The List » Zarry (M-Preg) ✔

14: Fair Tradeoff

"What do you think? I'm here to see my son, of course. I thought I didn't need to call to do that."

Harry rubbed up and down his arms to warm them.

"You don't. But he's not here, Zayn. You just passed him."

"Passed him?"

"Gemma just took him."

This time Zayn waited until he reached him before he responded.

"What exactly do you mean by 'took him?'"

"He's spending the night with her and my mom tonight. So she came by and picked him up. She just left."

Zayn twisted his mouth sideways as if he were thinking.

"Hmm. I see."

"Yep. Sorry."

"That's okay. So what are you doing out here with no coat?"

"Just forgot."

"How do you forget your coat in the middle of winter?"

"You try rushing a four year old out of the door in the morning while making sure he has everything in his overnight bag."

"I would like to try. But right now I can only imagine because he's not here."

Harry smiled but then he thought about something.

"Speaking of morning. It's a Friday. Aren't you supposed to be running the dry cleaners?"

"I am. But I took an early weekend to be here. I was hoping I could spend a weekday with him. I haven't gotten to do that with him yet."

"Oh. Bummer. I didn't mean to waste your whole day. Do you still wanna come in though? Or not. You don't have to. I realize you're here for Benjamin. You don't have to stay."

But Zayn clasped his hands behind his back.

"I think I'm allowed to make sure the father of my child is okay also. After all, you did go through the hard part of it all. I'm pretty sure checking up on you is just as appropriate."

"You just said two different things. Do you think or are you pretty sure?"

"I'm certain."

Harry laughed quietly then opened the door and went inside. Zayn followed and closed and locked the door behind him so Harry didn't have to.

"Brrr. It's so cold. I think I'm going to make some hot chocolate. What about you? Would you like some?"

Zayn walked over towards him.

"I'll take some. Thank you. But I admit I thought you were going to ask me if I wanted to learn how to make it. You know, since I asked you to show me one day."

"Ah... you want to know my secret."

"May I?"

"You do realize I'm freezing and I'm using the hot chocolate to warm me up, right? If I take time to teach you, that means longer time before I get warm. Taking longer to get warm means I risk getting sick. And if I do get sick, I can't take care of Benjamin, which means as a single father, Gemma and mom would have to keep him longer, forcing me to stay here alone."

But Zayn reached forward and rubbed up and down Harry's arms with his hands, using the friction to rid some of the cold. Harry exhaled quietly. Zayn used to do this in the winter when they first starting dating. It never actually helped if Harry was really cold. But it did lead to kisses that eventually made him warm up.

As if they both remembered the same thing, they drew away from each other.

"I'm... going to make... the hot chocolate. You can come if you want.''