Strong (A Ziam/Zarry AU)

Chapter Sixteen

Zayn woke with a bone dry mouth and a skull full of what felt like goblins in hobnailed boots Riverdancing on his brain. He closed his eyes again, the dim light of his bedroom making it worse. He couldn't even remember getting home last night. Wait. His eyes still closed he began to let his hand roam the space beside him. Not feeling anything he breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there he'd had what he'd thought was a flashback, a brief glimpse of what appeared to be a naked back, arched in pleasure beneath him. Thank fuck, it must have been a dream. He thought back to the beginning of the evening, trying to piece the evening together.

The boys had invited Chris to come join them for a drink but fortunately she had dinner plans with Ed (after all Zayn's talk of Ed being a powerhouse she was thinking they would skip dinner anf just go straight to dessert.) Harry suggested they go to The Wellington, a private members club he had membership to that was in the Knightsbridge area.

"Since when did you like The Welly?" Zayn asked baffled. It served as another reminder to how much Harry had changed, no longer the impoverished artist who read veraciously and thought private members clubs like The Wellington where bourgeois. Now he was a card carrying member who only read biographies about other rockers. What happened to the kid in the squat? He thought sadly.

"I don't! But its close, we won't be bothered and they gave me a free membership. We can laugh at the wannabes in there anyway, the ones trying to sound knowledgeable about all the Hirst's on the walls, it'll be funny. Have you ever been in there? It looks like Damien spewed all over the walls."

Ok, maybe the kid in the squat hadn't completely vanished, Zayn thought with a smile. "C'mon on then you." He said taking Harry's hand.

They walked the short distance to 116A Knightsbridge and ducked into the back alleyway where the entrance to the exclusive club is. Harry raised his fist and knocked out the tune required to gain access. "Is Mr Death in?" came a bombing voice from the panel in the thick metal door.

Harry rolled his eyes before answering with the code "Damien Hirst. Love. Life. Resurrection."

"Membership card please?" Harry slid it through the gap. "Mr Harry Styles and you're signing in one guest yes?"

Finally the door was opened and access granted.

"Sorry darlin', I never should have suggested here, I'm fed up of all this pretentious wank already." Harry apologised as soon as they were seated, knowing Zayn would be silently deriding everything about what had just occurred.They stopped to let the waitress place their drinks in front of them, all smiles and pouting lips aimed in Harrys direction. He'd didnt even notice, unable to take his eyes of Zayn.

"No worries. This is your life now I guess, all private members clubs and getting kicked out of Gucci." Zee gently teased once she'd gone.

"You think that don't you? That I've become this shallow, vacuous hipster, everything that's wrong with the music industry? The very thing that I despised?" Harry asked quietly, his head to one side, his eyes boring into Zee in that way he had, letting him know he already knew the answer and it was pointless to lie

"A bit." He admitted, "But I also see the lad I met all those years ago is still in there. I wish we got to see more of him"

"It was weird seeing you at Dollis Hill last month. It brought back a lot of memories, not all of them great. Is that why you've been avoiding me?"

Zayn studied the face before him, he knew every line, every dimple, every freckle, every inch. "Yeah, it was difficult for me. That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about actually."

"Do we have to do this Zee? Can we not just leave it?" Harry asks, giving Zayn that look. The one that said I see you, I see everything about you, I know you, I know every thought you've ever had, I love you, love you more than anyone has ever been loved, I hear you, I hear you without you having to say a word, so please don't say what you're about to, there is no need and the actual words will hurt us both.