zesty grapefruit [zarry] ✔️

26

"Good morning," Harry grins, watching Zain shuffle in sleepily.

Zain grunts in response.

"I made us our first smoothie," Harry says, more excited than he should be.

Zain makes a noise of dismay. 

"I googled and this is the first off a list I found, we can work our way down the list while you're here," Harry continues, undeterred, pushing the glass towards Zain.

Zain takes it, sniffing distrustfully. "That doesn't smell too bad," he frowns, like he's disappointed.

"It think it's not too bad, actually," Harry shrugs, stirring his. "Pineapple, spinach and banana with yoghurt. I might have picked that list because the first one wasn't too bad. Another I looked at had kale and broccoli at the top."

Zain pulls a grimace. "Disgusting," he says and raises his glass towards Harry. "Cheers."

"Cheers," Harry laughs, taking a sip. 

It's actually not too bad, and it's not like it's the first overly healthy smoothie he's drunk. 

Zain hums as well, shrugging. "Could be worse," he says, looking a bit more away already like the vitamin jumpstarted his brain. "Gemma still asleep?"

"Gemma left you in my care today," Harry says, putting his elbows on the counter and grinning when Zain rolls his eyes, annoyed. "We can do whatever you want. Except wallow. That's forbidden."

"Is that Gemma's rule?"

"Nope," Harry grins. "Mine. So. What have you always wanted to do but never could in rainy boring England?" He spreads his arms grandly.

"You really have a boyfriend?" Zain asks, taking another sip of his smoothie.

Harry drops his arms, confused. "What? Do you wanna talk about my boyfriend?"

"So you do?" Zain asks. "Too bad."

"What why?" Harry frowns.

Zain smirks slightly. "Sex would've been nice. You sure you don't wanna break up with him for a bit."

"Zain!" Harry says, trying to laugh it off. He will not. "I'm not gonna be your rebound."

"Sex is fun, though," Zain pouts, putting his chin in his hand and looking at Harry. 

It's a lot harder to resist that Harry's ever going to admit. He rolls his eyes. "Alternatively," he says, trying to change the topic before he gives in. "We can go to the beach. Get a bit of sun and all that."

"Not sure that is a real alternative to sex, but sure," Zain yawns, stretching.

Harry swallows and does not look at the skin exposed and the trail of hair leading down into Zain's trackies. If he had just a shred less self-restraint, he'd already be on his knees. 

"We can get pizza on the way back. Or burgers. And watch a movie and cuddle. Cuddling is good for mental health," he suggests with a shrug. "And if you're nice and non-mopey today I won't say anything if you grab my arse a bit."

Zain snorts a laugh. It's both ridiculous and adorable. "Is that also good for my mental health?" he asks. "A bit of groping? Is that the LA approach?"

Harry huffs, crossing his arms. "Is that being nice?"

"Sorry, babe," Zain says, still grinning. "I'll be the nicest and non-mopiest person ever. But can I check if your arse is really worth it? It's been a while, maybe it's gone all flabby."

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or flattered," Harry says, pulling Zain forward. It was just harmless teasing, wasn't it. No harm done. And Zain looked already so much lighter.

Zain wraps his arms around Harry, kissing his cheek. "Thanks for cheering me up, yea?" he says, running a hand through Harry's hair and hugging him tightly.

"You're welcome," Harry says, breathless with it. He presses his nose in Zain's shoulder and tries not to notice how perfect they fit together, how nice Zain smelled, how sweet he was, really, underneath all that teasing. How good he hugged. 

He forces himself out of those thoughts, squeezing Zain. "I thought you wanted to check out my arse?" he teases and almost regrets it when Zain snorts, smacking another kiss on Harry's cheek and grabbing both his arse cheeks firmly, squeezing lightly. 

Harry bites his lip against a moan, a bit weak in the knees.

"Feels good," Zain says appreciatingly, patting Harry's arse and letting him go with a slight smirk. "Firmness 9, squeezability 8-"

"Squeezability? Eight?" Harry interrupts, laughing.

"View is only a 6 in those trousers," Zain continues as though Harry hasn't spoken, smirking at him. "Accessibility is only a 1, unfortunately."

"It'll become a 0 if you're not careful. Squeezability eight, my arse."

"Your arse indeed," Zain grins. "Want me to check again?" he asks, waggling his hands in Harry's face. 

Harry slaps them away, relieved to see Zain laughing and teasing. Gemma had sounded so worried and made it sound like Zain had barely looked up for weeks. "We're watching The Proposal for that, no argument. And I'm gonna wear View 10 trousers and you are going to regret being mean to me."

"Dunno," Zain shrugs. "Seems like a treat."

"And you're gonna be walking in front of me all day," Harry adds, shooting Zain from the kitchen.

Zain sniggers all the way upstairs, like he was hilarious, and doesn't protest when Harry pushes him into his room with the admonishment to get dressed. 

He's pulling on one of his old jeans, the ones he knows make his arse look great, before he realises it. Stopping with his hands on the waistband and biting his lip guiltily. 

He shouldn't encourage this. It wasn't like he planned on actually following through with it, but this was definitely more than just a bit of harmless flirting. This was deliberately toeing the line because he knows he couldn't take it further but wanting to, desperately. 

He takes his jeans off with a sigh, changing into much more beach-appropriate shorts. Pulling on a t-shirt and grabbing some sunglasses. He liberally slathers himself in sunscreen, grabbing a hair tie to keep it out of his face and a towel, stuffing everything into a bag, leaving his room.

"Ready?" he asks, Zain leaning against the wall next to his own room. "Do you need sunscreen?"

"Nah, got everything," Zain says, kicking his own bag. He doesn't comment on Harry's shorts and follows him down the stairs quietly, much more subdued.

"Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he says quietly in the car.

Harry stops fiddling with the radio and turns to look at him. "No," Harry says quickly, leaning across to kiss Zain's cheek. It was easy to be affectionate with Zain. "Never. Just my view 10 jeans are a bit hot for the beach, hm?" he tries to lighten the mood, squeezing Zain's hand. "And this way you can walk behind me." He kisses Zain's cheek again, because he can and because it made him smile, just slightly. 

"Now. For the full LA experience, I think we should stop by Starbucks and get venti Frappuccinos." He grins at Zain, who rolls his eyes back, amused, his shoulders relaxed again. "And maybe a bagel. You haven't really eaten breakfast."

"Sounds good," Zain answers indulgently, watching the houses pass by curiously. 

Harry turns up the music slightly and tries to figure out how to best avoid traffic.