Once in a lifetime

Chapter 59 Floating

"Leyum? Y'alright? S' Zayn alright?"

"Hey, mate. Yeah, yeah. All good. I, um, I was calling to check on you and the princess. How are you holding on?" Harry smiled, thinking of how his girl was doing.

"We are doing great, mate, thank you for checking up on us. Maddie's been great, honestly. I think she is way more mature than what people think, and she has been getting ready for the loss for ages now."

"She is amazing, I'm sure. She had to deal with her mother being sick, all by herself for a long time so I get it. I'm glad to hear she is doing well, and that you are too. Are you, um, busy coming days?"

"Mmm, not particularly, no. Why?"

"I think you might wanna come and check out some stuff in the new gallery."

"It opened already?"

"No, not yet. Opening'd be next weekend and the fucker of Zayn finally chose to display a full collection."

"That why you want me to go?"

"Could say so, yeah. Are you?"

"Mhm, yeah. I mean, sure I can make it work. I'll take Maddie with me, though."

"Of course, as you should. She's yours mate, you're Zayn's family too and you know that idiot loves you and loves her."

When they finish the call, Maddie who had eavesdropping, asked him to take her to the shopping place, she urgently needed to get something. When they arrived, Harry saw her looking for something specific in the toy store. He was surprised when he saw her bring one of those bracelet making sets, the ones that even had the alphabet as charms.

"What do you need that for, princess?"

"You'll see. We can go home now if you want, daddy. I still have tons to do, before I'm ready to go."

"As you command, my queen."

"What is Zen's favourite colour, daddy? And yours?"

"Mm, he likes green. I like yellow. Why, princess?" She dismissed the question, waving her hand. When they got home, she kissed him and ran to her room, locking herself up for the rest of the day.

The remaining week was finally over, and both Harry and Maddie were beyond thrilled. One same reason, but Harry had another one. They both love Zayn and long for him and wanted to be with him, but to Harry, it was like he had been living almost six months without a limb. He missed Zayn's sassy comments on him waking up too early, he missed Zayn calling him Harreh, he missed Zayn's spicy cooking and he missed Zayn's kisses and making love to him. He had missed his other half.

Maddie felt asleep soon, leaving Harry with his thoughts. He put the headphones in and listened to Sweet Creature nonstop for a while. He looked then for that song, the one the line was from, the line when they had one of their first dates, the one he repeated when he gave Harry the engagement ring back. When he first heard it, Harry didn't get much, so he looked for the lyrics and again, wanted to cry.

When they landed, Harry texted Liam to let him know they were in town already. Liam told him the Maliks were over, too. They all came to check Zayn's first full show as he usually exhibited only two, three pieces max. Harry was excited. It could be their chance to start again, or rather, to pick up where they left off. He called his parents too and asked if they could come over for few days. He had left Sarah in charge of the New York office and Camille was doing great in London, but he needed to get few things sort out. Anne and Rob got in the next available flight, and Gemma would join as soon as possible, too.

Liam was so adamant on Harry to assist to the opening night, to bring Maddie with him and to dress nicely, that he decided to go to the desi store Zayn showed him once, long ago. Maddie felt in love with the stylish wardrobe of Zayn's culture. He wasn't surprised when she chose a beautiful silk lehnga choli with a matching dupatta, what the was surprised about, though, was the colour she chose. She wanted it in green and yellow. When she tried it on, Harry felt his heart swollen with love and pride.

He made her hair; he added a small amount of make up because she insisted, she must be as pretty as ever to impress her Zen. Harry giggled, boy, didn't he know about wanting to impress than man. Rob and Anne arrived just in time to change clothing and help him with his suit.

"You look like a policeman with it, luv. You look very handsome, but so serious, too." Anne said, sighing.

"You think? I, uh, I had a full green suit ready, like dark top and light green bottom, but went for this one better. I want Maddie to shine. I was thinking about pink nail polish, maybe?"

"She looks beautiful. She really wants to impress him, huh? Pink sounds good, luv. It will help."

"I'll get my nails done quickly. Zayn showed me how to get the polish to dry faster, perks of being an artist, I guess. Once they dry, we can go. They should all be there. Niall, Sha, the Tomlinsons and Maliks."

They left minutes after, following the address Liam sent him earlier. The show was about to start, so they be there few minutes late, but he didn't want to shock Zayn before he gave his opening speech. When they got there, the shocked one was Harry after stepping a foot inside the gallery.

It was all...them. Fucking Liam didn't warm him about it. At the entrance were little brochures, giving information on the artist's chosen theme. Harry remembered they spoke about it, what felt like ages ago. Anywhere he looked there was a detail about them. There were paintings of Harry, few of Zayn and some of them together. Zayn used his goddamn Icarus reference, and he had the nerve to depict Harry as Apollo, the sun, when he, Zayn, was the one bright as the sun.

"Daddy...You are everywhere. I like Zen paintings a lot! Look, he's over there, let's talk to him!" Maddie said, unaware of what this show really meant for him, for Zayn, for them as a couple. It meant it all.

AN: 

Maddie's outfit and hair style