Yes, yes you did." He stands up and steps away from the couch.

"I have to go.. I am sorry." I say and grab my purse and rush out of the door before he can say anything else.