Zayn parks his car around the corner, pulling the hem of Liam's white t-shirt which was a little big on him. He rings the doorbell and Perrie's quick to open it. "You didn't pick up my calls." She starts off. "I was worried."
"Yeah, I got up late and I was in school..."
"You were at Jelena's birthday party?"
"Perrie..."
"Liam was there too?"
"You should listen to me, I didn't..."
"And Harry. What is this? Are you hooking up with her again? And Harry knew about this? Liam knew?"
"No. I am not hooking up with Jelena." Zayn scoffs. "She was being friendly. She told me to bring you along but it would have been awkward. So I took Liam..."
"I can't believe you." Perrie's messy bun is falling apart but she's angry. Her face is red and her Hello Kitty t-shirt is wrinkled. "After everything... you go to her birthday party. And you don't tell me. And you even take our neighbour."
Neighbour.
"I'm sorry. But nothing happened, I promise." Zayn whispers. Perrie chuckles, sitting down on the couch and gripping her phone tightly. "Do you remember Patrick, Zayn?" She asks. Zayn walks towards her with his arms crossed over his chest. "No?" Zayn replies. He can't remember anybody with that name.
"He was the guy you fooled around with. During our third year or something, I guess. Your year of sleeping around." She laughs at that. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you were bisexual. Do you remember that I even asked you once? During our last year? Just as a question and you laughed at me. Is it funny now?"
"I..." Zayn couldn't find any words to say. Why would she bring out that topic now?
"I can't..." She covers her mouth with her palm for a moment. Zayn would hug her, but she could slap him. So he stays where he is and listens with his eyes closed. "You know what you did, don't you?" She whispers. "You slept with Harry. Our neighbour. I can't believe I didn't see it, I can't..."
"How did you know?" Zayn finds himself asking.
"I happened to call Liam before you came in. Saw the picture of him with Harry's friend on Instagram. He broke down when I told him I knew what you were doing and I wasn't happy. Then he started going off about how you didn't mean to start fooling around with Harry." She's smiling, but it's definitely not a happy one. "I was stunned. I didn't say a word to him when he revealed that. He probably got the hint that I had no clue, so he dropped the call. Can't say much, Liam and you were always tight."
"Perrie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Zayn says, placing his hand on her shoulder only for her to slap it away. "Don't touch me. I can't believe you continued to fuck around after proposing to me. Do you love him, Zayn?" She asks without looking up at him. Zayn continues to look at her. He doesn't know that. He can't say anything.
"Tell me, Zayn. Do you love Harry?" Perrie asks, looking right into his eyes. Her blue eyes have lost their glow and her lips are trembling. He can't believe he did something like that to her. "I...I don't know." Zayn whispers.
Perrie looks down at her lap before grabbing her head with both of her hands. "We got engaged, like, a week ago. You cunt, we got engaged and this is what I hear from you? You're so arrogant, I do everything for you and this is what I fucking get. You give me a ring and fuck off with the young lad living beside us."
"Fuck Perrie. You didn't give me a chance. You kept on pushing me onto these stupid little charades and you invited them with us, did you have to do that? And you kept on telling me to hang out with him and..."
"I told you to hang out with him! Not fuck him!" She's yelling now with tears streaming down her face. "I don't even make you smile anymore, Zayn. What the fuck happened? Did I ever make you smile? I don't think so. During University days, it was Liam who would make you laugh. Then your band members, then it was your friend Michelle with her kid jokes. I was just there, listening to you laugh about someone who made you laugh. It looks like I've been forcing you to be with me. Why did you propose if this isn't what you wanted?"
"I did love you, Perrie. I don't know. You kept going on about the wedding, and you pressurized me into the engagement. It was either get you a ring or let you leave me. I couldn't let you leave me."
"And you expect me to stay with you happily while you have little secret dates with the neighbour's boy?" Perrie questions. "Guess what, Zayn? This isn't what I want. Now that I think about this, the time that you two got lost during Easter hunt, the holiday that you two spent in a room together in Brighton and now him hanging out in school...I can't. And his room is the one opposite to the art room. No wonder you don't let me go in there."
Zayn stays silent. She gets up then, walking upstairs. His breath hitches and he walks behind her. "Where are you going?" He asks. "Art room. Let me see what's so important in there." She mutters.
"Fuck, you don't have to..." He can't let her go in. He can't let her see what he's been trying to lock away himself. But she's unstoppable. She yanks open the door and walks in. The photos from their trip to Brighton are everywhere. Her eyes scanned over each photo before looking up at the on-going sketch on his canvas. The one he was making which included Harry, Gemma and Anne. Her hands went over the paper before they went over the pictures. She wasn't saying anything. Zayn stood near the door, waiting for her to rip off something.
"You look so happy." She barely manages to say through the tears streaming down her face and hiccups making their way through her mouth. "So fucking happy in comparison to your pictures with me."
"I am happy with you too, Perrie. But those pictures were taken in the morning and I was grumpy,"
"Don't lie." She says. "I can tell when I see someone in love and look at this, the way you're looking at him... something that I wanted Harry to capture with his camera. But how could he capture something that didn't exist?"
"Perrie." He says. He doesn't want to admit this, but he had promised this to Harry. "What Harry and I have is purely...sexual. No feelings. I was just in... lust with a young man. But you're you. And I love you. That's why I took the ring and..."
"No." She cuts him off. He looks hurt, but then she walks closer to him. "I'll think for some time. I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Leaving? Where are you going?" He asks.
"Somewhere. I will see you soon. In a week, I think." She whispers with a smile in her teary face. Zayn nods and lets her walk past him. He looks at the pictures, Perrie left them where they were without damaging anything. "The painting in Harry's room is beautiful, Zayn." She says before closing the door to her and Zayn's room.
He's confused. He walks towards his window and looks right at Harry's house.
He smiles at that. Harry had put up the painting right above his bed so Zayn could see it clearly. The one Zayn had drawn for his class.
Harry's sat on the couch, staring at Gemma who's typing down in her laptop. Anne's ordering some flowers through her phone and some soap opera is playing on the television. He can't stop thinking about Zayn and what kind of a mess he would be in right now.
Gemma squeals at his picture with Gigi, so does Anne and they cry for a bit. Later that night when Anne's asleep and Gemma's working on her article, he tells her about the thing Zayn had with Gigi back in University and how he was personally invited by her.
"That's fucking amazing." She says with a grin. "Gigi seems like a cool person. Can't believe Zayn had her way with her back then."
"He really liked her. But she wanted fun, you know? Perrie had broken up with Zayn and she was there for him. But then Perrie came back, everything was a mess and she got expelled. It was horrible." He mutters. "And Perrie found out Zayn went to the party. She'll think he hooked up with her again."
"Poor lad." Gemma says. "And how's things between you two?"
"Fine."
"Still fucking?"
"Gem."
"Okay." She chuckles. "Louis is coming over tomorrow."
"God. Doesn't he have anything else to do?" Harry mutters. Gemma scoffs at that, kicking his shoulder lightly with her foot. He rolls his eyes. That night when he goes to bed, he looks over the window and notices something in Zayn's room. A lava lamp was lit and a canvas was facing the window. There was a single sentence written boldly enough for Harry to understand.
'She knows about us.'
He takes a deep breath before lying down on his bed and pulling his phone. He sends a text to Zayn.
H: Read it. Are you okay? How is she?
He waits, but Zayn doesn't text him back that night. So he falls asleep, knowing that it'll be fine because he'll be seeing Zayn tomorrow for school.
"Why can't I have something spicy and hot?" Safaa complains with a frown stuck on her face. Patricia scoffs at that, before a smile creeps on her face. "Because we're not having a party and you're sick. Finish your tomato soup or Baba will make you drink it."
She grumbles for a moment before nodding and starts sipping on it slowly. The Originals was up on the television. She had to miss college today because she had been down with high fever and Patricia decided to pamper her. Patricia sits down beside her daughter on the sofa, wraps the sheets around her feet, placing it on the table. "I am the sick one." Safaa protests when her mother decides to have a share in the warm sheets.
"Yes, and I am the one who gave birth to you." She replies with a smile. The doorbell goes off, and they're both groaning. "I'll take it." Yaser comes to rescue, rushing to the door.
He opens the door, hoping it was the plumber but is surprised when he's met with Zayn's face. "Dad? You don't have work today?" He asks. Yaser is surprised, but lets him come in. "Why are you here? Don't you have work? And no, I got a holiday due to some repairs going down. Somebody almost died when a computer blew in their face."
"Oh." Zayn replies, walking inside with his messenger bag. "I... I made some mistakes and I wanted to talk to mom about it."
"Okay." Yaser says with a smile. "She's right there."
"Hi mom." Zayn says when he walks towards the sofa. He is surprised to see Safaa there. "Don't you have school?"
"I do, but I'm sick. Don't you have school?" She asks with a grin.
"Zayn! What are you doing here?" Patricia is on her feel, hugging the life out of her boy. He hugs her back with a smile. "So, how is the fiancée?" She asks when his chin is pressed to her shoulder. His smile fades away at that. Safaa is quick to notice that.
All of Perrie's words from last night come back to him. How she disappeared in the morning before he could open his eyes. All that she left was a note. 'See you in a week, Zayn.'
Tears start streaming down his face as he hugs her closer. She's surprised when she feels the wet drops on her shoulder. Safaa sits up straight, looking at her brother. Yaser is there, watching them curiously. "I have so much to tell you." He whispers.
Harry's angry. Liam messaged him this morning informing him that Zayn had gone home and Perrie had gone somewhere else. He took a taxi to Greenberg high, gave his last lecture to the students who seemed quite upset when their other Art teacher, Jason Carlos walked in with Harry. Jason was a nice guy, he looked down at the results Zayn had given him for the last classes, added his own marks and gave the sheets to Harry. His overall performance was 'Very Good'. The highest was 'Excellent', but he could live with this.
"What happened?" Gemma asks him when he's glaring at the television screen. His mother was watching the Great British Bake Off. "What?" He mutters, looking at her.
"Nothing, you've been gloomy all day long. It's weird since you're always disgustingly happy." She says with a grin. Anne laughs at that. "Maybe because our neighbours aren't around. He's got a liking to them, yeah love?"
Gemma pretends to choke at that. Harry gives his mother a polite smile. "Nothing like that. Just the thought of Uni tomorrow makes me sleepy."
"Well, you better not be sleepy since your exams are coming up." She reminds him with another smile before turning back to the television. Josh had asked to meet up but he was too tired for that. He was angry at him too, but Josh didn't know about the mess he was currently in. Maybe if he knew, maybe if Harry was careful enough Zayn wouldn't have left. He doesn't know where Zayn is, he had tried texting and calling, only to be returned with nothing.
No replies to his messages and his phone turned off.
"Hey, can I have a seat?" Perrie looks up from her book to find a young man smiling up at her. His chestnut coloured hair stood up in a quiff, blue eyes shining brightly at her. She nods, before turning back to her book. She doesn't look up at him, knowing that he had asked to sit down with her because all the other tables were taken by couples and students across town.
Her mother had been blowing up her phone, so was Zayn but she doesn't pick up their calls. She sends all of them the same message. 'I need some space. I'm fine.'
She thinks about Zayn and their first date. The only time he had actually laughed at one of her jokes. Their first week together was fine until she heard Zayn yelling at Liam for dragging him into this mess. Zayn never really did break her heart intentionally, every time he was with someone else, it was because she had said one thing or the other.
But she couldn't believe that Zayn was with a University boy, even when she thought they were happy and had a bright future together. Everything that Zayn had told Liam about dragging him into 'this relationship shit' was coming back to her. She wanted to cry, rip off the book she was reading about cleansing one's mind and throw it out of the window. Maybe burn it. Shoot it.
"Are you okay?" The guy asks her. She looks up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Your hands are trembling. It's not cold either." He continues, his eyes stuck to her hands and the book she was holding.
"Pretty ring." He continues. She gasps at that, putting her book down and looking down at her ring. She had forgot about this, the shiny diamond still making her fingers look pretty. Perrie yanked it off and shoved it in her messenger bag. The guy was stumped at that, but doesn't say anything. He gets himself a cappuccino and drinks quietly.
She took the first train she could get into. She had never been in Liverpool before. The people here seemed a little different, and she got into the first cheap hotel she could cry into. At least she was away with Zayn and his lying arse.
"Are you okay?" The guy asks her again. She grunts in response. He stays silent once again, sipping on his cappuccino and his eyes are stuck to his phone. She looks at him for a moment, shoving her book inside her messenger bag and placing her hands on the table. "The ring was given to me by the one that I loved the most. The guy who I thought was the one for me." She says. He's looking at her.
"What did he do?" He asks.
"What he always does. He cheated on me."
"Huh? Always?" The guy seems amused. He smiles then. "You should have left him the first time he cheated, then."
"It's not easy." Perrie protested. She had heard that one far too many times from her friends. Even from Liam. "He's really sweet. But it's so hard to understand him. I thought I knew him but..."
"How long have you two been together?"
"Uh, five years I think. More than five years." She says with a small smile. "And it's so stupid that I don't know him after this long."
The guy nods slowly, staring into space before looking at her. "Are you from here?" He asks. She shakes her head. "Nope. London. I just left when I realized he had been cheating on me... with a guy. He didn't even tell me that he was interested in guys. I—I asked him. But he laughed at me."
"It's easy to say when a guy likes another guy and when a girl likes another girl." The guy says, his voice calm and soothing. "Mostly meeting a new person, even when you're with someone for a long time... and the new person just gets you better than the other one. I mean, you feel more connected to them. And I'm saying that it happens to everyone, but... um, similar cases I'd say, it happens to them. Have you experienced this?"
Perrie thinks. That night in Brighton, when she was walking through the beach and the mysterious guy who grinned at her and told her she was too beautiful to be walking all alone. She smiles involuntarily at the memory, her smile instantly fading thinking about the last time Zayn had said something like that to her. Everything with Zayn was rushed. Kisses would be in a hurry, sex would be over before she could wrap her head around it and Zayn would be gone before she could reach out to hold him close.
She does remember loving that thrill during University, but as she got a job and her friends started having kids, everything had changed. She wanted Zayn to pause for a moment and let it in, but he would never listen to her. And she would let him do what he wanted.
"You probably have." The guy's voice breaks her from the miserable thoughts. "All that I'm saying that, I don't know you. I don't know him. But the guy really isn't worth the pain, he could be drop dead gorgeous or hell ugly, but if he's done something like this to you, you should leave him. Forever."
"Yeah. I should." She whispers. The guy nods at her with a grin. "Good. And, the guy that your ex-fiancé was cheating with, he must be an idiot. Mostly the ones are. If he couldn't be happy with you, how could he be happy with him?"
"No." Perrie mutters. "There's something between them. At first I thought of a brother kind of thing, but Harry seems to understand him. I mean, I tried to get to know Zayn but he just doesn't open up to me. I want to talk it out, but looking at him makes me cry. Thinking about him and Harry makes me lose my mind."
"So, Zayn is your ex? And Harry is the one he's fooling around with?" The guy asks. Perrie nods. "We're neighbours. Harry shifted in recently with his family, I thought it would be good to make acquaintance. We soon became good friends. His sister Gemma is nice; I wonder if she knew about this. I don't think she did, we are friends. She should have stopped Harry."
"Oh. Um," The guy looks a little confused. "Take a holiday. Helps best, I tell you."
"I will." She replies. Zayn never had time for a holiday abroad. She'd go without him. "Are you some kind of a relationship expert?"
The guy laughs at that. "Oh no. I'm far from that. I'm just a student."
Perrie grins. "Thank you, I'll try it out."
"Where do you live?"
"London."
"No—like. Your address."
"Um," Perrie starts off before nodding. "I'm moving out, maybe knock some sense into Zayn. Write it down, you might forget it."
He chuckles, taking his phone and typing down her address. "Good. I'll knock some sense onto Zayn. Yeah?"
"You better." She replies with a laugh.
Safaa is sipping her tea quietly, watching Zayn intently as he goes through his phone. He's been trying to call Perrie for the past hour but she wouldn't pick up his calls. The phone would keep on ringing. He decided to send a message to Harry, just in case. He's surprised when he instantly gets a reply.
H: When are you coming back? What's going to happen now? Did you tell them why Perrie broke up with you?
Z: I don't know. I think I'll be back soon. Can't skip work too much, or they'll kick me out. I didn't tell them exactly why Perrie broke up with me, but I did tell them we just didn't get each other. Mom's upset though, she really liked Perrie. So did Dad. I don't know what's going to happen now. Perrie won't pick up my calls. So, how's Uni?
H: I'm sorry. I messed up your life. Uni has kept me busy these days. You know the girl Cindy? The one who had been doing math in your school for a week just like I was doing art? She turns out to be super intelligent and she's been helping me a lot. Can't believe she's still single, super-hot. And nice, ahem.
Zayn stares at the message for a moment. He then remembers that Harry wasn't his boyfriend, he was just his neighbour who he had a good time with. That's what Harry would be thinking too. He wasn't supposed to be feeling anything for the boy either. Thinking about him with the pretty girl made him grumpy.
Z: yeah, cool. You guys dating? She's nice, yeah?
Harry's seen the message. He doesn't start typing like he usually does. Zayn regrets asking that, but soon he sees Harry typing and sighs.
H: No? She's nice but
Z: but?
H: you
Zayn smiles a little at that. This teenager was making him lose his mind and he was letting him.
Z: me?
H: yeah, you're my friend. Yeah? You're going through all this trouble and it's hard to keep my mind on someone else. Let's sort you out and get you back together with Perrie. I'll talk to her if I have to... or will she kill me?
Harry wants to slap himself for sending that. But he knew that Zayn had gone back home just because he missed Perrie and wanted her back. He obviously visited his parents so that they could help him with her. And here he was, thinking that they could actually be a 'thing' now that Perrie was supposedly out of the picture.
Jesse had warned him about this. He was the one who broke Zayn, and he would be the one to fix this even if he didn't want to.
"So, what's up with you and Josh?" Joshua asks him, making him look up from his phone, right at his friend. They were currently in Roger and Joshua's dorm, waiting for the other two to show up with food. "What do you mean?" Harry mutters.
"Like, you two have been joined by the hip." Joshua says with a laugh. "What secrets are you keeping from us?"
He was right. Josh was the one who knew about the shit he had been going through with Zayn and was completely reasonable about the whole situation. He'd tell him to stop thinking too much about Zayn for the time being and continue with his studies. Zayn would come around, but his exams would definitely come around faster.
"We're not shagging." Harry replies. Joshua rolls his eyes at that. "Of course you're not. You're not his type. And, Josh would tell me if he was shagging you. But something else is the matter, and that's keeping you away from the wonders of math."
"Definitely. I was thinking about..." He fumbles with the words, just when Roger and Josh walk into the room with bags of food. Joshua looks impressed. "I thought we were here to study. Not for a party." Harry complains.
"Shut up, Harry. Nobody complains about food." Josh says with a grin, sitting down beside him on his bed. "Zayn texted you?" He whispers.
"Yeah," Harry replies, showing him his phone. "He wants to get back with her and I said I'll help."
"And that's how Harry Styles walked straight into lava with a smile." Josh says with a grin. "Why are you killing yourself like that? It's annoying. Just straight-up ask him for once and if he says he wants her back then go on a date with Cindy. She likes you, we all know that. And, if he says that he likes you, what's the problem? He's already yours."
"This is what I was talking about." Joshua yells. "You two are in your own world. Again!"
Roger continues to eat the pepperoni pizza, not bothered by the conversation.
"Joshua, my love." Josh starts off with a polite smile. "We were talking about the wonders of gay sex. Would you like to hear it too?"
Roger chokes on his pizza slice, steals the bottle of water Joshua was holding and then starts laughing. Joshua groans, rolling his eyes and then shaking his head. Josh smiles in victory, turning back to Harry.
"Don't make this shit hard for him, and for you." He says before they start discussing about the exam dates. Harry takes that note mentally.
Liam's listening to Nakshathra ramble about Perrie and Zayn. He knew that she was going to blow up in his face about this, telling him that he shouldn't have pretended that Zayn cheating on Perrie again was no big deal. "Can't believe you told me one of your friends knew Gigi personally." She starts off with a frown. Liam chuckles at that. "Well, where's the lie? Zayn does know Jelena personally."
She glares at him, making him turn his gaze down. Nakshathra's about to say something when their doorbell goes off. Liam sighs, getting up from the couch and opening the door. There was the delivery guy staring at him, a parcel held out and a paper for him to sign. "Hey, it's from Perrie." Liam says, while signing and handing the paper back to him.
He closes the door and hands the neatly packed box to Nakshathra. She opens it up quickly, and there's a note inside along with a tiny wooden box. Liam remembers Perrie carrying that box around sometimes, she kept mints in that. Did she send us mints? Liam thinks as he takes the note. Nakshathra starts reading the note.
When he opens the wooden box, he's not met with mints. He takes the ring and holds it out. Her engagement ring.
"She told us to give it back to Zayn." Nakshathra says. "She's in Liverpool. And, she seems really upset at you for not telling her about this."
Liam takes the note when Nakshathra holds it out for him.
Hi Liam. Say hello to Nakshathra if she's around. I don't know if I can attend your wedding in Italy, but I'll try my best. Do email me a card when you're done with it, yeah? And stop calling me, I'm in Liverpool. Just trying to have some time apart from friends and family... I'll call you when I figure things out.
I can't believe you turned a blind eye on Harry and Zayn. You know what had happened and yet you let it go on? I don't blame you. We were close, but not as much as you and Zayn. Bros stick together, yeah? But I just wanted to let Nakshathra know that she's very lucky to have someone like you. Liam, you're one of the best guys that I've ever met and I can't wait to see you both on your wedding day!
And I'm over it. I had seen it coming, once or twice. During University I did wonder why Zayn would come back after everything. You told him to come back to me. It was never willingly. I hate to admit it but I didn't mind as long as he was with me. Willingly or not.
Um, maybe because Zayn was SO GORGEOUS and I tried my best not to think about the 'other girls'. I'm so stupid. Maybe if you see Harry some time, tell him that I'm not angry at him. I don't know what's going to happen between the two of them but whatever it is, good luck to him. Because falling for Zayn is easy, getting yourself back together when he leaves it the hardest thing ever.
Can't wait to see you guys. Here's a picture of me with a six-year-old girl who gave me free skittles.
Liam chuckles at the attached picture. It was a selfie of Perrie eating skittles with a little girl, both of them smiling widely at the camera. He reads the letter once again, a feeling of regret hitting him when he realizes he had hurt her all along. "What about Zayn?" Nakshathra asks. Liam looks up at her with a smile. "He's fine. He'll be back tomorrow, I suppose. He's home."
"I thought his flight was cancelled and he had yet another week to arrive." Harry complains when he notices Louis sat on the couch, kissing the life out of Gemma. She pulls back to look at Harry with a grin. "He got his private jet to get him here. For me."
"Of course." Harry smiles, walking into the kitchen to see Anne singing around to an Elvis Presley song while heating water. "I could hear them kissing from my room." He complains with a scoff, grabbing an orange from the fruit basket.
She laughs at that. "Oh come on. Lou's been a gentleman. And, he's been longing to talk to you too."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Why don't you go ask him?"
Harry just nods, walking out to see Louis and Gemma talking about some game. He needed to study for his exams too, and he needs to be in a lecture by 11 am and it's almost nine. Zayn had been gone for too long and he wonders if he's home yet. They've stopped texting and Harry still thinks about the advice Josh had given him.
He talks to Cindy sometimes. She's nice and she helps him keep his mind off Zayn.
Gemma gets up from her place, fiddling with Harry's hair before walking into the kitchen. He groans, sitting down beside Louis and glaring at him. "I do feel comfortable when I'm welcomed with kisses and glares." Louis says with a grin. "So used to that, Harry."
"Sorry." Harry mutters.
"So, I happened to have met someone on my way here." Louis starts off. "And that person wants you to come over after your lectures at Uni."
"Zayn?" Harry whispers.
"Yeah. He was coming back home, I suppose. He had a messenger bag and he got out of a cab. Rushed off to work then, making sure to remind me again before I entered here." Louis says before smirking up at him. "So, him and Perrie are done. What does that mean for you?"
"Nothing." Harry replies coldly while getting up. "I was just a good time and they're getting back together." He spits before rushing back upstairs. Louis just watches him go before rolling his eyes and chuckling. "People pining against each other and not hooking up makes my head ache."
Harry thinks about Zayn during his lectures. It's annoying, and he's supposed to listen right now. Exams are heading closer and he needs to take down the points, but he's afraid what's going to happen when he steps into his house. Would Zayn not like him anymore? Was he hating on him? Would Perrie be there?
After the classes are done, Harry turns down the boys' offer to hang out at the dorms for free food, drinks and for studies, of course. "Maybe tomorrow. I have something to do." Harry tells them. Roger groans and walks off with Joshua. Josh is walking behind them; Harry grabs his arm. "Zayn's back home and he wants to meet me." He mutters. Josh's eyes are wide at that. "Good for you. If you don't sort it out, then it's time to let it go. Yeah?"
"Yeah." Harry replies, letting go of his arm with a smile.
He's been staring at Zayn's door for a minute. He takes a deep breath before ringing the doorbell and waiting. He hopes that his mother doesn't catch him out here, that'd be bad for sure. She still doesn't know that he was the one who broke Zayn and Perrie up. If she knew, she'd ship him off somewhere. Maybe to dad if she could.
Zayn opens the door quickly, stepping back to let him in. Harry notices the bags under his eyes, he's wearing a black t-shirt and track pants. He looks tired.
"Hi. Sorry, were you asleep?" Harry asks, gripping his messenger bag and looking around the house. Perrie didn't seem to be there. It was five in the evening, and Zayn could have been taking a nice nap.
"Oh, no. I was just..." Zayn looks around the house before looking back at him. "Doing nothing. Yeah." He laughs.
Harry smiles at that. "Uh, so, how did your family react?" He asks, making himself comfortable on the sofa. Zayn sits down on the couch opposite to him, and the distance between them made Harry's heart ache. "Not good. They weren't expecting this. I told you, yeah? But they told me to figure things out and be happy. Concentrate on work and stuff."
"Okay. And what about this house?" Harry asks.
"Uh," Zayn starts off. "Perrie's brother called me a moment ago. He's going to be coming over tomorrow to take her stuff."
Harry nods. "Do you know where she is?"
"No, I don't." Zayn mutters. "But she needs space and I'm fine with that. I just wanted to apologize to her for fucking up again."
"How are you planning on getting her back?" Harry asks dumbly, wondering how Zayn would respond to that.
Zayn smiles at that, looking down at the carpet. "I can't believe you're asking me that." He says. "She would kill me if I even tried to. And I'm done with this. We weren't right for each other; I didn't deserve someone like her. I hope she's happy, wherever she is."
"So, you've broke it off with her?"
"Obviously. She broke it off with me." Zayn says. Harry's phone goes off, making him jump. He apologizes, looks down at the caller id. It was Cindy. "Um, it'll be a moment." He tells Zayn who just nods.
"Hello Styles!" She greets with her usual enthusiasm. "Didn't see you with your boys today. Where are you?"
"I had some work at home, I'll be there tomorrow." Harry tells her. "Good. Since we're having our study leave, I was wondering if you were up for a cup of coffee? Just us at Stephen's Café? It's right outside our building if you noticed." She adds a nervous laugh.
"Uh, coffee?" He hesitates, looking up at Zayn who was still staring at the carpet. "Yeah, that's cool with me. I'll see you tomorrow."
Just coffee. It didn't mean anything.
"Sweet." She says before hanging up. Zayn looks up at him. "Cindy?" He asks.
"Yeah. She's a nice friend. I told you." He emphasizes on the word friend. Zayn's just nodding to that.
"I—I wanted to say that I was sorry." Zayn says. "It wasn't right of me to take advantage of someone like you. I was unhappy with my relationship and I didn't realize that until now. Thank you, though. You're a good friend and I hope we can continue that. And you did say that you thought of me as a friend and that was good enough for me."
Stop. Please stop. Harry's chanting in his mind.
"We might have said things; we might have said things that we didn't mean."
Stop.
"I just wanted to let you know that what I had with you was one of the best things ever, no wonder it was cheating from my side but it was nice to have you. As whatever that was."
Harry's biting his lower lip to stop saying anything stupid.
"You're a good guy and I think it'll be nice to meet Cindy sometime. I need to see the girl who's been keeping you happy."
She's not you.
"That was really it. You can go home, I'm sorry for disturbing you. I know you have your exams coming up and you need to study and stuff, I'm really sorry." Zayn stops talking after that. Harry nods, getting up and heading for the door without saying a word. He walks out without saying goodbye.
He rushes to his own house, opening the door which was already unlocked for him. He closes it behind up, and Louis is looking right at him. "Are you okay? Why are you crying?" He whispers and kind of yells too. Harry's hand reaches up to his face to see tears are streaming down his face. He covers his mouth and runs upstairs.
"Was that Harry?" Anne asks, walking out of the kitchen with her hands covered in mud as she was planting a rose plant in a pot. Louis looks at her with a nod. "Seemed tired. Should let him sleep."
"I know. Exams get him all nervous." She says with a laugh before walking back in. Louis sighs, turning back to the television wondering what could have possibly happened between the two of them. He thinks for a moment, the sound of Lady Gaga playing in the background as he takes his phone and sends a text to Zayn.
L: Are you up for a smoke?
Z: yeah I need someone to talk to if you're up for listening
L: yeah mate
He puts down his phone and sighs.
Louis and Zayn had a good chat during their time in Brighton. They shared a lot of things, Gemma told Zayn that Louis was completely wild in Uni. Perrie had to laugh and tell them that Zayn was crazy back then too. They had shared numbers, but never really texted until now. Zayn knew that Gemma and Louis had found out about his 'good times' with Harry. Louis simply stated that he could see it all over his face.
Zayn's sat on a bean bag placed in his backyard, starring at the night sky. There weren't any stars visible to him right now. There was a thick garden surrounding his and Harry's backyard, and the people who lived right opposite to them had bought both the houses and were keen on their plants. They had huge trees right in front so they couldn't peep into their houses. Zayn knows that a white family lives there with three kids who are all in Greenberg. And those kids don't like him much.
Louis jumps over the fence, walking towards Zayn and settling down on the bean bag opposite to him. He hands him a cigarette, passing a lighter along after lighting one up for himself. "I've heard Harry grumble about how rich you are." Zayn says after a moment of silence between them. Louis laughs at that. "Of course you have. Harry tells everyone that. Won't be surprised if they come rob me someday."
Zayn smirks, shaking his head. "He really likes you though. Keeps telling me that Gemma's always all over you, and it's annoying how much Anne likes you too. And the fact that he doesn't care that he had a tiny crush on you, or as he puts it, delusional one-sided love."
"Yeah. I had no idea he liked me like that. I'm always clingy as shit, and I think that was new to him. And I never had an eye for guys, so maybe I did turn a blind eye unexpectedly. But when I realized how much he was hurting when I started dating Gemma, it hit me hard. His sister is really fucking cool, mate. She made me talk to him about this and told me she would break up with me if it was too hard for him. But he told her he didn't mind, just because he knew I was crazy for her."
"He's nice."
"He is." Louis replies. "And, what's up with you? What happened when you told your family about your breakup?"
"Not good." Zayn mutters. "I wanted to tell them that I cheated, they might get to know that from Perrie's mum. That woman was waiting for this moment, I tell you."
"First things first, Zayn." Louis says. "What are you planning on doing with Harry now? It's pretty clear that he's in love with you."
"In love?" Zayn mutters. "I'm sure that he's not. He might have said some things he didn't mean. Look, maybe he didn't know what he was saying. He might have had a strong kind of feeling for me but he's moving on. He told me today that he took me as a friend. Nothing else."
"Maybe he said that because you told him something else." Louis starts off. "He came home crying just moments ago. He didn't even know that he was crying until I asked him what the matter was. What the fuck is happening?"
Zayn frowns at that. "He was crying?"
"Yes. Harry's quite emotional, I tell you." Louis mutters. "But none of that, what are you going to do about him? Is this what it's coming to?"
Zayn's fingers are gripping his phone tightly. Everything was coming back to him. From the moment he met Harry, when he started thinking he might want to sleep with Perrie to them ending up in an unhealthy relationship. The moment they had during Easter Hunt and the holiday in Brighton. When Harry told him about Jack, the guy who fucked up his life and his best friend, to when Zayn told him about Jelena.
"Okay. I'm just going to meet up with him tomorrow, and tell him how I feel." Zayn declares with a small smile. Louis grins at that. "Thank you. It'll be nice to see Harry popping those dimples again."
The next day, Zayn sends a single text to Harry during lunch break.
Z: Meet me today at 5?
Harry is quick to reply.
H: Sure. You can come to my house, I'm home right now. Didn't feel like going to the dorms, they don't let me study anyways. Lol.
Zayn's smiling at that text. He does wonder what did Harry do about the plans that he had with Cindy for 'coffee'. He concentrates on his work, doesn't flinch when Michelle asks him about Perrie. "We just weren't meant to be, Michelle. Let it go. I don't even know where she is." Zayn whispers. Perrie's brother had come in early morning to take all of her stuff. He didn't say anything to Zayn about breaking Perrie's heart.
He does wonder if Perrie told her family why they had broken up. If she had, maybe her brother wouldn't have been so calm about the situation. He's on his way home, thinking about how he would confess his feelings for Harry.
He loved that boy. He was sure of that. Seeing Harry smile inspired him so much, he could draw him all day long. Harry was so beautiful, and he always made sure not to hurt people by his words. He had been broken so many times, and Zayn was on the list too, he wants to change that. He wants to prove to Harry that he was worthy. He wouldn't break him up.
Gemma's staring at her mother with her mouth wide open. "What? I thought you were going to be happy. They were nice people, yeah?" Anne asks, leaning closer to Gemma and making her shut her mouth with a frown. "Yeah, how about we keep this a secret from Harry? He'd be delighted if he saw them without notice." She replies with a forced grin.
"Fine by me. Harry will be so delighted. I should start preparing something sweet for them!" Anne announced, getting up from the dining table and hopping off to the kitchen. Gemma stares at the rose plant on the table, which had bloomed quite well and they were planning on exporting it to the flower shops close by who love their plants.
"I cannot believe this shit." Louis slams his fist against the table before apologizing to Anne who almost had a heart attack at the sound of it. "Harry does not deserve to be treated like this. Zayn is supposed to confess to him today."
"I don't know, Lou." Gemma whispers. "This is going to hit him pretty hard. I don't know why they're showing up now."
Zayn rings the bell to the household. Gemma is the one to open the door, and she's smiling happily when she sees him. That's rare for Zayn. "Good, come on in!" She says, pulling his arm and closing the door behind him. He's surprised, but then he sees Harry sat on the couch, eating an orange and watching the television. He's quick to turn his head and look at him. "Hey." He says.
"How about you go up, yeah?" Louis tells them. Harry's confused at that, so is Zayn. Before they could go up, Anne is rushing to them. "Hello Zayn! So nice to see you. Here, have some of this blueberry pie that I had been saving. Tell me how it is." She pushes a spoon at his mouth. He smiles before letting her feed it to him.
"It's nice. An occasion?" He asks curiously. Anne grins and nods. "Something like that. Very special, especially for Harry."
"What?" Harry's never been so confused. "What's happening?"
"You should go upstairs." Louis mutters. Gemma is about to tell them to go up, but it's too late and the doorbell goes off again. Louis gasps at that, looking at Gemma who closes her eyes in defeat. "I'm sorry." She whispers to Zayn. He's surprised, not knowing what to say when Anne proceeds to open the door.