The Forgotten Child

18

It was 2 in the morning, Zayn was lying there awake, heart pounding in his chest as he listened for any sounds of movement or talking. When he was sure no one was awake, he crawled out of bed and grabbed his backpack. He filled it with the necessities like a couple sweaters and pants, money he has earned or found, and a couple of pieces of food he has managed to steal. With one last look around his room, he pried open his bedroom window and slid on to the roof and down the water drainage pipe.

He took off running in case someone heard him. He didn't stop running until he had made it fully into the quiet city. It was odd seeing it so quiet and abandoned, but Zayn didn't mind. The first thing he did was find a fairly lit alleyway to finish sleeping in before he finally sat down to rest.

He looked around, trying not to gag at the smell. This is who he was now, a street kid. He's lived on the street before and of course it was hard, but Zayn knew what to do now. Sleep during the morning and sleep up high like on a roof, don't mess with druggies, and definitely don't pick pocket around officers.

After sitting in the same spot for about twenty minutes, Zayn made his way up the fire escape on one of the side if the buildings and smiled victoriously as he discovered the roof was clean and plants and benches and tables around it. Zayn laid down on one of the benches, shivering slightly, but soon fell asleep with the soft winds rustling his hair.

The next morning, Zayn woke to the feeling of rain hitting his forehead and he groaned. "Stupid London." he muttered under his breath as he stood up and made his way down the fire escape. He found a bookstore close to where he was and instantly was wrapped in warmth upon entering.

"Good morning, anything you're looking for?" a man behind the counter asks as Zayn walked in hesitantly.

"Um no sir. Just browsing." Zayn mumbled with a small smile. Zayn makes his way to the back where a couple tables were. He sat down and rested his head next to the couple of books he picked up along the way.

Zayn managed to kill about an hour of his time before deciding to head out and go find some food. He knew there was a small convenience store up the road, so he stuck close to the walls and kept his coat close and tugged his baseball cap down. He walked in and the bell on the door chimed. Luckily for Zayn, it was quite crowded as it was early morning and people were stopping by for coffee. He pretended to look around some aisles before wandering down an empty aisle and stuffing a couple bags of crisps and a water bottle into his pockets before walking out as quickly as possible.

"Hey kid! I saw that, get back here." A rather tall man says pointing at Zayn. Zayn jumped and looked around the now silent store before bolting out of the door and running into the street. He looked back to see the man chasing him while screaming profanities at him. Zayn continued to run and take as many turns as possible. Eventually he got back to the alleyway he found the previous night and made his way up the fire escape just in time so the man ran right past. Zayn collapsed on the bench and pulled the food put from his coat. He opened the crisps and began eating while watching the clouds float buy.

This is who he was now.

-

Harry was flipping out. Zayn wasn't here and Harry was flipping out. He had made the worst mistake of his life and wish he could take it back. He missed his son so much more than he thought he would.

"Harry you need to relax, we will talk to Lou tomorrow about bringing Zayn back into our family." Louis says as Harry paces Zayn's room with tears flowing down his face.