chance connection |1| [zarry] (✔️)

onehundredtwentyeight

"Good morning, babe," Zain says, cupping Harry's cheek and kissing him.

"Morning," Harry mutters sleepily. "Why are you up before me?"

"Louis woke me," Zain answers, stroking Harry's hair. "But it's getting late. You wanted to go to work, didn't you?"

"Yea," Harry mutters. "Has Louis left already?"

"Yep," Zain answers, kissing Harry's cheek fondly. "And the monster has already built and destroyed a Lego house."

"I'll be right down," Harry says sleepily.

"Kay, my love," Zain says, stroking his hair and patting his arse. He grabs his phone on his way to the door and checks in on Freddie who is still happy with his Legos.

Perrie has sent him a text and Gemma as well, which confuses him somewhat because usually only one of them texted. He was fairly sure they had a schedule to check in on him or something. It takes him a moment to get what they are saying.

"The hell?" he swears when he realises because the screenshots Gemma sent him are showing him and Harry at the club last week with captions like Harry Styles and defends his sister's honour as her boyfriend chats up other girls. Harry did look slightly annoyed at the picture, but that was mostly because he was squinting slightly drunkenly. Perrie has sent him screenshots of her having breakfast with Harry, Anne and Gemma with captions like New romance for Harry Styles? They are giggling together and Zain isn't sure why anyone would think that noteworthy because Perrie didn't even have her flirty face on and Harry wasn't even touching her.

"Have you made breakfast?" Harry asks, pulling a shirt over his head as he enters the kitchen.

"The fuck is this shit? The hell, Harry?" Zain asks, tilting his screen towards Harry. He's not sure what to think of the fact that Perrie and Gemma sent this to him. Maybe he'd rather have stayed in ignorance. At least, she seemed amused by being called Harry's girlfriend or latest fling, depending on the publication apparently, and not upset about her face being plastered on the internet. Zain isn't too sure he can see the humour in it himself. A small part of him knows that Harry had been worried about this, that Harry had warned him about this, but he can't quite get past the fact that someone took the time out of their day to make up some story about him.

"Oh," Harry says, pulling a slight grimace.

"That's your reaction?" Zain asks incredulously.

"I'm not having an affair with Perrie!" Harry says quickly, like that's what Zain is upset about.

"Babe, the fuck!" Zain says sharply, not getting why Harry isn't reacting. "I'm not upset about your 'affair' with Perrie," he can't quite help the sarcastic infection on the word. "I'm upset that you can't even go have breakfast with your mum and sister without people talking about it. I'm upset that you're not even upset about it! And look at this," he adds, swiping to the things Gemma sent him. "Apparently we are fighting because I was trying to cheat on your sister."

"That's just completely made up. Why are you upset?"

"Why aren't you upset?" Zain asks loudly. "This is weird. This is completely untrue and weird. Why are you cool with it?"

"I'm not happy about it either!" Harry answers loudly, frowning angrily. "But it's just what happens."

"But why! Why the fuck do people even care who you have breakfast with? Why do they make up story about you and people you go dancing with?" Zain asks loudly. "And why aren't you more upset?"

"If I go upset everything they talked about me in the press or wherever I would constantly be miserable!" Harry says equally loudly. "It's just the way it is!"