Zayn Malik had first found the small note tucked inside of his sketchbook at Friday lunchtime. His feet had been shuffling along the corridor away from the art closet and towards the common room, as he didn’t have any lessons that afternoon when the small note had fallen out, and thinking it was a stray sketch, the boy had quickly picked it up. His big brown eyes looked over the small piece of paper that had been folded into the shape of a small heart, and quickly analysed that the scrawled writing of his own name on it indicated to the boy that it was not one of his sketchings.
He walked down to the common room, and upon finding it practically empty with the exception of a few other students working away on coursework for their own subjects, he found himself a small table and settled upon it. Before doing anything else, he read the small note that was addressed to him and soon found out that it was from Harry, telling Zayn which buses to get on to get to Harry’s house, and what he needed to bring. Zayn had immediately beamed a smile in excitement.
Unknowingly to the boy, Harry had wanted to give the note to him in person. In fact, Harry was planning on telling Zayn himself, face to face, but ever since Liam discreetly revealed that he knew what was going on, Harry knew he was better off writing it on a secret note and sneaking it into one of Zayn’s sketchbooks in the artroom. Harry figured that the more time that he spent with Liam, the better off it would be for him.
He was a little nervous about it all, the curly haired lad was terrified that if he strayed away from Liam for too long, he would catch on and reveal to Louis and Andy what was happening; if he hadn’t already, that was. But, Harry had a feeling that if Louis and Andy knew then he would have been questioned and teased by now.
Zayn’s backpack was now filled with the things that Harry had told him to bring, or what he had of the list anyway, and he was now walking down a quiet street in the outer suburbs of Bradford. It seemed like a big housing estate, full of family sized houses, a few of them even having double garages. It was almost six o’clock, and Zayn had hopped on a bus after getting to the bus station, which had taken him to this nice part of town.
Zayn smiled a little as his curious big brown eyes looked up and down the quiet roads of houses, taking in all the little details of the nice area. He looked at all of the coloured garage doors, that ranged from blue, to green and to red, and even spotted a yellow garage door, which made Zayn smile. With the note in his hands for reference, Zayn made his way towards the direction of Harry’s house.
When the boy finally reached the drive of a medium sized house, he gave a little smile as he found that the golden number on the door was the same number as Harry had written on the note. He looked up at the house and let his eyes look over it. There was no car in the drive, but there was a small front garden, even though the green blades of glass were starting to get too long.
There were a few patches of random daisies scattered around, even though their small heads were starting to close up for the night, as the June evening started to roll in. The sun was slowly dipping down as the earth rolled away from it, but it was still putting up a fight by splaying its pink and orange coloured rays across the night sky. Zayn always liked the colours it would give off, as it’s last battle before sinking away from them for another day.
He walked up to the front door and tapped his knuckles on the wooden panel. The painted wood was glossy and smooth against his knuckles, and Zayn smiled a little from the feel of the soft wood against his hand. He stepped back a little, returning his hand to holding the other side of the small note of instructions that Harry had given him as he waited for the curly haired boy to open the door.
As he waited, Zayn’s brown eyes looked at the little golden letters on the door, and looked at how there was a tiny spider hanging off of one of the numbers, it’s little legs working overtime as it made a tiny web. As Zayn looked at the little speckles of beige and brown on the spider’s back, the door suddenly swung open, revealing Harry Styles with a wide grin and a phone tucked inbetween his shoulder and his ear.
“Cheese?” Harry quickly asked Zayn, as he leant against the doorframe in a purple hoodie, waiting for Zayn’s answer. Zayn looked up at Harry for a minute, before he grinned widely at him, a little unsure of what Harry was talking about. Harry pulled a face and laughed a little, shaking his head and causing his curls to bounce around the side of his head as he did so. His large hand covered the end of the phone for a moment.
“No, do you want a cheese pizza, ya doofus!” Harry chuckled, and Zayn blushed a little and nodded as Harry stepped to one side to let the dark haired boy in. Zayn stepped in and immediately felt warm. The house must have been newly redecorated, because there wasn’t a flaw to be seen. There was beige wallpaper with large purple and lime green flowers across one wall, and Zayn couldn’t help but run his fingers over the smooth paper for a moment as Harry chattered away on the phone, shutting the front door behind Zayn.
Zayn watched his best friend disappear into a door still talking, and Zayn looked back around at the house around him. The wallpaper went down a long wall and had a mirror in the centre of the wall, and opposite was the staircase. At the bottom of the staircase was a messy pile of shoes; the messiest were the piles of trainers that obviously belonged to Harry. Zayn smiled a little at the mess, the random shoelaces sprawled out and the worn out shoes that were covering many pairs of girly shoes that went with it.
Zayn quickly recalled that Harry lived with his Mum and his sister and smiled a little, wondering how nice it must have been for Harry to have his Mum and sister around. As Zayn’s brown eyes were about to look away from the shoes, Harry suddenly grabbed the handle at the top of Zayn’s backpack and tugged it gently, still on the phone, and guided Zayn into the living room with a cheeky smile.
Harry pulled the backpack from Zayn and placed it onto an armchair, before gesturing for Zayn to sit on a sofa. Zayn watched his backpack land softly into the armchair before he sat down in the armchair.
“Twenty minutes? Great, yeah that’s fine. Thanks, bye!” Harry spoke, before he put the phone down and put it onto the coffee table before turning to Zayn with a wide smile.
“Sorry about that, I was ordering pizza. That pizza place is really good, seriously, it’s great, but hey! Did you find me here okay, fluffball?” Harry chuckled, before leaning over and placing a quick kiss on Zayn’s cheek, which caused the boy to giggle a little and blush. Zayn nodded as he sat in the cosy sofa, with Harry next to him. Harry beamed another smile, his dimples popping out of his cheeks.
“Aw, good! Well we have the house to ourselves so our lad’s night in starts now!” Harry said excitedly, before ruffling up Zayn’s hair and getting up from the sofa. Zayn giggled again as he watched Harry disappear off into another door, and he could hear Harry’s rocky humming through the house as Zayn sat in the living room. He looked around and in the corner of the room was a rather large TV, playing a music channel quietly.
Zayn couldn’t help but frown in confusion as he watched a couple of women in bikinis dance strangely and quickly looked away. He looked around the family room and smiled a little, the purple and light green colour scheme followed up in here, and Zayn couldn’t help but think how nice a room it was. It naturally felt warm to him.
Soon enough, Harry came plodding back into the living room with a smile and a couple of large chocolate muffins in his hands. He passed one to Zayn with a comment about how his Mum had made them that morning, before he pulled Zayn up to his feet, announcing that they were going on a tour of the house.
~
Zayn jumped once again as the loud scream pierced through the house. His brown eyes flashed up in fear at the flashing TV screen, and they looked over the horror film that Harry had decided to watch. Zayn let out a shaky breath as Harry laughed next to him. The two boys were sat on Harry’s sofa, a box of warm, and extremely good tasting, pizza on each of their laps as they watched the horror film in front of them. Harry had claimed that there was nothing better than a good horror film on a sleepover, and that it was practically tradition. But when Zayn had shakily nodded in agreement, not having watched a horror film in his life, Harry had promised that they would watch the film of Zayn’s choice after.
Zayn had tried to distract himself from the scary film by chewing on the hot pizza and focusing more on that, but he could still hear the scary sounds of the film, and each time something dramatic happened the boy still shook in his skin. This was no different, and Harry couldn’t hold on the chuckles anymore. He’d seen this films millions of times, it didn’t even frighten him even more, but watching Zayn jump and flinch, and even an occasional squeak really did make Harry have a hard time to hold in his giggles.
Since the curly haired boy had finished his pizza, he threw the empty cardboard box onto the coffee table in front of him. Zayn watched as the boy shuffled closer to him. Their shoulders were pressed against each other, and Zayn couldn’t help but smile as Harry’s long arm wrapped around his shoulders and poked his cheek.
“S’only a film, babe. Don’t worry, it’s not real.” Harry smiled, before his thumb stroked over Zayn’s cheekbone softly, leaving a pink tint in the boy’s cheeks. Harry could only smile as he let his green eyes trail to the TV once more. On any other day he would have been transfixed with the film, or television in general, but his emeralds seemed stuck to the boy next to him. The lights were off and the curtains were drawn across, blocking out the rest of the world. The warmth from the pizza on his lap had kept Harry warm, but now Zayn’s body was letting off a constant, gentle heat, the way it did in the art closet.
Harry swallowed as he looked over Zayn’s features. He had to admit, it was strange seeing the boy out of school. He was wearing dark blue jeans, that were a little baggy and then a red plaid shirt, with a black hoodie over it. The shirt was buttoned up, and the hoodie was done up completely, and Harry couldn’t help but wonder why the boy dressed the way he did. He obviously didn’t keep up with trends or anything, but being as good-looking as he was, he wasn’t using it. But then again, Harry didn’t want the boy to dress up with the trends and look amazing, because then he wouldn’t be his Zayn.
With only the TV to light up the boy’s features, Harry got to see the boy in a hard light. The way Zayn’s glasses were plopped on the top of his ears, every so often needing to be pushed back up the bridge of the boy’s nose. The way his jaw looked so perfect, as the boy chewed and gnawed at the melted cheese on the pizza, almost looking like a baby dinosaur as he would pull it with his teeth, even though the cheese would stretch and end up landing on his chin and shirt.
Harry couldn’t help but smile as he looked over the boy. Everything he did seemed to affect Harry in some way. He was just too cute, and Harry want to kiss his little cheeks and snuggle with him all day, but he felt like his body was trying to stop him, as if being controlled by someone else.
Zayn squeaked again at another scary part of the film, and his body pushed itself into the crook of Harry’s arm, and Harry couldn’t help but smile as he brushed his fingertips through the back of Zayn’s hair to comfort the boy. Zayn’s eyes seemed stuck to the screen now as the scariest part of the film played out, and Harry kept stroking his fingertips through Zayn’s soft raven hair to show that he was there, but not just in a way that he was there to comfort the boy through the film, but he was there to comfort the boy always.
Harry just wanted to show Zayn that he would be here for aslong as Zayn wanted him to be, and he knew a simple stroke to the boy’s hair may not have shown that for Zayn, it atleast showed Harry where his priorities were when it came to Zayn.
~
“Okay babe, come here!” Harry called from the bathroom, before he heard the excited patter of Zayn’s feet as he followed the sound of Harry’s voice. Harry sat down on the bathroom floor, on the towel that he had laid out onto the tiled floor, and looked up at Zayn when he wandered in. Harry couldn’t help but die a little inside as he saw Zayn.
His raven black hair was ruffled up and laid on top of his forehead, and he shuffled around a little by the bathroom door. He was wearing chequered pyjamas, in a red pattern, and they were matching. Harry couldn’t help at how adorable the boy was, and Zayn must have clicked onto this as he blushed a little and slowly sat down opposite Harry, the bucket of warm water inbetween them.
“I brought my pyjamas, Harry.” Zayn informed him quietly, as he sat cross-legged, wriggling his toes a little as he waited for Harry to speak. Harry responded with a slight coo and a nod.
“They look very warm, and very cute, too, fluffball! I wish I had some like that.” Harry chuckled, as he sat opposite Zayn in a pair of cut off, light grey jogging bottoms that he had outgrown over his years of teenage growth spurts and a loose white T-shirt. He normally slept in just boxers, or nothing on some nights, but he didn’t exactly want to scare Zayn, so tee and shorts it was. Zayn smiled a little and adjusted his buttoned up collar a little.
“Nana got me them for Christmas.” He smiled happily, and Harry had to quickly find sensible words to say. He was excited about the pyjamas that his Grandmother gave him for Christmas. Harry was going to have to meet the boy’s Grandmother and thank her for making his heart explode from the sight of the boy in his sleepwear.
“They’re gorgeous, babe. Now, you ready to shave? I’ve got everything ready to show you, okay?” Harry started, as he picked up the bottle of half empty shaving cream and started to shake the can a little, as his green eyes looked at Zayn for a confirmation that the boy was ready.
Zayn gave a little smile and a nod, and shuffled up a little closer, causing Harry to bite onto his bottom lip once more to hide a smile. He really did like spending time with Zayn away from the tiny art closet, and he did like seeing the boy in pyjamas.
“Alright love, first things first, dampen your cheeks and chin a little with the warm water.” Harry smiled, before he put the can of shaving cream down and leaned over to roll Zayn’s pyjama sleeves up to his elbows so that he wouldn’t get them wet.
Zayn nodded a little, and waited for Harry to adjust his sleeves before he gently put his fingers into the bowl of warm water and patted his cheeks and chin like Harry had instructed him too. Harry smiled and did the same, before he grabbed his razor and a spare one that he hadn’t used and was giving to Zayn and swished them around in the water.
“Right, now we have to put the cream on. This is the fun bit.” Harry chuckled, before he grabbed the can again with one hand and pulled Zayn’s hand out in front of him with his other hand. He sprayed some of the cream onto Zayn’s hand and then onto his own, before dropping the can.
“Alright babe, carefully squish your hands together, like so.” Harry instructed the boy softly, before he put his hands together to spread the shaving cream onto both of his hands. Zayn’s big brown eyes watched him intently, before he slowly did the same, biting onto his bottom lip a little in concentration to get it right. Harry smiled and praised him before he looked into Zayn’s chocolate coloured eyes once more.
“Okay, now, you just give yourself a little foamy beard.” Harry chuckled, before he proceeded with the routine he was so used too by now. He spread the shaving foam around his cheeks and chin, and Zayn watched him for a moment before he repeated what Harry had done. The boy’s nose scrunched up a little.
“Feels funny…” Zayn mumbled, as he spread it along his cheeks and chin, and Harry couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You’ll get used to it, love, don’t worry.” Harry told him, before he leant over and got the little bits that Zayn had missed to cover in the foam. Zayn scrunched his nose again and giggled a little as Harry sorted him out, before they both dipped their hands into the warm water to rid them of the shaving cream. Zayn suddenly giggled, and Harry looked up at the boy with a curious smile. Zayn’s brown eyes were looking at Harry’s face and twinkling with delight.
“You look like Santa Clause, Harry.” Zayn giggled, and Harry rolled his eyes, before a sudden idea flashed into his mind.
“Hey Zayn…” Harry started, and Zayn looked at him with that small, expectant smile of his. Harry quickly leaned forward and pressed a cheeky peck to Zayn’s mouth, before moving back and laughing. If Harry had seen the boy’s cheeks, even though they were hidden by a layer of the shaving foam, he would have seen how pink Zayn’s cheeks were flushing from the little kiss that Harry had pressed onto the younger boy’s lips.
“Harry, the shaving cream…” He mumbled, yet Harry simply chuckled at their behaviour. He gave a little shrug and told the boy not to worry about it, before handing Zayn the new razor.
“Okay, fluffball, this is simple, and it doesn’t hurt, I promise.” Harry told him, before he shuffled up closer to the other boy as he could. Zayn innocently nodded, believing the words falling from Harry’s mouth, before he watched Harry start to shave. Harry started with his upper lip, his movements slow so that Zayn could watch and understand what he needed to do. Zayn’s hand slowly brought the razor to his face, and while his brown pools watched Harry’s movements, he reciprocated them, and shaved his own upper lip.
Soon enough, the two boys were almost done. There was a few giggles as Harry would lean over and place another splodge of cream onto Zayn’s face, and Zayn would do the same to Harry after. But, Zayn quickly too to shaving when the boy had realised that it was just like drawing. With gentle encouragement, Zayn’s little fluff was now gone, and his perfect cheeks were on show to Harry once more.
“There ya go, fluffball, all smart now!” Harry smiled, before pushing everything to one side, mentally telling himself that he would get to it later and would clean the bathroom later too. Zayn giggled and rolled his eyes.
“I’m not fluffy anymore, Harry, you can’t call me fluffball anymore.” Zayn quickly retorted playfully, his eyes still sparkling and bright with excitement. Harry rolled his eyes and nuzzled his nose against the dark haired boy.
“Yeah, but you’re my fluffball.” Harry smiled, before he kissed his nose and pulled the boy to his feet, heading back into his bedroom, where he looked forward to cuddling up in bed and watching a film with Zayn again.