"Look," Perrie's eyes are brighter than the sun when she watches a woman around her mid-forties walk inside the house right next to her, followed by a huge crowd of people. Zayn wasn't interested, but looking at the huge crowd, he definitely was. "New neighbours. They look pretty nice; don't you think so?"
"I guess." Zayn replies. He doesn't care about the neighbours as long as there is sufficient silence around the house for his art work. He wasn't a fan of his old neighbours. The Walters pretended to be good people but everybody knew that all they wanted was free food. They didn't have children, which was great because Zayn knew that if they did have offspring, they'd definitely be Satan's spawns.
Perrie spends her entire day looking out of the window to catch a glimpse of the new people. She almost cut her finger while chopping onions. Zayn had to tell her that he'd definitely come with her when she feels like meeting them, and that's enough to make her get back into concentrating on her own life.
Zayn spends the rest of the day sketching and working on the new schedule that had been passed out to him. He liked working as a teacher, but he had to admit that the students were miserable. Preteens trying to be better than others, not talking to the 'quiet' ones because they're supposedly dangerous, and always trying to avoid the homework.
Teaching twelve year olds about colours sucked. 'Mr. Malik, you should teach higher classes. Your drawings are too good for us to imitate,' One of the quiet girls had once said in his class. He remembers it very well. He also remembers stomping to the principal's office and demanding promotion.
The principal didn't give him a promotion. He wanted to teach high school students. He wasn't a fan of teenagers either, but 23-year-old Zayn Malik had big plans. He had to start somewhere and build his way up. Perrie's right by his side, making sure he's alive and eating well. He couldn't thank this woman enough.
He's thinking about Liam's upcoming engagement party which was on a Friday, when their doorbell goes off. The speed at which Perrie rushes to the door is incredible. By the time she's opening the door, Zayn's isolating himself in their master bedroom. He always does it and Perrie doesn't even care anymore.
"Oh hello," He could hear Perrie's loud and cheerful voice from the door. He does wonder how he ended up with someone so different from him. "Yes, definitely. My boyfriend is working right now; he'd love to meet you too. You sound lovely, we'll be there." The moment Zayn hears Perrie say those words, he wonders why he doesn't have work on a Sunday evening.
The moment he hears the door close, he walks out and looks at Perrie. She's very happy, she's smiling so widely when she pulls Zayn into a hug. "Her name is Anne! She's so nice, and since we're the house who almost share a garden with her, she wants to know us better. She wouldn't steal out plants like the Walters!"
Zayn couldn't help but laugh as he puts his arms around Perrie. "Of course she wouldn't." He whispers.
Perrie Edwards met Zayn Malik during his first year in college. Zayn was 18 and reckless, trying to find a girl and himself at the same time. So many things had happened, with a great amount of fights with Liam and so many girlfriends went through his life, he finally ended up with Perrie. The girl who was by his side when the other girls left him because of his 'temper', 'laziness' or 'Zayn-ness'. Perrie knows him and he must always keep that in his mind.
Liam Payne was Zayn's roommate in college. Zayn loves this guy and is forever thankful for him for staying by his side, even when Zayn completely insulted him in every way possible. Liam is optimistic, keeps telling him that past is in the past and he always knew that Zayn would turn out to be fucking golden in the end.
He wasn't completely right about it, but Perrie agrees.
"You look...very nice." Zayn says when Perrie's fixing her mascara. She smiles but doesn't turn her head from the mirror. It's almost eight and that's when the family next door had invited them over. "Of course, so do you." She finally replies when she's done with her makeup.
Perrie's about 5'5 with her bright blue eyes and platinum blond hair. She loves every human being who's nice to her, and she would adopt every animal that she'd find on the road if she could afford to pay for their needs. She's a certified yoga instructor at a famous centre around the city and the talk is that people buy memberships just to meet her.
"You know, I always thought that Mrs. Walters wanted to sleep with you." Perrie decides to make a conversation when they're leaving their house. "Of course you did." Zayn replies with a smug grin playing on his lips. "You think everybody wants to sleep with me."
"Because they do." She replied bluntly. Zayn Malik didn't think of him as absolutely gorgeous—as Perrie likes to remind him. He's about 5'11 with black hair and brown eyes. Liam likes to describe him as 'my college friend with the chiselled jawline' which is utter bullshit to Zayn, but Perrie liked it so much that she continued to call him 'Mr. chiselled jawline' for five days straight.
Perrie lets go of his hand when they're at the new neighbour's door. The rings the doorbell and offers Zayn a small smile which is saying that it's going to be alright. He knows her well enough to smile back. The door opens and a young female is looking at them with wide eyes before smiling. Short hair, green eyes and dimples. "Hello." She said. "You must be our neighbours. Come on in."
Zayn walks behind Perrie who's instantly greeted by an older woman. "Hello, I'm Anne Cox, so nice to meet you." The lady introduces herself to Zayn when she's done smothering Perrie with kisses. "Hey, I'm Zayn Malik. Nice to meet you too."
Then they're all settled at the table. They learn that Anne is living here with her two children. Her older child Gemma and her younger son Harry. She then tells them that London's been her hometown and her children weren't big fans of the high school in the states, so when they got a chance to move here when Harry got admission into UCL, they were more than happy.
Perrie decides that she needs to tell Anne about her life too, so when she starts, Zayn knows it's going to be a while. "Um, where's the washroom?" He manages to ask before turning completely red from embarrassment. Gemma gives him the instructions, and he learns that it's the second room upstairs.
He locks himself into the little cubicle and decides to check his phone. 'Browsing through your phone while in a meeting with people is highly immature, Zayn.' Perrie had told him once. So he remembers not to do it anymore unless he's in a mood for her wrath.
The moment he unlocks his phone, a message from Liam pops up.
Liam: hopefully Perrie isn't there
Liam: *picture*
It's a picture of Liam with a guy that Zayn doesn't know about.
Zayn: who's the dude??
Liam: remember the guy... from our third year?? The blond with the grey eyes that you had a MOMENT with
Zayn: Liam
Liam: I still can't believe that you didn't tell Perrie that you're bi
Liam: what's the point in hiding?
Zayn: what's the point in telling her when it doesn't matter??
Liam: whatever man, talk later. See you on Friday, yeah?
Zayn: yeah bye
He had planned to stay here longer but Liam had to send that picture. Just remembering his 'phase' with guys made him want to dig a hole and stay in there forever. He had moved on from that. Moved on pretty well.
He opens the door and the moment he does it, he notices someone stood right in front of him, with his back turned. The person is trying to pull something from the wall opposite to the washroom's, and he succeeds. He falls back, right on Zayn.
"Shit." Zayn mutters as he holds on to the guy who's just as tall as him, with his chocolate brown hair all over Zayn's face. He's saying something, but he's moving too. Zayn pushes him off when he feels the guy brush his back on the nope area.
The guy turns to look at him. Zayn takes in his features. He's got green eyes, just like Gemma's. He looks very similar to his mother and sister. Then he smiles and decides to held out his hand to Zayn. He has the family dimples too.
"I'm Harry. You must be our neighbour." He said. "Sorry about that, by the way."
"Uh no, it's cool. You probably lost your balance." Zayn said with a smile. Harry was trying to remove a photo from the wall which was apparently The Walters'.
"I don't mean about my fall." Harry said before his eyes travelled down Zayn's body, ending right there, before grinning and walking down like nothing had happened.
Zayn's fuming. An 18-year-old basically falls on his dick and expects him to not have any response to that.
The dinner is great. Zayn actually liked her cooking and decided to even compliment her. Anne did say that it was all Gemma's work, who in turn blushed and nudged her mother. Zayn glanced at Harry who ate silently, his eyes shifting to Perrie in short intervals before he grinned to himself.
Zayn doesn't know what's going through that teenager's mind, but he doesn't like it. First he falls on him, then he stares at his girlfriend like he wants to devour her. He feels very uncomfortable.
"Harry wanted to join a frat but we're keeping him here." Gemma says when Perrie asked where Harry would be living when their term would start. "He's been complaining a lot though. Saying that this whole neighbourhood seems like a sad novel."
Perrie laughs at that and looks at Harry. "Oh come on, we're great people. You should spend more time with us." And she reached out to place her hand on his arm since he was seated beside her. Harry smiled. "Oh yes. You people seem nice, so I think being here wouldn't be a problem."
Zayn's definitely not uncomfortable.
When they're making their way back home, he's thinking about it. He can't stop thinking about it. Harry looking at Perrie like that. Perrie being super friendly with Harry. He can't blame Perrie, she always gets too close and people like the closeness. They just start feeling like they need more. Perrie is beautiful, no way Harry wouldn't want her.
But then again, his first encounter with Harry wasn't a huge success. He's grumpy after that, and Perrie doesn't notice because he's always grumpy.
"I'll be in the art room. I'll be in bed soon." He tells her when she's heading for their room. "Okay." She replies with a smile, leaning in to kiss his lips slowly before leaving him alone in the living hall. He makes his way upstairs, into his domain. He loves being in his art room, surrounded by art supplies and his own drawings on the wall.
The smell of fresh paint keeps him alive. He turns off the lights and sits on the corner, staring out of the window. The moonlight is enough to keep this room bright. Then he starts to think, because that's what he does half of the time in his art room.
'When are you going to do it?' His father asked. His mother is sat there beside him, waiting for Zayn's answer.
But Zayn doesn't have an answer. 'I need her to trust me completely, I don't want her to think that I'm doing it because I...'
'Don't.' His mother said. 'Don't worry about that. Take your time, but do it by this year if you can. It's a good time and, what's the point in waiting when you know she's the one that you want?'
It's not like Zayn didn't love Perrie. He loved her more than he had ever loved anyone. But not enough to make it to that stage, with the promise that shall tie them together forever. A promise that Zayn wants to keep, a promise that Zayn hasn't planned yet.
His thoughts are interrupted when he notices the lights coming on from the opposite house. He crawls towards the window and stares out like a creep. He watches Harry come into the room and yawn before taking off his shirt. And holy shit, when Zayn saw the amount of tattoos that covered his bodies, he almost died.
Harry's taking off his jeans too. Zayn doesn't mean to look, but then again, Harry is changing with his curtains wide open for the world to see. It's completely his fault. Zayn's knee hits the switches which were joined to the eight lava lamps in his room, which instantly brightened up like it was the fourth of July. He mentally cursed and fell down, which made a loud noise to wake Perrie up.
He looks at the window. Harry's staring directly at him, standing in the middle of the room with just his boxers on. "Zayn? Are you okay?" It's Perrie. Her footsteps are close; he quickly hides the window in the curtains that Perrie had bought from a little store in Manchester, just the moment when she opened the door. She looked at the lava lamps, then at Zayn.
"I was thinking about an idea when I tripped over a lamp and fell." He says with a chuckle. She looks at him for a moment before laughing. "That's so you. Now come on, I need a cuddle." She holds out her arms like a kid waiting to be carried.
He forgets about Harry in his boxers and walks over to Perrie, actually carries her down as she laughs and tells him that he's an idiot.
The next morning Zayn barely gets up without Perrie pulling him out of the bed. "Come on, don't you have work? You need to eat too. Hurry!" She's yelling about before disappearing into the kitchen. Zayn stares at the ceiling for a moment before deciding to actually go to work.
He's grumpy when he gets in his car, notices Gemma outside talking to a guy that he's never seen before. He tries not to think too much about that, or the events that had occurred yesterday. Harry, the teenager living next door might think of him as a creep now, but he's too tired of life to fight for his status.
He arrives at Greenberg Comprehensive School before his regular time. It's a Friday morning and when he gets out of his car, some high school students smile at him. He's heard talks that people here find him 'the attractive teacher' and 'the one we shall bet our lives to sleep with'. He really tries not to look when the high school students flash him accidentally.
"Zayn." The mention of his name makes his head turn to the other side. Professor Michelle Griffin is smiling at him with her pearly whites. She teaches Biology to the middle schoolers and is a good friend of his. "Hey, um, how was the birthday party?" Zayn asked her.
"Oh, awful. Troy ended up getting lost in a puddle of balloons. And Marion ate so much ice cream that she could barely move an inch," Michelle gushes out as she places a hand on his shoulder. She's thirty with a husband working in the navy, and two kids named Troy, aged 4 and Marion, aged 3. "Why does Paula even try to get such big halls for her one-year kid's birthday? So that she could make sure we lose our kids there and make sure they demand even bigger halls for their birthdays? Troy is going to bug me about this for years."
Zayn laughs because that's pure Michelle, making everybody laugh with her daily stories of being a mother to two toddlers. "I heard you got new neighbours." Michelle said when he sat down on his desk in the teachers' lounge. Her desk was right opposite to his, that's how they started talking too. He had moved here three years ago, looking for a job after being a failure in college, and finally found his way in here, right in front of her desk.
"Of course you heard. Perrie's broadcast was live for the whole city to hear." Zayn says with a smile. Michelle rolls her eyes at that, tying her brown hair into a pony tail before tossing a pencil in his direction. "How are they? Not like your sociopath old neighbours, I hope." She asks with a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
"No, they're alright. A woman with her two kids. Both in college, I suppose." Zayn answers like it's no big deal. No way was there going to be any sort of trouble between those two neighbours. They were going to be very social and friendly in every aspect. Which didn't include falling right on top of other people's privates.
"Boring." She mutters before going back to the tests that she was supposed to correct. It's funny to watch her correct papers because either she's cursing, or crying. Because every child she teaches is so stupid and they always write the answers as if it's a witty joke. It's hilarious, but she couldn't have them failing like that and then getting kicked out of the school.
Zayn has only three lectures on Friday. He's thankful for that. So when he's on his final lecture with a couple of students from the eighth grade, he's too tired to teach them about the human body. He offers a free period and tells them to prepare for their upcoming exams. They don't answer him and he's not hurt by that.
Kids belong to devil. He knows it all too well.
It's Liam's engagement party today. He remembers it when he's back in his car and Liam calls him. "Be here before time! The decoration here is amazing." Liam is saying when he picks up. "Oh yeah. Eight, you said?" Zayn asks, completely unsure because he's bad with dates, time, events and people. Perrie isn't. That's why he needs her by his side.
"Seven." Liam says. Liam doesn't even get angry at him when he forgets things like that. It was like Liam had called him just as a reminder that it was seven, not eight. "You and Perrie are coming, right?" He asks, a little hesitantly. Zayn instantly feels bad. It's five pm right now and he has plenty of time to drive to the location, which was Liam and Nakshathra's mansion.
"What kind of a question is that? Of course we are, mate." Zayn says with a laugh. "See you. I have to drive now."
"Thanks Zee, see you soon." And with that Liam hangs up. Zayn tries not to exceed the speed limit while driving home.
Perrie's there. She's getting ready and he's happy that she remembers about this important event. "Come on, we have to leave in thirty minutes." She's saying when he's tying his tie. Perrie's applying her lipstick beside him in front of the huge mirror that they had in their bathroom. "Just a second." He says when he's done with his tie. They look at each other from the mirror and laugh like kids.
It's perfect.
"You look amazing." He says and leans forward to kiss her lips when her finger stops him midway. "Still drying, love." She says innocently. He rolls his eyes but kisses her cheek. She laughs shamelessly like a maniac and Zayn loves the sound of it.
They're leaving the house when they see Harry walking with a couple of guys around him through the sidewalk. Zayn wants to ignore them but Perrie decides otherwise. "Hello Harry!" She greets him happily. He's surprised to see her but smiles widely. He checks her out like it's something that he always does. Zayn's blood is boiling but when Harry checks him out too with the same smile, he might just think the kid is insane.
"You look beautiful, Perrie." Harry compliments her. "Way to a party?"
"Yes. Our college friend's engagement party. We should go now, we're a tad late." She says with a laugh, tugging Zayn's arm. Harry nods and waves her goodbye. Then he starts walking again with the guys who would be his 'supposedly new friends' from UCL.
Zayn turns back to glare at Harry's back. But Harry's head is turned around and when he notices Zayn's eyes on him too, he smiles so wide and winks cheekily. Zayn might just have to add their neighbours to the insane list which carried only The Walters' till now.
It takes them fifteen minutes to get to Liam's house. They're the first ones to arrive, Liam hugs Zayn like he hasn't seen him in years and Perrie smothers Liam's face in kisses, turning to Zayn and telling him that their baby had finally grown up. Nakshathra is all smiles too, embracing Zayn and Perrie like she's known them for years.
Nakshathra Jane Clare is a student in UCL. She's a senior and she met Liam during her sophomore year. Liam, 23, was doing his MBA at UCL, so when they met, it wasn't love at first sight. Liam had just broken up with his girlfriend Sophia, whom he was planning to propose, and his heart was completely shattered. Nakshathra was there by his side when Zayn and Perrie were busy with their own lives.
Dating Nakshathra was one of the most challenging things that Liam had ever done. Not because she was a difficult person, but because her mother was completely against dating and her father agreed to mother's terms, she never had a boyfriend and stayed out of dating. Her mother, Lekha, is Indian and wanted Nakshathra to even think about dating after getting a job.
Her father was pretty chill about the whole topic when he found out. Mr. Clare is a nice man who was proud to have his daughter onto someone like Liam. Her mother eventually gave into the deal because Liam had the ability to make anybody fall in love with him.
Zayn grabs a glass of wine and walks towards the balcony when the house is filled with people. Perrie is somewhere, talking to people and making sure everybody knew she was there. Zayn tried to be like that but he couldn't. He always wanted to escape.
'When are you going to do it?'
The chanting is going on in his head. His mother and father's voice repeating the same sentence again and again.
"I knew he would be here." Liam's voice brings him back. He turns around to see Liam a little drunk with his arm wrapped around a shorter guy's shoulder. "Zayn, this is my old pal Niall. We were friends in high school, lost contact for a bit, but he's here now. Actually knew a bit about your new neighbours. He's friends with the girl living there. You should have his company because I don't need you dying out here. On my engagement party."
"You're fucking rude." Zayn says but Liam's having none of it. He leaves Niall on the balcony and rushes back to the party. Niall's a little shorter than him with blond hair, which shows off his brown roots. He's smiling, he's a little tipsy and a little drunk too. "Hey." He says.
"Sorry man, Liam's a little..."
"Never mind the guy. He's an angel, I tell you." Niall's laughing when he says it. He stands right beside Zayn near the railing and looks at him. "So, what do you do?" He asks.
"Art teacher at Greenberg Comprehensive School." Zayn replies. "And you?"
"Oh damn. I studied to be a heart surgeon." Niall says. "Working as an intern in the local hospital here."
"That's nice." Zayn says with a laugh. Niall was about to say something when a girl draped her arm around his body and pulled him away from the railing. "Come in! They're starting the slow dance and we need to dance." She's saying and laughing at the same time. She has long brown locks and a pink lip. She's grinning and she looks just as happy as Niall does.
"This is my girlfriend, Laura." Niall manages to say. "This is Zayn, babe."
Laura looks at Zayn with her bright blue eyes. "Hello! Nice to meet you. You should come to, I heard Perrie mention a Zayn. Maybe she was looking for you, come on." Then she's dragging both of them into the main hall. Niall and Laura disappear into a side then, and Zayn could see Perrie standing on the other side, watching other people dance while sipping on red wine.
Looking at her made him feel bad for abandoning his girlfriend like that. He walks up to her and holds out his hand. "A dance, my lady?" He asks with a smile. She seemed a little startled by that. But then she giggles and nods before giving him her hand. They dance in the middle of the hall along with other couples.
There are Liam's sister who take turns to dance with him. Nakshathra's family and her cousins are dancing on the side while laughing loudly. Liam's parents are right beside them, dancing slowly and everything seemed right. Perrie's head on his chest and his arm wrapped around her waist. He wasn't going to screw this up.
The party is a success and Liam thanks everybody for coming. He makes sure everybody is reminded seven hundred times to come to the wedding which takes place on March 17th which was next year. Everybody is laughing and smiling when they walk out with their shiny dresses and fancy suits in the dark. Zayn's arm is around Perrie as he helps her get into the car. Dancing so much and drinking a fair amount had gotten her drunk enough to sleep soundly till ten.
Zayn drives back home, makes the bed and lets Perrie sleep soundly. He walks back up into his art room to think again. Looking at Liam and Nakshathra today made him think about the question that he had been avoiding. He knows this is not the time, he knows that he still has to figure this out. He's delaying because he wants better things ahead for both of them.
His eyes turn towards the window where Harry just walks in. He walks around the room in circles, and it looks like he's in deep thoughts. Zayn's staring again. He could see the headlines now.
Zayn Malik caught creeping on a teenager while declining about being interested in the same sex.
Harry's eyes snap right at him. Zayn doesn't move, and Harry's looking at him. One of the lava lamps in his room was turned up because Zayn didn't want just the moonlight for tonight. Harry could see him clearly.
Zayn wants to laugh and turn off the lights, walk down and sleep beside his drunk girlfriend. But he doesn't. He waits for Harry's reaction.
Harry's reaction is not the biggest mystery in the planet. He pretends not to notice Zayn's stares and takes off his shirt like he always does. Then he sits down on his bed. Zayn wonders what he's doing. Then he notices Harry reach for a bottle on the nightstand before applying the liquid on his palm. And so, Harry starts rubbing the liquid on his neck, chest, and abdomen. His fingers taking all the time in the world, twisting his nipples and moving his hands slowly all over his body.
Zayn feels like the biggest creep in the whole world but he can't stop watching. This 18-year-old guy rubbing his body in lotion with his eyes closed and his long curly hair flow like a fucking princess, Zayn really can't stop watching. Then Harry's hands go a little lower his abdomen and he starts palming himself through his jeans. Zayn lets out a gasp when he notices that, and looking at Harry being in that kind of a position was one of the hottest things in the whole world.
He would like to hear the sounds, because Harry's mouth was opened but he couldn't hear a thing. He hated himself for not being able to hear a thing. Harry was too far; all he could do was watch shamelessly. After a moment, Harry stopped. Then he got up from the bed, wiggled out of his jeans and reveals the tight briefs that he was wearing. God, Zayn could see how wet he was from such distance.
Zayn thinks that the briefs are going to disappear soon, but then Harry turns around and leans over the bed, as if he's searching for something. But Zayn doesn't care what he's searching for, because he can see Harry's arse and it's everything. How can a guy be allowed to have an arse like that? He almost chokes at the sight, his hands involuntarily making their way towards his dick.
Harry turns back and he's smiling like he knows what he's doing to Zayn. Then he has to be a spoilsport and close the curtains, signalling that it was the end of the show.
Zayn doesn't know what kind of a game the teenager was playing with him, but something in his mind was telling him that it was dangerous. So he tries to ignore it, reminding himself that he just watched. It was just like watching porn. Live porn. Without any revelation of anybody's privates.
He decides to make his way to his bed, but then he stops because his dick is aching and he needs a wank. He wants to wake Perrie up and tell her to help him but she's too drunk to even open her eyes. Zayn didn't know she was that much of a lightweight. He rushes to the bathroom and jerks off. He tries to think about Perrie and her mouth around his cock, or the feeling of being deep inside of her, but all he could think about was the way Harry rubbed his body and how great his arse looked in those briefs.
He makes a note to self. Harry Styles is a dangerous kid.
Harry's up before six in the morning. He never gets up this early unless the world is ending or Gemma is singing at the top of her voice. It's the second one, as usual. He's grumbling, looking out of his window which gives him a clear view of what possibly could be a room where Zayn creeps on his neighbours.
Gemma's voice isn't going down, so he walks out of his room and makes his way downstairs. He can even hear his mother telling her to stop, but she doesn't listen. He's about to yell at her but then he sees him. He's sat on one of the kitchen chairs, laughing at something and telling Anne that Gemma's voice isn't that bad.
"Good morning." Harry mutters. The three of them look at him at once. "Hello Harry." Louis greets him. Harry ignores him and walks over to his mother, sitting down beside her on the dining table chair. "Hopefully no plans for today." He whispers.
"No, honey. We have plans." Anne says, wrapping her arm around her younger child. "Perrie wanted us over for lunch."
"Oh."
"Louis, you should look at the couple living beside us. They're both so pretty." Gemma gushes out while chopping carrots like a pro. "Maybe, but definitely not prettier than you, babe." Louis replies before kissing her cheek. Harry wants to gag, maybe make a smart comment about it. But he doesn't.
"Do I have to go?" Harry asks.
"Yes! Come on, Zayn's a young lad. You can be friends with him, Perrie says that he could use some company." Anne is saying when she gets up from the chair and walks over to Louis in the kitchen. "Whatever." He grunts to himself.
Louis walks over and sits down beside him. Harry wants to tell him to move over, maybe change his seat, but that'd make Gemma and Anne way too suspicious. "You like the Uni?" Louis asks. "It's fine. Made some friends." Harry replies.
"Good. You know that I'm here, yeah? We're friends, yeah?" Louis says, more likely assures him. Harry couldn't hate him more.
Louis and Gemma started dating when Harry was in love with him.
The Styles family was a happy one, living happily in northwest England, the city of Liverpool. Gemma used to complain about the weather and Dad promised that they'd move to London when Harry would finish his sixth form. Harry always wanted to go to UCL School of Management and his dad promised that if he kept his grades, he would definitely go there.
His mother ran a blog about flowers and stuff that Harry didn't care about, but he knew that it was a popular blog read by many other people because she used to get paid too. His dad is a scientist. Desmond Styles never had much time to spend with his family. Harry's mother always tells him that his father is happy to have him, and shows him the pictures during his birth where his father had held him with tears in his eyes. Harry forgets to hate him.
Louis Tomlinson is a 23-year-old businessman. He's the upcoming CEO of his father's filthy rich company. They used to be neighbours back in Epson street in Liverpool. Louis used to live alone because his mother was always touring for her fashion line, and his father worked all day long. He was studying in University of Liverpool back then. He was 21, doing his management studies.
He was the one who approached Harry. Talked like he was dying to meet him. Harry knows that he's stupid for even thinking that Louis was in love with him the way he was in love with Louis. 'I was a bit bored of studies today, coming for a movie?' He would ask out of nowhere. Harry did ask him why he wouldn't hang out with his university friends, and he admitted that they were just a bunch of arseholes. Harry knew that he really liked this boy.
He was only sixteen back then. Stupid and in love with an older guy. His college friends were a bunch of dicks too, he's happy that he's away from them now. Jesse Buckley was the one guy who actually came to give him a farewell. He was one of friends that he had in his sixth form. 'You might have a thing for neighbours,' He had said. He knew about the 'Louis' thing. 'Let me tell you, it's about time you stop giving a shit about the consequences. Married? Who cares. Divorced with seven kids? Who cares. You want a piece of the lad? You take it. I know I couldn't help you out in college, but Uni just changes a person. You go for it, mate.'
Harry had just laughed back then. He didn't think about actually following his advice, but here he was, practically seducing the life out of Zayn Malik.
The day he invited Louis to have dinner with his family, Louis was overjoyed. For a moment Harry thought he was excited to meet them, knowing that he'll be a little closer to Harry. Maybe they'd go on picnics together. Feed each other and read them to bed.
But the day Louis came over for dinner, that autumn of his sixteenth year and two months of being his 'friend', Louis instantly had this bond with Gemma that Harry could feel. He remembered that they were going to the same college, Gemma being in her second year of Uni doing English Literature.
Louis was so excited to know Gemma. He completely ignored Harry and Anne could see it in his eyes. 'I'm having a friend over, he's in college and he's really nice.' Harry had said to her earlier that day. She was happy about it, didn't ask too many questions. Harry didn't invite any friends over so it was a good thing.
Gemma laughing at Louis' jokes when Harry offered to clean the dishes with his mom. Their dad was back in Southampton then, working on his 'scientific' projects.
"Harry," Anne had said in a low voice. "Did you like the boy?"
Harry's heart sinks to his chest at that. Then he laughs. "God no, you think I'm gay? He just asked if I had a sister, and I said that Gemma was cool. And here they are, he's a nice guy. I think Gem really likes him."
His mother didn't say anything. But she had a small smile on her lips. "You'll tell me if you're confused or anything like that. Yeah? I'm always here to listen. You hear me?"
"Come on mom, I'm not gay. Please stop." He left her to do the dishes herself. She huffed and shook her head disappointedly before going back to her cleaning.
It was just the start of the fall in his life. Louis would be in his house every other day for Gemma, he was being ignored and Gemma wondered what was up with him. Eventually, when Gemma and Louis were 'official', Harry told Gem that he was in love with Louis. But that only made him realize that he completely isn't into guys anymore, and had started dating a doe eyed girl from his school.
Louis decided that him and Harry needed to have a talk about the whole 'love' thing. But Harry wasn't having any of it. Eventually when Harry saw that Louis wasn't letting go of Gemma, he tried to be a little friendlier with him. But still, looking at him and knowing that he was the first guy he was in love with, the guy who's kissing his sister, it hurts.
"Whatever, Louis." Harry says. Louis doesn't look pleased with the answer, more or less he looks hurt. He's about to say something when Gem cuts him off. "Hey Haz, we're all going out for a drink tonight. Niall and Laura are coming too. You up for it or you got plans?"
"Uh, I think I'll come with you. I don't have much to do here." He replies. Gemma smiles and claps her hands "Great! Now come on Louis, stop slacking around and help me with the breakfast. Harry, go and take a bath. You look like a walking disaster."
Harry's grumbling about being yelled at but nods. Maybe he'll be a little too drunk to give another strip tease to his beautiful neighbour.
Niall was Louis' classmate back in college. He was a year older but he used to hang out with Louis sometimes. They kept in touch after university, and Harry got along well with the guy. Niall was from Ireland, a cheerful chap that one would love to have around. He's got a girlfriend named Laura whom he met online. She's a designer or something like that. Harry remembers her pretty face very well.
It's about 12:30 pm and he's sat on his sofa, waiting for his mother and sister to get ready. "Harry, how do I look?" He hears Gemma's voice from behind him. He turns his head to see her wearing a sleek black dress. "You trying to get another boyfriend?" Harry asks.
"Thanks. Mom, you done?" Gemma calls out before heading back inside. Harry's just there, wearing a white t-shirt and his signature tight black jeans, along with his brown boots that he's loved since he was sixteen. After some more minutes, they head out. His mother is wearing a sophisticated green dress, and Harry tells his mum that she looks better than Gemma. "Screw you." Gemma whispers into his ear. Anne's laughing and clutching at his arm, telling Gemma she's looking gorgeous.
It's Perrie who opens the door with a blown out smile. "Come on in, you lot look lovely." She's saying, kissing everybody on the cheek with a hug. Harry's used to her closeness. They take off their footwear because the carpet looks expensive and secondly because Perrie tells them it would be lovely if they would. She tells them to be seated, Harry looks around for Zayn. He's not here yet. "Zayn's a little busy with his art. Don't mind him." Perrie apologizes before calling out for her boyfriend.
"No it's fine, do you think he'll show us his work?" Gemma asks with a hopeful smile. She used to love painting and always had an eye for 'good art pieces'. Perrie seems hesitant. "Of course he would. He's a little shy about it, but he draws me sometimes and they're my favourites. I'm sure I could show you that. And hopefully, you guys would like steak and chicken."
"Oh I love me some steak." Harry says with a smile. Perrie giggles before rushing upstairs. Harry watches her go and wonders if that's the room from where Zayn always watches him. "Her hair, mom. Platinum blonde, kill me." Gemma whispers to Anne. Harry's still thinking about Zayn.
Soon the couple arrive downstairs. Harry takes a good look at Zayn. He's wearing a black flannel and his hair is a little messy. Harry smiles down at the table because he looks amazing as always. He greets everyone politely before taking a seat right opposite to Harry. On the table, Harry and Gemma were on one side, and right opposite to them were Perrie, Anne and Zayn.
At first when they started munching on the food, Gemma complimented Perrie's cooking and told her to teach her how to cook such wicked chicken sometime. Anne talks about the spices and Zayn's eating quietly. The three women are having their talk and the two guys are eating in peace.
Harry decides that he needs to do something.
His right foot lands on top of Zayn's, and he looks up to see the older man pause for a bit before continuing to eat. He feels Zayn shift his foot away, making him frown. Then Zayn's starting to eat so fast, like he wants to get off the table as soon as he could. Harry's not far away, the three women might be eating slower than anything but he was fast.
His plate is empty before Zayn's. "Do you think you can show me your art now?" Harry asks. Perrie looks at Zayn who doesn't really have an expression on his face. "Sure, come on Zayn, show him your art room." Perrie answers for him. Zayn looks genuinely annoyed but agrees with a fake smile.
Perrie tells the boys to leave the plates on the table itself. Then Harry finds himself following Zayn upstairs with a devilish smile. The moment Zayn opens the door to his art room, Harry makes his way to the window. From here he could see his room, clear and wide. Zayn stands there awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
"So you do your creeping in your art room." Harry says.
"Not creeping, I'd say."
"Looking at a young lad getting off isn't creeping?"
"I don't think so. Not when the lad wants you to look at him." Zayn replies with that witty scoff of his. Harry's feeling brave, again. The words from Jesse Buckley coming back to his mind. Who cared if his girlfriend was right there downstairs telling his mother and sister that Zayn might be the one? Right now Zayn was here with him, he wanted to do something, he wanted to do something to the man who liked to watch him strip.
It's like Zayn knew what was going on in his mind. The moment Harry takes a step forward; Zayn's hand is up in defeat. "Listen, Harry. I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm sorry for doing what I did for the past days, but I'm not a cheater. And you're young." He says as fast as possible. Harry's looking at him. "I guess so, Mr. Malik. Too bad, isn't it?" Harry says with a smile, his hand landing on Zayn's shoulder.
"Uh, yeah." Zayn manages to blurt out. Harry doesn't do anything else. He lets go of Zayn, doesn't think about the little freckle that the guy has in his eye or how he's an inch shorter than him, or how beautiful he is up close. He looks at the art sprawled across the room and the lava lamps which are lit brightly.
"Your art is spectacular." Harry says with a smile, his eyes landing on a painting of Perrie laughing. "You draw what you like."
"I do." Zayn replies with a smile, walking towards Harry and looking at the art he had drawn some months back. Perrie loved it. "Your wife must really like this one. It's very good, I tell you." Harry says, his hands on the canvas.
"She—she's not my wife."
"Is she?" Harry mutters, then he's walking out of the room. Zayn could hear his footsteps fading away. He just stared at the painting of Perrie laughing.
Zayn's devastated. The question of marriage, the permanent bond and the promise to actually be together till the end. To have kids, joint bank accounts, future planning, and growing old together. All of this was killing him from the inside, he didn't know what to do, he was dying and Perrie was on about her successful lunch party.
"Zayn? Are you even listening to me?" She asks. Zayn is, but he doesn't know what to say. "Anyways, I think I'll have to take the night one today. You think you'll be okay by heating up the dinner? I'll be home by eleven. Jordan's dropping me off."
"Yeah, okay. Say hi to Jordan from me." Zayn replies. He knows Jordan, she's a yoga instructor like Perrie and is very nice to him. He remembers those kind of nice people that you rarely meet nowadays. People like Perrie. Perrie smiles at that. "I will. And, isn't Harry nice? You should try being closer to him. Anne told me that he's devastated after their father left him. He doesn't call much, still pays his university expenses. And I promised her that you'll go out with them for drinks today. You will, won't you?"
"Perrie."
"Zayn." She repeats in the same tone. "I know you don't have anything to do. Come on Zayn, do this for me?"
Zayn's groaning and fussing, but she's having none of it. "Maybe I'll do something special for you tonight if you do go with them," She whispers down his ear, letting his hand wander down his chest. He instantly stiffens and holds her arm. "You better do." He whispers back, biting her lip. She smirks before going back to their bedroom.
That was exactly what he needed to get Harry off his mind. He sulks around for the rest of the day, skypes with Walihya who's complaining about her university life and Safaa who can't wait for her sixth forms to start after completing her GCSEs. He smiles at them, tells them that he misses them terribly and can't wait to see them again.
Then he goes back to his painting, thinks if he should really go tonight. He decides that he should, have a drink or two and come back home for a good night. Hopefully Perrie would be home by the time he comes around. It's about eight when Perrie leaves, and he's all alone. She did tell him that Gemma would be coming around to pick him up.
He's tired. He doesn't want to go. Maybe he would if Liam was coming, or maybe Nakshathra. Somebody that he knows. Not a bunch of people that he barely does, which includes a horny teenager. But Gemma's by his door at nine and they're leaving.
Zayn is introduced to a guy named Louis Tomlinson. He learns that Louis' Gemma's boyfriend and is a filthy rich businessman. Gemma's riding shotgun and Louis is driving. Gemma's talking to Niall on the phone and Zayn realizes that Harry's been staring at him like crazy. He looks at him too, hoping that he would stop staring at him, but Harry's eyes are fixed on him.
Zayn instantly feels like this was a bad idea.
They go to a bar. The music is loud; Zayn hasn't been here before. He does go for a few drinks with Liam but he hasn't been in this place. This lighted up place is far from where they live, the crowd here is plenty and the drinks look nice.
Zayn's instantly hugged by Niall who's already plenty drunk. "Zayn!" He says. "Still pretty, aren't you?"
Zayn laughs and the drunk lad proceeds to hug the life out of Gemma. Laura is telling Harry about a bottle that she's holding, basically shoving it into his mouth. Louis is stood there, trying to detangle Niall from Gemma who's laughing loudly. Zayn doesn't know how he got in here.
Soon he's sat on one of the bar chairs, ordering a beer for himself. Louis is beside him, snogging Gemma and Niall is dancing with Laura on the dance floor. Zayn tries to remember where Harry could have gone. "Jesus, I thought you told me Harry wasn't gay." Zayn hears Louis tell Gemma who's laughing. "He isn't, he's just drunk. He would tell us if he was." Gemma replied.
Zayn looks where the two of them are staring, and notice Harry grinding down on a man. Gemma and Louis go back to their snogging, but Harry's looking at him now. The man's hands were all over his body and Harry was letting him touch it. The young lad's hair down to his shoulders, his body covered in sweat and his mouth open as the man continued to rub his filthy body against him.
Zayn knows it's time to order another drink. He drinks and drinks, until he's not sitting on the bar chair anymore. Gemma asks him where he's off to, but he doesn't answer. He looks at Harry who's still dancing with the filthy man, laughing and whispering something down his ear. He grabs a hold of Harry's arm, and turns him around. "Dance with me." He says.
"Sorry, duty calls." Harry says to the filthy man, who seemed uninterested, and moved on to another guy on the dance floor. "What happened, Mr. Malik?" Harry asks him with an innocent smile.
"Shut up." Zayn whispers, turning him around and pressing his body against Harry's back. The younger male groans at the sensation and lets his head fall back. "Grinding against strangers and seducing your neighbour? Came here to cause trouble, Harry? Is this what you want to be?" Zayn whispers, his hands resting on Harry's hips before tracing the skin beneath his t-shirt.
Harry doesn't say anything. He's enjoying the feeling of Zayn's warm body against his own, the music is playing and it's like the dance floor is theirs. Nobody is paying attention to them, nobody cares what they're doing. It takes Harry a moment to recollect when he feels Zayn biting down his neck. Then he's groaning, grinding harder against Zayn's body until he's feeling out of breath.
"Zayn," He whispers. "What would your wife think if she saw you like this?"
Zayn stops.
Perrie.
'What would Perrie think if she saw you, Zayn?' She had asked with a smile. 'Dating a bad boy. She must have seen it coming, don't you think so baby?'
Zayn lets go of Harry's body and stumbles backwards. "I'm sorry. I have to go." Zayn says, not even looking at Harry before he made his way outside. He bumped into Niall who asked him where he was going, he didn't reply, it was like all the voice had been drained from his insides.
He was going to do it again. He couldn't believe himself. If Liam was here, he'd probably frown at his condition and maybe slap some sense into him. But he was all alone, walking down the streets, looking for a cab. Perrie. The name is repeating in his head; he can't seem to think much. He gets a cab home, and it's around eleven when he reaches.
Perrie wasn't home. He's devastated and drunk to be waiting, so when he finds the bed waiting for him, he collapses right on top of it.