Zayn did come back though. It was some time later- about three weeks later- when he'd gone shopping and passed the toy aisle at the mart. In that moment when he saw the stuffed animals, all he could think of was Harry. Harry would love one of these. He knew he longed to see those rare green eyes light up along with his smile and this right here would give him a reason to do that.
He settled on a bright green alligator and bought that. He didn't bother wrapping it. Instead, he just drove right over and to Harry's white house and brought it up to the door. Not too long following the ringing of the doorbell, Nana stood in the doorway. She wasn't too happy about seeing him but he kind of expected that after what happened last time.
"I brought this for Harry as a gift and I'd like to give it to him personally if I could."
"Who's that at the door, mum?" He heard before the door opened wider and revealed Harry's mother. "Oh. Zayn, right?" She said.
"Yes ma'am. I know you weren't expecting me today, but I have something for Harry. This... May I give it to him? I don't even have to come in. I just would like to give it to him myself if that's okay."
She smiled hesitantly but kindly at him. "Sure. I'll go get him."
"Thank you."
After enduring Nana's death glares, Harry finally appeared. "Zayn. You're here." He said and he spotted what was in Zayn's hand right away. "What's that? Is that for me?"
"Yes." Zayn held it out to him. "It's yours. Do you like it?"
He slowly took it from him with a nod.
"What do you say Harry?" His mother questioned, though she was out of view.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Have fun with it."
"Wait." He smiled.
"What?"
Like last time, he took him by the hand and pulled him inside. "Come on. I'll show you my room."
Zayn looked back to his mummy and Nana. Nana was still glaring, but his mother was half smiling. Once Zayn was dragged around the corner and out of earshot, Nana closed the door and locked it.
"I don't like him." She told her daughter.
"Why not?"
"Can't you see? Something is up. What kind of boy just shows up with a stuffed animal for a mentally challenged boy without having ill intentions? This is exactly what we've been trying to avoid."
She sighed. "I know but... I also don't know. You saw the way he asked if Zayn was coming back. I feel that he's starting to understand what it's like to want somebody. I think he wants more than just you and me now. He wants peers."
Nana wasn't satisfied and nor was she giving up. "He may. But what is best for him? That's what you should think about. Just look at Zayn. Look at the way he dresses. Look at his tattoos. Is he really the kind of person you want around Harry? Just think about that and tell me if you believe you're doing the right thing."
She hesitated. "I see what you're saying. But he also brought him a gift today and he didn't hurt Harry last time he was here. I found no marks on him."
"For now. Who knows what that boy is up to? Even if it's not to hurt Harry, he might be trying to steal from us. As we speak, he could be casing the house so he can bring his boys back and take everything we have."
Harry's mother slowly brought her hands up to her mouth with a slow inhale. Her mother was right. What if that was what he was doing? Then what? But at the same time, she also didn't know. What if she was just judging him wrongly? That might even be worse.
"Well, then we'll just keep a strict watch on him. We'll keep an eye on him from now on. How's that?"
Nana hummed even though she wasn't completely happy. "That's a start."
That day, Zayn spent an hour and a half there. He hadn't played with stuffed animals since he was a young child but today he did. Something Zayn realized was that Harry laughed a lot whenever he played despite nothing being noticeably funny. There was so much joy in his heart. He had no cares in the world. Zayn thought that he was lucky in that sense.
This time when Zayn was just about to leave out of the door, Harry stopped him and asked him directly. "Are you coming back?"
"I don't know, Harry. Maybe if your mummy and Nana doesn't mind."
"Oh, we mind." Nana said with a fold of her arms.
But Harry's mother wasn't having any of it. "Mum, stop. I don't mind, Zayn. Maybe Harry could use at least one person to keep him company. And he seems to really like you."
Zayn smiled warmly at Harry. "That's great because I like him too."
"You'll be back?" Harry asked.
This time he nodded right away. "Yes. I'll be back again. I promise." And Zayn had never been so thrilled by being able to see the delight on a sixteen year old's face.
*
*
*
"If there is no emergency, such as a house fire or any other threat to his life, Harry needs to stay inside. We don't allow him outside unless it's to go out in the backyard."
That was Mummy and Nana's one strict rule. And since the two of them had already established that they would keep a close eye on Zayn, they tried to make sure someone would always be there with Zayn and Harry just in case he tried to willingly disobey and take Harry out anyway.
Zayn worked part-time days, so he had to pick and choose when he'd be over and very few times he knew ahead of time. But that didn't matter. Nana didn't work at all, so usually she was there anyway.
However, occasionally she was involved with the Senior Center downtown, so there were some days when she would not be there at all. She'd leave when her daughter left for work early in the morning and she wouldn't come back until after five o'clock when her daughter picked her up after work. Which meant a long day out and away from home. Zayn liked those days better because Nana would hardly let him breathe. Without her there, he felt more free.
Harry's lunch during the day was always preprepared so that he wouldn't have to cook and it was always a sandwich and chips or something readymade so he didn't have to bother with a microwave either. Zayn didn't think that was good for him at all, so there were some days where he would bring lunch for him or he'd bring something to cook for him. Every now and then he would buy little sweet snacks too. And it was always something like gummy bears or chocolate covered peanuts. Harry always liked it. He liked anything Zayn got for him.
One day when Harry's mother was at work and Nana was at the Senior Center, Zayn had been helping Harry put his toys away when Harry stopped him midway through. "Zayn."
"Yeah, Harry?"
"I want um... I want to go outside."
"Well, we can go out into the backyard when we've finished with this, okay?"
"No... outside. I want to see people."
Zayn remembered sitting down that day and shaking his head. "We can't. Mummy said no. Remember?"
"But I..." He huffed frustratedly. "I don't want to be here. I want... I- I want to go outside."
Hearing that saddened Zayn. Of course he had known that Harry wasn't content on being in the house all day because of the day when he disappeared from home to go walking without his mother knowing. But now he was expressing it. He was expressing it the best way he knew how and Zayn couldn't believe that he was helping them to hem Harry up inside when he himself didn't even think it was right nor fair.
After sitting there for a moment and thinking, he finally sighed to himself. It was after two o'clock. But maybe he could take him out for an hour and a half or so and then come back. That should be quick enough to get back before his mummy and grandmother came home.
"Alright, Harry. We can go. But you can't say anything to anybody about this. Especially your Nana and mummy."
He nodded his head wildly. "Okay."
Zayn reluctantly stood up and went to the room door. When he turned back, he noticed Harry had his green alligator clutched under his arm. It had now become his favorite stuffed animal.
"Harry, you can't take that." He said.
"What?"
"You have to put that back in the bin."
Harry frowned. "Why not? I don't want to leave it."
"We're coming back and it's going to be here when we get here."
Harry looked around his room. "We're coming back?" He asked.
Zayn chuckled a little. "Yeah, we have to. If we don't, Mummy and Nana will cry because they'll miss you. And I know they'll be sad too."
"Oh." Harry did love his mother and grandmother and he didn't want them to be sad. Whenever he cried, one of them would hold him. But who would hold them while he was gone? No one. So he put his alligator down and he took Zayn's hand instead.
That day, they walked the block and Zayn answered any questions Harry may have had in the simplest way possible. He kept Harry close and he never let go of his hand for anything. Harry didn't feel like it was a restriction at all. He was just glad to be outside.
But while he was outside pointing at all the beautiful things that nature had to bring, Zayn couldn't get the look on Harry's face when he asked about coming back out of his head. He wasn't thrilled to know they would be back. So why wasn't he thrilled? And why didn't he want to come back?