Barefoot │Ziall Horlik AU

Chapter 2 - Time Is Frozzen

             With Christmas nearing, Zayn spent most days helping his mum get ready for the holidays. Which meant, sadly, his time with the homeless boy was limited. He came at night and some days not at all. The nights he did come, he brought a hot drink and a plate of food his older sister insisted he have.

             Tonight was no different. It was nearly one in the morning and he walked to the darkened park. He set the warm tea on the bench with the plate of warm ham and baked potato. Instead of sitting by his tree, he was on the bench and waited.

             The blonde appeared with tired eyes and weary movements. Why was that boy on his bench? He never sat near Niall.

             He moved slowly and looked at Zayn for a moment, who gestured for him to sit, handing him the warm drink. Zayn forgot his sketch book today, he just wanted to see Niall. He gave him the plate of food and he smiled thankfully.

             They were still silent while Niall ate and Zayn just watched. The way his mouth moved and his lips curved and his red cheeks filled with food before he even got the chance to swallow the last bite down. Zayn snickered at him and Niall blushed again, diverting his eyes.

             When he swallowed the food, he washed it down with a quick drink of tea and he spoke for the first time, his voice quiet and broken. "Your pictures are beautiful," He whispered and Zayn almost thought he was imagining things if it hadn’t been so clear.

             He blinked for a moment and smiled. "There pictures of you...of course there beautiful." He didn’t think Niall could get redder than that moment right there.

             For minutes they didn’t say a thing and Niall continued to eat. Zayn looked him over again. His blanket had new holes and dirt spots and Zayn thought about bringing him a new one. He had the same sweater on but he changed the pants. He was in old grey sweats and Zayn could notice he hadn’t had a shower in a long time. It didn’t bother him much.

             Niall’s feet were hanging in the snow and he kicked it about absent-mindedly. His hair was still just as greasy but pushed back, obvious indents of Niall’s fingers. Zayn noticed small hairs on his chin and the blueness in his eyes, green just around the pupils that were blown wide.

             His face was cinnamon red and there were cute little moles on one side. His nose was big, but fit his face perfectly and his teeth were crooked.

             When Niall finished his food, he set the plate down and looked up at Zayn through long eye lashes. "Thank you..." He praised him. "It was my sisters idea, she said that its getting cold and that you should have something in your stomach and I just-" Niall cut him off with a giggle and it was heavenly, soft and low and sounded like he hadn’t made that sound in years.

             "Not that...I meant about drawing me. No one ever notices me and you did and...I think you’re really nice." He hummed. Zayn gushed. "Well...I think you’re really nice to draw."

             They were silent for a while and Niall tucked his feet up against himself, hugging his knees. "Do you want me to bring you a new blanket? A bigger one?" Zayn wondered quietly and Niall shook his head politely. "This is enough, really. I don’t need anything more." His lips curled up into a smile and his teeth shown and it made Zayn giddy.