BACKWOODS » Zarry ✅

🐄 30: Vulnerable Souls

The ride to Doniya's house is quiet though unexpected, considering she couldn't shut up at the bar. Despite Zayn's annoyance by the whole night, he walks her up to the door, helps her inside and then makes sure the door is locked before he leaves her for the night.

What's worse than having to drive home with someone after a night that went badly is having to drive a long way home with them after it went badly. That's Zayn with Harry right now. And suddenly, he regrets he ever moved so far from the city. The only upside is that their ride alone is quiet too.

Thirty minutes after leaving Doniya's place, they arrive to Zayn's house together. It's not until they're in the driveway that he sighs.

"Sorry." He says in a low tone. "I should have asked if you wanted me to drop you off at home first."

Harry reaches for the door handle. "No. I still don't want to go home."

"Why not? Can't be worse than being with me right now."

Only Harry ignores that and gets out of the car anyway, heading up to the front door.

Zayn is confused. Because if he were in Harry's place right now, he wouldn't want to see himself. In fact, he'd be booking it across the lawn back home right now. But Harry isn't doing that at all. He's still here with Zayn, waiting in the drizzling rain for him to get out of the car. Realizing this, he jumps out in a hurry and lets them both inside.

Since the bottom of their shoes are wet, they take those off at the door. Zayn drops his jacket there onto the floor too. He's also pretty sure Harry is expecting him to say something right now, but he just walks to the bedroom where he tosses his keys on the nightstand and falls back into the bed.

There, he stares up at the ceiling quietly wishing there was a button to push so that he could redo tonight. Because if there was one, he would go back and change his mind about inviting Doniya. Or better yet, maybe he would have took Harry's worry as a sign and not convinced Harry to even get out of the car.

As he's thinking up scenarios in which he could have ended the night before it got as far, he feels someone plop on the bed next to him. Obviously it's Harry and he's laid on his back too. He faces him.

"You were right." Zayn tells him.

"What?"

"City people do have a lot of secrets. And I know I said that it's how we were raised living the city life but the truth is, a lot of times it's just a convenient excuse. So we don't have to own up to the fact that we're either outright lying to our partners or simply keeping stuff from them."

"Zayn... you don't have to tell me just 'cause of what Doniya said. I mean... You already once told me you had exes it didn't work out with. So I already know I'm not the only one and it doesn't matter if one of those exes was Liam."

Zayn shakes his head and faces the ceiling again. "But it does matter. I mean... you saw Louis tonight. He knows he's not Liam's first but it still hurt him to find out like that. And maybe you did wrestle with chickens and pigs and lift hay every other day, but you don't have to be macho right now."

He rolls sideways and props himself up on his elbow and fist.

"You're allowed to be vulnerable with me. You're allowed to curse me out and tell me that being in a romantic relationship with my best friend is something you would like to know up front. As far as I'm concerned, you're allowed to ask me about any of my exes if you think knowing about them makes us better together. I owe you that, Harry. I owe you that after tonight."

"You don't owe me nothing. Turns out it ain't just city folks. Apparently all of us got secrets we keep from folks we care about."

"Well then let's share them. Get them all out there now. Because what happened tonight... And the way I feel now... I don't want this again, Harry."