zesty grapefruit [zarry] ✔️

16

"Zain!" Gemma says, throwing herself half on top of Zain and waking him very effectively.

"What?" Zain grunts, slightly annoyed but also very used to it. He settles on hitting her feebly with the spare pillow to show his displeasure, trying to pull the thin blanket he uses even in the heat over his head.

"Nick and I found a hiking trail along the sea. You wanna come?"

"No," Zain says. "Too early. Sounds horrid."

"Boring," Gemma answers, smacking a wet kiss to his cheek, not surprised by his reluctance at all. "I'll see you tonight then."

"Sure," Zain mutters, pulling the blanket over his head as soon as she gets off it. "Have fun."

"Thank you, babe," Gemma grins and bangs the door too loudly on her way out. Zain huffs in annoyance and lets his eyes drift shut again.

💟

Zain wakes slowly, blinking at the sun shining into his room. He forgot to close the curtains last night and the sun is slowly making it's way around and hitting him straight in the face. It's a bit of a miracle that he hasn't woken up before now. He stretches languidly, scratching his nose. Gemma and the others are gone, which means time to himself and lounge beside the pool, it sounds heavenly if he's honest, and he might even walk into the village to get some bread from the bakery. The one thing about baguette was that it only really tasted well on the day it was baked, apparently, and he might turn into a proper snob, used to freshly baked bread every day, sometimes twice if they felt like it.

He slowly makes his way through dressing and washing, enjoying the quiet of the house. It was a different quiet somehow because even the outside wasn't a busy city, and the house itself didn't have neighbours either, so there was no rushing of water or someone running down the staircase.

"Haven't you gone hiking with the others?" Zain yawns, kinda surprised, when he catches sight of Harry lounging on the sofa as soon as he comes into the living room.

"No," Harry answers, smiling at him over the top of his laptop. "Needed to get some stuff done."

"I thought you are on holiday?" Zain answers, stretching his neck and trying to wake up fully as he puts the kettle on. Maybe he should've showered again, even though he had, last night.

"I don't mind working, it's just nice to get away sometime, differente scenery and all that," Harry shrugs, sipping his coffee, black and way too bitter as Zain unfortunately had found out. He frowns down at the screen, looking unhappy with it and Zain allows himself to watch him and the way his hair falls softly into his face.

"I'm gonna lie down outside for a bit," Zain says, patting his pocket to make sure he didn't forget his phone upstairs.

"Yea?" Harry asks, sounding distracted. "Yea, I'll join you," he adds when the words catch up with him, taking his laptop and coffee and following Zain outside. "Are you not eating breakfast?" he asks, frowning at Zain as he drops into one of the lounge chairs unceremoniously.

"Give it a minute," Zain answers, laying down and balancing his mug in his sternum. "I just woke up."

"Sure," Harry answers, sounding amused, but turns back to his laptop without commenting further.

💟

"What are you reading?" Harry asks, sitting down on the launch chair by Zain's hip and wiggling around until he's stretched alongside Zain, his chin on Zain's shoulder.

"Achebe," Zain says, distracted.

"Cool," Harry says, not sounding overly interested, wiggling around some more until he's lying half on top of Zain, his face pressed into his neck. "Imma take a nap."

"You do that, babes," Zain says, exasperated and amused at once. It was easy to remember Harry was Gemma's brother when he behaved like her, invading Zain's space without a second thought, commenting unnecessarily on what was very obvious.

"Mm," Harry agrees, his fingers curling around the hem of Zain's t-shirt as his breath evens out.

It's too hot too lay around like this, even the slight breeze and the shade doing nothing to cool them down, and it's distracting, having Harry pressed close like this and feeling his stomach press against Zain's with every breath. He forces himself to concentrate back on his reading, twining strands of Harry's hair around his fingers idly and trying not to notice how nice he smells.

💟

"You suck," Harry says, grinning at Zain widely and running a hand through his hair, not even trying to appear less smug.

"Shut up," Zain says, grinning. He's not the worst loser, especially when I came to things like board games and Harry gloating was very amusing to watch.

"How are you an English student and lose this badly at Scrabble?" Harry grins, delighted with himself, stretching like he needs to show off some more. "I didn't even finish school."

"Pretty stupid, that," Zain comments drily.

"Yea," Harry says, deflating somewhat.

"No, sorry," Zain says, reaching across the table to poke at his cheek, cupping his cheek. "I didn't mean it like that. Don't look so glum, babes."

"No, it was pretty reckless," Harry admits with a shrug, his eyes downcast and the smugness faded from his expression.

"Harry," Zain says, cursing himself for his thoughtless comments. "I really didn't mean it, come on, beat me at Scrabble some more?"

"No," Harry says, still frowning. Zain startles somewhat when he gets up to straddle Zain's lap, wrapping his arms around Zain. "Wanna cuddle and we can't play like that or you'll cheat."

"I never cheat," Zain lies, rubbing Harry's back. The relief that Harry seeks comfort with him makes him almost light-headed. He has a mean streak, he knows, it's what makes him and Gemma get along so well, but he doesn't want to actually hurt people and usually he's fairly good at knowing not to cross the line.

Harry hums slightly, sounding content.

"I still can't believe you brought an actual Scrabble game with you," Zain snorts after a moment, scratching his nails over Harry's scalp gently. "Obsessed much."

"I like playing and we can't just buy one," Harry says, pouting up at Zain with large eyes. Zain idly wonders if he practised this to be most effective. "They've got different letter values because French."

"Sure, babe," Zain snorts. "Because a week without Scrabble is awful."

"Two," Harry says. "I'm here two weeks."

"Right, two," Zain corrects drily, touching his thumb to Harry's lower lip. "Wanna?" he asks, tracing the outline of Harry's lips and licking his own.

"What?" Harry grins, licking his own lip and catching the top of Zain's finger with it. "Play Scrabble?"

"Sure," Zain says, flicking his forehead. "If that's an euphemism. I meant sex as you well know."

"Eh, sex," Harry grins, leaning up and letting his lips hover just above Zain's, his breath hitting Zain's lips and driving him a bit wild. "Sounds like work."

"Oh," Zain answers, squeezing Harry's waist and pulling him down. "Are you trying to get me to do the work this time?"

"Maybe," Harry says slowly, looking at Zain through his lashes. "But let's go upstairs. Gemma has the worst timing."

"She does," Zain agrees, way too eager to get his hands on Harry's skin again.

Harry smirks like he knows, pulling Zain up and then towards the stairs. 

💟

Almost all my stories updated in a day, what is going on? Hope you like :D