When Louis is seven, he’s in second grade. Zayn is six, and in first. It’s the first day of school, and Louis is excited. He’d made a few friends in first grade and was excited to see them again. Tricia had taken off of work so that she and Jay could take the boys to school and meet their teachers for the first day.
Louis runs right across his lawn to Zayn’s doorstep, ignoring Jay’s yells about him getting his new white vans soiled with grass. He knocks excitedly, bouncing on the heels of his feet as he waits for someone to open the door.
Zayn, who’s finally allowed to open the door on his own, answers and smiles big at Louis. “Hi, Lou!”
“Hi, Zaynie,” Louis smiles back, bouncing excitedly still. “You ready for school?”
Zayn nods quickly, pulling Louis into the house so that he can grab his backpack. “I got lots of Crayons and stuff for art like you said!” He pulls some of the art supplies his mom bought out of the backpack, smiling as Louis eyes widened.
“Wow, that is a lot! The teacher is gonna be happy with you,” Louis praises him, helping Zayn put all of his things back into his backpack.
Tricia walks from the kitchen with four Eggo Waffles in napkins. She hands one napkin with two waffles to Zayn, and the other to Louis. “You excited for your first day back, Louis?” she asks, shaking her head fondly at the small boy who shoves most of the first waffle into his mouth and nods. The three of them walk out of the house and all get into Tricia’s car, pulling out and down the street when Jay gets in as well.
XXX
They pull into the school’s parking lot, all of them getting out. Louis and Zayn walk into the small building hand in hand, as always, while Jay and Tricia walk behind them.
The lady at the front desk points them to the first and second grade hallway, and they go there. There are two classrooms on each side of the hall, one first grade and second. Looking at the list on the walls next to the doors, Tricia and Jay find that Louis is in the second grade class on the left side of the hall, while Zayn is in the first grade class on the right side.
The moms talk to their son’s teachers, Louis pointing to some things he remembers from last year. When Tricia and Jay are about to go, they both bend down to hug the boys.
Tricia speaks to Louis. “Promise me you’ll look out for Zayn for me? It’s his first day here, and you know how it all works, so help him out?” Louis nods, hugging Tricia goodbye as Zayn hugs Jay. They watch as their moms walk away, and Louis yells to Zayn, “Good luck, have fun,” as their teachers usher them into their separate classrooms.
XXX
Lunch comes around and Louis walks into the small cafeteria with his friends, looking around for Zayn. He finds him, sitting at a small table with some other kids. He’s about to walk over and sit with him, but just as Zayn looks up, Louis friend Nick speaks. “Where ya goin’, Lou? We sit over here, member?”
Louis looks at Zayn, both of them frowning sadly, but nods his head and walks with Nick. They’ve been sitting together since they met the first day of last year and he can’t just leave him. He’ll make sure to apologize at recess and bring Zayn to sit with them tomorrow.
XXX
When it’s finally time for recess, Louis gets outside as soon as he can and runs to Zayn, hugging him. “Sorry I didn’t sit with you at lunch. I always sit with Nick, but you can sit with us tomorrow.”
Zayn nods, following Louis as he pulls him somewhere on the playground. They walk up to a few other boys that Zayn hasn’t seen, and he guesses they’re all in Louis class, because they’re a little bigger than him.
“Guys, this is my best friend, Zayn! He lives next door to me! Zayn this is Nick and Aiden and Jack, they’re all in my class,” he says, introducing all of his friends to each other.
Nick scrunches his face, frowning at Zayn. “Ew, he’s only in first grade. He’s a baby, he can’t play with us, Louis,” he says bossily. Aiden and Jack nod and say, “Yeah,” agreeing with Nick as always.
“But,” Louis says quietly. “He’s my best friend.”
Nick folds his arms. “Well, it’s us or him. yOu can’t play with a first grader if you’re gonna play with us. And we don’t wanna play with you if you’re gonna play with this baby.”
Zayn looks down at the mulch covering the ground and scuffs his black converse in it. “But guys-” Louis tries, pouting when Nick cut him off.
“Choose, Louis. Or you have to leave.”
Louis looks between the two sides. Nick, Aiden, and Jack are looking at him impatiently. Zayn is still looking at the ground. “I pick you guys,” he whispers, stepping closer to his three friends.
The older boys all laugh at Zayn’s sad face, making his lip wobble. He turns and leaves quickly, not saying anything because he doesn’t want them to see him cry, they already think he’s a baby.
Louis watches sadly, his chest hurting a little like it does every time Zayn is sad. “Now, let’s play Cops and Robbers.” Louis obeys Nick’s demands mindlessly, not playing as happily as he usually does because he misses Zayn already.
XXX
They’re all waiting for the bus to come and get them. Louis is standing with Nick, Aiden, and Jack again. Zayn is sitting on the sidewalk alone, looking sad at a paper in his hands. Nick and the other boys bus comes first, and they get on, waving bye to Louis out of the window. He waves back, and walks to Zayn as soon as the bus is gone.
“I’m sorry, Zaynie.”
Zayn shrugs. “It’s fine, Louis.”
Louis heart hurts again, because Zayn only ever calls him Lou. And he didn’t this time.
XXX
On the bus ride home, Zayn sits with some girl. Louis sits in the seat behind him with a different girl. They don’t say anything to each other.
Zayn doesn’t wait for Louis when the bus stops. There were a few people between them, and when Louis finally steps onto the concrete, he only hears Zayn’s door close loudly. He sighs and walks into his own house.
A few minutes later, Jay is watching her son sadly. He isn’t happy, but he won’t tell her why.There’s a knock and Louis doesn’t leave his bowl of noodles, so Jay goes to open the door.
Zayn and Tricia are standing there. Zayn’s eyes are red and his cheeks are wet. “Oh, Zayn, love, what’s wrong?” Jay asks, picking the young boy up and rubbing his back soothingly as he cries into her shoulder.
Tricia sighs, walking in and closing the door. “Zayn is upset because he says Louis ignored him all day.”
Jay’s eyebrows raise. “That must be why he’s so sad,” she realizes, calling Louis into the living room.
Louis walks in and see’s Zayn crying, and his own tears start to fall. Jay puts Zayn down, sitting on the couch. Louis walks up to his best friend and hugs him tightly. Zayn hugs back and they’re both crying loudly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that! I just wanted them to be my friends, but I missed you and it made you sad and I’m sorry! I don’t wanna be their friends if I can’t be friends with you, too,” Louis sobs, holding Zayn tight.
Zayn finally hugs him back, sniffling his tears away. “Don’t cry, Louis! I’m not sad anymore, see? We’re still best friends, it’s okay!”
Jay and Tricia smile as their sons make up. They don’t ask about it, knowing the boys can handle it on their own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: okay, so like, even with the little sad stuff, i found this extremely adorable! the boys are getting older and i'm excited for the coming chapters!
dedication to rob bc it's been a while and he's faithful with his comments and reading! so here ya go bae! ily!
أنت تقرأ
Partners In More Than Crime «Zouis AU»
أدب الهواةLouis and Zayn have always been next door neighbors, since birth. They've always been best friends, and this is the story of how their friendship blossomed into something bigger than both of them. © Copyright: All Rights Reserved. Don't be thiefin'...
