Saltwater ~Zarry~

Chapter 15.

The boys had calmed down.

On the outside it seemed.

They took about and hour in order to calm enough. Enough to think properly. Enough to move at all. Enough to want to walk.

And now, I'm front of the roaring deep blue, with their boards strapped to their ankle and their minds slowly clearing by the smell of the saltwater, they were completely calm.

They were back to before. Not talking to each other. Only nods. Not touching each other. Only waves. Not looking each other in the eye. Only small, fake smiles that quickly disappeared.

Zayn and Harry shared some struggles. The one they were both focused on, was each other. They didn't hate each other. The exact opposite actually, which is the problem.

The tide was high, the waves were tall, the sky was beautiful, the air was a slight breeze, and the water was cool. Perfect.

Flopping into the water first, Harry lay belly down on his board as he paddles quickly to the high surf he so desperately needed to catch today.

He was determined, and he wouldn't leave until he had caught at least one wave. Zayn knew these things, and made a mental note to keep a close eye of Harry's body language. For anything out of normality, of course.

He saw some smaller waves, so Harry starts with those. Racing the wave behind him Harry pushes himself up with arms on his board, starting pressure on his right leg and slowly locking his knees to stand.

But as soon as he takes his hands off the board, he falls.

Coming out of the water, Harry quickly gets back on his board, wipes his eyes, and scans for another wave. He finds one, and sets out for it.

He wipes out again, and again, and again. And one more time before finally taking a break. But the last attempt wasn't all that pleasing;

Pushing himself up with his arms, Harry firmly sets his right leg on the board and locks his knees. But, he falls again. This time he smacks down onto the water so hard, his entire right side was red and stinging.

Though Harry didn't care, Zayn did. Zayn had caught quite a few waves and took a break to check on Harry. He saw him wipe out, and smack against the water.

He cringed, and quickly paddles over to Harry as he jumped out of the water and got on his board. After Harry got done coughing up saltwater, Zayn talked.

"Are you ok?" He says softly. Harry doesn't answer him for a little, just staring at the patterns on his board. He sniffs, wipes his eyes, and stares out into the ocean before answering.

"I'm fine." He said firmly. He wasn't mad at Zayn, he was frustrated about wiping out.

"You hit your side pretty hard. That was a lot of impact." Zayn said.

"Yeah I know. I was there." Harry said harshly, still staring intimidatingly at the ocean. He was just frustrated. Zayn knew this, so he tried not to take it personal.

"How are you falling?" Zayn asked and he looked down, genuinely confused.

"I don't even know. I just stood up on my right like always and-" Harry stopped talking abruptly and just sat there with his eyebrow furrowed and playing with his bottom lip.

"What?" Zayn asked, slightly turning his body to face Harry. "Harry?" Zayn called after he didn't answer.

"When I stand up, I put all my weight on my right leg, which is the leg that's behind me. That's why I keep wiping out. I don't put any pressure on my left, so the weight isn't distributed evenly, and I lose my balance easier. I just have to stop being so baby about my left side and I'll be fine." Harry rambled, more to himself than to Zayn.