If You Stay » Zarry Kid Fic ✔

Part 10

Louis held his coffee mug up to his mouth and took a sip. "How did tree picking go today?"

Zayn suddenly smiled. "It went great. He let me pick out the tree, which I thought was nice, and then we went back to his place and the three of us decorated it."

"Oh really? Well, that's sweet."

Zayn sighed, still unable to hide his smile. "Yeah it is... It made my day. And I'm telling you Louis, the more I'm around he and Liam, the more I'm starting to see that Harry is... Well he's not what I thought he was. He's just a really great guy. And... I'm seriously starting to hate that I ever judged him in the first place."

"Well that's good, yeah? It means he's changing into a more likable person."

Zayn nodded, but Louis noticed that he looked a far off. He wouldn't even meet Louis' eyes. "What's wrong Zayn? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just... thinking is all."

"About what?"

There was a silence and finally Zayn shrugged. "Stuff."

"Work isn't getting to be too much for you is it?"

Zayn shook his head. "No."

"Is it your family? Because I told you that it isn't your fault."

"No, Lou. It's not about me at all. Well it kind of is. But it's not just about me."

Louis sat up, leaning halfway across the table. "Who else is it about then? And you know you can tell me anything. I'm your best friend."

Zayn swallowed and prepared himself for Louis's ongoing rendition of 'I told you so's'. "I...I think I... I think I might feel something for Harry."

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Christmas Day was a bit hectic for Zayn.

When it was just Louis and himself, instead of having a big traditional Christmas dinner, they usually just ate whatever they had at home. Whenever it came to gift giving, the gifts mostly came from the heart, since there was practically nothing neither of them already had or couldn't buy for themselves. So it was a little different when he had to spend Christmas Eve figuring out what he should get for Liam and Harry.

Thankfully though, he figured it out and on Christmas morning sometime after ten thirty, he was giving Liam clothes and toys, and Harry a few knickknack things along with a brand new coffee pot, something he had figured Harry desperately needed after noticing the layer of grease that had settled on his old one from cooking.

They didn't do much during the daylight hours, except check on the turkey that had been cooking since two o'clock and help Liam figure out how to use his new toys. Occasionally, Zayn and Liam snacked on marshmallows too.

Both Harry and Zayn ended up preparing the rest of dinner together and by the time they finished, Zayn wasn't quite sure of how he was able to ignore the rattling and beeping noises that Liam's new toys were constantly making. That wasn't something he was used to hearing. But at the same time, he welcomed it. Because it meant he wasn't spending Christmas alone.

He found it interesting too, that Harry wasn't big on tradition. None of the presents he gave were under the tree or wrapped like the ones Zayn brought for them. They were open and visible and they stayed in his bedroom until he was ready to give them out. "I don't do Santa, gift wrappings and bows, Christmas cards, Christmas carols, and I don't put up lights and decorations outside or anything like that. Just the food and tree." he had said. Zayn wanted to laugh out loud at him but he didn't because he really didn't do those things either. Since he was usually alone or only with Louis, he never saw a point in it.