Chapter 7
{Niall's POV}
"When's the meeting?" Louis asked.
"Around two." Harry replied, drinking his orange juice.
Niall sighed in content and pushed his chair back. "I love it when you make pancakes."
Harry grinned. "You love everything I make."
Niall rubbed his full tummy before standing up. "Dishes in the sink." Liam called at him.
The Irish lad groaned and grabbed his plate and glass, putting them in the sink. He turned around, leaning back against the counter. "Who's going to be at the meeting?"
Liam shrugged. "Modest, Simon, and some few people from Azoff."
"We're going to talk about Zayn, huh?" Louis muttered.
"Yes, and other things too." Harry said.
"Apparently we were invited to perform at the O2 arena." Liam said. "And we also have to discuss the release of the new perfume."
Just then, Zayn trudged into the kitchen. He was rubbing his eyes with his fist, his stuffed animal clutched under his arm.
"Good Morning." Louis said brightly.
"Good mowning." Zayn mumbled, squinting at the boys.
"Had a good nights sleep?" Liam asked, standing up and placing his empty plate in the sink. He walked over with Zayn's plate and glass of orange juice, placing it on the table beside Louis.
"Ye-e-e-esh." Zayn yawned. Niall smiled at him before walking over and picking him up. Zayn yelped, and the lad quickly sat him on the chair. Zayn scowled. He'd shown them how much he despised physical contact. Niall guessed it was probably because of his past. "Do you like pancakes?" Harry asked.
Zayn tilted his head to the side. "Jayn ushed to eat pancakes all the time."
"Oh, that's great. Who made them?" Harry asked with a smile.
Zayn's lower lip trembled and he looked down again. "Am sowwy, Jayn shouldn't have shaid dat."
"You don't need to apologize." Louis said softly. "It's okay."
Zayn bit his lip and didn't answer. Instead, he began to eat.
Niall shook his head. Whatever the kid had been through, it was too sad. An innocent toddler.
The thought of innocent made Niall's cheeks go pink. He had totally forgotten last night. In his defense, he hadn't known that the three year old was in the same room.
"What the hell is going on? For fuck's sake, I'm trying to sleep!"
"Oi! Shut your fooking mouth pal, we have a child in here!"
Niall buried his head in his hands. The boys would kill him if he sweared in front of Zayn again.
"We have a long day today." Liam said, pouring hot water into a teacup. "I suggest we get going. First we'll have to head to the meeting, then maybe we can go to Nandos."
Niall grinned. "You'll love Nandos, Zayn. It's heaven."
Zayn perked up. "Heaven?"
"Mhm, the food is delicious there." Niall continued.
"Have ywou been there?"
Harry was studying Zayn curiously. "It's not actually heaven."
"Oh." Zayn's shoulders slumped. "Whea ish heaven then?"
Niall shrugged. He had no idea how the conversation went from Nandos to heaven. But from taking a look at his mates, he found out that something was definitely going on. They were exchanging uneasy glances. Finally, Liam turned to Zayn. "Heaven is...up there." he pointed up towards the roof.
"In Jayn'sh woom?" Zayn scowled.
Niall couldn't help it and he cracked up laughing. The boys shot him stern looks and the lad bit his lip.
"Not...exactly." Louis said. He glanced down at his wrist. "Oi! Look at the time, we should leave now. Everybody get ready!"
⚽⚽️⚽️⚽️️Louis⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️
Louis walked Zayn to his room. "So, let's see what clothes Harry bought for you."
He opened the closet and Zayn walked over to his bed, putting Ziam on his pillow before coming back.
Louis pulled the curtains away, letting sunlight enter the room. He opened the window and fresh air blew in.
"It's hot, but windy." Louis said. He pulled out a pair of jeans shorts, a red shirt with a white sweater. He handed the clothes to Zayn, pulling out the new sneakers they'd bought yesterday.
"Thats it. Quickly get changed." Louis said with a grin.
Zayn raised an eyebrow at him, and crossed his little toddler arms. "Jayn can change by himshelf."
"Fine." Louis sighed, walking out of the room.
All of them were ready by the time Louis walked downstairs. "Hey, what about Zayn?"
Niall raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"
Zayn looked up at Louis.
"Is he allowed at the meeting?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know..."
Louis pursed his lips. They were going to talk about many things, and it would be very boring for Zayn. Heck, it was boring for Louis.
"I'll be right back." Louis ran up the stairs and into Zayn's room. Pulling out the drawer to his sidetable, he grabbed a comic book and returned downstairs.
"Incase you get bored." he explained with a grin.
Liam rolled his eyes, a smile tugging on his lips.
Since Zayn didn't know how to wear shoes himself, Harry crouched down and helped him. Liam put the jacket on, and Niall pulled his beanie down. Louis chuckled as Zayn's mouth was covered because of the jacket collar, and his eyes were covered thanks to the beanie.
"It'sh not winter." His muffled voice came.
Niall snickered, zipping Zayn's jacket down a bit and pulling his beanie up, revealing his cute brown orbs.
"To the car!" Louis exclaimed.
👢👢👢👢Harry👢👢👢👢
They arrived to the office five minutes early which was usual for them, except it wasn't very liked by management. The boys entered the building and walked towards reception.
Getting ahold of where the meeting was being held they took the elevator up to the 5th floor, and entered the occupied room.
Harry's eyes darted to all the familiar faces. Simon came up to them first and smiled. "Hello."
The boys smiled and greeted him back.
"I believe I haven't been introduced to the little boy." Simon said.
Harry turned to look at Zayn who was hiding behind Liam's legs. He always seemed to be shy and a bit scared around new people.
"Zayn, this is Simon. He's a good guy." Louis told the toddler.
Zayn studied Simon carefully and Simon smiled at him. "Hello."
Zayn bit his lip and looked down.
"Shy little lad, huh?" Simon chuckled.
"Boys! Ah, there you are." Pete, a Modest! worker, walked over to them. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"And who do we have here?" Pete said, glancing at Zayn. If it was possible, Zayn hid even more behind Liam's legs, clutching them tightly.
"This is Zayn." Louis said through his teeth. Pete was one of the, persistent and selfish workers you could say. But he had a high ranking and therefore was another person who managed for the boys.
"Well, come on. Let's start this meeting. The boy can play in the meanwhile." Pete said.
Harry rolled his eyes. The boy had a name.
Everybody sat down on their seats and Harry noticed Liam trying to pry Zayn off him. He wouldn't sit on the chair far away with his comic book either. Harry bit his lip and glanced at Pete's irritated expression.
The Cheshire lad stood up and made his way to Liam and Zayn. He kneeled down.
"We'll just be talking. Why don't you sit here and read your comic book?"
Zayn shook his head furiously. He glanced at the men with wide eyes. Harry sighed. "I have an idea. You can sit on my lap, okay?"
Zayn hesitated a bit but nodded. Harry lifted the toddler up and walked over to his chair. Sitting down, he placed Zayn in his lap, his small hands gripping the comic book tightly.
"What is he doing here?" Pete asked. "We're having a meeting."
"Let it go, Pete. The boy's obviously afraid." Simon mused, glancing at Zayn and Harry. Zayn had completely hidden himself from the adults view, and Harry wasn't even sure he was reading the comic book at all or just hiding.
Nevertheless the meeting started.
"So, the first thing we need to discuss is your public appearance." Jeff said. He was one of the leaders from Azoff, their new team. "The press will go crazy with this story, it's brilliant."
"I knew my idea would go great." Max boasted, leader of Modest! He was a bit bitter to lose the boys to Azoff, you could say. It wasn't long though, before the boys cut ties with Modest!
A smile tugged on Harry's lips. That would be great.
"Anyways," Linda Azoff said irritatedly. "We should keep the appearance seem natural. A place where you would take a kid, and then suddenly a "fan" sees you and leaks the picture on social media, luring the paps there."
Liam nodded. "I was thinking of Pizza Palace, or maybe Nandos."
"Pizza Palace?" Simon said, sipping his tea. "Fair enough. Also, regards to the public appearance, I suggest you don't answer any questions. Let the media do the digging. The interview will be more suspenseful."
And so the meeting went on. They discussed when, how and where the interview would be dated. The upcoming photoshoots, and the recording they had to do on the fifth album was also discussed. But when it came down to which team would be working on the O2 arena concert, and earn the money, an argument broke loose.
"Azoff will tend to the boys anyways." Pete argued. "Modest! should be taking over the concert preparations. We are far more experienced!"
Zayn winced and Harry gritted his teeth. If he intervened, things would get far more uglier.
Jeff Azoff rolled his eyes. "We have already planned how to do this. It will be the first concert after certain rumors, and the little boy's appearance."
"No! Modest! Is taking this oppuprtunity!" Pete shot back.
Zayn flinched, his eyes wide. He peeked a bit from the top of the comic book, glancing at the men. Harry leaned down and whispered reassuringly, "It's okay, they're always like this." he softly squeezed the boy's shaking hand.
"Let's have a deal." Jeff said.
Pete opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off. "He's talking to Max, not you." Linda snapped.
"We take half part of the share. If the fragrance deal goes fine, Modest! can take credit as well as for the photoshoots. But then, if you guys are taking the concert to a quarter, Azoff will have the fifth album." Jeff continued.
Max thought for a moment before nodding. "It's a deal."
🎤🎤🎤🎤Liam🎤🎤🎤🎤
"I'm more than happy to be out of there." Niall mumbled.
"Aren't we all." Louis huffed. "And apparently we have to do the public appearance now."
Liam shrugged. "At least we'll get to eat, I'm starving."
Mike started the car and Liam leaned black, glancing at Zayn. He was a very quiet kid. Maybe it was because he was shy?
By the time they arrived at the Pizza Parlor, Liam was super hungry. Zayn had been scowling the whole ride and Liam guessed it was probably because of hunger. The toddler never spoke up, nor did he complain.
Louis went to order a large pizza while the boys sat down on the table. Niall went to choose the drink.
"What do you think of Simon, Zayn?" Liam asked, trying to start a conversation.
Zayn shrugged his little shoulders. "He's weid."
"And Pete, the buffy man?"
Zayn made a face. "He's shcawy."
The Liam and Harry laughed. "Oh, trust me, he is." Louis said, sitting down.
Niall walked over with coke and mineral water. "You ordered pepperoni, right?"
he asked Louis as he sat down.
Louis nodded. "Yup."
As Louis and Niall began to talk about the latest football game that they missed, Harry leaned over towards Liam. "You know this morning-"
"I know." Liam said, glancing at Zayn who was looking around in the shop. "I'm eighty-nine percent sure he has lost someone."
"Me too." Harry said with a sigh. "I hope he opens up more over time. He seems so sad and scared."
Liam nodded in agreement.
Zayn tugged at his arm and the lad turned his attention to him. "Mhm?"
Zayn pointed to a window in the Parlor.
A man with a camera stood outside, taking pictures. Liam assumed it was someone their team had sent, the supposed to be "fan".
Louis stood up and brought the pizza to their table. The boys immediately attacked the food, Niall being the first one. Zayn just sat there staring at it.
Liam picked out a slice and handed it to him. Zayn smiled and he began to eat.
Liam felt a warmth spread through him. This adoption thing wasn't so bad after all. At least not with Zayn.
🍼🍼🍼🍼Zayn🍼🍼🍼🍼
Niall poured him a cup of water and Zayn thirstily gulped it down.
"Should we leave now?" Liam said, glancing out of the window. A few people had begun to gather, also some girls.
Louis shrugged. "We're done eating and it's best we get over with it."
"I'll tell Mike." Harry said, pulling his phone out. Zayn stood up with the rest of the boys. As they were about to exit the shop, Louis kneeled down. "We're going to leave, okay Zayn?"
Zayn nodded.
"But there's going to be a few people. Just keep close."
Zayn frowned. "Owkay."
"He's coming." Harry said, pocketing his phone. Louis stood up and the boys left the Pizza Parlor.
Immediately they were swarmed by men and women with cameras. A few girls screamed and Zayn's eyes widened.
Everybody was looking down at him and taking pictures. Liam grabbed his hand and squeezed reassuringly. Zayn unfroze and followed the boys, walking close to Liam.
"Who is this kid?"
"Is it true he's adopted?"
"What's his name?"
Zayn clenched his teeth as he got pushed by the many bodies above him. He stumbled over someone's shoe and fell, his hands scraping the ground, saving him from landing face-first.
"Zayn!" he heard Liam yell, but he couldn't see anything but legs and people looking down at him, pictures being taken-
A pair of string arms lifted him up, and Zayn's heart beat quickened. He was about to scream, but the person whispered in his ear. "It's me."
Zayn closed his mouth and stared at the Cheshire lad. He was walking away from the crowds, towards the man who drove them.
Zayn glanced back at the many flashes going off. Everybody had a camera held up and they were asking questions upon questions. The toddler buried his head in Harry's shoulder, his arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Who were those people? A pack of wolves?
"It's okay, now." Harry soothed him, rubbing his back. "We're heading home."
<><><><>A/N<><><><>
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