Woop woop! I finished two chapters in one week! I’m on fire! Lol. Well I hope you all like this chapter as well as the last one! I love you all very very much and ONLY TWO CHAPTERS LEFT!!! Enjoy! Love, Sami <3
Chapter Twenty Three:
Zayn’s POV:
There was a look of pure shock on Harry’s face when I mentioned falling in love. This was exactly the type of thing that I was trying so hard to avoid but clearly I didn’t do a very good job at it. I had no idea what he was thinking at that moment. His face was pretty much emotionless if you didn’t count the shock and I just wished that he would say something. Whether it was him telling me that he wasn’t ready for that step in our relationship or if it was him just forgetting it ever happened it wouldn’t matter to me. Of course I would prefer him to say that he felt the same way about me but I didn’t expect that from him. If he had said that same thing to me though I would probably be the one looking like I had just seen a demon. A few moments had passed and I didn’t know what to do so I did what my instincts told me to do. Run.
I quickly got out of the car and ran for it. I knew that running probably wasn’t the best thing to do at a moment like this but I didn’t want to hear the rejection that I knew was coming. I just didn’t think I could handle such a thing at the moment and I figured Harry didn’t want to see me just sitting there staring at him like a complete idiot. I went to the one place that I had been running to since I was younger. Thankfully we weren’t too far from the park and I could see the bridge coming into view. The closer I got the more safe I felt and when I reached it I threw myself to the ground and put my face into my hands.
“What were you thinking Zayn? You’re so fucking stupid!” I picked up a rock and threw it at the wall across from me.
I felt tears starting to form in my eyes and crying was definitely something I didn’t want to do again. I wiped the tears away and pulled a cigarette out of the pocket in my jacket. I quickly lit it and took a long drag and slowly exhaled. I knew that smoking would probably kill me one day but honestly I didn’t even know how I would go about quitting. I took all of my stress away and stress seemed to be a big part of my life. I leaned my head back against the cold wall of the bridge and closed my eyes.
I was caught off guard when I heard Harry’s voice only inches from my body, “You know I’m falling too.”
I slowly looked up at him, “What?”
He shrugged, “I’m falling too. I’ve been falling for you ever since that first day you walked into class and sat next to me.” He walked towards me and sat down, “You kinda scared me a bit at first but I knew that there was a different side to you than you were letting on. I saw something else.”
“What else could you have possibly seen?”
“Well you seemed to be so confident and full of yourself. The way that you carry yourself is unbelievably stunning. I was taken aback by you. I tried so hard to not look at you but it proved to be a very difficult thing to do. Then when I saw your tattoos I thought they were awesome and I looked a bit closer and saw those scars.” He paused and slowly shook his head, “I couldn’t believe that someone that looked to be so full of themselves would be so hurt on the inside. And I could tell that there was a whole other side to you. That’s when I decided that it was going to be my goal to get you to talk to me. I almost gave up a few times but I was just to intrigued by you that I couldn’t stay away. And that day that we were in the park and I told you that I wanted to smoke with you.” He closed his eyes and a big smile spread across his face. “I looked like such a fool but I knew that moment got you to trust me even just a tiny bit. I knew at that point that I was going to get you to be in my life somehow. I didn’t know if you were gonna be a friend or an acquaintance or even a boyfriend but I knew that I wanted to get you to open up. And I guess you decided that you wanted the same.”
There was a few moments of silence until I spoke up, “You intrigued me too you know. When I first saw you and you were staring at me I thought you were just judging me for being a freak but after a while I realized you were actually trying to talk to me. I guess I just wanted to know what it was like to have a friend for once. I was just scared to let you in.”
He grabbed my hand and looked at me, “I’m glad that you let me in. If I’m going to fall in love with anyone then I want it to be you.”
I smiled and kissed him on the cheek before laying my head on his shoulder.
“Zayn?”
“Yea Hazza?”
“You know you’re special right?”
I shook my head, “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I want you to know that you’re more than just a boy to me. You’re more than just some guy that I met in my math class. All of those things that I said to your father are true. I meant every single thing. I need you to know how much you mean to me and how much I want you in my life. I know we’ve only been dating for a little while but I want you to realize that without you I couldn’t possibly be this happy.”
I squeezed his hand tight, “I definitely couldn’t be this happy without you either Harry. You’re my everything.”
“And always remember that no matter how useless you think you are and how useless people tell you you are, you will always be my reason to smile. You’ll never be useless in my eyes.”
“Thank you love.” I paused for a moment, “Sorry I ran off on you…”
He let out a light chuckle, “It’s ok love. I understand. I was being a bit odd back there. I probably would’ve run off to if I was you.” I snuggled closer to him and let out a sigh. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just really happy. I mean after what happened today with my dad and all I was expecting to be really, like, upset. But I’m just really happy.”
“I’m really glad that you’re happy. I must admit today was quite the…adventure.”
I nodded, “Agreed.”
We sat in silence for a while just enjoying each other’s warmth. I could stay snuggled close to my Hazza forever but sadly he slowly got up and said, “I’ll be right back. I just have to make a quick phone call.”
I nodded and after a few minutes of mumbling something I couldn’t quite hear he came back under the bridge and held out his hand to me.
“Come on Zaynie. Let’s go home and cuddle. I’ll make us some dinner and we can watch a movie.”
I smiled, “That sounds wonderful.”
I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up but he didn’t let go as we walked back to his car.
Harry POV:
I was a little nervous that there would be a knock on the door from the police that evening since I had called them earlier while we were by the bridge. I just couldn’t stand the fact that after all he did he would be left alone to live his life like he always did. I couldn’t help calling them and telling them that an abusive father was lying in his house unconscious because he had attacked two teenagers. Thankfully the police believed me and they said that they would be to the house as soon as they could. When we were walking back from the park on the way to my car I saw a few police cars driving down the road with their sirens on and I couldn’t help but smile. Especially since they were driving towards Zayn’s father’s house. I knew that eventually they would call Zayn and I in for some questioning but I wanted to talk to Zayn about it before they came knocking on our door. At the moment we were both sitting on the couch watching ‘James Bond’ and eating some chicken parmesan that I had made. Zayn looked extremely content compared to how he looked earlier this morning. I was happy to see him with a smile on his face. He finished his last bite of food and took his plate into the kitchen to clean it and get a drink of water.
He walked into the living room and said, “I’ve been thinking a lot.”
“About what love?”
He shrugged, “My father, school, us…”
“And?”
He scratched the back of his head and continued, “I’ve been wondering if my father ever really loved me like I thought he did. Like maybe he just acted like he loved me because he wanted to keep my mum around. I mean I just don’t get how a parent can just stop loving their children after loving them their whole lives. It just frustrates me. And now that I think back to all of the things he did to me and how he treated me like garbage I just don’t see how I didn’t do something about it. How could I just let him do that to me? I must be absolutely mental.”
He walked over to the couch and plopped down next to me. I put my arm around his shoulders and said, “You’re not mental love. You were just looking for his approval. It may seem crazy now but it really wasn’t crazy at all. Every child wants their parents to love them.”
He nodded, “Yea I guess so…”
“So what were you thinking about school and us?”
He shrugged, “I was just thinking about what school I would want to go to for art and stuff. I want to be able to get into somewhere good but there’s no way I can go to a great school without any money. I need to work for a scholarship or something. Or maybe I should start off somewhere cheap and then work my way up. I don’t know. It’s all so much to think about.”
“I understand love. You should just take your time with everything. You’ve been really stressed out lately.”
“Yea…and about us…”
“Yea?”
“What do you think we’re going to be like in a few years?”
I thought for a moment and replied, “I think that in a few years we’re going to be happy. Like maybe we’ll have some rough spots in our relationship because we’ll be going to different schools and stuff but other than that I think we’re going to be together for a long time. Like I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Never in my life has anyone made me feel so good and so happy about my life. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and if you think that I’m just going to let you go you’ve got some rethinking to do sir.”
He chuckled, “I would never think that you would just let me go. You’re too stubborn for that.”
“I’m too stubborn?! Ha! I think we both know who the stubborn one is in this relationship and it’s not me!”
“Mhm sure. You just keep telling yourself that Styles.”
“Oh so we’re playing that game huh Malik?”
He gave me a devious look and before I knew it I was being smacked across the face with a pillow. He laughed at me and I tackled him onto the floor. I grabbed a pillow from the couch and hit him with it repeatedly.
“You like that Malik? You like that?”
He kept on laughing and eventually I burst out into laughter with him. I fell onto the floor next to him and we both laid there for a few minutes not able to speak a word.
“You’re so weird Styles.”
I looked at him, “But I’m your favorite weird person.”
He smiled, “Of course you are.”
I took a blanket from the chair next to me and draped it over us before snuggling up close to him. I was almost asleep when Zayn spoke up.
“Hazza?”
“Hmm?”
He stayed silent for a moment, “How does it feel to have a home?”
“I don’t know. How do you feel right now?”
“Pretty damn good.”
I smiled, “Then I guess it feels pretty damn good.”
He grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles, “Thank you.”
I placed a gentle kiss to his temple, “Welcome home Zaynie.”