Some days after the break-up - Flashback
The heavy door stands before him and memories decide to pay an intense visit to his mind. He shakily exhales and bites on his bottom lip. Right now would be perfect for a smoke but he quit to become a social smoker, simply because of Nia.
Nia entered his life with intentional improvements. From skincare to hair care, things changed. The fans noticed his physical looks took a sweet change and noted that he was clearly influenced by his partner. Things changed both externally and internally.
Before Nia, he was drowning in fame and built an entire personality on his career. With Nia, he was able to step away and be a little more grounded. There were suddenly more events with friends and chosen family.
Suddenly, sleep wasn't overlooked and therapy wasn't mocked. It wasn't as if she enforced these healthier habits, he just observed how she lived and simply implemented her elements in his own life.
When he met Nia, she was whole and focused on living her own intentional life. They complemented each other in many ways and this feels hard.
The door opens to an uninterested best friend on the other side and he coldly enters the flat. It smells like a home he has to stop visiting.
As usual, there's music softly playing in the background and there's the smell of Ethiopian coffee mixed with her perfume hanging in the air above them.
The two men stand facing each other and her absence is obvious. The male best friend gestures at the box containing his stuff and he cringes at how formal this has to be.
"She's not here," Zayn starts.
"I know," Harry clears his throat.
"So, why are you here?" Zayn frowns.
"To get my fucking things, what else?" Harry softly snaps.
"Down with the attitude," Zayn slowly warns.
"Or what? You'll tell your bestie to break up with me? Oh, wait," Harry mocks with a nasty chuckle.
Zayn pauses before replying and studies the man before him. Harry always had a light whenever he walked into a place. That light is not present. The man before him has grown darker than usual.
He looks like his everyday self with the outfit but that's for the press and fans. The breakup is certainly doing a number on him and Zayn thinks he deserves that for hurting Nia.
"You didn't come here to fight me," Zayn reminds him.
"Who knows? Maybe a good punch is all I need to release the anger," Harry raises an eyebrow.
"You can't touch me and we both know that," Zayn shrugs.
"I'll hit you to sleep, don't tempt me," Harry hisses, staring at his box of items.
"Find a healthy outlet, you'll be fine," Zayn suggests.
Harry physically shudders like ice has been thrown at him.
"Don't pretend to care, it's disgusting," he chuckles again.
"I'm not pretending." Zayn sighs.
"According to you, I'm the villain and you don't care what happens to me, be honest." Harry gives him a sarcastic smile.
"You did something stupid. Actions have consequences, Harry," Zayn replies.
"Fuck you," Harry giggles.
There's tense silence after that and he calmly walks over to the box. It's a box of several gifts he has given Nia and several items he left in her flat.
Before she moved in with him, he spent a lot of time here hiding from the demands of his other life and this slowly became his safe haven. Harry calmly picks up a small sized marble vase that he got as a souvenir from tour and brought home to Nia.
"You can say whatever you want to me but -"
Zayn is shut up by Harry throwing the tiny vase at the wall and silently watching it shatter into pieces before them. How's that for an outlet?
"I didn't cheat." Harry blinks at the pieces on the floor.
"Are you bloody mad mate?" Zayn nearly screams. "Did you come here to destroy shit?"
"Where's she?" Harry asks, keeping his voice low.
"Not here." Zayn replies.
"I know, but where exactly is she?" Harry repeats.
"Somewhere. She doesn't want to be disturbed," Zayn answers.
"Oh, it won't be an actual disturbance. I just have a few questions for her," Harry shrugs.
"Ask me those questions," Zayn nervously says.
Harry tenses as he understands what's going on. Of course Nia meant it when she said she never wanted to see him again.
For all he knows, that woman is somewhere in South Asia or the Caribbeans right now. Or worse, somewhere so familiar in the same city. That's how she moves. Once she's wounded, she retreats into a shell and stays there till she's healed.
"Are you enjoying this?" Harry simply asks.
"No. I was rooting for the two of you," Zayn is honest.
"You never liked me for her," Harry replies.
"I never trusted a famous person for someone like her, it wasn't personal," Zayn answers.
"So, I guess that's why you insist on believing that I cheated," Harry nods with an understanding smile.
"Before you met, the whole world was made to believe that you're some flirt. She met you and you proved her wrong till you crossed the line," Zayn explains.
"But I never crossed any stupid line," Harry raises his voice.
"I know you have a temper but you need to watch it," Zayn warns, calmly.
"You all saw those pictures and never bothered to let me explain," Harry sounds hurt.
"You had time and time to explain every single thing to the partner you love before the release but you stayed quiet!" It is Zayn's turn to raise his voice.
Harry knows that's where he messed up; the silence before the attack from the tabloids. There was a period of grace to explain the situation to Nia, but he silently hoped nothing would happen until the bubble was harshly bursted.
He sits down on the arm of a chair and lowers his head, feeling the deep pangs of heartbreak and hurt eating him up.
"I love her so much. I - I don't know how she expects me to go on like her love wasn't my fuel," he sounds like he's close to tears, but he's braving it in front of another man.
"It sucks to watch you two end things like this," Zayn sympathises with him.
Harry sniffs and slowly nods. It is time to accept this is the end of the road. He doesn't know the next time he'll set his eyes on Nia.
"One more question," Harry shakily says.
"Go on," Zayn calmly encourages.
"Does she still love me?" Harry asks, tears rolling down his cheek.
Back to the present - some days after the accident.
The entertainment world has come to a halt after learning of Harry Styles' deadly accident. The fans are praying. The news houses are deeply curious. Every single person is worried and concerned.
Nia has found herself temporarily based in the hospital and the anxiety is eating her from within. Harry has been in a coma after his surgery but his vitals remain responsive.
With Harry having only chosen family, it's been hard talking to old mutual friends and explaining why she found out before they did. The privacy and security is extremely tight. In fact, Jeff is honouring Harry's choice of having her as his only emergency contact and letting only Nia see him for now.
Today is a hard day because she's all alone in the private ward.
Normally, there's an assistant or Jeff himself is present as a third party. Nia awkwardly stares at him in the peaceful state and fights her tears at the stitches and visible scars.
His left eye has a dark bruise just beneath it and there are a few stitches around his jaw. Of course there's a broken leg, a mildly injured spine and a few broken ribs. It's a miracle that he survived with this level of injuries. Nia tenderly adjusts the pillow and watches him stay still in slumber.
Someone walks in and she turns to see Zayn holding a bottle of water. They exchange a hug for a moment and she pulls away with tears in her eyes.
"You need to stop crying," Zayn twists open the bottle of water and hands it to her.
"Why can't I stop crying?" Nia asks, gulping down the water.
"You're scared and it hurts to see him this badly injured," he replies, turning to Harry.
Nia nods in agreement and puts her bottle aside.
"Zayn, why am I here?" she sniffs, stabling her emotions.
"You were called and you're a person with emotions," he smiles a little.
"We broke up, I shouldn't be visiting every single day," Nia worries a little.
"I know you're a little concerned but nobody cares about that, okay? You care about him no matter what, right?" he cups her shoulder.
Nia quickly nods.
"And he has nobody else. No family and Jeff won't allow any other friend in here," she says, tears rolling down her face.
Zayn slowly shakes his head in defiance and wipes away the tears with his palms.
"It's been a few days since the accident, do we know when he's going to wake up?" he asks.
"It's apparently 50-50, at this point. I can't handle this," she manages to say.
"You're doing okay. You can always take a breather and not be here for a day," he reminds her.
"After seeing him in this bad state, I can't imagine ghosting him," she replies.
"I didn't say you should ghost him, I said take a breather, mate," Zayn warmly smiles at her.
"Sorry, you're right. Very right," she quickly and lightly smiles.
There's anxiety clouding the air and Nia doesn't know what to expect with Harry's recovery. The doctor keeps saying it's hard to tell until he wakes up but he's simply refusing to wake up.
A lot of thoughts are crossing her anxious mind and she keeps pushing them away.
"Have you eaten anything today?" Zayn breaks through her thoughts.
"Not really," she replies.
"I'll go and get you something to eat. Can I buy him soup? Just in case," he asks.
"Just in case," she smiles a little.
"No more crying, please." He repeats.
Zayn gives her a supportive smile and leaves the ward. These days he buys extra soup, just in case Harry wakes up. They don't want him eating the hospital food right after coming out of a coma and surviving such an accident.
Nia slowly walks to stand before him and she stares at his face. This face she regularly woke up to and mapped with passionate kisses.
This beautiful face that manages to hold onto the features even after such a ghastly accident. She calmly takes his hand and tenderly slips her fingers through the space between his knuckles.
Even Zayn has said something to him, so this shouldn't be that hard.
"Hi. I haven't spoken to you in a year and some days. Jeff has been doing all the talking and well I guess I'm a coward,"
She sniffs with a weak smile.
"The nurses have encouraged me to speak but I don't know what to say to you. It's been a year and I don't know what to say that won't revolve around what happened in the past."
Nia fails to control herself and she breaks.
"You just need to be okay. Your fans love you so much, I don't know how they'd cope if anything happened to you. So many people care about you and they cannot afford to lose you right now."
After speaking, she gently sits down and exhales.
The door opens and the doctor enters with a warm smile. Everyone has come to know her as his primary visitor and the familiarity is not a great one. Nia gives this doctor and forces a smile. This is the doctor that comes with the update on his recovery and possibilities.
"I hope I'm not disturbing," she says with a smile.
"It's fine," Nia replies.
"How are you doing today?" the doctor asks.
"I'm okay, just anxious." she replies.
"That's understandable. We checked his vitals and his blood pressure is stabilising, that's a good thing," the doctor states.
"That's a relief. Anything else? When do you think he'll wake up?" Nia asks.
"Anytime now. I cannot predict but I'm positive that it'll be sooner than later," she replies, trying to be bright.
"Will he be okay?" Nia grows worried.
The doctor gives a clearly forced smile and takes a seat next to Nia.
"It's hard to tell. Once he's awake we have to take him for a few scans and an MRI because he might have a traumatic brain injury and this may lead to further cognitive struggles, but again I can't tell until he's up. He can surprise us and wake up with only his physical injuries," the doctor explains.
"But?" Nia wants the truth.
The doctor sighs with a smile.
"Things didn't look clear from the surgery. I say we hope for the best and expect the worst." She replies.
Nia slowly nods and understands she cannot force answers right now. The priority is for Harry to wake up and Jeff will obviously take it from there. The only reason she's still here is simply because she cares about him as a human.
It's triggering and deeply painful to watch him go through this when they weren't even on talking terms. It's also super painful to know that he left her as his emergency contact.
"Thank you Doctor,"
With this, Nia slowly rises and decides to walk over to Harry. Maybe walking away from the doctor will clear her heavy mind.
However, on standing before him, Nia is stunned to find Harry slowly opening his eyes and blankly staring at her in silence. In return, she silently stares at him and waits for earth to swallow her up.
(I'll only update according to the level of feedback I get, thank you for reading and be safe xx)