-Harry-
Mum hadn't given me a proper description of Luke, so when I arrived at the crowded train station, I realised how foolish this was.
However, I did walk around a bit and look before I decided to call my mum back.
"Is something the matter?" She asked instantly.
"I dunno what the boy looks like, mum. Tell me what exactly I'm looking for." I said, walking and constantly looking around.
Which meant I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going.
"He's got blonde hair, blue eyes, he's quite thin, and he's dressed in mostly dark clothing, if I'm remembering correctly." Mum said.
My eyes searched the crowd, quickly looking downward as I almost tripped over something.
I stepped backwards, seeing a boy sitting Indian style ontop of a guitar case. He looked up at me with capturing blue eyes, using both hands to hold a sandwich he was eating.
He wore a black jumper that was much to big for him, black skinny jeans, and black converse shoes.
"I think I found him." I said, seeing that he matched mum's description.
"Alright, good luck love." Mum said, hanging up.
Good luck.
"Are you, um, Harry?" Luke asked me, blinking a few times. He began to nibble at his plump lower lip, watching me.
"Yeah." I answered, glancing at the bags that sat beside him.
This was the second time today that I'd seen packed bags.
I swallowed, trying to stay focused and keep myself from getting upset at the memory.
Although it was hardly a memory, it'd happened less than two hours ago.
"Hello, I'm Luke." He chirped with a little wave, still looking up at me.
"I know, c'mon." I said, motioning for him to stand up.
"Can't I finish my sandwich first?" He asked, now looking worried, as if his life depeneded on that sandwich.
"I'm sure you can do that along the way, yeah?" I asked, picking up two of his bags. I left him to carry the third, along with his guitar case.
I watched as he discovered that he couldn't carry the bag, guitar case, and his sandwich all at once. He stood there a moment, seeming deeply conflicted before putting the sandwich in his mouth, and picking up his things in each hand.
He looked at me, standing there with half of a sandwich hanging out of his mouth and a happy expression on his face.
I might as well have been bringing a puppy home with me.
I chose not to react and turned away, leading him through the crowd, and back to my car.
We put his bags in the trunk, and his guitar in the backseat before we both got in the car.
After a while of silence as a drove, I figured I'd be lucky enough to be able to drive home without talking.
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
"So, you're like, Anne's son?" Luke asked me.
"I am." I replied.
"The two of you look alike." He commented.
"I wonder why." I said, not meaning to be so bitter.
"I'm assuming it's because you're related." Luke answered sincerely, missing my sarcasm.
"Possibly." I sighed, honestly still wondering how the hell I ended up in this situation.
And why.
"Is it alright if I try and find something on the radio?" Luke asked.
"I prefer silence." I said quietly.
"Oh, you don't like music?" He asked.
"I do, but I'm not in the mood." I explained briefly.
I was quite sure that any song would make me think about Zayn somehow.
"Oh." He said again, sitting there a moment before he started eating his sandwich again.
Luke kept quiet for the rest of the drive, speaking up again as we waited for the lift to bring us to my floor.
"Um, I don't mean to like, impose or anything." He said, looking at me.
Although it was a bit late for that, I chose to be nice to him.
"It's alright." I said, leading him out of the lift and to what was now my flat.
"You can sleep in my room, I'll take the sofa." I said, deciding that now was bed time for the both of us.
Luke followed me into the lounge, looking around. "I can sleep in here if you'd like, it's your bed." He said, looking at me.
"Alright, goodnight." I said, setting his bags down and going down the hall to my bedroom.
I crawled into bed, alone, and sighed quietly while ignoring the heavy feeling in my chest.
Usually Zayn would be here, and I'd have warmth and feel comfortable. Sometimes he'd hold me in his arms, and I'd grin at the way he chuckled when I'd kiss his neck.
I never would've guessed that all along he'd been unhappy. I also hadn't slept alone in ages, and I didn't particularly like it.
"H-Harry?" I heard Luke ask out of nowhere, making me flinch. Through the darkness, I could see his figure standing at the end of my bed.
"What're you doing?" I frowned, wondering how the hell he'd gotten in my bedroom without me hearing him.
"Um, you seem upset. I was just wondering if you needed someone to talk to. I could like, hug you." He offered.
"You know, if you want." He added quietly.
I sighed, beginning to tell him to go sleep on the sofa before I paused, and thought about it.
Luke, according to my mum, had been through a lot as well. Maybe if we both had a nice chat I'd feel better, and things, in general, would be better.
"I guess." I mumbled, feeling him crawl up the bed to lay beside me. I waited until he got comfortable, feeling him snuggle beneath the duvet and turn on his side, facing me.
"What's going on?" He asked quietly.
I rolled over, facing him as well.
"My flatmate left me." I said, not sure if that was the proper way to tell what had happened.
"Who was your flatmate?" Luke asked.
"Zayn. He was...a bit more than a flatmate. We shagged every now and then, and....I sort of fell for him." I admitted.
"Oh, I'm guessing....he didn't feel the same?" Luke asked slowly.
I swallowed hard, trying to push down the rising lump in my throat.
"Not exactly, no."
"Why not?" Luke asked.
"What?" I frowned.
"Why didn't he like you too?" He clarified.
My frown deepened. "I...I don't know. I suppose he just....didn't." I said, not understanding how to really answer that question.
"You seem pretty cool. I mean, you're nice enough to take in.....me." Luke commented.
"Yeah." I muttered, now truly beginning to wonder why Zayn didn't feel the same. I'd treated him so well, and sacrificed so much for him.
He at least acted like he felt the same. Which hurt me even more.
"You...don't miss him a lot or anything do you?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, I miss him. I didn't know that he was leaving." I said, now beginning to tear up.
I tried to calm myself down, failing miserably.
"I don't want to...upset you anymore but you really deserve better than someone like him." Luke said, speaking cautiously as if I were about to yell at him.
"I don't want anyone else." I said, feeling pathetic.
Luke reached forward and attempted to hug me, the entire operation becoming nothing but awkward.
"Luke, I'm alright." I lied, sniffing and blinking my tears away.
He didn't respond, pulling our bodies closer and clinging to me. "You're better off now. You don't have to waste anymore time on him." He said quietly.
I hadn't felt like I'd been wasting time on Zayn.
"Yeah." I said, not really agreeing to anything.
"So, explain to me why you're here again." I said, gently detaching him from me.
"My mum and dad kicked me out after one of my older brothers told them he caught me kissing one of his mates." He answered.
"My mum said you came out to them." I said quietly.
"Well, I kind of had to after that." Luke said.
"So, your parents don't know or care where you are?" I asked, wondering just how long he'd be staying with me.
"My dad said I'm not his son anymore, and my mum couldn't look at me without crying." Luke said, his tone changing.
"Does that answer your question?" He asked.
"Quite clearly, yes." I said, almost whispered, feeling sympathy for him.
"One of my brothers still goes to my school, so I'm sure everyone will know about me soon." Luke said, seeming truly worried about it.
I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling.
"Don't worry about it." I said.
"How am I supposed to do that?" Luke scoffed. A few minutes later, he whispered something to himself, and suddenly got out of bed, leaving the room.
Thinking that I was finally alone, I stretched out, feeling myself begin to relax.
"Um, Harry?" Luke asked, suddenly beside my bed again.
The boy was like some sort of ninja.
"What, Luke?" I asked tiredly, waiting for my heart to start beating normally again.
"Can I still sleep here? I just had to get my penguin." He informed me.
"Penguin?" I asked, wondering what on earth that was code for.
"Yeah, this." He said, turning my bedside lamp on to show me.
I squinted in his direction, seeing a stuffed penguin in his arms. The way he held the thing made me want to question his age.
"It's lovely, turn that bloody light off and go to sleep." I muttered.
"Okay." He chirped, turning the lamp off and getting back in bed.
Surprisingly, after a while of laying together in silence, the both of us fell asleep.
~The next morning~
Somehow, after the blaring noise of my alarm clock, and the sounds of me making breakfast and getting ready, Luke hadn't moved an inch.
He was still in my bed, cuddling that penguin of his in his sleep.
I had to be getting to work soon, and I knew I couldn't leave the boy here, because he'd injure himself somehow and my mum would find out.
As I stood there trying to think about what to do, I realised that it was Monday. Luke should've been in school hours ago.
"Hey, Luke, wake up." I spoke up, walking over and nudging him.
"No." He mumbled, burying his face into the penguin.
"I've got to go to work and, like, I suppose you're coming with me." I decided in mid-sentence.
"Now?" He whined, rolling onto his back and blinking a few times before looking up at me.
"Yeah, get dressed and hurry up, I haven't got much time." I said, exiting the bedroom.
"Wait, can I take a shower first?" He asked quickly, scrambling out of bed and following me.
I looked at the clock with a sigh. "Try and not take too long, yeah?"
Luke nodded, rushing to go get one of his bags from the lounge.
I waited for him on the sofa, pleased that his shower didn't take too long. Whatever he was doing now, was what seemed to be taking ages.
"Luke, are you about ready?" I called, getting up.
He was still in the washroom, and I know he couldn't have not heard me, so I decided to go and investigate.
I briefly knocked on the washroom door before I opened it, seeing Luke standing shirtless infront of the mirror. His hair was the first thing I noticed, because of how high he'd styled it. I then noticed what he was doing.
He appeared to be shaving his armpits.
Luke froze when I entered, looking at me with a cautious expression on his face. I looked at the razor in his hand, seeing that it looked quite familiar.
"What....what're you doing?" I frowned, wondering why on earth a teenage boy would be shaving his armpits.
Luke looked downward, still paused in shaving position.
"Um, just...shaving." He replied casually, looking at me in the mirror again.
"Is that my razor?" I asked, although I already knew.
"Um, yeah." Luke said, slowly lowering it from his armpit.
"Why have you gone and used my razor to shave your bloody armpits?" I snapped at him.
He dropped his arm, turning and facing me but avoiding my eyes. "I just...don't like hair." He answered quietly.
"Men are supposed to have hair there, Luke." I reminded him, knowing I couldn't use that razor anymore.
"You sound like my father." He mumbled, still not looking at me.
I sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of my nose and closing my eyes.
"Now you even look like him-" Luke started to mumble some more.
"Listen, just put that in the rubbish when you're finished, I won't be using it anymore now." I said with a dismissive flick of my wrist.
"Why not? What did you shave with it?" Luke asked, now looking at me.
"That's quite personal, don't you think?" I scoffed at him.
Luke, for once, smirked at me. "Depends on what it is you shaved."
"It certainly wasn't my armpits. Now c'mon, I haven't got all day." I said, exiting the washroom.
Thankfully, Luke didn't take that much longer, and I made it to work only three minutes late.
-Zayn-
After a night of sleeping on the floor of my new flat, using one of my packed bags as a pillow, I wasn't in the best physical condition.
My emotional condition was something I was gladly ignoring at the moment, and my mental condition wasn't completely awful, because I remembered that I still had a job.
With Harry.
Unfortunately, I hadn't thought everything through before I left.
Regardless, I desperately needed the money so I got up, got myself dressed, and drove to work.
As I approached the store from the parking lot, I saw a blonde bloke who wasn't Niall, standing outside of the entrance with a stack of flyers in his hands.
"Welcome!" He chirped, handing me a sales flyer when I made it to the door.
I stopped and looked at him after I glanced at the flyer. "Who are you?" I asked skeptically, fearing I'd been replaced.
"I'm Luke." He said quieter, losing his chirpy attitude. He also seemed to have sort of shrunk away from me.
He watched me with bright blue eyes, while I sized him up.
I decided not to ask anymore questions, and I made my way inside.
Harry looked up at me from where he stood behind the counter, and I watched his smile vanish.
"What're you doing here?" He asked, standing up straight.
"I work here, remember?" I asked, not moving from where I stood.
"I thought you were gone, for good." He admitted, now looking down at the counter.
"Yeah," I began, not knowing what to say.
We then fell into an awkward silence, and the boy outside broke it.
"Harry, d'you have anything to eat? I'm hungry." He called, putting his hands on the glass so he could see inside.
The flyers were stacked on the sidewalk near his feet, and I knew with one good breeze they'd all be gone.
"Where'd he come from?" I asked Harry, just then noticing how young he looked. He couldn't have been any older than eighteen.
"He's with me." Harry answered, causing me to turn back to him.
"With you?" I asked, wondering what he meant exactly.
"Yes, he-" Harry began.
"Harry?" Luke called again, now knocking on the glass as if he couldn't simply open the door and come inside.
He didn't seem to be too intelligent.
"He lives with me." Harry said angrily, walking past me and going to open the door.
I frowned, wondering how he'd found another flatmate so quickly. I watched as Harry spoke to him, putting the flyers back into his hands. Luke payed close attention, smiling slightly as Harry stopped talking and gave him a stern look.
I tried to decode their relationship as I watched them, having stop myself, and remind myself that I didn't care.
I turned away, going around the counter and sitting at the computer to see if we had any new albums coming in this week.
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A/N: Hello, I'd just like to say something before this story goes any further. If you've read my writing before, you already know that absolutely anything could happen. As the author I don't even have control of where this goes. It's just how I write. So, expect the unexpected I suppose. Also, please vote or comment for more! Thank you.
-Zaydrian x